54 TVBEurope The Workflow Major upgrade at leading
One of the largest production centres on the continent has embarked on a significant re-equip programme. Philip Stevens investigates what’s involved at TTC
“We are a leading innovation- Mikhail Shubin: “Our intention is to build another three large studios”
MOSCOW’S TELEVISION Technical Center (TTC — but also known as Ostankino after the district of the city in which it is located) began life in 1967 and was dominated by the tallest television tower in the world of that time. The centre went on to become the biggest TV technical centre in Europe. When Moscow hosted the
Olympic Games in 1980, a new facility was constructed to serve as the International Broadcasting Centre. Today that building houses around 40 studios with a production area of 240,000sqm and is used by many of the broadcasters and production companies in Russia. In all, a staff of around 1,800 is employed there. In addition, between 15,000 and 20,000 other people visit the facility each day — comprising the staff of TTC partners, studio guests and spectators who can travel to the top of the 540m tower.
“Ostankino was one of
the divisions of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of the USSR,” explains CEO of Television Technical Center, Mikhail Shubin. “Now the facilities include studios ranging in size from 60 to 1,000sqm, exterior shooting locations, recording and editing in SD and HD formats, electronic archive, creating costumes and scenery and the integration of equipment for
the many customers who use the centre.” TTC’s main customer is
Russia’s Channel One, but the facility also houses NTV, NTV Plus, Russian public television, Red Square, Red Media, Technostyle, VID and others.
driven corporation and are constantly developing our technologies,” he says. “It’s extremely important for us to provide our clients with the most innovative and modern broadcasting and production equipment available. As one of our long-standing partners, Grass Valley offered us the solution that meets the needs in TV production for major market players.” This current two-year project includes the installation of 100 LDK 8000 and LDX Première Elite 3G Transmission triax camera systems and 11 Karrera 3 M/E Video Production Center switchers. “Traditionally, we have used equipment from different manufacturers,” states Shubin. “However, when it was decided to move
He goes on to say that that another consideration that favoured the GV proposal was the potential for easy and economical upgrade of equipment from 1080i format to 1080p.
Speaking about the decision to choose the Karrera switcher, Shubin says, “The architecture enabled us to purchase only what we need now, and then add options as required. The best features of a sophisticated
www.tvbeurope.com May 2013
Calrec Apollo was one of the choices of audio console for the TTC HD facility
The giant building in the Moscow district of Ostankino that houses more than 40 studios
Multiple studios
Shubin reports that the transition to high definition has started and will be completed by 2014. Currently, 11 of the studios are being upgraded, with most of the work being carried out by systems integrator OKNO-TV. One of the major purchases for the upgrade has involved Grass Valley (GV) cameras and vision mixers.
to HD, our specialists considered all the major players in the market and sought the brand that provided good image quality, the availability of a range of studio equipment, functional ability and, very importantly, a high quality of technical support in Russia. Many tests and clarifications were done, the results of which showed preferred equipment from Grass Valley.”
Kayenne switcher are incorporated into Karrera as a nice surface with an uncomplicated, clean layout and it is so easy to work out. And its logical suite mode — in our case, two control panels that work with the same mainframe was ideally implemented into requested workflow.” According to Alexander
Bogatkin, managing director of
GV Russia and CIS, the choice of the Karrera switcher was a logical one. “TTC uses Grass Valley switchers throughout its facilities which mean that operators can easily move from one studio to another without having to learn new pieces of equipment. Also, the physical size of the switchers and ergonomics of the panels perfectly match with the infrastructure and operational needs of the facility.” Regarding the choice of
cameras, Bogatkin says that the 1080p image quality of the LDK 8000 Elite in combination with its triax-based delivery system is ideally suited for the television centre and its clients. “The centre is able to use hundreds of kilometres of existing triax infrastructure, and the staff is well trained on Grass Valley LDK camera systems, having taken delivery of LDK 6000 HD cameras in 2006.” The cameras will be mounted on Vinten pedestals
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