Broadcast Networks Delivers 3D Capability to Norway’s OB-Team

At 13.6 meters long, this new vehicle will be one of the largest OB trucks on the road. It features a single expanding side that expands a full 1.87 meters thanks to the clever use of fold-out walls and even a fold-out equipment rack.

Creating such an impressive mobile facility involved close collaboration between Broadcast Networks, prime contractor Sony Professional Services, OB-Team’s technical department and Swedish coachbuilder Groth.

Tom Haye, managing director of Broadcast Networks, says: ”OB-Team operates in Scandinavia, which has notoriously harsh winter weather conditions. Given the size of this vehicle it was vital that we considered its construction, as well as its performance as a high-end 3D production facility. The swedish coachbuilder Groth made sure it could cope with icy conditions by building in various traction improvement systems as well as providing extreme temperature insulation systems and featuring heated floor and roof to ensure the vehicle stays warm and doesn’t get large amounts of snow building up on the roof.”

Another unique design feature is its large rear storage area, accessed by a tail-lift. This means that the vehicle doesn’t need to be supported by a separate tender vehicle because all the equipment it needs can be safely stored on-board – and be easily accessed from inside the vehicle.

”By having a vehicle that it is half tender and half production truck, OB-Team can make significant operational savings and also be much ’greener’,” Haye adds. ”This means that only one vehicle needs to travel to events where traditionally two vehicles would have had to be used. The tender section of the vehicle has provision for future expansion should OB-Team wish to covert it at a later date, when the vehicle’s production capabilities need to grow.”

Broadcast Networks was commissioned by Sony Professional Services to handle this prestigious systems integration project on the basis of its previous close relationship with OB-Team. TV2’s Production Company OB-Team first worked with Broadcast Networks in 2006 when it made the move into HD by commissioning two brand new High Definition vehicles. Sony subsequently commissioned Broadcast Networks to completely refurbish OB-Team’s three existing trucks to bring them in line with current technical specifications.

OB-Team now has a fleet of eight HD vehicles and commands an impressive 90% share of the market in its home territory, with an average of 170 production days each year. The new vehicle, which was delivered and went into operation in July, is aimed at large and mid-sized productions and has been designed with 3D in mind so that OB-Team can offer this service should customers request it.

Espen Frøysa, OB-Team’s technical director, says: “As we were designing and building this truck from scratch, it made sense to future-proof it by including 3D capability. We have an excellent working relationship with Broadcast Networks and know we can rely on them to deliver exactly what we want, on time and within budget. The company operates to very high technical standards and we are absolutely delighted with what they have achieved. This latest addition to our OB fleet is by far the best vehicle we now operate, and with this vehicle we are now ready to face any production challenge, both 2D and 3D.”

The new vehicle is equipped with 19 camera chains comprising a combination of Sony HDC-1500’s, HDC-P1’s (3 x 3D rigs), 3 x slo-mo and 3 x Link research wireless RF camera systems. As well as being a 3D production vehicle, the system also boasts a new Miranda Hybrid NV8500 series router that is capable of routing 200 3G video inputs to 256 outputs with 16 channels of embedded audio on each input and output and 6 channels of MADI audio (64ch each). This means that the router is capable of routing in excess of 6900 channels of audio!

OB-Team’s new vehicle, which will make its public debut with Sony at IBC 2011 in September (Stand 12.A10), is already attracting plenty of interest from customers who are keen to try out its 3D capability.

Espen Frøysa adds: “We anticipate that there will be demand for this service, especially for large sporting events, and we are very proud to be the first company in Scandinavia that can meet this demand.”