How to become Audio and Video Technician in 2024

Audio and Video Technician Set up, maintain, and dismantle audio and video equipment, such as microphones, sound speakers, connecting wires and cables, sound and mixing boards, video cameras, video monitors and servers, and related electronic equipment for live or recorded events, such as concerts, meetings, conventions, presentations, podcasts, news conferences, and sporting events.

Audio and Video Technician is Also Know as

In different settings, Audio and Video Technician is titled as

  • Audio Technician
  • Audio Visual Specialist (AV Specialist)
  • AV Tech (Audio Visual Technician)
  • Media Technician
  • Operations Technician
  • Stagehand
  • Video Technician

Education and Training of Audio and Video Technician

Audio and Video Technician is categorized in Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Audio and Video Technician

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Education Required for Audio and Video Technician

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Degrees Related to Audio and Video Technician

Training Required for Audio and Video Technician

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Audio and Video Technician in different industries are

What Do Audio and Video Technician do?

  • Notify supervisors when major equipment repairs are needed.
  • Monitor incoming and outgoing pictures and sound feeds to ensure quality and notify directors of any possible problems.
  • Mix and regulate sound inputs and feeds or coordinate audio feeds with television pictures.
  • Design layouts of audio and video equipment and perform upgrades and maintenance.
  • Perform minor repairs and routine cleaning of audio and video equipment.
  • Switch sources of video input from one camera or studio to another, from film to live programming, or from network to local programming.
  • Meet with directors and senior members of camera crews to discuss assignments and determine filming sequences, camera movements, and picture composition.
  • Construct and position properties, sets, lighting equipment, and other equipment.
  • Compress, digitize, duplicate, and store audio and video data.
  • Obtain, set up, and load videotapes for scheduled productions or broadcasts.
  • Edit videotapes by erasing and removing portions of programs and adding video or sound as required.
  • Direct and coordinate activities of assistants and other personnel during production.
  • Plan and develop pre-production ideas into outlines, scripts, story boards, and graphics, using own ideas or specifications of assignments.
  • Maintain inventories of audio and videotapes and related supplies.
  • Determine formats, approaches, content, levels, and mediums to effectively meet objectives within budgetary constraints, using research, knowledge, and training.
  • Record and edit audio material, such as movie soundtracks, using audio recording and editing equipment.
  • Inform users of audio and videotaping service policies and procedures.
  • Obtain and preview musical performance programs prior to events to become familiar with the order and approximate times of pieces.
  • Produce rough and finished graphics and graphic designs.
  • Locate and secure settings, properties, effects, and other production necessities.
  • Control the lights and sound of events, such as live concerts, before and after performances, and during intermissions.
  • Conduct training sessions on selection, use, and design of audio-visual materials and on operation of presentation equipment.
  • Organize and maintain compliance, license, and warranty information related to audio and video facilities.
  • Develop manuals, texts, workbooks, or related materials for use in conjunction with production materials or for training.
  • Perform narration of productions or present announcements.
  • Install, adjust, and operate electronic equipment to record, edit, and transmit radio and television programs, motion pictures, video conferencing, or multimedia presentations.
  • Diagnose and resolve media system problems.
  • Reserve audio-visual equipment and facilities, such as meeting rooms.
  • Analyze and maintain data logs for audio-visual activities.

Qualities of Good Audio and Video Technician

  • Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
  • Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
  • Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
  • Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
  • Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
  • Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
  • Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
  • Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
  • Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
  • Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
  • Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
  • Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
  • Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
  • Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
  • Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
  • Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
  • Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
  • Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
  • Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
  • Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
  • Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
  • Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
  • Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
  • Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
  • Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
  • Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
  • Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
  • Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
  • Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
  • Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
  • Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
  • Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Tools Used by Audio and Video Technician

  • Assistive amplification systems
  • Audio presentation systems
  • Audioconferencing systems
  • Audiovisual A/V mixers
  • Cassette players
  • Claw hammers
  • Compact disk CD burners or players
  • Desktop computers
  • Digital audio recorders
  • Digital camcorders
  • Digital oscilloscopes
  • Digital video cameras
  • Digital video disk DVD players
  • Digital voltmeters DVM
  • Integrated speaker systems
  • Interactive whiteboards
  • Laptop computers
  • Laser pointers
  • Light boards
  • Liquid crystal display LCD projection systems
  • Loudspeaker sets
  • Man lifts
  • Master control switchers
  • Microphone mixers
  • Motion picture projectors
  • Noise meters
  • Overhead display projectors
  • Personal computers
  • Plasma televisions
  • Portable speaker systems
  • Power drills
  • Projection screens
  • Screwdrivers
  • Slide projectors
  • Soldering irons
  • Sound boards
  • Step ladders
  • Television monitors
  • Videoconferencing equipment
  • Videotape duplicating equipment
  • Wired microphones
  • Wireless microphones

Technology Skills required for Audio and Video Technician

  • Adobe After Effects
  • Adobe Dreamweaver
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe InDesign
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Apple Final Cut Pro
  • Apple iMovie
  • Blackboard software
  • Cisco IOS
  • Cisco Webex
  • Computer aided design CAD software
  • Corel Ulead DVD Workshop
  • Linux
  • Microsoft Access
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Windows
  • Microsoft Word
  • Voice over internet protocol VoIP system software
  • Web browser software
  • YouTube
  • Zoom