News

Wembley SSE Arena – Jack Savoretti Singing To Strangers Tour 2019

19/06/2019 by petermccrea

Production AV hotfooted it to Wembley in May to ensure man-of-the-moment Jack Savoretti’s flagship show was backed by the best camera, projection and IMAG screen solution to delight his ever-growing fanbase.

Production AV Kit is ‘IMAGic’ for Jack Savoretti at Wembley

Photo – Projoe Photography and Axletree Design

“We had just a seven-day turnaround to design and deliver the camera and screens package to Savoretti’s tour team, managed by Production Manager Neil Anderson,” explains Pete McCrea, Production AV MD. “As this was the big one – Wembley! – they wanted to ramp up the production and include video to enhance the audience experience. David McIntyre had created a real visual spectacular with the lighting, and they wanted to enhance this by relaying live on-stage footage as well as pre-recorded content to two large IMAG screens.”

Production AV supplied a pair of 11 ft. x 20 ft. (3.35m x 6m) portrait screens for IMAG, with 20,000 lumen Barco HDX W20 Flex Projectors. Switching was achieved using the company’s Blackmagic ATEM 4k PPU. A pair of Sony HDC 1500R Studio Channels on 95x lens at FOH and second camera on stage combined with Agile Arc360 PTZ remote heads and Marshall minicams offered a range of creative directing opportunities. There was a requirement for black and white effects for the first song, as well as the playback of a show opener VT.

Pete McCrea served as Project Manager and Racks Engineer for the show, alongside his colleagues Anna Sadler as Vision Director, and Ste Webster and John Bowdler-Thompson as Camera Operators.

“It’s testament to our talented team at Production AV that we managed to put together such a strong kit package and creative solution in such a short amount of time – I’m very proud of them all and the results were fantastic. Anna, Ste and John made it look really awesome,” says McCrea. “It was brilliant to be working alongside our friends at Liteup, which provided the lighting and rigging, and the great team at audio supplier FE Live. On-site, it really came together as a collaborative production. Thankfully, Wembley is a venue we’re used to working in, so the load-in and delivery of the production was efficient!”

The project followed hot on the heels of another major London job, where Production AV supplied and operated a similar package for the annual Teenage Cancer Trust series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring performances from Take That, Rudimental and The Script.

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Open House Event

16/04/2019 by petermccrea

Open House Event 7th and 8th May

The start of the year has seen us relocate to our new home in Cheltenham.

Now we’re more settled, we’d love to show you round our new home. So on the 7th and 8th of May we will be throwing the doors open and inviting you to come and see who, and where we are.

There will be an opportunity to meet the team and learn a bit more about where we have come from and our plans for the future.

We will be open between 10:30am and 5pm on both days.

There will be a range of solutions on display including our 6mm, 3.9mm and 2.6mm LED screens, 4K screen management system, Media Servers and Camera solutions amongst others.

We’ll also be showcasing some of our recent projects, such as our large scale mapping for Remembrance Sunday, and recent work with the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Help us celebrate 14 years!

May sees Production AV turn 14, so we’d love you to celebrate with us!

The evening of the 7th May will be more of an informal party between 5pm and 9pm, with a light buffet and locally sourced refreshments.

To make sure we can give you time on the days, please RSVP to [email protected] with your preferred day and time.

We look forward to seeing you on the 7th and 8th May!

Royal Albert Hall – Teenage Cancer Trust Concerts 2019

27/03/2019 by petermccrea

The annual Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) fundraising week of concerts and comedy gigs descended on London’s Royal Albert Hall in March 2019 to help support young people with cancer. TCT engaged video solutions specialist Production AV to supply a full video package consisting of LED screens, cameras and mixing, media servers and technicians for the event, which saw crowd-pleasers including Take That, Rudimental and The Script perform over the week. Each performance was mixed with real-life stories of young people affected by cancer and appeals for donations.

Full Concert Video Production Solution for Teenage Cancer Trust

“There are two key video elements that we were required to deliver: one was to display live on-stage action onto IMAG screens, the other to promote how people can donate money to TCT,” said Pete McCrea, Production AV’s managing director. “To achieve this, we supplied Desay M6 LED panels as a central 8m x 4.5 screen flown above the stage and a large, curved 27.9m x 0.9m banner of LED screens across the back of the main stage, displaying information. This was supported with a camera package for the relay of real-life stories and live performances to the screens.”

Production AV supplied Sony HDC 1500R Studio Channels and Agile ARC360 Lite PTZ Remote Cameras, with footage mixed and directed using the company’s Blackmagic ATEM 4k PPU. McCrea and his team also used their Barco S3-4K for switching and disguise 2x4Pro Media Servers for content playback.

McCrea served as Project Manager, taking the helm with pre-production at Production AV’s new HQ near Cheltenham, load-in at the Royal Albert Hall and on-site set-up.

“Pre-production took the form of creating an artist liaison pack, to ensure we had all the screen pixel maps created and resolutions sorted, and the system design clearly communicated,” McCrea said. “Our team was in contact with the artists’ managers prior to the event to obtain assets, pre-program content and test everything well before we were on-site.

“We utilised disguise’s fantastic ‘designer’ software for building and pre-programming all of the content. In the days before the event, we pre-built the control systems and banner screen, patched and programmed the servers to ensure that the get-in went without a hitch. Then it was consigned to the job by our friends at R Jameson Event Transport.”

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Torry Harris Business Solutions – 20 Years of Digital Transformation

21/01/2019 by petermccrea

Production AV were excited to be working with new client, Torry Harris Business Solutions through providing a complete technical event solution that included our new, ultra high resolution Desay x2.6i 2.6mm Indoor LED Screen to celebrate the fantastic 20 years that the company has been innovating the digital experience for clients globally and inspire their increasingly talented team to continue delivering the high-quality solutions THBS are known for.

High Resolution Desay 2.6mm LED Screen Conference Solution

The centrepiece of the solution was a 5m x 2m LED screen using 30 of our new Desay x2.6i 2.6mm Indoor LED Panels that was built upon a ground support system and covered the rear of the stage. Two Novastar MCTRL 4K LED Processors were used to manage the data being fed to the screen with one acting as a fail safe hot back up to the main processor. Content was fed and scaled to the screen using our Barco S3-4K Screen Management System and easily managed when combined with our Barco EC-50 Event Controller. The S3-4K was also used to form a PIP (Picture in Picture) on the LED screen using the video feed from our Sony PMW-EX3 HD Video Camera positioned in FOH. Alongside the video solution, Production AV also provided the audio solution for the conference using our Yamaha TF1 Digital Mixing Console to manage several Sennheiser radio microphones that operated flawlessly throughout the event.

We were really happy with the performance of the Desay x2.6i throughout the day, as all of TBHS great achievements were crisply presented and the colours of the content perfectly reproduced. We’d like to thank TBHS for selecting us as the technical provider for this special event for their company. We look forward to working again with you in the future.

We Have Moved!

14/01/2019 by petermccrea

New Premises for future growth.

After nearly 10 years in our previous premises, the time has come for the move to our home for the next stage in the companies life. Preparation and storage of equipment had become increasing hard due to our increases in inventory, so the search for premises had been ongoing for the last 18 months. Eventually suitable space was found in Cheltenham with the move happening in early January 2019. Offering over 9,000 square feet of space divided across 7000 sq ft of warehouse and the remainder as office and service space, we’re excited to be settling in to the new premises.

The new space gives us the ability to build large LED screens or stage sets within the premises for pre-production purposes, as well as having individual spaces for meetings, and studio space for visualisation and programming of media servers. We’ll also be increasing our space for custom fabrication works to allow us to go the extra mile for our clients.

New Address:

Unit F Ashville Trading Estate,
The Runnings,
Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire,
GL51 9PT

Telephone: 01242 517203

We’d love to show you round: drop us a line, we’ll get the kettle on and show you round! We’ll also be holding a series of open days in March – if you’d like an invite then email [email protected]

Somerset House – Summer Series 2018

13/10/2018 by petermccrea

Production AV were delighted to be working for long term client Metropolis Music and having the opportunity to provide the video solution for this year’s Summer Series hosted at the spectacular Somerset House which overlooks the River Thames. The eleven-night series promised an outstanding line-up of established and emerging artists such as MGMT, Flight Facilities and Sigrid so we were looking forward to a showcasing of world class talent across many genres of music.

Music Festival 6mm LED Screen Summer Series 2018

The video solution comprised of a 8m x 4.5m LED screen using our stock of Desay M6 Indoor/Outdoor 6.25mm LED Panels which was flown on the rear of the main stage and acted as a backdrop throughout the series. Content was scaled and fed to the screen using our industry standard Barco ImagePRO II Dual and a pair of Nova MCTRL660 Processors were used to manage the data being fed to the screen with one acting as a fail safe hot back up to the main processor. In video control, two Green Hippo Hippotizer Karst V4 Media Servers were provided to store and manage each artists visual content for their performances.

We were really happy with the performance of the LED which worked flawlessly for the eleven days it was in operation and the content control using the Hippo media servers also made it easy to provide a flexible and responsive service to various artists requests throughout the series. It is always a pleasure to work with Metropolis Music especially when their is such a talented and diverse lineup to enjoy and we’d like to thank them for selecting us to provide the video solution for the Summer Series this year. We’re looking forward to the opportunities next year will bring!

TBS Engineering – CEO Broadcast Event

03/10/2018 by petermccrea

Production AV were keen to put our newly purchased Desay X2i 2.6mm Indoor LED Screen to the test and we were delighted to provide TBS Engineering, a company local to Production AV’s headquarters, an LED screen solution at their production facility using the X2i for a broadcast message from the CEO of TBS Engineering.

High Resolution 2.6mm LED Screen Broadcast Solution

With TBS recently constructing this new facility, the CEO wanted to host an event that would explain the direction and goals for this new operation and its employees as well as thank them for the productive and smooth early performance. Production AV were on hand to provide 3.5m x 2m LED screen using 28 Desay X2i 2.6mm Indoor LED Panels which provided a super crisp display for the several hundred in the audience to focus their attention on. The screen was flown from two warehouse cranes using our rapid rigging system which saw the screen built and raised swiftly enabling the production floorspace to be opened back up for TBS use.

Two of our newly purchased Novastar MCTRL 4K LED Processors were used to manage the data being fed to the screen with one acting as a fail safe hot back up to the main processor. Content was scaled to the screen using our industry standard Barco ImagePRO II Dual with all the playback and processing kit located in a single flightcase positioned discreetly to one side of the screen. A 2m x 2m stage was also provided along with a lectern and an Soundcraft EPM 6:2:2 Mixer to manage the single microphone used to welcome the audience and introduce the CEO.

The event was a great success and we were very impressed by the performance of the Desay X2i both in terms of the build design but also the superb image quality displayed. We’d like to thank TBS Engineering for selecting us as the to provide the video solution and we we look forward to working on more events with you in the future.

Exciting Investment in Desay X2.6i 2.6mm LED Screen

10/09/2018 by petermccrea

Production AV are excited to announce that we have recently invested in over 200 panels of Desay’s X2.6i indoor LED modules. In doing so, we now have a significantly higher resolution LED option than our DigiLED 3.9mm and Desay 6.25mm stock and this will allow us to provide more technical flexibility and creative freedom to our clients. We are looking forward to testing the capabilities of our new 2.6mm LED product at leading edge events across the country.

2.6mm Indoor LED Screen with 4K Video Solution Capacity

Having already invested in Desay LED screen, we knew that the Desay X2.6i would have outstanding build quality that had been engineered to operate impeccably within event scenarios. Production AV also invested a wide range of rigging hardware that enables screens to be either flown or ground supported depending on the specific requirements of your event.

The screen has the ability to be built in both concave and convex configurations as either a flown or ground support configuration.

Novastar MCTRL 4K LED Processors were also purchased as part of the investment, and when combined with the X2.6i and our Barco S3-4K Screen Managment System, a complete end to end 4K solution can be provided. The screen itself has an high refresh rates and excellent color reproduction due to the 18bit greyscale processing making it an ideal option for an eye catching and close quarters video solution.

The X2.6i has already been selected for numerous projects by our clients and we’d love for you to get in contact if you would like a quotation or a demo of the screen’s capabilities.

Stolen Equipment

24/08/2018 by petermccrea

Update – Friday 31st Aug

Northamptonshire Police spotted a suspicious van parked in a lay-by about 15 miles from the scene of the theft on Sunday 26th. Thankfully the van contained all the stolen equipment, apart from a Leatherman and torch. All the equipment has, today, been returned to us.

A massive thank you to Northamptonshire Police, and our Insurance brokers Ryan Waring and Richard from Vista Insurance for their work and support.

Also a massive thank you to all the friends of the company that have shared the post across the various platforms, which hopefully had some impact on the thieves plans for the stolen equipment. We really appreciated it!

Stolen Equipment

We have suffered a vehicle break in between approximately 22:00 on the 23rd and 08:00 on the 24th August at the Thrapston Travelodge, Kettering. Our van was targeted in the car park of the Travelodge, with the thieves stealing a quantity of equipment, mostly marked as Production AV, but some sub hired from Central Presentations.

Thankfully the equipment is spares or pool kit, so the event has started without any issues.

All the equipment serial numbers are logged on our database, so if you come across any suspect items, we can verify the serial numbers.

Stolen Equipment:

Qty 2 Barco TLD+ 1.5-2.0:1 Lens in black 5 Star Flight cases,
Qty 2 Barco TLD+ 2.8-4.5:1 Lens in black 5 Star Flight cases,
Qty 1 Apple MacBook Pro in black 5 Star Flight case with Playback Pro + software USB Key,
Qty 1 Da Lite Fastfold Screen Kit 8’x 6′, frame, legs, front and rear surfaces in black poly case,
Qty 2 AV Stumpfl projection screen kit, 10’8″x6′ with frame, legs, front and rear surfaces in case,
Qty 2 Interspace Industries Microcue kits (Transmitter, aerial, receiver and 2 USB cables in black zip pouch)
Qty 1 Plus U5-732 3500 Lumen Projector in black zip bag,
Qty 2 Samsung ME55 screen in Red 5 Star Flight case, with power cable and Unicol mounting plates
Qty 1Black 5 Star ‘Tall Norman’ production case with various tools, adaptors, tape and food/drink, as well as a quantity of our new mugs!
Qty 1 Black 5 Star Arena Series 600 Flight case with quantity of 16A mains cables and adaptors,
Qty 1 Black Peli 1510 with various and assorted tools,
Qty 1 Orange North Face Duffle bag with rigging ropes, harness and assorted hardware,
Qty 1 Black Peli Storm case with assorted tools,

The Northamptonshire Police crime reference number is 18000402947.

If you have any information on the equipment, then please give us, or the Northamptonshire Police a call on 01452 372728 or 101 respectively.

St Christopher’s Place – Spring Garden Digital Activation

17/05/2018 by petermccrea

Production AV were excited to be working with new clients Four Communications to create a spring themed activation event hosted in the centre of St Christopher’s Place Square. The ‘Spring Rituals’ film was created by both floral designer Flora Starkey and Prettybird’s founding partner Juliette Larthe as a captivating and unique digital art installation to mark the arrival of the equinox through the magic of new floral life. The screen was on site for five days and ran from mid morning until 8pm so that members of the public could enjoy seeing time-lapses that offered extraordinary views into spring through the magic of flowers turning from seedlings to full bloom!

Outdoor 6mm LED Screen Art Installation

For this outdoor activation, our waterproof and versatile Desay 6.25mm Indoor/Outdoor LED Panels were used to create four 3.2m x 1.8m screens that would be positioned into an outward facing square to enable 360° viewing angles. The four screens were raised up off the floor on Litedeck and were finished with a custom, white, weatherproof cladding. The control system was set up in a nearby building, with the cabling run safely and unobtrusively into the cube. Two Nova MCTRL660 Processors were used to manage the data being fed to the screen with one acting as a fail safe hot back up to the main processor. Content was scaled to the screens using our industry standard Barco ImagePRO II Dual with content sourced and managed using an Apple Mac Mini. A small but powerful PA system was also installed into the exhibition to amplify the film with a poignant soundtrack representing spring time. Four EV Evid 6.2T Loudspeakers were located in the centre of the cube, with a compact Soundcraft EPM 6:2:2 Mixer and amplifier in the control room.

The design of the cladding and technical system, project management and health and safety planning was undertaken by Pete McCrea, who managed the onsite installation of the screen and cladding. Installation was undertaken over several hours in the morning, and then removed in two hours after the event. Production AV contracted Congo Blue, who are also part of the SFL Group for the fabrication and installation of the cladding.

It was great to see so many people stopping to take photos and appreciating the exquisite range of flowers flourishing into full blooms. Production AV are always grateful when our services are utilised to display such beautiful artistry and positive messages especially about the arrival of spring! We’d like to thank Four Communications for choosing us as the technical supplier for this exhibition, we have really enjoyed making this project a reality and we look forward to working with you again in the future.

Our #SCPGarden is unveiled and on show! Hurry down to watch the magical time-lapse film Spring Rites by @florastarkey – here until Sunday! ?? #StChristophersPlace #London #SpringEquinox

A post shared by St Christopher’s Place (@stchristophersplace) on Mar 20, 2018 at 11:39am PDT

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