Gadget Show Live @ The NEC
Today was the last in a 5 day run for the Gadget Show Live 'Super Theatre', concluding what has been a busy and interesting show.
Following on from last years success, Tim Riley at XL Video was asked to provide Barco NX-6 screens in the auditorium for camera relay and a large Pixled F-30 screen as a set centrepiece.
This was all driven by Basic Monkey's own 'Gorilla' Catalyst system, triggered using our Jands Vista S3.
As usual, it was important for the show to be using the latest in technology. This was apparent not only in the performance, but in the production of the show itself.
For the interactive sections which included a virtual presenter, flash game and flying drones, Inition provided us with feeds from three separate computers. This, in addition to the live MMS and photo competition which accounted for another two laptop feeds, led to a rather complex setup!
All these inputs were fed into 2x Barco DCS-200 switchers which in turn were controlled via Catalyst network serial commands. This meant that the entire video element (excluding cameras of course) could be triggered from one timeline and by one person (in this case James), eliminating the need for a VT operator, switcher and graphics operator.
For the audience competitions, winners and live scoreboards were rendered to screen using a Quartz system designed by James. Using an external laptop to send raw text to the system allowed scores to be updated in real time, styled using the Quartz system.
The camera crew were directed by Kevin Watts who also produced all the graphical content for the LED screens including animated logos, timers and name straps.
Visitors were treated to an impressive, loud and action packed show with live performances from Ortis and Polly, audience participation and lots of gadget giveaways.
If this year is anything to go by, next year will be even more impressive!
Autosport Live @ The NEC
This week saw James at the NEC in Birmingham for the annual Autosport Live show.
In the Fifth Gear Live Action Arena XL Video provided 2x large Lighthouse R7 screens and 9x pillars of PixLed F-30.
These were all driven by Basic Monkey's own 'Gorilla' Catalyst system and Jands Vista S3 running the newly developed software, 'Byron'.
The remit was for a high energy video show to match the intensity of the races and the lighting, along with video relay onto the Lighthouse screens from the camera crew.
Using the Vista S3 playback wing to run the show was invaluable, even if only for the flash buttons. Cutting between live video and graphics was made easier and more fluid by having every available clip relevant to that race on one page.
For the Fifth Gear section of the show, video clips featuring Vicki Butler Henderson introduced each segment.
Lighting for the event was designed by Nathan Wan and much effort was made to tie in the video content colours and pace to that of the lighting state for each race.
Clothes Show Live, NEC Birmingham
Tonight marks the end of a very busy week for James with XL Video at the Clothes Show Live event in Hall 9 at the NEC.
The show this year was based around "A Night at the Movies" theme, with each act of the show as a different genre of film. Opening with a Mission Impossible sequence which rolls into James Bond, the show goes through High School Musical, Western, Sci-Fi, Fairytale Romance, Scary, Rocky Gangsters and finishes with a feelgood finale.
Guest live music acts joined the show each day to entertain the crowd before the main show, these included Lucie Jones, Sunday Girl and Inju5tice.
Tim Riley at XL Video supplied 3x Lighthouse R7 screens for the stage, two of which were on revolves, along with Barco projected side screens fed using a 4x camera HD Panasonic PPU. The LED was fed using Basic Monkey's new 'Gorilla' Catalyst system and additional side screen and centre screen content came from XL's own Catalyst system.
Lighting designer Nigel Catmur and content designer Colin Rozee built visually pleasing and tightly timed intro sequences for each act, with lighting closely tied to video using a RoadHog console to trigger the Catalyst machines.
For a change the bulk of James' work was as a shoulder mount cameraman, along with responsibility for the Catalyst machines and LED.
On cameras were James Cooksey, Alex Roberts, Arran Busk, all engineered by Jake Robertson and directed by Kevin Watts.
After 37 shows in 6 days, it's time for bed now! Please check out the photos below, all of which are grabs from the video.
Papal Visit to Cofton Park, Longbridge
For the past two days, James has been down at Cofton Park in Longbridge to rig LED screens for the Papal visit this weekend.
With some serious stage work, a huge crowd area and lots of LED screen from XL Video, this looks to be a major event. The crowd space had 20x PA towers and 6x screens to cater for it!
The screens consist of 3x Mitsubishi DV8 and 3x Lighthouse R7. 6 kilometres of coax and Triax cable are in use for the 10 cameras (not including BBC ones!) and screens.
A crew of 20+ from XL Video and XL Events were on site for the past two days, including LED screen techs, cable techs, camera techs and operators, vision mixers and engineers.
As you can probably see from the photos, it got a bit wet at times and the only shelter available was under the choir seating racks! Let's hope it's sunny for the 50,000 guests and 1,000+ crew/staff on Sunday.
