AUDIO FOR BROADCAST
All studio inputs and outputs in the George Lucas Gallery at Elstree Film Studios are routed through an OnAir 3000 using MADI over fibre
UK systems integrator C2S has recently completed a four-studio broadcast centre in Nairobi, Kenya featuring Yamaha LS9 consoles and Avid Pro Tools
While the company is expanding its export reach, the UK remains a key market. Recent installations include the BT Sport studios, which went on air this month; dock10 studios at MediaCityUK in Salford; and OB contractor Telegenic’s 4k truck, T25. Henry Goodman, Head of Sales and
Marketing at Calrec, says they have “been doing networking as long as anybody”, going back to its early Alpha digital desk and the first version of Hydra. “With Hydra2 we’ve created a router to meet the demands of the market as we see it,” he says. “That’s being able to handle large numbers of channels and give good bandwidth across networks with low latency.” As well as multiple signal paths over fewer
cables, today’s DSP-based networking systems offer broadcasters and facilities operators more because of the level of computer control involved. Goodman gives the example of dock10, which, although it was built with the BBC in mind as a primary user, is also a commercial studio centre for general hire. “The galleries and studios there are being rented out to different customers,” explains Goodman, “so you could have the BBC in one gallery and studio and ITV in another. The last thing you want is for them to be sharing microphones and other inputs and equipment.” To prevent any eavesdropping or feeds going
astray, Hydra2 is based on the principle of access rights, with the network divided and partitioned to ensure individual technical areas remain separate. In contrast, the BT Sport studio centre on
the Queen Elizabeth II Olympic Park has been designed to allow as much crossover as possible between its three channels - BT Sport 1 and 2 and ESPN. Calrec 40-fader Artemis Light desks feature in the control galleries of the three studios. These are linked to an Artemis Beam rack as a routing core to create a Hydra2 network. Instead of hiring a conventional ‘four- wall’ studio for presentation, BT Sport decided to take over part of what had been the International Broadcast Centre used during the London 2012 Olympics. The result is Studios 1 and 2, a 14,000sq ft space claimed to be the biggest L-shaped studio in the world. Within
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this is the mezzanine presentation area, behind a screen that allows the studio’s most striking visual feature - a glass floor inset with LEDs that can be configured to create the pitch markings for different sports, including football, rugby and tennis. “We had the opportunity to create an
environment that was about being live on air with more than one channel at a time,” says Jamie Hindhaugh, Chief Operating Officer of BT Sport. “We want our presenters to be able to move between the studios and channels.” This ability to roam extends beyond the
recognised on-air areas. To allow this kind of freedom, 16 RF aerial arrays have been installed throughout the centre. “We’ve wired the entire building to work with the radio mics and radio cameras,” explains Dan McDonnell, Managing Director of Timeline Television, who managed the design and build of the BT Sport production facilities. “You can send a radio camera with a radio mic up to a dressing room or office and walk through the facility without the RF signals being disturbed.” The radio mic system is based on 16
Wisycom MRK960 dual true diversity receivers, which give 32 channels of wireless, 24 MTP40 belt packs with DPA 460 microphones, and eight MTH400 handhelds. In-ear monitoring is critical and this system comprises Wisycom’s new MTK952. Four dual mono/stereo transmitters have been installed along with 24 MPR30 receivers - all supplied by Raycom, Wisycom’s UK distributor. The studio spaces, production areas and
EMERGING MARKETS
Another emergent territory in terms of broadcast technology is Africa. UK systems integrator C2S has been active in the continent for some time, producing trucks and studios for pan-African pay TV network M-Net and its sports channel, SuperSport. Its most recent project was a four studio
broadcast centre in Nairobi, Kenya, which had to fulfil the requirements of both drama production and live sports broadcasting, with the added complication of working in two languages: English and Swahili.
post-production suites in the centre were designed and built by Studio Schemes, with technical installation by Megahertz Broadcast Systems. Greg Hoskin, Managing Director of Megahertz, comments that the common approach to building studio facilities today, once the technical particulars have been set, is to develop the central apparatus area (CAR) and then work outwards. “It’s a building blocks approach,” he explains. “Once we have the CAR and routing established, the individual rooms can be designed almost in isolation.” Megahertz works on OB trucks as well as
studios, with an estimated 66 percent of its contracts outside of the UK. Technical Director Steve Burgess observes that installations of all sizes, from big studio centres to small 12-to- 16-camera OB vehicles, are not just using MADI over fibre but are connected to big hybrid routers. “This is giving us and the clients greater ease of installation, with fewer cables. Once everything is in MADI they only need to break out when they really have to.” The next big potential leap forward in the
industry is 4k production for Ultra HD. This has triggered debate on both the video and audio sides as to what technologies will best suit the new format. In sound terms, spatial surround - with sensations of height, depth, width and length - is seen as the right aural partner to higher resolution pictures. Whether this will be the NHK prescribed
22.2, or variations on Ambisonics or object- based technologies being developed by the BBC and others, remains to be seen.
The facility features Yamaha LS9 consoles,
with Avid Pro Tools for recording and editing. Jonathan Lyth, Systems Manager of C2S, says that on the OB side, different consoles of varying sophistication are used depending on what the truck will be doing. “In Nigeria, for example, there is a truck equipped with a Lawo mc256 for 5.1 work, which is available for international productions,” he says. “They also have a vehicle with a Yamaha M7. In East Africa the LS9 is the main desk, although there is one with a DM2000.”
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