mondo*dr Jan/Feb 2010

VENUEVENUE
UK
Academy3
output busses and selective loading of show conﬁgurations. The exterior of O2 Academy Birmingham has two Studio Due
The new software resides within the context of a thoroughly CS-4 Moving Par Can ﬁxtures for a unique exterior effect, while
well thought out desk. “Everyone is talking about how good the a Robe DT3000 digital moving head projector allows images
sound is and a lot of engineers are now touring with it,” continues and video to be projected across the outside of the venue and
Jackson. “It makes life easier because it’s one less piece of kit pavement.
[touring productions] have to bring in.” The main video ﬁxtures inside are the two DT5000 moving head
The Digidesign Proﬁle Mixracks have become an industry standard projectors that are connected to Dimension’s installation of a
and offer ﬂexibility for recording. Both of them have the Firewire Hippotizer Critter media server. This sends visual content to any
Interfaces that allow them to link up directly with ProTools LE of the 21 screens in the venue, with multiple feeds capable of
which will provide multitrack recording facilities for artists. sending different images to each screen. This is all carried out via
The multicore systems are wired identically in all three rooms to Kramer distribution. All three venues have screens at the back of
allow any of the desks to go into any of the different areas without the stage, and the option for artists to provide their own visual
the need to strip out looms and patch cables, thereby providing content.
ﬂexibility for visiting engineers. Utopium’s Installation Manager, Angus Chinn, who speciﬁed all
All ‘grab EQ’s’ in the three rooms are via BSS 960’s or 966’s and the intelligent lighting, projectors and LED mood-lighting ﬁxtures
these are provided as an additional bonus. Shure, Sennheiser and explained the necessity of robust and well-respected kit: “I look
AKG make up the majority of the 96 microphones on site with 20 for ﬁxtures that can cope with being moved. It’s not just like a
DI boxes from BSS. club install where ﬁxtures go up and they stay in the same place,
With no corner left untouched, Pulsar Chroma range LEDs are these guys are taking the stuff down and moving it around several
set into stairways, ceilings and walls. This includes Chroma Panels, times a week, so it’s got to have a degree of durability. I might
spheres, cubes and strips. Anolis LED lighting products are used be speaking out of line, some manufacturers won’t like this, but I
for illuminating the bars around the venue and up-lighting pillars bought some ﬁxtures that look and work fantastically for installs
and walls. but just don’t stand up going on and off truck, being pulled
056 January / February 2010
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