63 HD Studios: The Hardware Analysis

Dome Productions

With 9 high definition multi-format mobile production trucks Dome continues to strengthen its reputation as a North American leader in the provision of HD production services. Intended to capitalize on a boom in content in both Canada and the U.S., Dome’s two newest trucks — Atlantic and Pacific — are 53-ft. mobile-production trucks that advance the company’s new commitment to 3G and 1080p signal-flow technology. The trucks are very similar to each other in terms of layout and gear, which are similar to those of other models in the Dome fleet. All 9 HD trucks were designed and integrated in house by Dome Engineering, with each mobile equipped with rack mounted HD transmission encoders, decoders and modulators.

Get the specs of Atlantic HD here

TVN news & services agency OB-VAN 3 HD

TVN News & Services Agency is part of TVN S.A., the largest privately owned media group in Poland and is one of the most comprehensive, in terms of services offered, media agency in Central and Eastern Europe, offering complex service to television channels, newsgathering organizations and production companies as well as corporate clients. The offerings include services like live transmissions from the most important events or news and archive video footage, customized on demand production and video distribution. TVN provides broadcasting and production services including rental of technical facilities (SNG trucks, OB-vans, ENG equipment), rental of television studios, production of HD quality aerial footage all over CEE region, playout and teleport services.

Get the specs of TVN OB-VAN 3 HD here

TomFloor LF1

TomFloor Production Oy was founded in 2007 and is part of Akus Factory, which is a highly valued AV-Production house in Finland. Behind the business you can find Tomi Pietilä. Tomi has  several years of experience in the music industry. He is an audio oriented gearholic, recording engineer, producer, surround sound preacher, drumtech... All music styles are familiar to him: pop, rock, country, jazz, hardrock and classical, just name it! His passion is the surround sound and it's default in every production. He has pleasure in working with great artists and demanding productions. By the way, did you know that he started he's musical career by playing drums? Today drumming is more like a hobby to him.

Get the specs of TomFloor here

Hinduja Mandate PwC to Vet Acquisition of Belgian Media Firm Alfacam

Alfacam and its lending banks have entered into an exclusive negotiation to reach a full agreement on a transaction. In order to finalise the deal, the banks have agreed to suspend the repayments during that period. Under the agreement, Alfacam will secure a new credit facility of €24 million, which will replace almost all of the current financial debt of Alfacam Group and its affiliate companies. It will also inject cash equity to the tune of €6 million to strengthen Alfacam's capital. The past few weeks have seen Alfacam’s share price rise by about 50 per cent giving the company a market valuation of some €10 million. Two years ago the value was nearer €150 million. After accumulating losses the company, which provides TV facilities and services to broadcasters and production houses, had to renegotiate its bank loans this year.

Read more ...

Lighting the Astana Media Center

Under commission from the Kazakhstan government and in partnership with the Istanbul-based system-integrator Akfa Technology, ARRI Lighting Solutions has designed and equipped the new Astana Media Center (AMC), a state-of-the-art, 75,500m² media complex in Astana, Kazakhstan's capital. As a result, the AMC has become one of the most advanced production facilities in the region, offering sophisticated studios and lighting tools, and enabling high-quality content creation for national and syndicated distribution. A total of over 1,500 ARRI lights, 200 hoists, 400 pantographs and an electrical infrastructure of 2,500 dimmer channels with a total capacity of 7.5 MW now illuminate the AMC. Working closely with Akfa, ARRI Lighting Solutions also supervised the installation, which was carried out by local and Turkish engineers. The two Sky Studios were among the first studios anywhere in the world to be equipped with ARRI's groundbreaking new L-7 LED Fresnels. These versatile, efficient lampheads will bring huge energy savings and reflect the AMC's commitment to embrace the latest technological advances.

Read the case study here

Get the specs of AMC here

Sky Sport News HD Germany

Sky Deutschland has added the popular Sky Sports News 24 channel to its extensive line-up. More than three million subscribers across the Sky Deutschland region in Germany, Austria and Switzerland can now tune in to the dedicated sports channel for 19 hours a day. The Sky Sports News 24 channel originated from a purpose-built studio and newsroom in Munich. The current set-up, which combines the newsroom and studio into one single area, is equipped with an extensive range of the latest technology. The equipment includes a comprehensive automation system incorporating robotic cameras from Vinten Radamec. he needs of the studio vary from segment to segment, whether the requirement is for two presenters or for a slot where there is the need for a large discussion group. The look of the studio can also be transformed if an item demands dedicated branding. For example, Sky recently got the rights to broadcast Formula 1 motor racing, and when Sky Sports News  covers the subject the studio has the capability to adapt  its  look, as well as the graphics, maintaining the channel’s style, to match that specific sporting event.

Read the case study here

Get the specs of Sky Sport News HD here

Studios A/S: Two Shows - One Solution

Studios A/S is a leading full service facility provider in Denmark. Its home to TV shows such as Strictly come dancing, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Allstars, Luxury Trap, MasterChef and many more. Formerly known as Metronome Studios and founded in 1996 in Copenhagen, Studios A/S was acquired by Shine Group in April 2009. It currently operates as a full service production facility offering outside broadcast, post production, systems integration and rental services. It also provides studio facilities for TV2 | DANMARK’s morning news shows at the Central Station, Copenhagen, and is responsible for running the Danish Parliament TV-channel Folketinget. Its complex in Copenhagen comprises of six studios, ranging in size from small chroma key stages, right up to 350 – 950sqm TV-studios. In 2011 Metronome Productions, also part of the Shine Group, acquired MasterChef in Denmark for TV3 Viasat while Snowman Productions, part of the Red Arrow Entertainment Group (a ProSieben Sat.1 Group company), was tasked by Kanal 5 SBS TV with producing the game show, My Man Can for Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

Read the case study here

Get the specs of Studios A/S here

The New SWR TV Studios in Stuttgart

Next to its broadcasting centre in Stuttgart, SWR built a new television studio complex with four production studios as a substitute for the “Villa Berg” studios, in operation since 1964. The new studios were completed in late 2011. The studios are used for live broadcasts and pre-productions of SWR, studio C here with "virtual studio technology". Three control rooms for the studios A, B and C are available, studio D can be assigned to either one of these. Studios A, B and C are equipped with an automatic lighting system with motorized position control, recording and reproduction, enabling extremely short setup times. A special highlight of the equipment in the studios A, B and C is the cyclorama lighting with LED technology and additive RGB colour mixing in less than 25 cm from the rear projection screen.

Read the case study here

Get the specs of SWR Studio A here

The Solution of Choice at Swiss Television

Swiss Television carefully considered how best to deploy its existing HD and 3D equipment within an expansion of its studio infrastructure. tpc ag (technology and production center, Switzerland ag) – an independent subsidiary of SRG SSR – considered various new ideas and opted for a future-proof concept. Neutrik’s opticamSWITCH flexibly connects tpc ag’s existing cameras and control rooms to one other. Furthermore, as they come online, two planned new control rooms and studios will be easily integrated into the system. Gerard Koch, project director video technology, tpc ag, delivers insight behind the scenes of the production for the Swiss National Council elections.

Read the case study here

Get the specs of tpc Studio 1 here

63 HD Studios - An Overview on the Installed Hardware 

In our catalogues we currently present 63 HD Studios. These 63 HD Studios are distributed mainly across Europe, however we also see six studios from Asia and one from Australia. We have analyzed the installed hardware and present following the market shares for 20 product groups: Studio Lighting - Lighting Control - Cameras - Camera Lenses - Pedestals - Vision Mixers - Video Effects - Character Generators - Video Routers - Multi-Viewer - Displays - Digital Glue - Video Tape Recorders - Video HardDisk Recorders -  Audio Mixers - Audio Routers - Microphones - Audio Monitoring - Audio Multitrack Recorders - Intercom Systems

Get all the 20 product groups here

HD Studio Directory 2012

In our HD Studio Special 2012 gives detailed presentations of 41 HD Studios from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Similar to our successful HD OBVan Directories we present each HD Studio on three pages including a technical synopsis with an overview on the installed hardware in the sections lighting, public address, cameras, lenses and pedestals, video gallery, audio gallery, intercom and the listing of the relevant system integrators. In addition to these straight forward presentations we have a dedicated focus on studio lighting, videowalls in studios and fast turnaround productions. Finally we focus on the production of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku.

Order your copy here

Preview: FIFA World Cup Brasil 2014

The first FIFA World Cup™ to be held in South America since 1978, the 20th in total, will take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014. It will be the second time Brazil has hosted the event and the first time consecutive tournaments have been played outside of Europe. The project will offer a distinct logistical challenge, given the size of the country in comparison to the previous FIFA World Cups™ to which HBS has been assigned as host broadcaster. HBS kicked off the journey to Brazil with a FIFA Broadcast Information Meeting held on 29 July 2011 in Rio de Janeiro. FIFA, the LOC and HBS took advantage of this opportunity to present the current state of planning and implementation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ to broadcasters who were gathered in Brazil for the Preliminary Draw, held the following day at the same venue in Rio. HBS was Host Broadcaster of the Preliminary Draw, which was produced by TV Globo.

Read more ...

Aston Villa FC Enhances Match Day Experience  with Blackmagic Design

Replacing the club’s analog tape workflow, which was rented on a match-by-match basis, has allowed Aston Villa’s multimedia team, led by Nick Finney, to make significant cost savings while also giving them complete control of the production process. Content is a mixture of prepared material including player interviews, sponsor messages and goal compilations along with pre-match build-up from pitch side and live match footage, which goes out on two large LED screens at either end of Villa Park, the club’s stadium and hospitality and shopping center. In addition, the multimedia team also has an IPTV channel which is broadcast across 300 television screens on around the concourse and hospitality areas. Match day footage is an edited feed supplied by broadcasters including Sky and the BBC via SDI, while the multimedia team also has its own mobile SDI camera used for capturing match build-up pitch side. Both HD SDI feeds are captured using an ATEM Camera Converter and fed back to Aston Villa’s OB pod into two ATEM Studio Converters.

Read more ...

HBS Appointed TV Production Partner of WRC 2013

The World Rally Championship is the top-ranked rally series organised by the FIA. It currently consists of 13 events of up to 25 special stages, driven on gravel, tarmac, snow and ice. The WRC provides authentic and competitive motorsports action featuring powerful cars and fantastic drivers in a unique environment. As such, it is a perfect sport for HBS’ signature mix of technological innovation and high quality production — on-board cameras, aerial coverage and sophisticated microphones are already planned, with additional innovations in the pipeline. HBS will produce both the daily news and a 26-minute highlight show of each rally, as well as a 52-minute show featuring all the highlights of the WRC season. The company will work in close collaboration with its Finnish technical partner Filmworks to bring the intense emotions of this exhilarating sport to TV viewers worldwide. HBS’ veteran producer Nick Atkins will lead a dedicated team tasked with the production and delivery of world-class coverage of the 13 races of the WRC calendar, beginning almost immediately with the legendary Rally Monte Carlo, which takes place on 15-20 January.

Read more ...

61st Four Hills Ski Jumping Tournament

5.67 million viewers watched the opening competition in Oberstdorf, in which local hero Severin Freund came in third and raised hopes for an overall win. This was a market share of 27.1 %, 8 % higher than last year when 4.31 million were watching the 4-Hills opener. Despite the very high level of the competition Jacobsen (138 m and 139 m; 308.6 points) was able to win 11.6 points ahead of Austrian Gregor Schlierenzauer (134.5 m and 138.5 m; 297.0 points. "It was incredibly exciting today. Jumping in front of this huge crowd and with such an atmosphere in the stadium is fantastic. It's perfect to be in top shape on a day like this and show such a performance", Jacobsen was happy and impressed after his victory. There's also a boom in Austria. The broadcast of the Austrian channel ORF was watched by 880 000 viewers, a market share of 48 %. The 4-Hills-Tournament continued with the traditional New Year's competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the other two events took place in Austria (January 4 in Innsbruck and January 6 in Bischofshofen). Responsible for the live production of the event in Oberstdorf was ZDF and in Garmisch-Partenkirchen it was Bayerischer Rundfunk (for ARD Sportschau). Both broadcasters engaged the Berin based OBVan company TopVision to support the production. For the events in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen ORF was the host broadcaster.

Read more ...

World Premiere of "Rocky" in Hamburg: Round one to AURUS and NEXUS

An AURUS console with 40 faders and the full complement of DSP for the FOH-mixing, a CRESCENDO console for monitoring and an extensive NEXUS network with a STAR and four Base Devices connecting it all together. In brief this is  the audio setup for Rocky at the Hamburg TUI Operettenhaus theatre where the show is staged. "Sound quality, reliability and flexibility were the three main reasons for opting for the MEDIAGROUP mixing and routing technology”, says Andreas Hammerich, head of the sound department at Stage Entertainment Germany. For multi award winning sound designer Peter Hylenski naturally it was the sound quality that mattered most. “AURUS CRESCENDO and NEXUS sound quality is unrivalled in the digital console market”, said the sound designer of Broadway productions such as Shrek and Rock of Ages. Hylenski’s sound engineer for the premiere Peppe Andersson adds his praise for how the technical capabilities of the consoles contribute to the optimum result: “The desks let me control everything that matters, for example I can control the digital gains for the FOH and monitoring consoles independently, although both consoles operate in one network and share the same resources.

Read more ...

MAC III AirFX™ „Take a Hammering“ on Classic Deep Purple Show

Deep Purple lighting designer Louis Ball has just given Martin Professional’s new MAC III AirFX lighting fixture a thorough workout on the definitive rock band‘s November / December arena outing across Europe. A classic rock 'n' roll show it is, complete with guitar and drum solos and row of on-stage Marshall amps. Once recognized by The Guinness Book of World Records as „the globe’s loudest band,“ Deep Purple can still put on a powerful, energy-filled show, and that goes for the lighting rig as well. Deep Purple’s latest tour may not be as ear-splittingly loud as year’s past thanks to sound exposure limits but there are no limits on how bright or active a lighting rig can be. And Louis takes full advantage.

Read more ...

"Das Supertalent" - The Grand Finale in MMC's Studio 30/31 in Cologne

The finale of "Das Supertalent", as well as the two previous semi-final shows of the sixth season, were broadcast live from MMC’s studio 30/31 at the Coloneum studio lot in Cologne, on behalf of Grundy Light Entertainment. The impressive stage in studio 30/31 was built by the MMC Art Department, according to a design by Wieder Design. A total of 12 cameras were used for the HD-production, which was directed by Volker Weicker. These included five Grass Valley (GVG) LDK 8000s (equipped with Canon EFP 27x to 72x lenses) on Vinten Quattro pedestals. The camera type GVG LDK 8000 (each equipped with a Canon ENG 11 x 4.7 lens) was used on the two SuperTechno 30-cranes, and also as a hand-held camera. The video signals were mixed on a GVG Kayenne XL (3.5 M/E) at MMC’s HD control room 11 and transmitted to a play-out center in Cologne via two separate fiber optic routes.

Read more ...

MCI Fit BroaMan in New NRK DSNG Van

German media and broadcast specialists Studio Hamburg MCI have followed up the installation of four independently-configured BroaMan automatic routing systems for Swedish national broadcaster SVT, by specifying the same brand for an OB van fit-out at NRK in Norway. This was the first project MCI had executed for NRK and was the result of winning a competitive tender. A BroaMan fibre solution had been in their mind right from the outset, according to project manager, Götz Ahlert. BroaMan supplied a small custom box with an SDI input and a fibre output to house a single camera on one side, mechanically connected to a camera battery on the other. In addition, BroaMan’s V3R-FX-IC444-SDI — a 4LI/4LO board with four GPIO’s — enables four camera signals to be routed via a single fibre connection to the vehicle and be uplinked to the broadcast centre. Transmitted in the opposite direction a monitor picture can be sent to the camera set, which is required if a speaker is communicating with the studio.

Read more ...

Polecam Systems Supplies Rig to Sir Ranulph Fiennes Antarctic Expedition

The Polecam will be a great addition to the other cameras on board the boat. Not only will it give increased production value to what they already have, but be able to provide some unique perspectives of interviews and training on board, the loading and unloading of all the equipment, and the documentation of the expedition's progress. The whole production team are very excited about using their 'new toy'. The Polecam, fitted with the new Polecam Long Head, will be mounted with a Panasonic HPX250 P2HD camcorder. After a short stopover in Cape Town the ship will sail to the ice edge in Eastern Antarctica, arriving mid January 2013 where the team will set up their base. On the 21st March 2013, they will begin the six month journey sailing on from South Africa to reach the Ross Sea. Their Polar journey from the Russian base of Novolazareskaye ('Novo') to Captain Scott's base at McMurdo Sound, via the South Pole, will test the limits of human endurance.

Read more ...

TCF Bank Stadium - Live with Ross Video

As part of a major update to its scoreboard display systems, the University of Minnesota TCF Bank Stadium installed a Ross Video 3 M/E Vision Production Switcher to manage scoreboards and in-house display systems for all three Stadium Venues (Football, Hockey & Basketball). Vision production switchers can have up to 9 panels controlling the switcher engine, making it ideal for applications where shared resources are required; its unique AUX keys and Multi-Screen production capabilities simplify the task of scoreboard and multiple display management. Additionally it’s powerful custom control macros and device controls allow complicated tasks to be controlled with a single button push.

Read more ...

NHK to Present 8K Video at New NAB Labs Futures Park

Established in 2009 as the “International Research Park,” the NAB Labs Futures Park will feature high-profile media technologies in development chosen by NAB Labs for presentation to the broad international audience at NAB Show. A highlight of the 2013 Futures Park will be NHK’s Super Hi-Vision demonstration. It will feature a presentation theater for viewing the system’s 8k video and 22.2-multichannel sound (including content recorded in cooperation with the Olympic Broadcasting Service and the BBC at the London 2012 Olympic Games). The system’s 7680 x 4320 video format provides 16 times the number of pixels as HDTV, for stunning clarity and an immersive visual experience. Meanwhile, the system’s massive multichannel audio system produces unprecedented immersion into a 3D sound space for viewers located anywhere within a large viewing area.

Read more ...