Gearhouse has launched its new lightweight, expandable OBPod portable production solution. Building on the concept of the flyaway pod that Gearhouse Broadcast has supplied to Sky Sports for the past three F1 seasons, the new OBPod has been designed with weight and expandability in mind.
This new lighter model will enable the end user to make significant savings on shipping. Every component, fixture and material used within OBPod has been carefully selected to make it lighter, easier to ship and quicker to rig and breakdown on site.
Working closely with UK coachbuilding partner, A Smith Great Bentley, and using the standard air freight AMP rectangular container footprint, Gearhouse has replaced the previous honeycomb casing with lighter aluminium. The new facility makes extensive use of the fibre infrastructure in the place, removing the need for traditional heavy copper cables. A compact Grass Valley NVISION 8500 Hybrid router has been installed, which has HD and SDI I/O on both copper and fibre.
“This is the first time anyone’s ever made an expanding pod with a very small footprint; everything that has gone into OBPod has got to be able to cope with the demands of it being transported around the world multiple times, so we’ve had to be very mindful with the infrastructure and workflow that we’ve designed,” said Kevin Moorhouse, COO at Gearhouse Broadcast.”
