German broadcast systems integrator and international rental company, Munich-based sono Studiotechnik, is preparing for next year’s soccer World Cup in Brazil with 13 new fly-away production facilities based on Harris Broadcast technology. This technology will be used in Brazil to provide venue facilities at football stadia around the country.
Working with the project’s prime contractor, Sony Professional, sono Studiotechnik is preparing to provide a venue facility to the Confederation Cup this summer, which will enable the host broadcaster to prepare for the main event next year.
This year’s rehearsal will require just a single container-based fly-away production facility, which has just completed acceptance testing after a build of about six weeks. It will be followed by a further 12 containers, one for each stadium. “It’s the biggest job we’ve ever been doing,” said sono Studiotechnik Managing Director, Gottfried Düren (pictured above).
Each mobile production facility integrates numerous Harris Broadcast production components. For the 2014 event, the mobile production facilities will each be based on a Harris Broadcast Platinum IP3 router equipped with integrated HView SX Pro multiviewers. Harris Broadcast signal processing and interfacing equipment includes the Selenio media convergence platform, which Düren calls “one of the most flexible platforms we’ve ever been working with,” and 6800+ modular core processing devices.
Platinum IP3 is the broadcast industry’s first router to accommodate separate video, audio and data paths within the same frame. It’s also the first signal router that can scale to multi-frame configurations for very large broadcast and media operations using a common architecture, simplifying installations and eliminating costs associated with external components and complex cabling. The intelligent architecture maximizes on-air security, with audio, video and multiviewer signal protection based on redundant crosspoints and integrated routing designs.
When sono Studiotechnik developed its fly-away, three concepts central to its design were: transportability; leading edge technical performance; and robust reliability. Harris Broadcast technology fulfils all three of these requirements, providing key production elements such as routers with advanced multiviewers integrated in a single-frame – central to the design of these new mobile facilities. This eliminates the need for multiple frames that require significant external wiring, more space and power.
“With these fly-away production facilities we have proved that we can provide advanced production facilities anywhere in the world, and at any size of event,” said Franz Olbert (pictured left in the container), chief finance officer at sono Studiotechnik.
“The combination of compact lightweight design, high operational reliability and technical sophistication makes Harris Broadcast equipment ideal for this application. In addition, the support and assistance that their technical teams provide is valuable to us in our growing enterprise operations.”
“Following on from last summer’s games in London where we helped create a sophisticated temporary production facility for the host broadcaster, we are tremendously pleased to be involved in another global sporting event,” said Harris Morris, CEO, Harris Broadcast.
“Mobile production environments provide the ultimate test for any broadcast technology vendor. Our ability to create high-density, high-reliability infrastructure solutions marks us out as the preferred technology supplier for many of the world’s leading production companies.”
