Gravity Media works with specialist coachbuilders to oversee the design and build of clients’ own OB trucks. We can design, build, integrate and finish any type of vehicle or mobile unit, from rigid and expando trucks, to remote production and ‘at home’ vehicles and small camera units and pods. 

For every bespoke OB truck build, we offer the full spectrum of broadcast systems expertise, ranging from planning and project management through to design, engineering, installation, commissioning, training and aftercare. Our own flagship OB truck Columbus was built by renowned specialist coachbuilder A Smith of Great Bentley (ASGB Ltd), under Gravity Media’s direction. This partnership approach is one that has served us well, both for internal builds and projects for clients such as Sky Sports and the Turkish TV Corporation. 

High-end OB trucks are a true tour de force in broadcast terms. Featuring one-touch hydraulic deployment, integrated RF (mast included) and IP connectivity, supertrucks can be specced with massive 4K monitor walls, multiple 4K/HD cameras and powerful multi-format audio-visual capabilities. Spacious, comfortable, and with zoned air conditioning to complete the package. For environments not suited to articulated megatrucks, we also build high-spec van-based units fully equipped to transport live HD footage from hard-to-get-to locations.

On 1 July 2018, we announced to the world that Proshow Broadcast was joining the Gearhouse Broadcast USA arm of the Gravity Media Group. We can’t believe that was a year ago to the day – and what a year it has been. The past seven months have seen Proshow’s trucks help Gearhouse become North America’s leading multi-camera, remote integration (REMI) production company, delivering a wide variety of content ranging from sports and entertainment shows to news and corporate events.

Gearhouse’s position as the leader in ‘At Home’ centralized productions was cemented in June this year, when it completed its 1,850th REMI production. The milestone was passed at the close of the 2019 US collegiate sports season, where we covered the Washington Huskies vs California Bears in the Pac-12 Baseball.

That baseball game was one of 350 events we cover for PAC-12 Networks each year, as well as 100 events annually for ESPN and countless others including The Oscars, SAG Awards, Latin Grammys and Canada Sevens Rugby.

A typical REMI offers a flexible, modern and durable workflow that’s fast and cost-efficient to deploy. Smaller, purpose-built mobile units can be used at any venue, and only video and audio hardware, alongside comms hardware, a transmission interface and engineering support, are required on-site. Video switching, audio mixing, graphics, replays and show production can all be done ‘at home’ at the broadcast centre. It’s an increasingly popular option, and the perfect complement to our high-end high-def supertrucks.

We look forward to seeing what the next 12 months will bring.

Our US fleet of mobile units services a wide range of outside broadcast needs, from sporting events and entertainment shows to corporate functions and reality TV. We have a full complement of units on offer, including 60ft and 40ft expanding vehicles, 30ft and 40ft non-expanding units, a fleet of REMI production vans, and our new Sprinter vans featuring the ViVa production platform.

Our top of the range mobile unit is the Los Angeles based Columbus – the first broadcast vehicle in the US to feature a full 4K monitor wall.  Designed especially for the US live production market, the unit is IP-ready and brings new technical and operational advantages to any production, all in a comfortable, crew-friendly working environment.

Gearhouse Broadcast’s US vice president Marc Genin comments: “For high-pressure, live broadcast situations, this truck gives production teams the ability to adapt quickly. The unit is automatically deployed and levelled via remote-controlled hydraulics, and its advanced technology infrastructure provides every level of service for broadcasters’ needs.”

Three weeks after its arrival, Columbus was put to the test at a major event in downtown L.A. “That weekend saw one of the biggest storms in years, bringing heavy rain and high winds,” recalls Genin. “The truck was hammered, but there wasn’t a drop of water anywhere inside and production continued as normal. Columbus performed beyond expectations, proving our technical expertise and design acumen is a force to be reckoned with, even when up against Mother Nature.”

In the mid-range, Syke and Iona are our newest multi-purpose mobile units, joining the likes of Maestro, Prodigy, Opus and Ovation. Built with flexibility in mind, users can easily operate a full six-camera live production or connect to a broadcast centre. Both units have a ViBox all-in-one production system, with a space-saving footprint, 4RU chassis and 27” touchscreen, which can be operated as a recording and streaming device. The units also pack six Hitachi cameras, two robotic cameras, and a Telex communications system.

Completing the line-up is The Brain, a rack-ready Mercedes van that can be configured as an eight-camera MCR with two additional RF camera channels, or as an RF vehicle with up to eight RF cameras, complete with wireless communications.

The combined fleet is based at our facilities in Charlotte, NC and Los Angeles, CA, primed and ready to take on production assignments nationwide.

Our Australian line-up of mobile units and OB trucks takes some beating. The fleet includes a hybrid HD semi-trailer, a native 4K rigid truck, and three state-of-the-art, 30-camera HD supertrucks, each specifically designed with Australian broadcast requirements in mind.

This extensive fleet is a common sight across all states and territories, appearing at various major sporting events, music concerts, studio productions and more. Each unit sets new standards for efficiency, working comfort and processing power, and we have the expert team to match. Whatever your requirements, we have specialists on hand to help at any stage of a production, from equipment and fleet movement to production supervision and engineering.

One of our biggest deployments in recent times was at the legendary Bathurst 1000 supercar race in October, where we collaborated with Foxtel to launch its eagerly anticipated live 4K service. It was a first for Australian sports broadcasting, and saw 28 native 4K cameras capture all the action over seven continuous hours of racing.

The setup required five OB trucks, with additional kit brought in from our US, UK and European operations to make sure we could deliver the highest-quality 4K content. That meant 26 Sony HDC-4300s and a Sony HDC-P43 stationed at various locations around the track, as well as an HDC-4800 slow-motion camera to film in even greater detail. Each camera was equipped with Fujinon and Canon UHD lenses to provide the best possible image quality.

Meanwhile, we had an additional 56 HD sources around the venue, including specialty track cameras, pit cameras, Heli and traditional EVS output channels upscaled through the 4K VMU. The crew also used a CAMCAT high-speed cable camera system on the main straight, as well as 12 specialist cameras mounted at key points in the circuit’s curbs and walls.

With the track being over 6kms long, we had to rig more than 30kms of fibre around the site to bring all the video, audio, data and comms back to the OB compound. That’s a lot of cable.

The net result was the successful live broadcast of the 161-lap race on Foxtel 4K, with Supercars’ Nathan Prendergast describing us as “the natural choice” for delivering such a large-scale 4k event for the first time. Amen to that.

Gearhouse Broadcast has commissioned four new 30-camera HD OB supertrucks, two of which are delivered and in operation. The trucks, named HD5, HD6, HD7 and HD8 represent a multi-million dollar investment by the company.

Gearhouse Australia Sales and Marketing Director, Manny Papas, says the new trucks are very much in keeping with Gearhouse’s global philosophy, adding, “Gearhouse Broadcast’s owner John Newton recently relocated to Australia and his edict has always been quality and presentation are paramount. Anyone who sees these trucks will also see that edict has been followed to the letter.”

Four new trucks is a big investment by any company’s standards in today’s challenging marketplace, but Gearhouse has experienced significant year on year growth, which, according to Papas, was the driving force behind their commissioning.

He added, “HD5 and HD6 have just been finished and gone immediately into service. This demonstrates the demand in the market for this level of OB supertruck. HD7 and HD8 are both scheduled to be finished by the end of this year and there are already several large events planned for them to cover.”

Not only do the trucks meet the market demand and add significant capacity to Gearhouse’s ever-growing fleet, but they have been designed specifically with Australian broadcasting requirements and workflows in mind. The trucks also set the standard for efficient layouts providing a larger production space and more processing power than any other single truck in the market, with one of the new supertrucks now capable of doing the work that would previously have taken two standard OB trucks.

Aimed predominantly but not exclusively at live sport, Gearhouse recently saw four of its trucks, including HD5 and HD6, used simultaneously over a weekend at events that included AFL games, horse racing, and V8 Supercars. The trucks have also been used on live reality shows such as Celebrity Splash.

Each of the new supertrucks had its chassis built by world-renowned coachbuilders A. Smith of Great Bentley in the UK, a process taking six months per chassis before it is shipped for integration in Australia. The trucks also feature the latest in lighting, expanding sides, physical auto levelling and 90KW of water-cooled air conditioning as standard.

As the person responsible for translating the requirements of Gearhouse Australia’s internal team and those of its clients into the trucks’ design Head of Engineering Stephen Edwards believes it is Gearhouse’s comprehensive planning and fastidious attention to detail that makes the new supertrucks a cut above any others.

Edwards added, “My team work alongside our Chief Design Consultant John Fisher, a veteran of OB truck design with over 21 to his name to date. With John’s expertise and knowledge as the driving force behind the design we are able to oversee and turn concepts into reality in every area of the truck in order that they become truly incredible production environments.”

Gearhouse’s new HD supertrucks have a number of technology centrepieces. Using their considerable purchasing power the company has managed to create one of the most powerful replay environments ever built into an OB vehicle. Based around the NVISION NV8576 hybrid main vision router that embeds and de-embeds internally has a MADI I/O and an enormous amount of processing and cross conversion power, the true hybrid router offers extensive functionality to a high number of operators

The trucks are particularly well equipped and finished to the highest levels. Standalone areas include an audio mixing and control room, replay area, production gallery, CCU and vision control and engineering space providing Gearhouse’s clients with everything they need from signal acquisition to finished programme transmission.

Some of the supertrucks’ main product highlights include the fact that they are all wired for 24 CCU and 6 POV cameras and seven 8-channel EVS XT3s, they all feature an 80 input, 36 output Sony MVS7400 mixer, have four VTRs, five replay transition devices, a 64 fader MC56 Lawo audio desk and Riedel Artist 192-port talkback system.

Manny Papas concluded, “The fact that Gearhouse has a major SI business building trucks and installations for clients all over the world is a huge bonus for our clients in Australia as all of these supertrucks are designed, built and integrated in-house by Gearhouse engineers. Nothing is outsourced which means the trucks are incredibly cost efficient. These cost efficiencies are then passed onto our customers.”

Gearhouse Broadcast is expanding its facilities, utilising progressive technologies to meet the diverse requirements of the ever-evolving television industry. The company’s fleet includes a multitude of versatile HD production vehicles that provide the highest quality vision and audio, with a robust and reliable signal flow and superior crew comfort.

The trucks were designed by Gearhouse Broadcast’s team of senior broadcast engineers, in collaboration with specialised industry providers including Sony, Gerling, Canon, Lawo and Riedel.

HD1 is a 24-camera super truck: a double-expanding semi-trailer that supports 24 cabled cameras. It regularly facilitates Fox Sports outside broadcasts and is renowned for its luxurious and spacious interior, which can sit 27 staff members. HD1 was recently displayed at the SMPTE conference, where over 700 people were shown through the truck over three days.

Just a few months old, the Melbourne-based HD2 is closely related to HD1. It is equipped for both HD and SD broadcasts, and was designed with the Seven Network’s AFL coverage in mind. It comfortably accommodates 30 staff in climate-controlled conditions. The truck’s 28-camera capacity will be utilised when Seven ramps up production for the AFL Finals series.

HD4 is one of Gearhouse Broadcast’s mid-sized vehicles, fitted with a single-side expansion compartment. HD4 takes 16 HD cameras, and has four EVS’s and three VTRs. Fresh from an extensive upgrade, HD4 is a favourite among operators and offers serious value to clients.

HD1, HD2 and HD4 all feature Sony vision mixers, audio by Lawo and Riedel Artist communications systems.

HD3 boasts five EVS and four VTR machines, seven production positions, a Euphonix audio mixer and the RTS Adam comms system. The truck can hold 17 crew members, including seven in the two-tiered production area. This vehicle will also be sporting a new look when it starts the A-League season in October.

In addition to these HD facilities, GHB has a number of SD vehicles and fly-away rigs in operation, to cater for budgets at every level.

When South African broadcaster M-NET needed an HD outside broadcast truck quickly and on budget they looked no further than UK system integration specialists Gearhouse Broadcast.

In the past Gearhouse Broadcast had supplied M-NET with multi-camera flyaway solutions and, based on the service they received on that occasion, they looked to Gearhouse Broadcast again to provide  this large, custom-built multi-format trailer.

Andre Venter, Head M-Net Broadcast Services Africa, said: “We were looking for a solution to our outside broadcast requirement and as Gearhouse Broadcast supplied us with three flyaways in the past, which were delivered on time and to budget, we turned to them to assist us with a highly specified, time sensitive requirement for a 28 camera HD OB vehicle.

The vehicle was again delivered to South Africa well within the specified time frame and budget.”

The outside broadcast trailer integrated by Gearhouse Broadcast is a triple expanding High Definition outside broadcast unit that caters for 28 HD cameras and up to three versions of 5.1 Dolby surround sound.

The unit’s lateral production area is large, spacious and air-conditioned, with three tiers of desks, which seat up to 12 production staff.

The front desk houses a 4ME vision mixer and space for 84 monitors. The second desk provides 16 monitors and comprehensive communications, while the third desk provides 32 monitors and comprehensive comms and monitoring facilities.

The third expand provides room for a second desk in the VTR area to provide space for up to 11 operators and a co-coordinator. The unit is wired for up to 12 EVS/ 14VTR.

In the vision area there is control for up to 28 cameras by seven operators, plus an engineering test position. The vision router is 576 x 576 and the audio router is 256 x 256 AES and analogue.

The unit is engineered with a large in/out capability to make it ideal for major events and is also fully air conditioned to maintain a comfortable operating environment  even in ambient temperatures of 45 C°.

“We were able to accommodate M-NET’s requirement for an OB truck within a tight deadline and to their exacting specification,” said Eamonn Dowdall, Managing Director at Gearhouse Broadcast.

“The selection of kit being used for this installation demonstrates that Gearhouse Broadcast can tailor the design to a specific market and budget according to individual customer’s needs.

“I believe Gearhouse Broadcast was selected for this project because of our proven and demonstrable experience in the provision of HD outside broadcast installations. We have delivered many previous high profile HD outside broadcast units in the UK and Europe.”