Harmonic Sound Flies CODA Audio for Ski Spectacular
The FIS World Cup Ski Flying event in Oberstdorf is one of the most spectacular events in the annual competition calendar. Marking the end of the winter sports season, it features the world’s best ski jumpers doing battle in front of large crowds at the venue’s imposing Ski Stadium which can accommodate 27,000 spectators. This year’s renewal saw Domen Prevc of Slovenia set a new hill record of 242m. Audio is an essential component of the event in terms of announcements and commentary, as well as music reinforcement to ramp up the atmosphere. Sound production was entrusted to southern Bavaria-based specialists Harmonic Sound, who deployed CODA Audio systems to cover the arena in its entirety.
The principal area to be covered in the main ski arena demanded the best possible speech intelligibility, and spanned around 180 metres. Two smaller VIP stages also required coverage. On the face of it, this was a very challenging scenario but it was one that Harmonic Sound boss Christian Heckmair had no doubt his CODA Audio systems could overcome without stress:
“In actual fact, with a mixture of centralised and decentralised reinforcement, we managed to meet this very demanding brief with what some might think is a very small amount of equipment.”
The largest part of the production was covered by a flown combination of 12 of CODA’s flagship compact line array AiRAY units and 16 x SCV-F sensor controlled subwoofers. The two smaller settings saw the use of G712-Pro 3-way high power multi function units combined with HOPS5 2-way high power point sources. The systems were driven by CODA Audio LINUS14D amplification, which Heckmair is quick to praise:
“The LINUS systems amplifiers are characterised by great efficiency. That’s why just 7 LINUS14D amplifiers with DSP were enough for this event. Controlled with Dante and connected via fibre optics we theoretically had 90,000 watts available, which is quite something!”
As for the front of house, Heckmair, who has worked with almost every audio brand in the thirty years since he founded Harmonic Sound, could not be more enthusiastic about CODA’s ability to deliver to even the furthest areas of the imposing ski stadium:
“I am overwhelmed again. The speakers are smaller, much lighter and deliver more power than those of the competition - their qualities were obvious for all to see across the two days of this event. Sound imaging and speech intelligibility are A1 across the entire frequency spectrum.
“We received a great response from every quarter. When music was played it was punchy; when announcements were made you could hear every single word - no-one had to concentrate to hear the distances and scores of the competitors. In fact, someone told me you could still hear the stadium announcer perfectly well in a village four kilometres away!”
Harmonic Sound has grown to be one of the leading event services providers in southern Bavaria, and is responsible for supplying a wide range of prestigious occasions. Still as passionate as ever about producing great events, the company goes from strength to strength. Since it’s first CODA Audio investment in 2020, Harmonic Sound has added almost the full CODA product portfolio to its inventory, having decided to rely exclusively on audio equipment that Christian Heckmair describes succinctly as: “simply outstanding!”
LAMP to Showcase LED Innovations at Prolight + Sound
LAMP will be showcasing the latest innovations in rental and commercial LED displays at this year's Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt.
Adhering to the concept of 'bringing visual performance with design', LAMP will be displaying creative shapes and installation methods.
RS PLUS - creations change the world
The booth will include a hanging LED screen assembled with RS PLUS 3.9, which can be a very flat 10-degree concave and convex screen that presents a great stage effect and easy-to-match 90-degree right angle application, such as XR display/visual shooting.
RN - Lead P1 era of indoor rental
The RN series won the 2021 IF Design Award and the 2021 Good Design Award for its exquisite appearance and user-friendly design.
RN offers a clearer view of every detail through the smaller pixel pitch and the higher brightness. RN can be utilised to achieve concave and convex orientations, right-angle, cube, and column shapes to enhance the stage. RN is a flexible and creative LED display product - ideal for building an immersive scene.
Visit the LAMP booth
The show will be held from April 26 - 29 at Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH - we look forward to seeing you at the LAMP booth 12.1-D82.
Buffalo Bills & Legends Announce Expansive Partnership for New Stadium Project
The Buffalo Bills and Legends announced today an expansive partnership for the data-intelligence fueled global premium experiences company to lead planning, project management, sales and partnerships for the new Bills stadium project. The Bills recently secured a signed Memorandum of Understanding with New York State and received NFL approval for G-4 funding, significant steps towards final approval of the stadium.
Legends has been involved in the Bills new stadium project for the past year, working closely with the team and Pegula Sports & Entertainment on the feasibility study for the project and more recently, conducting valuable initial focus groups and surveys to help inform stadium design and sales. In addition to its work on the new stadium project, Legends currently handles e-commerce for the Bills.
“As we continue toward our goal of constructing a new stadium for our team, our fans and the Western New York community, having the right partners in place is critical to our success,” said Ron Raccuia, Bills executive vice president. “As we have seen in recent years at SoFi Stadium and Allegiant Stadium, the team at Legends brings an incredible level of expertise, success and understanding around NFL stadium development as well as sales and partnerships. We are proud to partner and get to work with them on our new stadium project.”
“Legends is proud to partner with the Buffalo Bills and Pegula Sports & Entertainment to apply our data-intelligence fueled 360-degree service solution to bring their fans a new, modern stadium that will dramatically enhance the game day experience,” said Shervin Mirhashemi, CEO, Legends. “Our seasoned execution team will apply their vast experience and institutional knowledge working with NFL teams on project development, sales campaigns, PSL programs, naming rights and founding partner engagements to deliver a stadium that is unique to Buffalo.”
Legends has provided its holistic solution powered by data and analytics to a number of high-profile stadium and venue projects that have opened in the past few years. Most recently, Legends provided planning, project management, sales and partnerships, including naming rights, for the Los Angeles Rams’ and Chargers’ SoFi Stadium, the Las Vegas Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium, Hollywood Park’s YouTube Theater, Los Angeles Football Club’s Banc of California Stadium and the Columbus Crew’s Lower.com Field.
Populous to Design Germany’s First Climate-Neutral Arena
Global architectural design firm, Populous, has been chosen as the architect for a new multi-use, climate-neutral, 20,000 capacity event arena in Munich, following Council approval for the project.
Last night, Wednesday 6th April, Freising City Council agreed in principle to give the plans the green light, which will see Bavaria-based SWMUNICH Real Estate GmbH (SWMUNICH) plan, build and operate a world-class multi-use concert and convention centre, backed by more than 300 million euros of private sector investment.
Populous’ winning design was selected after a multi-stage architecture competition for which the jury was chaired by Professor Markus Allmann. It draws upon Bavarian heritage and character to create an eye-catching concept for the new arena, with the support structure skilfully paying homage to the lozenge shape used in the Bavarian state flag. This instantly and clearly associates the arena with the south of Germany and creates a high recognition factor. The arena’s structure means that even from a distance, visitors can see inside the arena and get a taste of the entertainment that awaits them.
The interior design takes into account the ever-increasing demands of artists in terms of technology, stage shows and productions. Countless details are tailored to satisfy the needs of artists, organisers and visitors, and to provide incomparable concert and live experiences.
The seating is arranged in a horseshoe shape (270 degrees), clearly placing the focus on the multifunctional stage. The combination of steeply raked seating, state-of-the-art technology and the expertise of acoustic specialists who have worked on opera houses and symphony halls will result in world-class experiences at concerts and live events.
The arena will be located in an entirely new green space next to LabCampus, the technology and innovation centre at Munich Airport. As there is currently no comparable venue in the metropolitan area of Munich, it will add to the cultural offering of the region, and boost tourism and the local economy. Deloitte, the leading auditing firm, has estimated the gross added value for Freising and the region to be around 285 million euros per year.
The arena will also fully meet the requirements of concerts and live entertainment events. SWMUNICH is pursuing a concept that will set new quality benchmarks for external architecture and interior design (acoustics, sightlines, equipment, and hospitality) as well as the important aspects of sustainability, transportation, and the environment.
In a first for Germany, the new event arena will be climate-neutral thanks to lifecycle-based planning to reduce the carbon footprint during construction and climate-positive management of the operating phase. Several thousand solar panels on the roof of the arena and around the site, coupled with the potential for geothermal energy and district heating, will ensure that the energy for operating the arena can be generated and supplied on site.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals provide the framework for the arena’s sustainability and climate strategy, and it will be certified according to an internationally recognised sustainability system, so that achievement of the targets can be objectively evaluated and transparently measured.
Lorenz Schmid, Director of SWMUNICH, said: “We see the decision by the city council as both an incentive and an obligation because we will be building and operating Germany’s first climate-neutral event arena, for the benefit of the entire region. The new arena will put Munich in the Champions League of indoor concert venues.”
Gert Waltenbauer, Director of SWMUNICH, said: “Construction and operation of Germany’s most sustainable concert arena will provide a significant cultural and economic boost for the region and make it even more attractive to tourists. The arena will help to make the Munich metropolitan region and the state of Bavaria future-proof and internationally competitive in the event sector. Financing for the project is safeguarded for the long term with the involvement of the KGAL Group, a leading, independent investment and asset manager.”
Declan Sharkey, Lead Architect for the project and Senior Principal at Populous, said: “The design for MUCcc Arena places people at its heart, delivering a unique and immersive visitor experience, as well as showcasing the very latest in sustainable design methods. The project will create a new cultural centre for Munich and the wider Bavarian region to rival the best live entertainment venues in the world.”
Christopher Lee, Managing Director – EMEA, Populous, said: “Our mission at Populous is to design the places where people love to be together. And this is exactly what we are doing with the MUCcc project for Freising, the metropolitan area and all of Bavaria. We will create a world-class venue, which people will enjoy returning to again and again.”
Sin-Jae Yoo, Associate Principal at Populous, said: “Our design aims to create a unique destination – compact, efficient, and visually stunning. It will be an instantly recognisable venue, reflecting the character and culture of the area and offering an unparalleled visitor experience. The arena will create a new landmark for Munich.”
Supponor AIR Becomes First Software-based Virtual Advertising Solution Commercially Deployed in Germany
Supponor, the world leading virtual advertising technology provider, SPORTFIVE, the global sports business agency, and Bundesliga team Borussia Dortmund, have confirmed the first commercial deployment of Supponor AIR®in the German territory.
This key milestone took place over the weekend, during the Borussia Dortmund vs RB Leipzig match. Supponor AIR® is now available also for the German market, as it is the only software-based virtual advertising solution which secured the league-wide approval, by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL).
Supponor AIR® can be used in any weather conditions regardless of the kick off time, being it day or night. The innovative solution is natively developed to be operated remotely, in addition to traditional on-site. It requires no physical integration with the live broadcast production andvirtual system operations no longer take place at the venue, and instead can be delivered from a remote location which could be anywhere in the regardless of the contribution and distribution format (e.g., satellite, fibre, IP) as it has the ability to be deployed at any stadium without any specific requirements on LED board technology, LED assets or camera systems.
SPORTFIVE and Supponor have been partners since 2017 in Germany having collaborated to launch the first use of virtual advertising in the German Bundesliga in partnership with Borussia Dortmund. The innovative nature of this partnership is again highlighted by Borussia Dortmund’s adoption of Supponor AIR® in Germany – the first club to use the technology in the country.
Mario Lucan, Executive Director Product Management at SPORTFIVE Germany explains: “With the new Supponor AIR® technology, we are taking Virtual Advertising to the next level. It makes the use of Virtual Advertising even easier and more attractive for rightsholders and sponsors. Together with our partners Borussia Dortmund and Supponor, we are very pleased to be the first to offer computer-based Virtual Advertising in the Bundesliga.”
Massimo Magrì, Managing Director Europe at Supponor explains: “At Supponor we are extremely proud to have launched Supponor AIR®, arguably the most disruptive technology solution in the sports industry, on the German market together with our long-standing partner SPORTFIVE and top club Borussia Dortmund. Thanks to the league-wide approval by the DFL, Supponor AIR® is now available to all Bundesliga clubs in all conditions, including weather conditions and kick-off times. Because of its operational efficiencies and subsequent cost savings, Supponor AIR® is accessible to any club on the market.”
English Ice Hockey Association Teams Up with Pixellot for Junior Talent Development
Pixellot, the world’s leading provider of AI-Automated™ sports video and analytics solutions, today announced it has signed a two-year deal with the English Ice Hockey Association (EIHA) to provide transformative video streaming, capture, data and analysis to revolutionise talent spotting, coaching and training for junior teams in England.
By giving coaches and team analysts access to the same kind of technology used by the National Hockey League (NHL) to coach professional players, EIHA and Pixellot will transform ice hockey coaching in England. Pixellot’s cutting-edge technology will also support the EIHA’s goal to growing the sport in England and collaborate with sister organisations to develop ice hockey across the UK.
“Junior development is essential to the long-term sustainability and growth of our sport, which is why the EIHA board has chosen to invest in providing the Pixellot system at no cost to our junior clubs,” said EIHA Board Director Matt Lloyd. “This is just one of a number of initiatives that the EIHA has recently introduced, such as the Puck Stop Netminder Development Programme, and underpinned by financial support from Sport England, to evolve ice hockey in England and Wales. The EIHA board, and our fantastic volunteers, are determined to support the growth of ice hockey in terms of player numbers, opportunities to participate at an appropriate level, and the skill levels of the players playing our great sport.”
Under this new partnership with Pixellot, the EIHA will provide 31 junior ice hockey teams in England with the innovative Pixellot Air integrated mobile solution. Pixellot Air is a lightweight, portable device with a dual camera array and direct cloud uploading. It is easy to set up on the ice and is capable of capturing 12 hours of play. After league games or training sessions, Pixellot can automatically deliver video for coding, tagging, and annotating on a dedicated coaching platform. Coaches at junior ice hockey teams in England will be able to access video footage of games and training sessions, automated highlights, detailed player analytics and in-depth breakdowns of video content, such as heatmaps of the field of play and shot charts.
“Our groundbreaking partnership with the EIHA will enable hundreds of young players to benefit from technology to enhance their ice hockey game,” said Alon Weber, CEO of Pixellot. “We’re excited to play a role in developing the next generation of English ice hockey stars, and to support the sport’s development in the country. This is a fantastic opportunity for junior teams to pinpoint and nurture talented players and build a bright future for ice hockey in England.”
Vizrt Enhances Viz Libero with New User Interface for Simple, Fast Sports Analysis
Vizrt, the leader in software-defined visual storytelling (#SDVS), real-time graphics, and augmented reality, today announces the release of Viz Libero 8.0, the latest update of its market-leading editorial analysis and replay tool for sports.
Driven by the input of producers and users of Viz Libero, the latest version of Viz Libero focuses specifically on enhancing the user experience and empowering operators to substantially reduce the turn-around time for creating pre-, post, and in-game analysis content in a fast-paced live sports environment.
“The ability of an operator to move fast and deliver compelling content is a competitive advantage for any broadcaster, Viz Libero now offers the fastest, and most complete sports analysis solution on the market, with endless possibilities to create stunning analysis content that broadcasters want to use on every match-day,” says Richard Einstein, Senior Product Manager Sports. “The new user interface, which offers an amplified user experience, alongside the advanced features with the latest release of Viz Libero enables broadcasters to produce more high-impact content in less time in game, consequently increasing viewer engagement, coverage uptake, and ROI.”
"Having used the Viz Libero system for many years as an operator, I am excited about the improvements that come with version 8. Steps such as updating 3D keyframes are no longer necessary and are sure to improve the speed and turnaround time of building plays. The processing speed has improved dramatically, and the UI is overall more efficient. I am excited about what the new version of software has to offer,” states Tony Gregory, Senior Media Replay Operator, ESPN.
Simpler and faster
The sleek new Graphics User Interface is more powerful, with faster interactions and fewer clicks necessary to create analysis clips. Users have all functionalities at their fingertips - selecting video, calibration, adding and previewing graphics, or exporting clips – for instantaneous switching between the different steps in the workflow to enhance productivity and output quality.
Easier to learn
To avoid staffing bottlenecks, they need a broad user base. The streamlined design of Viz Libero 8 can be adopted quickly by new users, and within only a few minutes, they can operate the tool. With fewer costs and time for training, broadcasters can quickly grow their operator base for more flexibility.
Analyze content, better
A new preview functionality, available during the complete workflow, adds to precision when calibrating, keying, or editing 3D camera flights to instantly see the effects in the final clip without rendering. The NLE editor has received a clearer structure with improved visibility to allow faster access and accurate adjustments to all relevant elements on the timeline.
To sign up to the Viz Libero 8 demo on April 28th at 5pm CET please visit the website here: https://www.vizrt.com/community/demos/live/viz-libero-8
Populous Unveil Jamsil Sports Mice Complex in Seoul
A stunning new global destination of sports, culture and events has been unveiled in Seoul, South Korea.
Designed by global architecture firm, Populous the Jamsil Sports MICE Complex is set to become a world-leading destination and strengthen South Korea’s place in Asia’s highly competitive sports, conferences and events market.
It is Populous’ most significant post-Olympic legacy work worldwide and will be directed from their Asia Pacific headquarters in Queensland.
The project will be located on the former 35-hectare site of the Seoul 1988 Olympics and re-imagined into a $AU2.4 billon new urban master planned venue by the winning Hanwha E&C consortium, selected by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, with Populous as the architect for the master plan and concept design.
Managing Director for Populous (Asia Pacific) Paul Henry said Populous’ master plan focused on innovative urban design and planning which respects both the heritage of the 1988 Olympic Stadium and the ongoing local community use.
“Jamsil Sports MICE Complex will become a unique landmark tying together state of the art sporting facilities with world leading provisions for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions, along with cultural experiences celebrating the legacy of the Olympic history of the site.
“The unifying power and the dynamics of the Olympics will bring together the concepts of sport, education and culture to express a notion of accessibility and connection for all,” Henry said.
Forward thinking initiatives around the development of Smart Cities were incorporated into the design with innovative solutions for future mobility such as Urban Airborne Mobility (UAM) drone flying provisions.
Engrained into the development are sustainable design solutions introduced through energy efficiency systems such as; high performing green rooftops; biotope installations of living plants and animals; a solar screening device; restoration and preservation of the former site; and utilisation of existing facilities.
“The design for Jamsil Sports MICE Complex will be carried out from our Brisbane headquarters in Australia and will provide ongoing opportunities for Queensland design talent on the world stage, as well as provide further jobs for additional highly skilled architects in the office,” Henry said.
Originally built for the 1988 Summer Olympics, the master planned precinct along the Han River will be reimagined to include:
• Convention and exhibition centre with over 100,000 gross sqm of exhibition halls, plus pre-function spaces, meeting rooms, a concert hall, as well as commercial offerings and ballrooms (total 278,000 gross sqm of MICE facilities)
• 11,000 seat sports complex - a flexible arena for local sport, e-sports, live performances and other events
• 35,000 seat open air baseball park which will be the home for two local teams
• 5-star hotel of over 300 rooms
• 4-star business hotel of 300 rooms within a 178,000 sqm commercial office tower
• 123,000 gross sqm of cultural and commercial retail
• A 3,000-seat indoor underground swimming pool capable of hosting swimming competitions
• 300 room serviced residence and hotel tower
Construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2023.
Jamsil Sports MICE Complex will be the third project for Populous in South Korea, alongside Changwon NC Park (NC Dinos baseball park) which opened in March 2019 and Incheon Asiad Main Stadium, which hosted the opening and closing ceremony of the 17th Asian Games in 2014.
DiGiCo is a Team Player for Super Bowl LVI’s Halftime Show
This year’s Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area was an inflection point for the event’s signature halftime spectacular. It was to be the first time that all of the music performers were hip-hop artists, reflecting a shift what has taken place over the last decade that has seen the genre come to dominate popular music sales, charts, and culture. One thing that has remained a constant, though, was the event’s reliance on DiGiCo as ATK Audiotek, now a Clair Global company, once again deployed four SD5 mixing consoles to handle the complex and high-profile production.
The headliners—Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and surprise guest 50 Cent—were intended to constitute what halftime sponsor Pepsi called “…the greatest 12 minutes in music entertainment the world has ever seen.” A bit hyperbolic, certainly, but characteristic of the NFL’s view of its own place in the cultural hierarchy, one in which superlatives are everyday parts of speech. And while the event may have been culturally momentous, it also brought along implications for its live sound and audio, especially considering the bass-heavy nature of the genre. As with previous years’ halftime events, ATK Audiotek augmented the host stadium’s installed sound system with additional speakers and amplifiers loaded onto bespoke wheeled carts to accommodate both the substantial low end as well as the crisp vocal intelligibility required.
Getting the front-of-house and monitor mixes together called for a team as good as the LA Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals, who were playing the match. They found that in Alex Guessard and Tom Pesa, veteran TV music mixers who had both worked the 2017 Super Bowl halftime show that featured Lady Gaga, as well as a slew of Grammys, Oscars, and other awards shows as well as American Idoland Billboard Music Awards shows. They in turn were paired with two pairs of DiGiCo SD5 consoles, one each for FOH and monitors and one more each as redundant backups. When you only have 12 minutes for what is arguably the premier televised music event of the year, you don’t take any chances.
All four consoles were on an Optocore networked loop that extended from the playing field, where over 100 volunteers were choreographed to move into place the pieces of the complex music stage, to the mid-level position in the 400 tier where Guessard mixed the show’s live sound from, and to the stadium’s rack room, where Pesa mixed IEMs and wedges while watching on a program monitor. They were also connected via a Riedel point-to-point intercom and partyline intercom matrix. Two DiGiCo SD-Racks served as stage boxes, while a pair of DiGiCo Orange Boxes converted Optocore to MADI to utilize Focusrite RedNet D64R units for MADI-to-Dante conversion for distribution to the NFL building studio. “Pretty much everything was interfaced with MADI or directly onto the DiGiCo loop,” says ATK Audiotek System Design Engineer Kirk Powell.
They were also able to take advantage of the surfeit of dark fiber installed as part of the newly opened SoFi Stadium and its surrounding campus. However, it’s single-mode fiber there, while the DiGiCo desks are normalized for multimode fiber. To accommodate that and the longer distances in the stadium, Powell says they switched the transceivers to single mode.
Monitor World
This was Tom Pesa’s 26th Super Bowl halftime event, but each one is so unique that no sense of it being simply an ordinary show ever has a chance to materialize. The pre-game music events were a warm-up for the crowd and for him, feeding Shure PSM 1000 IEMs to both vocalist Jhené Aiko and harpist Gracie Sprout for “America The Beautiful,” then to rising country music star Mickey Guyton, who sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.” However, that doesn’t prepare one for the sheer SPL that poured onto the field once the hip-hop performances began, led by Dr. Dre, who joined with Snoop Dogg on the opening joint “The Next Episode,” and then segued into “California Love,” 2Pac’s Dre-produced hit that shouts out Watts, Compton, and Inglewood, meaningful neighborhoods in L.A. rap culture and all within a short low-rider jaunt of the venue.
Pesa, who estimates that it was the loudest halftime show in the event’s 50-plus-year history, says his task was to keep the monitors tight for each of the six artists and their RF microphones. “It’s important that the vocals not get washed out by the reverberation of the delayed return from inside the stadium,” he explains. Interestingly, it’s another form of reverb that helps him accomplish that. Pesa uses the vocal plate reverb setting on the SD5’s internal processing. “Adding a touch of the plate with a bit of slap to the monitors acts as an enhancement in the in-ears,” he says. “The stadium itself is taking care of the main reverb. This gives the monitor sound a different texture that helps keep it distinct. I’ll also use the onboard compression and multiband EQ. I prefer the stable environment that the console’s own processing gives me. I also like that I have all of the processing right there at my fingertips.”
Pesa usually works with the artists’ own monitor mixers in the rehearsals prior to the event, but for this year’s event one person, Jaymz Hardy-Martin III, acted as the collective spokesperson for most of the performers; Ryan Cecil, Eminem’s monitor mixer, was also on hand during rehearsals. “Everyone has notes for their artists’ expectations and it comes together pretty smoothly,” he says.
Out Front
Alex Guessard has also worked a double-digit number of Super Bowl halftime shows, 13 in total, including six as both the front-of-house mixer and system designer. He has truly heard it all when it comes to the massive venues the shows call home. “The stadiums aren’t really designed for music shows,” says Guessard, who also designs the temporary JBL-equipped wheeled-cart sound systems deployed for Super Bowl halftime performances. “They’re designed to amplify the noise of the hometown crowd. This year the reverb time was about eight seconds, which was OK, but in the past, it’s been as long as 10 seconds or more. It’s a challenging environment in which to mix music.”
Guessard says he’s come to rely on DiGiCo desks to help navigate such environments. “For mixing, the SD5 is a fast console, the way it’s laid out,” he says. “The bells and whistles are there, but so is the intuitive workflow design. I can access every fader I want quickly and accurately.” But he reserves his highest plaudits for the SD5’s ability to sit in a carefully crafted and highly redundant network scheme, along with a pair of SD-Racks and two DiGiCo Orange Boxes, the latter used to bridge between MADI and Dante and MADI and the Optocore loop all of these units shared at the show. “Through the Orange Boxes, I was getting signal from two different signal paths to the two SD5 consoles running in mirror mode, which gave us complete failover protection,” he says. “That way, I could keep mixing no matter what happened.”
As is typical on hip-hop shows, there were some pre-recorded tracks used by the performers, as well as the live vocals and several live instruments, including a cool piano beat by Dre. Guessard estimated that there were over 50 input channels on the show, all requiring sure, fast moves as the performers shifted on stage. “The SD5 makes sure I can find every input I need exactly when I need it,” he says. “It’s the console you want on your team for this show.”
Riedel, Skyroads AG Heighten Sustainability and Deliver Immersive Imagery for SailGP
Riedel Communications is collaborating with SailGP Technologies and Skyroads, a global leader in the field of automated flight, to deliver new and more immersive imagery as well as a substantially reduced CO2 footprint at major public events. Announced during SailGP's Season 2 Grand Final in San Francisco on March 26 and 27 in San Francisco, Riedel and Skyroads AG are entering into a strategic alliance to deliver a 20 million USD order of SKYBOT-CAM systems, which combine high payload drones with professional broadcast gyro stabilized camera systems with live video, audio, and data downlinks.
Riedel will be the global partner of the SKYBOT-CAM system for major events and sport series, and with Skyroads, they are building a joint product to further push the boundaries of sustainability and technical innovation for sports broadcasting. Riedel will serve as an integrator, utilizing their existing communication infrastructure for the purpose of the Skyroads flight guarding system.
Achim Kostron, Chief Commercial Officer, Skyroads said, "Our SKYBOT-CAM system is an excellent way to implement early applications of our later aviation-type, certified self-flying-system. We are delighted to embark on this project with the most respected partners in their field, Riedel and SailGP."
SKYBOT-CAM will be introduced at SailGP, which will be the first global event in the world to use the new technology. SailGP will facilitate and support the test operation of this innovative system, and after a first, exclusive implementation at SailGP in 2024, the SKYBOT-CAM will become available for all public events. The technology will be used with SailGP's award-winning augmented reality LiveLineFX.
"Today's professional airborne broadcast camera systems are mainly helicopter based and require enormous organizational, technical, and budgetary effort for a photographic platform that, although creating high quality pictures, is unsustainable in the long run," stated Warren Jones, Chief Technology Officer at SailGP. "SailGP Technologies stands for innovation in sustainable sports as part of its 'Better Sport – Better Future' strategy, and it is partnerships with forward thinking companies like Riedel and Skyroads that allow us to achieve this."
"I'm delighted to announce that we are joining forces with Skyroads and SailGP Technologies to take sustainability and safety to a new level and provide even more spectacular images from the pinnacle of sail racing," said Riedel Group CEO and Founder Thomas Riedel. "This strategic partnership reflects our commitment and vision to enhance innovation in order to create future-oriented formats, focusing both on environmental and safety aspects at the same time."