Visions’ two new ‘super trucks’, Gemini 1 and 2, have successfully completed their inaugural weekend of 2010 Premier League coverage for Sky Sports.
The completion of Gemini 1 and 2 brings Visions’ fleet of HD-capable trucks to a total of 14. However, Gemini 1 and 2 are particularly special due to the innovative design, which allows them to do the job of three existing vehicles while increasing operational capability, reducing rigging and breakdown times and parking requirements, and increasing fuel efficiency.
The two trucks are connected using only 10 Stratos Multicore fibres for full talkback and router integration and control. They have 1400 square feet of floor space and are equipped with the latest production equipment including two Grass Valley Kalypso Duo Vision Mixers with 90 inputs, capable of taking in feeds from 30 cameras.
In Gemini 2 there is space for 15 EVS and 6 VTRs, and across the two trucks there are 24 VIPx Duos feeding 57 x 42- – 52-inch flatscreens, with room for 14 slo-mo operators and 10 graphics devices. On the audio side, Gemini 1 features two Calrec Apollo networked audio consoles, each desk also having 16 main 5.1 outputs. Full technical details can be found at the Visions website and at the official launch of the trucks, which takes place on 2 September 2010 in Leicester Square.
Steve Jenkins, Managing Director, NEP Visions, said: “The challenge was to move Outside Broadcasting forward, and to provide a feast of technological innovation and power framed in a new and exciting truck design. Great credit to the team here at Visions who have worked tirelessly to realise an answer to that challenge. Gemini 1 and 2 are what superior technical design is about; they encapsulate the future and provide a fantastic addition to the NEP Visions fleet, and they are capable of withstanding the demands of any OB asked of them.”