Gearhouse Broadcast has supplied OBLite, its live production HD OB trailer, to Sky Sports News for its coverage from the 145th Open in Scotland.
The 24-hour sports news television channel provided live links from an on-site studio, as well as reporting from locations across the golf course.
“OBLite has been perfect for this project as it’s so quick and easy to set up,” said Keith Lane, Sky Sports director of operations.
“Its flexibility means we’ve been able to gear it up for our specific ENG purposes, which has been a big help when covering an event like the Open.”
Sky wanted to bring multiple HD cameras over fibre runs to a production unit, sending the signals into an encoder circuit located in another OB truck within the TV compound.
To make room for the additional camera feeds, any equipment that wasn’t essential to the production was removed. Supporting equipment such as extra frame synchronisers and the Lawo V_Pro8 video processor were installed, as was an EVS XT3 live production server to record everything being captured.
Mike Colyer, the vision engineer in charge of OBLite for Gearhouse at the Open, added, “OBLite is a powerful production platform that’s ideal for applications such as this where space within the TV compound is limited, and setup needs to be swift.
“The flexibility is a big advantage as we’ve been able to configure the unit specifically for this job, meaning every piece of equipment we’re carrying has an important role to play, and we’ve not had to compromise on anything.”
