Recent Sports and Show Events and 3D on the Rise

Panorama Picks EVS Systems to Equip its New Fleet

All-Time Record Deal for EVS: 12 HD OBVans with XT3, XF2 and IPDirector: The choice of Panorama for EVS servers and live controllers as a standard solution for their new mobile units results from the extreme reliability combined with the live oriented architecture of EVS technologies. In addition, EVS was the only system provider to guarantee such a fast level of technology implementation while guarantying a large acceptance of its solutions by broadcast specialists and advanced operators. The complete solution comprises an extended range of EVS products including the new XT3 production and media server, removable storage system XF2 and advanced production content management system IPDirector. As part of the deal, EVS will also train more than 1,500 operators in Russia, creating a large community of operators in that region of the world.

Read more ...

MTV Networks Selects Lawo for New Remote Truck

mc²66 MKII console offers audio quality, operational ease, and flexibility for varied projects: Offering advanced redundancy for failsafe operation, mc² bay server technology, a new control system on the MKII router, real-time DSP data transfer within the HD core, and extended frame modularity among its numerous features, the mc²66 MKII is designed to provide mix engineers with the most state-of-the-art and secure mixing system for demanding projects. The console slated for deployment in MTVN’s new truck is configured with 40 main faders, 8 Extra Faders, and 8 center section faders, plus five DSP cards.

Read more ...

C2S Systems Builds Dual-Truck OB for SuperSport

Four Mercedes Axor-R 2529’s were selected as the truck model for the OB units with two further vehicles being provided for support. Each operational pair providesenough space for production, audio and replay areas in one truck and an engineering and uplink area in the other. The production area was designed to include capacity for six VT’s and three on-air graphics systems, while the engineering truck includes capacity for five EVS media servers for slow-motion replay and highlights editing. Each equipped with twenty HD system cameras, including one super slow motion, plus two HD box cameras on robotic heads, the units provide all the functionality of a single truck with the advantage of additional operator space and an on-board uplink removing the need for a satellite van. Dolby D and E encoding enables 5.1 audio capabilities. The two complete OBs were designed to be almost identical with only the choice of audio mixer differing between them.

Read more ...

“All Lit Up”: grandMA2 for Opening Celebration of the IRB Rugby World Cup 2011

The IRB Rugby World Cup was the biggest sporting event ever to be staged on New Zealand shores. It kicked-off on 9th September 2011 with the Opening Ceremony at Auckland’s Eden Park, broadcast to a global television audience estimated at over 50 million. An estimated 200,000 people crowded the Auckland waterfront precinct to take in the visual spectacle aptly named “All Lit Up”. Lighting Designer David Eversfield relied on a grandMA2 system for control. While the show’s lighting design in the stadium was created by Paul Collison, who worked with a grandMA2 system as well, Eversfield and the Opticshock team used 1 x grandMA2 light, 1 x grandMA2 onPC and 3 x grandMA 3D for the lights spread across the city.

Read more ...

TF1 Uses Grass Valley K2 Dyno Replay System for Rugby World Cup 2011 Coverage

The powerful, yet cost-effective, K2 Dyno Replay System consists of a K2 Dyno Replay Controller combined with either a K2 Summit™ production client or K2 Solo™ media server. The TF1 systems use both a K2 Summit and K2 Solo connected with an external HDD for replay, slow-motion, loop record, play-list, and storage. “The Grass Valley solution is cutting edge technology that offers a number of advantages over other systems,” says Jean-Pascal Lefort, TF1’s Head of Studio Department. “The K2 Dyno Replay System is so intuitive to use, with playlists, thumbnails, and the ease of switching from two programs to program/preview, meaning our operators need little training. It is performing very well and standing up to the rigours of the World Cup, having to create live replays for up to three games back-to-back. We also plan to use it for some of our Formula 1 coverage.”

Read more ...

EAW KF740 Line Array Relays Rugby World Cup Semi-Final to Cardiff Millenium Stadium

More than 61,000 people turned up to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium recently to watch the free live streaming of Wales v France in the Rugby World Cup 2011 Semi Final from New Zealand. This required a hasty sound reinforcement infrastructure to be constructed inside the Stadium for the commentary and live performances, including an EAW KF740 line array speaker system and three big screens. For Huw ‘Buz’ Evans and Rob Ashton from Welsh sound rental company ABacoustics, it might have seemed something of a poisoned chalice as they accepted the challenge from local production company Orchard Media & Events Group to rig their EAW PA — and deliver the same outstanding performance from the KF740 system as they had achieved when the two companies last worked together on ‘Ponty’s Big Weekend’ in Pontypridd. For whilst this would be the biggest production the company had ever undertaken they were given just four days’ notice — and they knew that sound curfews and restricted set up time caused by the presence of television crews carrying out pre-match day presentation would dramatically reduce the customary set-up and prep time.

Read more ...

wTVision Does Multi-Sports on the first GCC Games

During the whole event, 10 operators guaranteed the real-time graphics service, to Live Abu Dhabi Media, using the SportStats CG software. The event, broadcast by Abu Dhabi Sports Channel, had volleyball, basketball, bowling, soccer, handball, goalball, swimming, table tennis, cycling and athletics competitions, being wTVision the graphics service provider for every one of them. wTVision’s designers created all graphic templates, which were based on the competition's logo. SportStats CG is the heart of all wTVision's sports projects. It has built-in features that cover the needs of over 40 different sports. The software provides tools to collect and manage sports data, transforming that information into on-air graphics. This product also integrates data from official sources into the system, enabling the graphics to be aired in real-time.

Read more ...

Omneon MediaGrid Active Storage System to Sit at Heart of Live Production for 2012 Summer Games

Installed in Stratford, London, as part of an integrated live production solution incorporating EVS servers, the MediaGrid storage system will provide efficient, highly available storage optimized for media. During the games, events will be recorded onto EVS servers for logging, replay, and basic editing. Content will also be streamed to the MediaGrid via EVS XTAccess, with high-res and proxy files being stored on the MediaGrid. In addition to supporting numerous simultaneous ingests, the system will enable production staff to search and view a proxy version of footage using EVS IP Browse clients. The MediaGrid system will work in tandem with an Avid ISIS and Media Composer editing solution to support the creation of features, highlights packages, and news-based packages. EVS and Avid plugins will facilitate search, import, and export functions, ensuring that finished content is delivered to the appropriate destination or EVS playout server.

Read more ...

SPORTELMonaco 2011 Proves to be a Great Success!

Once again SPORTELMonaco has completed another successful market! As announced this morning by Ms. Amparo DiFede, General Manager of SPORTEL Organization, SPORTELMonaco has reached another high with 2330 participants, representing 970 companies of 67 nations. This shows a 10% increase for the market and making it the biggest in ten years. Not to be forgotten are other highlights during SPORTELMonaco 2011, the annual Georges Bertellotti GOLDEN PODIUM AWARDS Ceremony, the international conference of “Olympic Games – The Lean Forward Revolution in Sports”, the symposium “Smart TV – Added Value for Sport?” and the very special press event “World Judo Championships, Paris 2011 and it’s Media Coverage”. In addition to that, attendees could witness demonstrations from the International Judo Federation and participate in an activity hosted by Bloggysport and win a trip to Las Vegas.

Read more ...

Martin Audio Helps MoS Celebrate Memorable 20th Birthday

The world’s most famous nightclub celebrated with a three-day party throughout an unforgettable weekend. Three generations of house music were represented — with an all star line up that included Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Eddie Halliwell, Nic Fanciulli, Matthias Tanzmann, Sean Tyas, Dennis Ferrer and CJ Mackintosh. Clubbers were taken on a three-night journey through trance, techno and finally 20 years of house — courtesy of the pioneers who helped shape the respective genres. MoS Production Manager, Chris Thoms, was one who was delighted with the raw energy of the sound system. “The support we have received from Martin Audio has been outstanding. As a result of the hard work put in by both Martin Audio and the Ministry of Sound technical team we have made a significant difference to the already impressive and award winning sound system.

Read more ...

SHOWGUN 2.5s Shimmer on Carlos Santana

LD Lee Gipson shares his recipe for lighting designs: see what ingredients are in the warehouse, make sure it fits the budget, and then create with what you’ve got. “Face it, that’s the reality of design,” he said. He likens it to a buffet-table approach to lighting selection, he described: “I’ll take a few of those and some of these over here and do you have a few more of that. And there, it’s done.” But one thing he specifically looks for, he said, are High End Systems, a Barco company, SHOWGUN 2.5s. “I always try to make sure I have them in my rig,” he said. For Santana’s current tour, he specified 18 SHOWGUN 2.5s, supplied by Light Source Inc. of Milford, MI. Rick O’Neill of Light Source Inc. said the company has supplied various items of equipment over the years for Santana, but for this tour they are providing the complete system with 150 automated luminaires. Besides SHOWGUN 2.5s, Light Source Inc. features other High End Systems lighting products are in their inventory as well.

Read more ...

Rockapella’s Powerful Vocal Performances Backed by AKG Microphones

As Glee and The Sing Off shine a new light on the vocal performance culture, Rockapella is celebrating 20 years of wowing audiences around the globe with a vast variety of musical selections spanning all genres, and utilizing only their voices for melodies, harmonies, and percussion.  Setting the stage for their annual Holiday Show Tour in 2012, the 5-man ‘band’ will travel the nation, backed up by HARMAN’s AKG DMS 700 digital and WMS 4500 wireless systems. Along with the group’s unique solo performances, in 2012 Rockapella will be teaming up with the internationally acclaimed Boston Pops Orchestra during select legs of its Holiday Tour.  Combining the intricate harmonies of the “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” theme singers with the Boston Pops, the 2012 tour will offer beautiful renditions of the world’s favorite holiday songs, as well as original music, performed a cappella and with the full Pops ensemble.

Read more ...

Clay Paky Sharpys ‘on the run’ with Paul McCartney

When it was time for rock legend Paul McCartney to acquire a new rig for his recent tour of North America, lighting designer Roy Bennett selected over 80 Clay Paky Sharpy narrow-beam spotlights. Bennett, whose association with McCartney dates back to 2001, decided to incorporate the Sharpys into his design after seeing them for the first time at the LDI industry show in 2010. “When I first saw the Sharpy, I was really impressed. It’s totally new and fresh, yet it reminded me of some of the early classic stuff.” During preparations for the new tour, Bennett decided it was time to update the lighting rig: “We’d been using the same configuration for the last four years, and I wanted to do something cleaner. Everyone agreed that it was time to start changing stuff.” The initial concept sprang from an idea suggested by McCartney himself. “Paul had talked about wanting a laser effect or a ‘cage of light’”, says Bennett, “and when he said that I thought, ‘alright, I know what can do that!’”

Read more ...

DPA Vehicle Recordings Keep Pole Position Production Ahead of the Game

Swedish company Pole Position Production is a leading provider of high quality vehicle recordings, providing games developers as well as industry racing simulators with sounds. The company has recorded more than 100 vehicles including fighter jets, tanks, racing cars, old war planes and motorbikes, using a carefully chosen arsenal of DPA microphones. “We have tried a lot of different microphones, and have carefully built up a traveling bag consisting mainly of DPA mics,” says Pole Position’s Bernard Lohr. “We have found that besides excellent sound quality, our main demands for microphones are the possibility to withstand high sound pressure while maintaining premium quality, and to be mountable so that we can avoid wind, rain and any unwanted noise.” When recording inside a vehicle, Pole Position usually records eight tracks. “All cars are different, but for the Lamborghini we used three 4062s on the rear wing of the car, two of them close to the exhaust and one a bit further back,” says Lohr. “In the engine bay we mounted both 4061s and 4062s, since you never really know what sound pressure you will have, and there is little time to adjust things when recording race cars.”

Read more ...

Polecam Gets Close and Personal at Bass Rock

The project was planned to include a shoot on the island itself as the RSPB team (Toby Hough and Robin Hill) were keen to get close and personal with thousands of nesting gannets under the watchful eye of Maggie Sheddan from the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick. “Being much lighter in weight than traditional camera cranes of comparable reach, the Polecam system proved easy to transport even on and off a small fishing boat ('Fisher Lassie' skippered by Gordon Easingwoood) bouncing up and down in the North Sea swell,” Steffan explains.  “Once safely ashore we had to hike the equipment up steep steps, through the disused ruins of an old prison and onward to an open area full of nesting gannets whilst all the time running the gauntlet with hoards of dive-bombing gulls.”

Read more ...

NewTek tours Europe with the MINI LiveMan

Going Live: For this unique and never seen Tour in Europe, 3D Storm integrated a MINI Countryman with a TriCaster 450 EXTREME, the latest addition to the TriCaster product family. TriCaster™ 450 EXTREME is a 14-channel, HD/SD portable live production switcher, in a 2U rack mount system. With proprietary NewTek IsoCorder™ technology, TriCaster 450 EXTREME provides the ability to record up to four channels of video from either inputs or outputs. It includes integrated live titling editor and HD Live Virtual Sets, with real-time reflections and animated zoom control. TriCaster 450 EXTREME live Streaming capabilities in multiple formats including, Windows Media® and Adobe Flash® (H.264) in any resolution up to HD expands live production broadcast possibilities. TriCaster 450 EXTREME offers important additional benefits, such as direct support for any Apple® AirPlay®-enabled app or device, plus EQ and compressor/limiter capabilities on every audio input and output, seven animation Store Transitions to deliver real time transitions, motion video effects and audio, and an integrated Web browser to access online CDN accounts.

Read more ...

London’s Hangman Studios Makes the Grade in Music and Beyond

Over the last 10 years he has built up his Shepherd’s Bush-based studio operation into a pioneering centre of production and post production making music videos, commercials and films for clients including Robbie Williams, Björk, The Libertines, T-Mobile and Smart Cars. Recently he has added Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve 8 grading to his post production line up of two Final Cut Pro Studio online suites and a 5.1 audio suite. “I decided it had to be Resolve because colour correction is at the heart of my post production passion. I spend a lot of time making the grade perfect and need a cost-effective system which allows me to do just that,” he explains. Another area where Tonkin has demonstrated enthusiasm for new technology is in the studio’s experimentation with the latest camera formats.

Read more ...

Changing the Game

Anyone who has seen one of the recent broadcasts from BSkyB or ESPN understands how compelling and immersive S3D can be.  Also, there are now so many networks, consumer electronics companies, and vendors supplying the S3D business that the genie cannot be put back into the bottle.  S3D TV is here to stay.  When it comes to critical mass, it is no longera question of if, but when? What is missing from the equation is content.  While there are some events already heading to air, there is not yet enough variety of content to appeal to a mainstream audience.  Interestingly enough, the current generation of technologies are now good enough to launch S3D television, but without this content there is no solid business case to convince broadcasters and rights holders to make the leap.  As with the introduction of many new technologies, it’s a chicken and egg scenario.  The business case will only work when there is a large installed base of 3D-ready televisions.  Yet the growth of this installed base is reliant on a steady supply of mainstream content; shows that the audience wants to watch week after week.

Read more ...

3D Broadcasting Dominated IBC 2011

The central message from the show was that if 3D is to go mass market then a hardboiled business model needs cementing. The emphasis was on the production aspect of that model in acknowledgement that without practical and inexpensive technology and workflows the content gap needed for 3D channels will not be filled. “The current phase of 3D began with the clunky, cabled and complex approach,” noted Sony’s senior VP of engineering and SMPTE President, Peter Lude, in a conference session examining 3D’s future. “We are now into phase two which is about greater automation and computer analysis with the aim of making it easier to use rigs, correct errors and reduce manual convergence.” That is something that Cameron Pace Group (CPG), 3ality Technica and others are working toward in the outside broadcast environment although the substitution of all convergence ops and stereographers by machines, which appears to be CPG’s line in the interests of economic efficiency, is a bone of contention.

Read more ...

6-Axis Lens Control System from Element Technica

Element Technica is Introducing a 6-Axis Lens Control System, which offers a lower cost alternative to  owner/operator customers. Along with the 6-Axis Controller Box is a 3-axis Element Technica developed remote hand unit called THC-L (Technica Hand Control - Lens), based on the same platform as the THC-S (Technica Hand Control - Stereo). The primary difference between the two is an optional spring-loaded rate sensor designed for smooth in-shot zooming, or the standard positional sensor. With 3ality Technica's SIP2100, (and now Mistika Live and StereoLabs Pure) connectivity and bi-directional communication, techs have the choice to either use one of these analyzers to automatically create a profile, or they can quickly do it the old-fashioned way with a chart. Access to the 6-Axis LCS subsystems is possible through a PC application (Metadata Viewer,) or through a new iOS App (Rig Manager).

Read more ...

German Broadcaster ZDF steped into 3D

To capture spectacular climbing scenes of Alexander and Thomas Huber special stereo 3D Rig Setups had to be used. After months of preparation and research ZDF and the Virtual Experience team developed a solution: In combining an innovative miniature 3D camera setup, the Sina Cam and the lightweight Freesytle mirror Rig by P+S Technik, the two extreme mountain camera operators, Franz Hinterbrandner and Max Reichel could operate a system which is capable of mastering difficult climbing shots inside the rock. All the camera and 3D settings were wire-controlled over far distances (up to 300 feet / 100m) by the stereographers and camera technicans. In addition, crane and steadycam shots were produced under extreme circumstances in the wild mountain scenery. A new generation Transvideo „S“ 3D HDSDI monitor allowed live viewing and stereo allignment in every situation.

Read more ...