Blackmagic Design has revealed details of how its broadcast solutions were deployed to support live video of a rock band’s tour.
Aiming to deliver the creative vision for the UK and European dates of indie rock band, Glass Animals, independent video technology company 80six turned to Blackmagic Design to provide the tour’s core setup.
A fleet of Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2 cameras was deployed at each location, utilising SMPTE fibre chains positioned around the stages and front of house areas. Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K G2s and a number of PTZ cameras were used to capture low angle and close-up shots.
Backstage, a portable production unit built around the ATEM 2 M/E Constellation 4K live production switcher and an ATEM Camera Control Panel provided video, power and comms via more than 150 metres of SMPTE fibre cabling. A Blackmagic MultiView 16 built into the rack assisted with video monitoring. Signal management utilised the Blackmagic Videohub 40×40 12G router and multiple HyperDeck Studio 4K Pro broadcast decks for recording.
Samuel Siegel, racks engineer at 80six, said, “We paired the URSA Broadcasts with UHD-DIGISUPER 90 and HD22 parfocal lenses which were able to maintain focus while zooming in and out. Likewise, the remote camera control functionality and comms integration of the URSAs further added to the ease of operation.”
Live director Ed Coleman was stationed front of house. The gallery location meant mirroring the PPU workflow. An ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panel provided control via optical fibre and an Ethernet network for secure connection back to the PPU. “We were using the Constellation 2 M/E switcher, and it was essential for our setup,” noted Siegel.
“We used the first M/E for the iMac driving screens on the sides, primarily showing what was happening on stage. The second M/E was dedicated to the massive upstage screen, which we had installed; a really spectacular addition. The switcher’s SuperSource feature was also incredibly helpful. For example, we could create custom SuperSource layouts and display them as a program window in the multiviewer, which made it even more versatile.”
