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24 l November 2013


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broadcastfeature UNITED KINGDOM


Building the perfect


OB truck


OUTSIDE BROADCAST trucks have evolved in recent years. It’s not just that they’ve grown in size – although smaller units still have their place – but the technology inside them has changed. This is largely because of the demands put on them by not just established TV broadcasters looking to differentiate themselves from the competition but also the new generation of internet streaming services, which want quality sound and pictures to rival their broadcast competitors. So how do you set about building one?


FIND YOUR SPACE Having enough room to work comfortably and not be hampered in what you’re doing


by bumping into things or just a general oppressive feeling is conducive to doing a good job. It’s probably even more of a priority in OB trucks, which have the inherent contradiction of space always being at a premium. Even more so for the audio crew in scanner trucks because the vision control area and, increasingly, the production gallery – with seating for the producer, director, various assistants and sometimes the talent – will always take a great deal of what available real estate there is.


A positive point in today’s


market is that, as Wayland Twiston Davies, OB specialist with Sony Professional’s systems integration division observes, it


Kevin Hiltonexamines the blueprints to see what makes an ideal OB vehicle


is “very rare not to build vehicles with expandable sides”. Back in the days of the first articulated trailer OBs the sound department usually had its own area, separate from the other sections, but now it can have much more room as well. Malcolm Robinson, director


of broadcast and media solutions with Broadcast Networks, says in recent years the mixing console has been “central to the final design” of units built by the company. He explains there are two usual configurations for the sound desk. It can be installed across the vehicle facing the production area, although this means the width of the truck could give limited space for


the console’s surface, or along the side of the vehicle’s wall. In both cases a double sound proofed window will give eye contact between personnel in the sound and vision areas. An exception to these


approaches is when there is an ‘expanding front’ to the trailer. In this case the console fits across the vehicle but on the front wall, which in turn expands to give what Robinson describes as “significant space for the sound engineer”. Not all OB operators can


Gearhouse Broadcast is a big builder of OB vehicles, such as this one


afford to build a monstrous expanding OB truck or, in practical terms, needs to have one for its particular area of business. ‘Sprinter’-style units, usually based on the long-wheel base Mercedes van of that name, are popular as either mini-scanners for television production or satellite uplinks in news gathering, with basic production and transmission equipment inside. Usually OB installations in this type of vehicle concentrate on the basics or particular equipment needed for a specific job. But Irish facilities company Riverside Television has proved that it is possible to get a technological quart into a motorised pint pot. ROB 1 (Riverside Outside Broadcast) was built into a Mercedes Sprinter 316cdi and although


open-plan inside it does manage to feature distinct areas for vision control, graphics and sound, with a seat for a director or client alongside the production switcher. This has been achieved


through some careful planning and physical design. The side wall of the van housing the sliding door bows outwards enough to give the impression of more space than there is, relieving the claustrophobia of being right up against the side of the vehicle. Based round a 32-channel Roland M-300 V-Mixer, the ROB 1 audio area, which Riverside TV managing director Cyril O’Regan describes as his favourite seat in the whole truck, is behind a central racks column. Audio from the small Genelec 8020C loudspeakers above the mixer help form an invisible fence between the sound supervisor and the next- door graphics operator but he is still able to talk to others in the van and, by leaning slightly to the right, can see the output of the vision monitors. The vision and production sections of today’s big TV scanners take up a considerable proportion of the available space. This is mainly because of the number of people that need to be in there, both staff doing the actual work and clients watching what is going on. Because good quality loudspeaker monitors


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