Gravity Media has supplied two EVS XT3s to outside broadcast company Dimension Television Facilities to cover the World Rugby Sevens Series in Cape Town.
This was the first time South Africa had hosted a women’s leg of the Sevens World Series, which was held on the same weekend as the men’s competition. Last year, only two legs were integrated ‒ Dubai and Sydney ‒ but this season, six of the women’s games will be held simultaneously with the men’s. That’s progress.
New Zealand ultimately ran out winners 17-7 against Australia in front of a 55,000-strong crowd. The men’s side made it a clean sweep for New Zealand, with the All Blacks edging hosts South Africa 7-5 in their Final.
The next meeting will be in Hamilton, New Zealand on 25 and 26 January 2020.
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.”
The football World Cup is often described as the ‘Greatest Show on Earth’, and once again Gearhouse Broadcast is right at the heart of it as the finest players around the globe descend on South Africa this summer.
With a worldwide TV audience of billions, Gearhouse Broadcast is being used by seven major multinational broadcasters to supply both project solutions and equipment.
Some of the broadcast equipment in South Africa consists of 36 EVS Hard Disk recorders, 42 EVS IP directors, 20 Sony HD 1500 channel cameras plus 42 Canon HD lenses.
It’s not just Gearhouse Broadcast’s rental equipment that is in demand. The sheer logistics of the operation around the finals mean that the technical infrastructure behind the scenes has to be spot on, and Gearhouse Broadcast’s project solution and integration expertise will have a key part to play.
To make sure everything works properly, Gearhouse Broadcast are supplying an array of ‘glue’ equipment, large routing systems, audio and vision mixers, thousands of metres of fibre, video and audio cabling, camera systems , down and up converters, and distribution and monitoring systems.
In case of any technical issues Gearhouse Broadcast Engineers will be on the spot to rectify any issues immediately, we have 82 crew working a total of 2650 main days on this project.
“This is our biggest event of the year, with a massive global audience and definitely the sort of project that we want to be involved in,” says Gearhouse Broadcast’s Rentals Division Account Executive Ben McKeenan.
“We started preparing for this project back in September 2009. Because of the size of the kit and the distance involved, we’re sending it out this month so there is plenty of time to get it all in place and working.
“But it’s non-stop and a lot of this equipment has either come straight from other projects, such as the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and will be straight off elsewhere as soon as it gets back.”
Even with so much equipment half way across the other side of the world, the Rentals Division always strike a balance to ensure they can readily service customers here in the UK and elsewhere.
