Newsletter from 18/05/2018
Israel Wins the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest
After a thriller voting, Netta from Israel has won the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Toy'. Israel won the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest with 529 points, followed at a decent distance by Cyprus with 436 points. Both were top favourites to take the trophy home. Austria's success — a third place with 342 points — came as a surprise. Thousands of people from all over the world enjoyed three spectacular live shows at Lisbon's Altice Arena. The international broadcast signal for an expected 200 million viewers tuning in on television was produced by the Belgium Production company Videohouse with their two OB trucks HD one and HD two.
Get the Technical Specs here: HD one & HD two
MOBILE PRODUCTION
Leading Outsourced Production Partner NEP Opens Office in Italy
NEP Europe announced has opened its NEP Italy office, further strengthening its reach and presence as one of the key players in the Southern Europe broadcast market. NEP Italy will focus on providing outsourced technical production support for a variety of sporting and live events in Italy. NEP also has entered in to an agreement to acquire Telerecord, an Italy-based provider of outside broadcast solutions for the sports industry. Once the deal has closed, Telerecord, a local industry leader with strong client relationships, will further diversify NEP’s business and expand its reach in Europe by adding additional local resources and talent. The entire management team will continue to run the business, led by Fabio Bertini.
EVS Equips New UCI Bespoke Van for Commissaires with Xeebra
EVS has been appointed by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world’s governing body for cycling, to equip a newly-built van designed specifically to support the commissaires on the UCI World Tour with two Xeebra multi-angle review systems. The UCI van with Xeebra on board was deployed for the first time during the fourth stage of the 2018 Giro d’Italia in Sicily. EVS’ Xeebra allows the commissaires to review the action on the road with the utmost clarity and convenience, from their dedicated van on site. Through an intuitive touchscreen, they can view up to 16 live camera angles that remain entirely in-sync.
NEP UK Unveils Purposly Built SMPTE ST 2110 Compliant IP-Based OBVans
NEP UK has unveiled Venus and Ceres, the latest outside broadcast vehicles in its fleet and part of the world’s biggest broadcast SMPTE ST2110 IP system. The vehicles will be used at major events, sports fixtures and other large scale productions. “We needed to replace two of our older vehicles, which gave us the perfect opportunity to invest in our first future-resistant IP capable trucks,” said Rob Newton, Engineering and Technical Director, NEP UK. With Venus and Ceres, NEP believes it has created a new industry benchmark for OB platform topology, as the Arista switches provide ample data throughput and data linking capacity to realise NEP’s ‘single virtual truck concept’
Spain-based Tilt outfits its mobile production unit with a Calrec Artemis console
Madrid-based Tilt, a bespoke audio and video broadcast service provider, is reaping the benefits of a 48-fader Artemis Light console from Calrec for its UM003HD mobile production unit. Tilt’s business has grown considerably in the past year as it works with a variety of customers in live production across sports, music events, commercials and documentaries. The Artemis Light, which is the company’s first Calrec console, replaced an older console inside the expandable 16-camera, 12-metre rigid truck. It was installed by Tilt and supplied by Calrec’s Spanish distributor COEL Audio Solutions.
STUDIO PRODUCTION
Lawo and NEP Sweden Join the Stars for TV4’s New Music Show
The main focus of the 1,600m², 800m² and 167m² studios is NEP Sweden’s live broadcast production of Friday and Saturday TV entertainment and music shows. Consistent requests from clients prompted NEP Sweden to build a fixed SCR. The aim was to retain the flexible use of the studios through efficient technology and intuitive operation. Key to achieving this was the choice of a Lawo mc²56 console – the same model used in NEP’s OB vans – VSM Control and Monitoring System and an upgrade of the room acoustics. The SCR concept and technical planning of the 26m² SCR were handled in-house by NEP Sweden, with Broadcast Solution serving as the system integrator and managing the installation. The room acoustics were designed by Per Sörlin of Kista-based company, Tonteknik Engineering.
Coventry University Chooses Ross Video for End-to-End Newsroom Solution
Coventry University has worked for a number of years with Ross Video Gold Preferred Partners Altered Images and has gradually built up a suite of Ross products, including the Carbonite production switcher, XPression graphics, NK routers, infrastructure and glue products, culminating in the decision to choose Inception News – Ross Video’s newsroom control solution. Commenting on the Inception deployment, Shaun Smith, Senior Technician & Skills Instructor for The Tank Studio, points to the quality of support received as a key differentiator. “As ever, we received expert, relevant advice and support during our research on what we wanted to achieve with an NRCS. We looked at what was available on the market, but we already have other Ross Products that integrate seamlessly with MOS Workflows, such as XPression Graphics, so Inception was the clear choice.
SPORT EVENTS
VAR at the 2018 FIFA World Cup™
The FIFA Referees Committee has selected 13 Referees, who will act solely as Video Assistant Referees (VARs) during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™. The selection criteria for the VARs was primarily based on their experience as Video Match Officials in their respective National Associations and Confederation competitions, in addition to their successful participation in several preparatory seminars and FIFA competitions, where they enhanced their VAR knowledge and skills by using the system. In addition to the 13 Video Assistant Referees, some of the Referees and Assistant Referees who were selected for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia will also act as Video Match Officials during FIFA’s main competition. These appointments will be made before the matches.
934,484 km closer to a cure: Charity champions triumph again
Over 100,000 registered runners and wheelchair participants at more than 200 locations across 66 countries covered 934,484 km globally on Sunday in the fifth annual Wings for Life World Run charity event to raise funds for spinal cord injury research. Five and a half hours of camaraderie and competition shared across every continent produced unforgettable moments of elation and emotion until Swedish wheelchair athlete Aron Anderson and Portuguese runner Vera Nunes were crowned Global Champions. Everyone can take part in the Wings for Life World Run regardless of fitness level, and the 2018 edition of the run for those who can’t brought all-time event totals to more than half a million registered participants.
Optocore Networks Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Opening & Closing Ceremony
As official audio supplier for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, Norwest Productions again relied on a large Optocore optical fibre network for site wide signal distribution — as they have globally on many occasions in the past. In fact it was the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in their native country that first propelled the company onto the world stage. After again successfully winning a competitive bid, the production company worked alongside event organisers, Jack Morton Worldwide, to overcome the challenges of the 25,000-capacity stadium.
SHOW EVENTS
Claypaky celebrates new era with Orbital
British Electronic Dance Music (EDM) pioneers, Orbital, reunited last year to the delight of music fans world-wide after five years apart following separate projects. Brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll are currently touring their mind-bending reunion show across Europe. Lit and stage designed by the band's long-term lighting designer Jonny Gaskell, the show features an array of lighting effects from the Claypaky A.leda B-EYE K20 and Claypaky Stormy CC. Known and loved for their moments of on-the-spot improvisation during live shows, Orbital can be a challenging act to light for even a seasoned designer.
Going Mega for Israel 70 Independence Day Celebrations
Ronen Najar is a lighting designer used to working under some pressure, and for the 2018 Israeli Independence Day (Yom Ha'atzmaut) Opening Ceremony on Mount Herzl, Jerusalem, he needed those steely nerves as part of the creative team helping to commemorate a historically significant moment in Israel’s history, … the 70th anniversary of the 1948 Declaration of Independence. Ronen chose to use 55 x Robe MegaPointes and 68 x BMFLs - a combination of Spots and WashBeams - to illuminate the vast performance area built around the tomb of Theador Herzl, founder of modern political Zionism, at the top of the Mount of Remembrance, the site of Israel’s national cemetery and a resting place for the country’s war dead.
Elation Lighting Rig for Shaka Ponk 2018 “MonkAdelic” Tour
French band Shaka Ponk is one of the most eclectic you’ll ever run across. Adored by a growing fan base captivated by the group’s artistry and wildly energetic mix of rock/funk, the band is touring through 2018 with a rig that includes flexible lighting pods full of Elation Rayzor 360Z™ LED fixtures, as well as Elation’s new narrow-beam DARTZ 360™ LED moving head. Lighting design is by Alexandre Bucher of the 4eleven company, who has worked with Shaka Ponk for seven years as a lighting and video programmer and has toured with the band several times. The current “MonkAdelic” tour is his first as lighting designer. The LD, who also serves as lighting director on the tour, works with a set rich in scenery and detail with accompanying video show that flows in imagery and imagination.
PRODUCTS
AJA KUMO 6464 Powers Multi-Signal Routing
The world’s top ULTRA4 racers converge in Johnson Valley, CA every February to compete in the King of Hammers, a week-long series of off-road races spanning more than 200 miles of rocky desert terrain. The race draws in more than 60,000 spectators and is broadcast live to audiences via the ULTRA4 racing website and Livestream.com, with highlights streamed to YouTube and Facebook Live. Hammerking Productions is responsible for the week-long production, capturing and streaming more than seven hours of footage a day to fans on-site and online. With this year’s production involving multiple camera sources and destinations, the Hammerking team tapped AJA’s KUMO 6464 for SDI signal routing.
AURUS and NEXUS mixing the Sound of Hollywood
Hans Zimmer, Academy Award, Grammy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, is one of the most famous film composers of our time. "The World of Hans Zimmer – A Symphonic Celebration," began a concert tour of Germany at the end of April, although Hans Zimmer himself will not be appearing. It presents the film composer's soundtracks for blockbuster productions, which he has rearranged for orchestral performance. Hans Zimmer chose Germany for this world premiere – and equipment from the Berlin-based manufacturer Stage Tec is joining the tour.