DiGiCo Performs Flawlely At European Games
01/08/2015
In charge of audio design and delivery for both live and broadcast was Scott Willsallen, There's a bit of a travelling family for most big sporting events, he says. It's a group of people who are very experienced in their own roles and at working together. I'm lucky enough to be part of it.
These events are primarily about the television pictures. However, as they take place in the round, the audience is in the background of most camera shots, so the more engaged and enthusiastic they are, the more interesting it is for the viewers at home.
Scott needed to ensure that both the stadium and broadcast audiences enjoyed a high quality soundtrack to the ceremonies, whilst creating atmosphere for the broadcast. To achieve this, he deployed a tried and tested combination of equipment, which included mixing consoles comprising pairs of DiGiCo SD7s at FOH and monitors, plus an additional pair of SD11s at monitors. A further SD7 was employed in the closing ceremony rehearsal venue, so that the show file could be saved and loaded into the stadium consoles when required.
We had two completely independent control systems in the stadium, the consoles acting as mirrored pairs, says Scott. The primary system used an Optocore network, with 24 network devices positioned around the stadium. Eight Optocore nodes' were located around the field of play, plus four in the roof, from each of which nearby inputs - such as crowd microphones or local wireless receivers - were gathered and mix outputs were fed to L-Acoustics racks for the PA.
The secondary set of consoles all had SD-Racks located in a patch room. The field inputs were patched into a passive splitter, with one output going to the Optocore mic preamp for the primary system and a second output to a mic preamp with fixed stepped gain. A 25-pair CAT5 cable ran between each Optocore node and the patch room for analogue connectivity. From there it was routed to a punch-down panel and an active splitter that allowed it to be split to the backup FOH, monitor and broadcast consoles.
Using mirrored FOH mixing consoles feeding both signal transport networks meant that the mix arriving at the amplifiers via Optocore sounded exactly the same as the mix on the analogue cable, Scott continues. We switched between the two based on AES sync, so if that failed the nodes automatically switched. If there was a failure on the primary consoles, we switched to analogue by hitting a button, then switched back when the primary network was running again. To test it, we switched systems a few times during the dress rehearsals and nobody noticed, which was very satisfying.
Microphone inputs were fed into multiple receive stations scattered around the field ensuring every mic would be picked up in several places at the same time. The other main audio source was a Fairlight replay system, featuring primary and secondary AB-roll systems. It meant we had four replay systems available to us, allowing the AB-roll within the primary link to be one MADI stream that we distributed to all the consoles, says Scott. Any required click or guide tracks for the live bands were also provided via the Fairlight system, delivered to the monitor consoles via MADI.
These events are divided up into music cues that correspond with a segment of movement or action in the performance area. Each one was called by the show caller and the console operators recalled a snapshot for each specific music cue. Overall levels and featured instruments were then mixed on the fly. The live acts - including Lady Gaga, Clean Bandit, John Newman, as well as the live speeches - were all operated in the same fashion.
For the broadcast mix, two DiGiCo SD7Bs and two SD11Bs were deployed, again working as mirrored pairs. Integrated with the stadium system, all the crowd microphones were plugged into the Optocore nodes, which were fed to the Delta Media 3 broadcast truck, sub hired by Agora. Delta Sound's Griff Hewis, assisted by two Agora broadcast engineers, was systems engineer and mixed the atmosphere microphones. .
We took a MADI stream from the replay systems into the SD7Bs and the crowd microphones were fed into the SD11Bs. They provided a 5.1 atmosphere buss into the SD7Bs and we then used the Optocore loop to provide the highway between us and International Sports Broadcasting (ISB), the host broadcaster, says Scott.
None of the rights holders took 5.1 for this event, so we provided a stereo mix of the events plus crowd and a crowd-only mix.
Once the systems were settled, Scott and Andy Rose (broadcast sound supervisor) watched all the camera cuts and made sure that the audio broadcast during each shot made sense.
Andy and I tried to pick up every little bit of detail, so that the audio and the vision matched perfectly. The aim is always to make the broadcast sound as detailed as it looks, says Scott.
Our entire system is always on uninterruptible power supplies and, while the amount of redundancy may seem excessive, it means a lot has to go wrong before there's a problem.
Scott reports that the system worked perfectly, underlining his continued faith in DiGiCo.
Team
Contractor Agora
Design Auditoria Pty Ltd, Australia
Auditoria team
Scott Willsallen
Audio technical manager Justin Arthur (senior patch engineer for the job)
FOH Richard Sharratt
Replay - Steve Logan and Lewis Miranda
Broadcast Andy Rose and Griff Hewis
RF techni
LINK: | http://www.digico.biz/docs/latest_news/EuupplFyypsHhVbomu.shtml... |
See more stories from digico |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
26/04/2024
Amagi Names Richard Perkett Chief Product Officer
NEW YORK Amagi has appointed Richard Perkett chief product officer (CPO)....
26/04/2024
NAB Board Election Results Announced
WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced the results of the 2024 NAB Radio and Television Board of Directors elections. The...
26/04/2024
Mattel to Launch First FAST Channels on Samsung TV Plus
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. & NEW YORK Mattel has announced a deal to launch its first three 24/7 free ad supported streaming (FAST) channels on Samsung TV Plus, Samsung...
26/04/2024
NextGen TV Launches In Portland, Maine
PORTLAND, Maine Viewers here can now receive the NextGen TV signals of five local stations with the launch of ATSC 3.0 service from host station WPFO, which is ...
26/04/2024
Rogers Inks Agreement to Deploy Comcast's Products and Technologies
TORONTO Rogers Communications has signed a 10-year agreement with Comcast to bring the latest Xfinity products and technology to Canadians....
26/04/2024
Calrec scoops third Argo win with NAB Show Product of the...
Calrec is very pleased to announce the benefits of its highly flexible approach to customer service has been recognized with a third award for the Argo range. T...
26/04/2024
New Adobe Photoshop with Advanced Generative Fill and Generate Image Brings New Superpowers to All
New Adobe Photoshop with Advanced Generative Fill and Generate Image Brings New ...
26/04/2024
Trends And Takeaways From NAB Show 2024
Trends And Takeaways From NAB Show 2024 Melanie Ciotti April 25, 2024 0 Comments NAB's Eric Trabb (right) awards SNS with two NAB Show Product of ...
26/04/2024
Sony's Ci Media Cloud Keeps NHRA Moving
Sony's Ci Media Cloud Keeps NHRA Moving Brie Clayton April 25, 2024 0 Comments Cloud-Based Media Asset Management and Collaboration Platform Accel...
26/04/2024
2024 Emerging Leaders Internship Program Open for Applications, Deadline May 31st
Capitol Broadcasting & Leadership Triangle Collaborate for Third Year Capitol B...
26/04/2024
MIX 101.5 Launches New YouTube Shows
The staff at CBC Radio have been hard at work creating several new features for listeners and viewers. Several debuts are taking place this spring. I have nev...
25/04/2024
Inside the Archives: Highlighting the Importance of Preservation for the Festival's 40th Edition
Sundance Institute Founder Robert Redford during a press conference at the 1996 ...
25/04/2024
SNS Dealer Of The Year Awards: See The Full List Of Winners
alt= class=wp-image-12361 data-lazy-src=/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/NAB-booth-2024-960x540-1.jpg/> Set against a vibrant backdrop of innovation and collaboratio...
25/04/2024
Trends And Takeaways From NAB Show 2024
alt= class=wp-image-12356 data-lazy-src=/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/NAB-mod-win-960x540-1.jpg/>NAB's Eric Trabb (right) awards SNS with two NAB Show Product...
25/04/2024
Peacock Subs Jump 55% YoY to 34M in Q1 2024
PHILADELPHIA Comcast beat earnings estimates in its Q1 2024 financial report, as streaming losses continued to decline and Peacock's paid subscribers spiked...
25/04/2024
Seattle Kraken Inks Deals with Tegna and Prime Video
SEATTLE The Seattle Kraken have inked new multi-year agreements with Tegna and Prime Video that will expand access to their games over broadcast stations and st...
25/04/2024
Opinion: charting a cloud driven future
M2A Medias Matt Hughes asks, is it time for news broadcasting to shift to the cloud? By Contributor Published: April 25, 2024 M2A Media's Matt Hughes ...
25/04/2024
Cintel Scanner G3 HDR+ Restores Egypt's Cinema Treasures to Their Former Glory
Cintel Scanner G3 HDR Restores Egypt's Cinema Treasures to Their Former Glo...
25/04/2024
Sinclair Names Kevin Coskren Chief Meteorologist at KTUL Tulsa
Sinclair Broadcast Group said it named Kevin Coskren chief meteorologist at KTUL, its ABC affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma....
25/04/2024
Attend The Business of TV News Event in D.C. on May 2
The Business of TV News, a new one-day event featuring Martha Raddatz, Shannon Bream, Glenn Kirschner and other major figures in television news, happens at Hot...
25/04/2024
Problematic FCC Conditions On Station Sale Could Create Detroit Drama
Conditions put on the proposed sale of WADL Detroit, to Mission Broadcasting have created a potential drama in the Motor City....
25/04/2024
TelevisaUnivision 1Q Loss Widens But DTC Business Expected To Turn Profit in Second Half
TelevisaUnivision reported a $52 million loss in the first quarter, up from $3 m...
25/04/2024
Comcast Earnings Flat As Video, Broadband Sub Losses Continue
Comcast reported flat first-quarter earnings as it reduced the red ink at Peacock but continued to lose video and broadband customers....
25/04/2024
Vevo Brings Music Videos To Telly's Dual Screen TVs
Music-video network Vevo said it launched its app on Telly, the company offering consumers free dual-screen TVs in return for data about what they're watchi...
25/04/2024
Future Today Redesigns Streaming App Interfaces
Future Today said it has introduced a redesigned user interface for about half of its 300 streaming apps, including Fawesome, HappyKids and iFood.TV....
25/04/2024
Czech mates
The writer and director of a hit Czech series tell Robert Shepherd about their approach to portraying real-life Pakistani kidnappings on the small screen, while...
25/04/2024
Molinaire Creative Group opens new Liverpool facility
Notorious DIT will work with the Liverpool Film Office to increase opportunities for regional talent By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 25, 2024 Notorio...
25/04/2024
Deutsche Telekom Powers New MagentaTV Service With Broadp...
Broadpeak , a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) and video streaming solutions for content providers and pay-TV operators worldwide, announced t...
25/04/2024
Lightware Enhances Microsoft Teams Rooms with Powerful BY...
Lightware Visual Engineering, a leading manufacturer of connectivity solutions for the professional integrated systems market and a pioneer in signal management...
25/04/2024
Net Insight secures collaboration with DMC Production to...
Net Insight has entered into a collaboration with DMC Production that positions Net Insight at the forefront of sports broadcasting in the Nordics. Net Insight ...
25/04/2024
GlobalM and scoopa announce strategic partnership to faci...
GlobalM has announced a strategic partnership with scoopa, the specialists in broadcast-quality content distribution, offering a complementary service for live ...
25/04/2024
DDish TV LLC Chooses PlayBox Neo Channel-in-a-Box for Bro...
PlayBox Neo announces the completion of a new multichannel playout system for the DDish direct-to-home satellite television network in Mongolia. Based in the na...
25/04/2024
Legendary Producer Garth Richardson Chooses PMC Monitors...
Canadian music producer and engineer Garth Richardson also known as Gggarth due to his stutter - has embraced immersive audio by installing a PMC monitoring s...
25/04/2024
Televisa transforms its broadcast ecosystem with proven t...
Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced that Televisa, the Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company, has chosen Synamedia as its pa...
25/04/2024
OTTera partners with ThinkAnalytics to enhance personaliz...
OTTera, a leading provider of end-to-end OTT and FAST channel solutions, proudly announces its strategic partnership with ThinkAnalytics, a global leader in adv...
25/04/2024
Perfect Weather Forecast for American Tobacco Events Tonight and Saturday
The American Tobacco Campus will be hopping with activity tonight and this weekend with two fun events! Durham Night Market At last! The Durham Night Market i...
25/04/2024
Qurate Launches The Big Dish on The Roku Channel
WEST CHESTER, Pa. Video commerce provider Qurate Retail Group has launched The Big Dish, a new culinary-themed FAST channel on The Roku Channel....
25/04/2024
HPA Opens Submissions for 2024 HPA Engineering Excellence Awards
LOS ANGELES The Hollywood Professional Association has announced that submissions for the 2024 HPA Engineering Excellence Awards are now being accepted. This re...
25/04/2024
DV Earns MRC Accreditation for CTV Viewability
NEW YORK The digital media measurement and analytics firm DoubleVerify has announced that it has received Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for Video Vie...
25/04/2024
DAZN FAST Channels to Launch on Tubi
SAN FRANCISCO Fox Corp.'s ad-supported streaming service Tubi has announced a licensing agreement with the sports platform DAZN that will see DAZN Ringside ...
25/04/2024
IAB Makes Three Appointments to Its Leadership Team
NEW YORK In the runup to the 2024 IAB NewFronts, the IAB has announced three key appointments to its leadership team....
25/04/2024
Epic Games releases Unreal Engine 5.4 with new Motion Design Mode, Unreal VCam for Android, and more
Epic Games releases Unreal Engine 5.4 with new Motion Design Mode, Unreal VCam f...
25/04/2024
Content Creation, Production, Distribution Is In a State of Flux
Content Creation, Production, Distribution Is In a State of Flux Andy Marken April 24, 2024 0 Comments My empathy is creeping towards what I would de...
25/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting Company to Air Carolina Panthers Games on Triangle's Strongest Broadcast Signal
The Carolina Panthers and Capitol Broadcasting Company (CBC) announced they have...
25/04/2024
Berklee Student Riko Sasaski Named 2024 Yamaha Young Performing Artist
Berklee Student Riko Sasaski Named 2024 Yamaha Young Performing Artist The accomplished saxophonist secured a spot among the elite winners of this year's ...
25/04/2024
Local News Close-Up: St. Louis Born and Bred
Stations everywhere take pride in having a main anchor who comes from the market they represent. That applies in St. Louis, too, but it also pertains to general...
25/04/2024
Edward Moody Joins WBTW Myrtle Beach Anchor Team
Edward Moody is joining the WBTW Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, anchor crew, and will anchor the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts alongside Trish Williford. He comes f...