 AT&T came to TV Pro Gear needing two professional Mobile Production Solutions to cover two of their Texas regions. AT&T had 5 simple requests.1. The solution needs to be small enough to roll into corporate offices, contain all necessary production equipment, and not require any wiring to set up.
2. Need to record a professional HD Quality Master tape and to an HD Quicktime file native to their NLE System, while webcasting live to 50,000+ viewers at multiple bit rates.
3. Needs to be flexible so if staff was limited, 1 person could operate it. But, if staff was available, a crew of 10 people could take full advantage of its capabilities.
4. Needs to be cost-effective so they can purchase two with their allocated 2008 budget
5. A Systems Integrator that would offer long-term support for their solution and the equipment integrated therein.
AT&T received a turnkey TVPG HD Flypak™ that met and surpassed all their needs.
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Camera Configuration
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 After weighing all the options, AT&T decided upon Panasonic cameras for the project. Each AT&T HD Flypak™ is built to support six cameras.
Three of the cameras are the Panasonic AK-HC1500G 2/3” 1080i / 720p 14-bit box camera. This box camera is designed to support two configurations.
The first, a fully robotic configuration, allows one operator at the Flypak™ to control all three cameras. Using the AW-PH405 Pan / Tilt System and the AW-RP400 Robotic Controller, the operator has complete Pan, Tilt, Zoom, Focus, and Iris control.
The second configuration turned this Panasonic AK-HC1500G Box camera into a Studio Camera. A 7” HDLCD monitor mounted to the top of the camera, rear zoom & focus kit mounted to the lens and tripod, and wireless intercom allow a camera operator to jump behind this box camera and utilize it as a full featured studio config camera.
All three box cameras have the Fujinon HAS18x7.6BMD-DSE lenss. This 18x 2/3” HD remote control lens with a motorized drive provide a focal length of 7.6 to 137 mm.
The fourth camera is the Panasonic AJ-HDX900 2/3” 1080i/720p DVCPro HD Camcorder. This camera is capable of being a Studio Configured or shoulder mounted ENG camera. It has a 7” HDLCD Viewfinder, rear zoom & focus control mounted to the lens and tripod, intercom, and a Remote Control unit back at the Flypak™ to control the Iris.
This Panasonic AJ-HDX900 camera has the Fujinon HA18x7.6BERM 2x Extender lens with the Digi Power servo. A focal length of 7.6 to 274 mm.
All four cameras are mounted to the TVPG Camera Control System (CCS). This camera chain feeds each camera Power, Talley, Intercom, Robotic Control, Camera Control, Return Video, Time Code, and Genlock while returning HDSDI and Audio back to the Flypak™. The TVPG CCS™ is made up of three parts: The CCS Basestation™ is mounted in the Flypak™ and supports up to 6 cameras and a 12CH Audio Snake; The CCS Cambox™ mounts on the back of the camera and comes configured either for Studio Config or Robotics; The CCS Cable is a special cable that supports signals mentioned above and can go up to 275 feet.
In addition to the TVPG CCS, all four cameras are mounted to the Vinten Vision 100 Tripod. This two stage tripods are configured to support the Studio Config setup with two pan bars and dolly wheels or the Robotic Config with no wheels and no tripod head.
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Switching / CG / Screen Splitter
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After years of innovation, the Broadcast Pix switcher has become the premier choice for an all-in-one Professional HD Switcher. This is precisely why AT&T chose the Broadcast Pix Slate 3000 switcher.
The Slate 3000 adds an integrated router to the Slate 1000 for more I/O and redundancy. The Slate switchers are the only production switchers on the markets with a built-in CG, clip store, and multi view monitor.
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Recording
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 AT&T had two requirements for recording. 1st they required all content to be recorded to an industry standard HD tape as a master. 2nd, AT&T wanted to achieve a file base workflow that was native to their Editing System.
The solution…. TV Pro Gear integrated a Panasonic AJ-HD1400 DVCPro100 Tape Recorder and an HD Quicktime recorder. Both record the Line Cut from the switcher. The AJ-HD1400 allows recording of 100Mbps Master Tape, AT&T’s offline tape archival choice.
The HD Quicktime recorder is made up of the AJA Io HD, MacBook Pro, and an External 2TB portable RAID. The HDSDI Line Cut is brought into the Mac Book Pro with the AJA software and hardware and is recorded as a Quicktime file to the external RAID. The Quicktime recording is bit rate selectable allowing for a 100+ Mbps file to be recorded. Once the production is over, the external RAID can be overnighted to another AT&T office allowing editing to begin immediately. Because the file is Quicktime, it is native to the Final Cut Pro systems TV Pro Gear previously installed at several of their locations. This means; NO Ingest time, NO Encoding, NO Transcoding.
In addition to recording the Line Cut in HD, the Flypak™ has HDSDI output for Cameras 1-6. If AT&T had the need to ISO every camera, this output panel allows them to record each isolated feed easily.
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Webcast / Streaming
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In addition to recording the Line Cut, AT&T needs to webcast / stream the Production live to 50,000+ viewers. To achieve this, the ViewCast Osprey 700 encoding card is integrated. This encoding card converts HDSDI Line cut into multiple HD streams at different bit rates. This gives AT&T the assurance that all their viewers can watch the production regardless of Internet speed. From the ViewCast encoder, the stream goes to an AT&T Content Delivery Network to be distributed to the mass audience.
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Anything In / Anything Out
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With an AJA FS1 Up/Down/Cross Converter , a series of AJA converters, and nVision Video and Audio DA’s, the AT&T HD Flypak™ has the capabilities to input and output most video signals. It can be HD or SD, SDI, Component, or Composite. With this feature, AT&T has the flexibility to input most video signals to their HD Production while outputting the line cut for HD or SD monitoring, projecting, image magnification, or additional recording.
Along with inputting most video signals, the Flypak™ can also input DVI to the switcher using the Broadcast Pix DVI input card. This will allow AT&T to content from their laptops to the switcher.
TV Pro Gear makes these inputs and outputs easy to access through the I/O panel. This allows easy connection without having to wire or reach into the Flypak.
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The Flypak Case
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 AT&T needed a Flypak case that gave them the room they need for a large production, while also being able to fit through standard doorways and elevators. This is exactly what TV Pro Gear designed and delivered.
The rack frame is shock mounted and foamed to reduce shock and vibration on the equipment.
Mounted to an electric lift, the 42” HD LCD raises out of the Flypak™ with the push of a button. No heavy lifting or mounting is required.
The Flypak™ case has a center mounted pull out drawer that is the full three rack width of the Flypak™. Using bal bearing sliders and the latest techniques in cable management, the drawer easily slides out with the cable properly tracking. While pulled out, it becomes the perfect setting height when operating the Flypak™. Mounted in the drawer is the Broadcast Pix switcher, the camera control, the robotic control, and the audio mixer.
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Audio AUX Case
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 AT&T required eight wireless mics and two Telephone inputs. In addition, they required this to be independent to the Flypak™ so it can utilized without needing the Flypak™.
TV Pro Gear integrated an auxiliary case for AT&T containing 5 Sennheiser ew100 wireless lav kits, 3 Sennheiser ew135 wireless mic kits and a Telos One Plus One telephone audio interface. Also integrated into the auxiliary case is an audio snake that simply connects everything to the Flypak™. As easy as plug and play!
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Audio Mixer
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The 16CH Mackie 1604 VLZ-3 Mixer is integrated into the Flypak™. This mixer is fed by the wireless mics, the Telos, the camera audio, b-roll audio, and aux audio.
This allows AT&T to have a full mix down of all their audio sources. From there, the audio line mix is recorded with the video line cut.
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Intercom
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The AT&T HD Flypak is configured with a two channel Clear Com intercom system. With the MS732 Master Stations and two RM720 remote stations, the Flypak™ allows three technicians to plug straight in. With the Clear Com 601 belt packs and CC95 headsets, each camera operator can hook straight into the TVPG Cambox™ and connect to the Clear Com system.
In addition, there is a Clear Com WBS-670 wireless master station integrated into the two channel Clear Com system. With four WTR-670 wireless belt packs and the CC260 headsets, several operators, technicians, or a Director can be part of the Clear Com system without being connected via cables.
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Power
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The AT&T HD Flypak™ is configured with two APC RM1500. This provides a 20+ minute battery back up for all the equipment in the event house power goes out, it cleans the power in the event the Flypak™ is being fed dirty power, and it allows the Flypak™ to be pluged straight into a standard 120volt outlet only drawing 5amps.
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Patching
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In the AT&T HD Flypak™, every Video and Audio signal is brought to the patchbay. This allows ultimate flexibility to make adjustments on the fly.
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Quality Check
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AT&T can monitor the quality of their cameras and line cut with the Leader Rasterizer LV7700. Fed by the Broadcast Pix 16x1 Aux Bus, a simple push of the button allows the AT&T technicians to switch signals to the rasterizer without needing to disrupt the switcher.
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Time Code / Reference
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With the ESE ES-488U Time Code Generator and AJA GEN10 Blackburst & Tri-Level Sync Generator, all cameras are being fed the same time code and reference as the line cut allowing everything to remain in sync. When AT&T decides to ISO each camera, the camera ISO will match up with the Line Cut when editing.
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Accessory Case
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To keep AT&T organized TV Pro Gear provided AT&T two accessory cases in addition to the FLYPAK™. These cases are built to hold everything that is not mounted into the Flypak™. This includes Cameras, Tripods, Cable Reels, Audio Mics, Intercom Headsets, ect. Every drawer is foam fitted to protect the equipment while traveling.
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