Russia’s largest TV studio facility and broadcast company, Television Technical Center Ostankino (TTC) has purchased four Apollo consoles and four Artemis Light consoles from Calrec Audio. The additions are part of a two-year project to upgrade all 11 studios in the company’s Moscow facility.
The new Calrec technology will enable TTC broadcasters to produce programmes in 5.1 format, control audio remotely from third-party routers, share I/O and signals among studios via simple fibre links, and reconfigure consoles between programmes. The consoles were supplied and installed by Russian systems integrator OKNO-TV.
TTC is installing one 64-fader Apollo console and one 48-fader Artemis Light console in each of the four studios. Within each studio, the Apollo desk in the control room is connected via Calrec’s Hydra2 audio routing system to an Artemis Light desk on the studio floor. There are also three flight-cased stage boxes per studio. I/O and signals will be shared between consoles via the Hydra2 network.
“Because we often hire them out to other production companies, our refurbished studios must be reliable, flexible, and able to handle the most complex and diverse programming,” said Roman Katrovsky, sound specialist from OKNO-TV. “The Calrec consoles will give us the ability to connect desks within a studio or cross-connect with other studios for full redundancy and added reliability. Also, as Russia transitions to HD, some programmes will be produced in 5.1, some in stereo, and some in both. With these consoles, we’ll be able to change configurations instantly to suit the requirements for different programmes. Such features significantly lower downtime and setup time, which saves money.”
