Archive for the ‘Project Solutions – Qatar’ Category
Gearhouse Broadcast Helps Take Sky Sports F1 Coverage on the Road
Thursday, May 10th, 2012
After competing in a fully competitive tendering process, Gearhouse Broadcast’s Projects Solutions division was awarded the contract to build a series of interconnecting Flyaway Pods for satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting for their coverage of Formula 1 motor racing. Since the award of the contract in late October 2011, the design, build and integration of the Pods took four months to complete.
Sky Sports are broadcasting Formula 1 races for the first time in a deal which started in March 2012 and will run until 2018. Sky Sports are broadcasting all the races, qualifying and practice sessions live and uninterrupted on their dedicated HD satellite channel Sky Sports F1 HD. All races are being produced in HD and 5.1 audio which has added a new dimension to Sky Sports coverage.
Sky Sports full onsite broadcast specification is a mixture of portacabins linked into the Flyaway Pods which contain the servers, audio facilities and all the technical equipment needed to support the production. The portacabins house the main production gallery, on air EVS, editing, logging and the production office.
The bespoke Flyaways, built and integrated by Gearhouse Broadcast, comprise of four 17 tonne interconnecting airline Pods that are standard Q6 construction with aviation bases. They are made up of a MCR Pod housing all the distribution, routing and camera control, a Server Pod housing all the EVS, Avid and SAN storage, an Audio Pod which houses the 5.1 audio control room and a Stowage Pod which is used to store all the loose equipment.
When the F1 races are in Europe the Pods will travel on flatbed trucks and when the races are taking place outside of Europe they will fly as cargo on Boeing 747’s.
An overview of the equipment chosen for the project includes EVS XT3 Servers, Omneon MediaGrid storage, Avid, Harris Glue, Pro-Bel Routers, Grass Valley Kayenne Mixer, Grass Valley Karrera HD Vision Mixer, Lawo Audio Console, Riedel Communications System, a mixture of Panasonic 3100 and Sony HDC-1500’s Cameras and Fujinon Lenses.
“Gearhouse Broadcast’s Flyaway Pods are the perfect solution for Sky Sports F1 needs; the Sky team will have an identical production facility at all 20 races. This is vitally important to the success of their broadcast as the production team can focus on their roles without having to find their way around different facilities around the globe” explained Kevin Moorhouse, Chief Operating Officer at Gearhouse Broadcast.
Darren Long, Sky Director of Operations said “We chose Gearhouse Broadcast because we needed a very specialist facility company that had the experience to understand the complexity of how to build and then deploy one of the most complex broadcast systems to 20 racetracks around the world”.
Grand Slam success for Gearhouse Broadcast
Thursday, March 8th, 2012
Gearhouse Broadcast completes the successful delivery of comprehensive technical facilities for the Australian Open host broadcast and unilateral broadcasters at this year’s Asian/Pacific Grand Slam.
The Australian Open is one of the largest and most complex annual events that Gearhouse Broadcast covers. Drawing on previous ATP Tennis Masters Series experience, the Gearhouse Broadcast technical set-up has been expanded to accommodate the size and magnitude of the event.
This year the tournament was bigger than ever before with Gearhouse Broadcast providing Channel 7 with a comprehensive package of technical facilities and crewing across the entire event. The Broadcast Centre was built into a large double story temporary building that housed all the technical facilities including the Production Control, Audio Control, Logging & Archiving, Edit suites and production offices.
Gearhouse’s Engineers installed all the technical host facilities within ten days then fully tested them before handing them over to Channel 7 for their coverage of the event. During the event support was provided by audio, video and communications engineers who worked in shifts to ensure that the facility ran smoothly.
Broadcast equipment supplied for the championship included 57 x EVS XT 3s, 50 x IP Directors with a range of EVS XFile and X Store units and these systems where linked into Avid ISIS servers and edit suites. A range of vision desks were supplied to cover the courts and uni-laterals including the Kahuna 4ME, Kayak 2.5ME, MFS 2000 1.5ME, Sony MVS 8400 4ME, Sony MVS 7000 4ME and Kayenne 4ME. All the cameras used at the tournament were Sony with a total of 65 x HDC1500’s and 6 x HDC 3300 Super Motion’s with a wide variety of Canon XJ and HJ type lenses.
Gearhouse Broadcast where also awarded a multi-year contract for an international broadcaster for their coverage of the Australian Open. The contract was to provide uni-lateral facilities consisting of two large production and audio control rooms, an MCR area with an EVS system for Ingest and on air playback that integrated with an Avid ISIS and Nitris Edit suites. They also provided the production facilities for Tennis Australia which was an MCR, Ingest, playout and Editing facility that provided the feeds for the various broadcast platforms to which Tennis Australia were delivering content.
For this year’s Championships, Gearhouse Broadcast made a significant investment including the new Grass Valley Kayenne Switcher and two new Sony MVS 7000X-Series Switchers, 52 Bel Digital Audio 3G HD compatible BM-A1-2SHD audio monitors and a state-of-the-art NAC Hi-Motion II Ultra Slow Motion HDTV Camera which made its world-wide debut at the Australian Open. This camera was used extensively on the two main courts and delivered some exceptional slow motion action.
The Hi-Motion II™ camera is able to shoot at up to 1,000 frames per second at 1080p using three CMOS sensors and provides simultaneous output of live real time video and ultra slow motion replay video.
According to Gearhouse Broadcast’s Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Moorhouse “Being appointed to deliver broadcast solutions for the Australian Open is testament to the confidence Channel 7 and other international broadcasts have in Gearhouse Broadcast based on track record of working on projects of this size and complexity”
“The event has its challenges both in terms of logistics and technology, but having delivered the broadcast facilities for the Australian Open for the past eight years we have an in-depth understanding of the project”.
The event ended with a Nadal v Djokovic showdown in the final, which saw the World’s No.1 Djokovic capture his third Australian Open crown by defeating Nadal 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5.
Gearhouse Broadcast Invest in New NAC Hi-Motion II Camera
Thursday, March 8th, 2012
A leading supplier of global broadcast solutions, Gearhouse Broadcast announces its investment in the new NAC Hi-Motion II Ultra Slow Motion HDTV Camera for its Project Solutions Division.
The purchase was driven to meet the demand from Gearhouse Broadcasts clients for forthcoming global sports events such as the European Football Championship, Tennis, Motor Racing and other major sporting events this summer.
The Australian Open Tennis Championship, which took place in Melbourne between 16 and 29 January 2012, marked the world’s first use of the Hi-Motion II Camera in sports broadcasting.
The Hi-Motion II™ cameras use a unique three chip (CMOS) sensor capable of capturing more than 10X high speed images in Full HD and provide simultaneous output of live real time video AND ultra slow motion replay video. The three chip NAC Hi-Motion II™ cameras provide unparalleled clarity and detail enhancement along with superb light sensitivity while fitting seamlessly into the workflow of sports broadcast environments.
Kevin Moorhouse, Gearhouse Broadcast’s Chief Operating Officer said “The debut of the Hi-Motion II™ camera at this year’s Australian Open Tennis Championship significantly enhanced the host broadcaster’s ultra-slow-motion action which was captured in crystal clarity and ultra fine detail”.
“The camera was used extensively on the two main courts and delivered some exceptional slow motion action, enabling us to capture the dramatic court action at this year’s tournament”.
“The new Hi-Motion II camera is a dual-format 1080i/720p system that can provide simultaneous output of live normal-speed video and ultra-slow-motion replay video. The camera can work alongside other HD cameras to deliver the exceptional imagery today’s HDTV sports broadcasters and viewers demand”.
Andy Hayford, Nac Image Technology’s International Sales Manager commented “As I’ve traveled with the NAC Camera in Europe, Asia and the USA, the response to the Hi-Motion II™ is overwhelmingly positive! Everyone from Engineering, VT and Production is ‘over the moon’ that the camera works straight out of the box and integrates like a normal camera – and the live and replay pictures are stunning! It’s great to hear the positive response one of the Broadcasting Industry’s leading Facility and Rental Suppliers is getting to Hi-Motion II™ in Australia. NAC look forward to working more with Gearhouse Broadcast in the future.”
Bel Monitors at Australian Open Tennis
Monday, February 13th, 2012
Gearhouse Broadcast recently purchased 52 Bel Digital Audio 3G HD compatible BM-A1-2SHD audio monitors/de-embedders and used them in their HD coverage of the 2012 Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne.
Gearhouse Broadcast provides the technical facilities as the Host Broadcaster for Channel 7 which includes TV coverage from seven courts plus the World Feed and Channel 7’s unilateral facilities. They also provide uni-lateral facilities to ESPN and Tennis Channel from the USA and facilities to tennis Australia for their delivery to various platforms. The newly purchased 1RU units where used together with their current stock of the 2RU Bel boxes to provide all the audio monitoring in the entire facility.
The BM-A1-2SHD is a 1U high quality 2 channel audio monitor that de-embeds and permits the monitoring of the audio content of 3G, HD and SD SDI bitstreams but crucially maintains the simplest of control surfaces on the front panel. The unit was particularly suited to Gearhouse Broadcast’s requirements for this project because of its compact 1U size.
The BM-A1-2SHD accepts 2 x SDI sources and automatically detects between 3G, HD and SD SDI bitstreams, extracting the audio content appropriately. This automatic operation results in a very simple setup procedure and a very uncluttered and self explanatory front panel.
All available functions were accessible directly from the front panel via rotary controls, making operation extremely simple. A single 8-position rotary control enables the operator to monitor any channel pair from the selected SDI source. Two buffered loop-through outputs are provided for the SDI inputs.
The BM-A1-2SHD is suited to operation within Master Control Rooms, Outside Broadcast Vehicles, or indeed anywhere where audio monitoring of SD, HD and 3G SDI sources is required, especially when within a space conscious environment.
Gearhouse Broadcast pass I’m a Celebrity Trial to Return to Jungle for Series Ten!
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010Gearhouse Broadcast is back in the Australian jungle this month after again winning the contract to provide ITV with broadcast equipment and technical expertise for hit reality TV show ‘I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!
And with the popularity of the series showing no signs of waning and new areas of the jungle being added to the show, Gearhouse Broadcast’s technical team has been called upon to come up with ever more complex broadcast equipment solutions to ensure none of the action is missed by its millions of viewers back home. (more…)
Gearhouse Broadcast gives Red Bull Air Race Coverage Wings
Monday, July 26th, 2010
The Red Bull Air Race World Championships has brought another dimension to the world of motorsport, and broadcast solution specialists Gearhouse Broadcast are helping ensure the very best of the amazing aerial action reaches its growing legion of fans around the globe.
The races are a breathtaking combination of speed and aerial agility featuring the world’s most skilful race pilots, and are set against the backdrop of some of the world’s most spectacular cities, including New York, Lisbon, Abu Dhabi and Rio De Janiero.
Gearhouse Broadcast’s has a proven track record in broadcast solutions and system integration for some of the biggest sporting events on the calendar, including this summer’s football World Cup in South Africa, the Winter Olympics and the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, to name but a few.
So when it came to finding a broadcast specialist able to help capture such a spectacular and fast-moving visual experience, SIVision – the production company of the Red Bull Air Race – turned to Gearhouse Broadcast for their broadcasting requirements.
Central to the broadcast solution supplied by Gearhouse are flyaways – essentially portable production units which contain everything you need to create a broadcast on location and outside.
The flyaways have the advantage of being highly adaptable, vital when it comes to capturing the full spectacle of race planes reaching speeds of 230mph and negotiating a series of air gates just 10 to 13 metres wide.
The flyaways built by Gearhouse Broadcast for the championships consist of audio, video routing, 12 cameras, large router and a large sound system. This is all backed by a crew of technicians and engineers, 24/7 technical resource and support and full operational logistics management across the series’ eight venues around the globe.
With three races remaining – Lausitz in Germany and Budapest in August and the finale in Lisbon in September – Britain’s Paul Bonhomme, also the defending champion, tops the rankings after winning the first ever New York Race over the city harbour with spectacular views over Manhattan.
Gearhouse Provides Broadcast Solutions for World Cup
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
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.
As well as the Technical Operation Centres (TOC’s), Gearhouse Broadcast is also providing location services such as the systems integration and building of studios and facilities at the international broadcast center for individual rights-holding broadcasters can produce their own style and flavour of transmission back to their home countries.
HBS – Host Broadcast Services
As a service provider to HBS, Gearhouse Broadcast’s Project Solutions team built and installed the Technical Operation Centres at each of the ten stadiums. Gearhouse also supplied engineering staff for each of the Technical Operation Centres.
ESPN America
We have designed and installed a very large 1200 m2 facility for ESPN. This facility is made up of three production galleries each with its own audio mixer, a central logging and ingest area, an on-air EVS area, Avid edit suites, a transmission area and a remote large studio overlooking Soccer City. There is also a large central production office with various audio, video and communications facilities installed on desks as required. The whole facility is virtually tapeless with a central EVS server for Ingest and logging which is connected to an Avid Unity server to allow transfer of files between Avids, Ingest and on-air EVS machines. We also have three Lawo MC56 audio desks connected together via four cores that allow total flexibility between all the control rooms for transfer of audio signals for the various 5.1 mixes being done. The communications with Bristol and all the remote sites in South Africa is being handled by a large Telex Adam system with 270 ports which include 64 RVON ports.
Univision
Gearhouse Broadcast has supplied broadcast equipment, communication facilities, two control rooms, studio and crew at the IBC in Johannesburg. This facility also has a large EVS and FCP server system making it an almost tapeless facility as well. We have also supplied a remote three camera studio facility that is connected to the IBC via a 3rd party supplied fibre and data connections.
ITV
Gearhouse have supplied one HD outside broadcast (OB) facility for all of ITV’s pitch-side presentations. The units will supply 2 way interview and presentation facilities pre and post match, together with pitch-side reporter facilities during the match. The OB facility is a small four camera unit that has been built out of our fly away rigs and installed into a small vehicle that travels around the country. Gearhouse have also supplied crew including Engineer, Sound and Cameramen for the facility.
ESPN BRAZIL
Gearhouse Broadcast have designed and installed an IBC facility that includes a production control room, studio facility, 12 x ENG kits, EVS servers and integrated Avid editing and storage servers. This facility is on air around 14 hours per day showing matches and background stories that are edited in the four edit suits on site.
TYC Sports AND TE LE FE Argentina
Designed and installed the IBC facilities for these Argentinean broadcasters in the IBC in Johannesburg, South Africa. This includes monitoring, distribution, production galleries and studio facilities. Torneos y Competencias S.A. was responsible for hiring the equipment and Torneos y Competencias ARG is in charge of the production of DirecTV Latin America, Fox Sports, TELEFE, Canal 7 and TyC Sports.
The tournament has kicked off a surge of activity in the broadcast services sector with huge demands placed on manufacturers and broadcast solutions companies, like Gearhouse Broadcast, to provide the most-up-to date equipment and technology.
Gearhouse have made significant investments in Canon HD lenses, Sennheiser Microphones, Sony HD Monitors and Sony HD Cameras and Camcorders. In addition to these they have invested in Pro-Bel HD/SD Routers, Tektronix Test Equipment, Evertz VIP Multi Viewers, Harris distribution and glue products and from EVS they have purchased 14 XT2 Servers to add to an inventory of 32 EVS’s to service the demands for this product at the World Cup.
It’s not just Gearhouse Broadcast’s equipment that is in demand – the sheer logistics of the operation around the whole tournament means that the technical infrastructure behind the scenes has to be spot on, and Gearhouse Broadcast’s Project Solution and Systems Integration expertise had a major part to play.
Gearhouse had over 70 people on the ground putting in 2650 man hours in the weeks leading up to the event. Once all the equipment was shipped to South Africa, they had just 16 days to build and run system checks before kick-off.
“This has been one of the largest and most challenging projects we have undertaken due to its scale and the complexity of the logistics involved. Because of the amount of kit and the distance involved, we started preparing for the World Cup 12 months ago and it has been a very complex process” says Kevin Moorhouse, Gearhouse Broadcast’s Chief Operating Officer.
“The size of the country means that our planning and logistics needed to be extremely well organised so that everything was there and in place with plenty of time prior to the start of the tournament. We’ve got a six-person team just handling logistics from a large warehouse in Johannesburg from which all equipment and materials will be prepared and distributed and a small satellite workshop for our service engineers”.
“Whereas in other countries we would normally be able to source new equipment if we needed it overnight, in South Africa, we had to be more prepared. We’ve had to bring extra equipment with us because there is no source of broadcast equipment available in the country. If we needed another VTR, I would have to fly one in, so our planning had to be so much better”
“Our goal was to supply cost effective broadcast solutions for all our individual rights-holding broadcasters. The choice of our equipment suppliers for these high profile live sports events is always a carefully considered decision, we choose the most reliable technology on the market every single time”, said Kevin.
ATP World Tennis Masters
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010The schedule of a top international tennis player is hectic – as is that of the broadcasters who follow them to all points of the globe to bring the action to huge audiences across the world.
Technical and production broadcast facilities for the ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Gearhouse Broadcast Project Solutions Division is proud to have been chosen for the tenth year in succession to deliver technical and production broadcast facilities for the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 – nine tournaments throughout the season taking place in venues as far flung as Cincinnati, Toronto, Miami and Monte Carlo.
Gearhouse Broadcast has also been contracted to provide the technical facilities for this year’s tour finale, The Masters Cup – where the eight top ranked players compete to become the overall series winner – in London at The 02 Arena in November 2010.
Of paramount importance to clients ATP Media is the ability to provide comprehensive and consistent technical and production facilities for the 50 leading international broadcasters who cover the series whatever the venue, in order to maintain and enhance the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 ’ status as one of the most important events on the international sporting calendar.
State-of-the-art digital flyaway rigs
Key to this is Gearhouse Broadcast’s state-of-the-art digital flyaway rigs, which feature video routing, distribution, communication, CCU and monitor gallery rigs.
After each event these are configured specifically to meet the demands of the next location on the tour so that they can be quickly and effectively integrated and installed by project engineers on site.
The tournaments usually cover two or three courts in the initial stages then go down to one court as the knockout stages progress, meaning that some of the equipment can be removed, configured and then sent on early to the next destination.
ATP Media’s CEO Steve Plasto says: “We opted for Gearhouse Broadcast because we are confident in their capabilities to create the same broadcast environment anywhere in the world. They have demonstrated their expertise and professionalism time and again throughout the Tennis Masters Series tournaments.”
Other services that have made Gearhouse Broadcast the system integration solutions provider of choice include:
- A core technical back up and support crew at every venue
- Infrastructure solutions including portacabins to house equipment, power supply requirements and catering facilities
- Logistical planning to ensure equipment and crew move from event to event smoothly and on time
- Accommodation and administrative support
- Additional top up facilities and equipment to meet broadcasters on-the-spot requirements
Forward planning, site visits and liaison with venue managers through the tournament.
Gearhouse Broadcast Enjoys World Cup Success
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010The 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.
Rental equipment AND logistics
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.
Zoom in on new Gearhouse Broadcast Website!
Thursday, April 29th, 2010As one of the market-leading international broadcast service companies, Gearhouse Broadcast required a website capable of showcasing everything we do and all the latest developments in each sector we operate in across the globe.
Gearhouse Broadcast recently teamed up with web design and online solutions specialists Optix Solutions, to develop a new web presence capable of keeping up with the demands of such a fast-moving industry, and we are pleased to announce the new site went live this month.
Optix Solutions were charged with creating a website that is truly easy to use, quick to navigate and flexible enough to be adapted to reflect every important development in the broadcast world on a daily basis.
At the same time it highlights all the products and services available from our Sales, Rental, System Integration and Project Management departments worldwide, as well as latest company and industry news.
“We wanted a site that is not only simple and satisfying to use and lets people know what we have to offer but that also reflects our position and gravitas within the industry,” said Eamonn Dowdall,Managing Director at Gearhouse Broadcast.
“Given the business we are in it wouldn’t be right to rely on a dull static site that didn’t give the visitor a feel for just what an exciting, technical business we are in. We are absolutely delighted with the result and believe our customers and visitors will be too.”
At the click of a mouse you can check out the latest outside broadcast truck being built at our UK headquarters, what cameras are available for rent in Australia, product sales in Doha or project solutions in India.
With so much to cover, it was vital that the site was designed to be as easy as possible to navigate, to take the visitor where they want to go quickly and efficiently.
We have incorporated a specifically designed filtered search facility which enables the visitor to, for instance, find a product by type, condition (new or used) or brand. In the near future you’ll be able to bid for an ex-rental or excess stock bargain via e-auction.
Case studies are used to introduce the sheer scope of the projects that Gearhouse Broadcast are involved in day in, day out.
Visitors are offered detailed insights into everything from the technology Gearhouse Broadcast supplies to bring ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!’ from the Australian rainforest to our living rooms to the creation of India’s state broadcaster Doordarshan’s first custom-built outside broadcast truck.
Specially incorporated 360° panoramic image technology allows the visitor to take a virtual tour of everything from the VTR and audio set up in a HD (High Definition) outside broadcast truck to the wiring and cabling that makes it all work.