DutchView, the Netherlands’ leading broadcast and facilities company, is building two new 3D-ready, 3Gbps outside broadcast trucks designed with the environment in mind, writes David Fox.
The 12m 12-camera trucks, with dual expanding sides, will each cost €2.3 million (excluding cameras). The first is due to enter service this month, with the second to be delivered next summer.
The company has also signed a five-year exclusive vendor contract with Grass Valley for cameras, switchers, routers and servers, which includes up to 70 cameras, with 24 LDK 8000 Elite cameras already delivered for the trucks, which will also use the new 3G Transmission system. “We’ve been a Grass Valley customer for many years, and love it,” said DutchView CTO, Dave Nijmeijers. “We have been working for many years with Grass Valley switchers and routers, and still think they are the best for different types of programmes.”
The trucks will be fitted with the new Karrera 3Gbps production switcher, chosen partly because it is 3D-ready, plus a Multiviewer-equipped Trinix NXT router, which he said is “stable and easy to set up”. They will also have 62-channel Studer Vista 9 audio consoles, as well as Riedel wireless and wired intercom systems, which he described as “the best intercoms at the moment”.
DutchView is also using a Riedel MediorNet, chosen because many of its productions have to be set up and rigged quickly; the single fibre design of the MediorNet makes it simple to get video, audio and intercom from a stage to the truck. “It’s very handy and smart to use it. It’s very stable, fast and easy to set up,” he said.
The company took delivery of the MediorNet in August and used it for the first time at a huge music festival, with four OB trucks and three audio trucks covering five stages. “It was a good experience,” he added.
For its monitor wall, it is installing Penta monitors and Sony OLED displays for reference and grading, bought partly for their low-energy usage.
The trucks will have low-emission engines using a blend of LPG and gasoil, reducing emissions by about 30%. A further 30% saving will be accrued on air-conditioning, with separate circuits for equipment and production staff (with heavy, sustainable, insulation between them). Coachbuilder D&MS is making all furniture from sustainable materials. DutchView is also moving to a fully tapeless workflow, recording to EVS or Avid servers.
They will also be 3D ready. “We didn’t decide which equipment we use for stereography” (such as Sony’s MPE-200), but will wait for demand for 3D production to build before making a final decision. “There is no requirement for 3D in the Netherlands at the moment, and we can always rent the equipment if there is,” explained Nijmeijers.
“We make our [OB trucks] as general as possible, for all types of TV programme. They are big enough for sports and big entertainment productions,” he added.
