Cheltenham

Imperial Gardens – Cheltenham Science Festival 2019

03/07/2019 by petermccrea

Cheltenham’s annual Science Festival arrived in June to explore the weird, wacky and wonderful. In its sixth consecutive year of involvement, Production AV was commissioned to design, supply and operate the high-end screen, projection and sound solutions that formed the foundation of the multiple zones that were created in the specially built Festival Village.

Complete Video and Audio Solution Delivered to Festival Village

Festival organisers asked Production AV to deliver all audiovisual requirements for the growing event. The team oversaw set up and technical checks for all of the zones, including the flagship Cheltenham Town Hall space and adjoining Pillar Room, the Helix, the Crucible and the Cinema Zone.

“We were thrilled to design, set up and run an audio solution for the Town Hall this year, in addition to the visual elements, and we opted for a PA system based around d&b audiotechnik Y-Series speakers, Yamaha QL desks and Sennheiser radio mics,” explains Production AV MD, Pete McCrea. “The Town Hall is notoriously tricky to set up for good sound, and it took the expertise of Production AV’s Project Manager, Olie Goulding, who oversaw the event load-in and operated the Town Hall audio, to scope and plot the venue to design the d&b solution, which perfectly fitted the bill.”

Production AV also supplied the Town Hall’s main room with a 16ft x 9ft screen, 10k lumen Barco HDX Flex Projector, Barco switching solution and a camera package based around Agile ARC 360 Lite PTZ remote cameras and Sony EX3 Camcorders.

In the Pillar Room, the team installed a simple control package to interface with the in-house projection system, along with a d&b Y-Series and E-Series speakers and Yamaha TF series mixing desk. Matt Wadley, Production AV’s Technician, oversaw all audio aspects for the duration of the Festival in the Pillar room, with the Festival’s volunteer staff operating the majority of the video systems.

“One of the highlights of our AV package was the outdoor Cinema Zone, for which we specified a Desay M6 6.25mm pitch LED screen,” McCrea continues. “This displayed 13 hours of continuous footage from the moon landings over the festival, as well as lots of other content. The screen looked fantastic in the exterior garden, giving great high-resolution images over the large areas, with excellent colour reproduction and brightness.”

Hundreds of events took place over the six-day Festival, with more than 280 leading experts imparting knowledge, prompting discussion and provoking thought to thousands of visitors, including more than 9,000 schoolkids.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByhR9AChVd9/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Tour of Britain – Cheltenham Festival of Cycling

10/10/2017 by petermccrea

Production AV were looking forward to being involved in a project that was hosted… or pedalled through our local area! We were working on behalf of several clients to provide a range of solutions for the Tour of Britain stage which finished in Cheltenham. For APT Marketing, we were responsible for providing the screens and live feed to the hospitality yurt at the finish line as well as the main LED screen site for public viewing constructed in Pittville Park next to the the final stretch of the race. For Mudway Workman, we provided another LED screen in Winchcombe a couple more kilometres away from the finish line which was erected on the back of a curtained trailer. With the race gaining considerable interest amongst the public Production AV were delighted to playing our part in enhancing this special day for the spectators and Gloucestershire as a whole.

Multiple Outdoor 6mm Livestream LED Screens

The hospitality yurt was provided as a space for the sponsors of race and their delegates to gather and enjoy meeting and listening to well known members of the cycling community, eat fantastic food and enjoy the race as it was presented around the edge of the yurt on four of Production AV’s Samsung ME65B 65″ LED Flat Panels. All of our sites were installed with satellite dishes that provided a reliable Freeview feed of the race and our onsite technician Jimmy Flanders was at the yurt to assist and tweak the setup in the event the feed slipped in quality. The PA, microphone systems and playback capabilities for the screens used before and after the race were also provided by Production AV.

Arriving at 5am on the morning of the race at Pitville Park, the team worked into the morning building a goal post truss structure where a 6.4m x 3.6m LED screen was constructed using our stock of Desay 6.25mm Indoor/Outdoor LED Panels. Line array systems were flown either side of the screen which would project the audio clearly to large crowds expected throughout the day. In a gazebo behind the screen, control was set up to protect it from the elements. 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. The sponsorship content that would play during the races advert breaks was switched using our Barco PDS-901 3G 9 in 1 Out Seamless Switcher with all data being comfortably scaled to the screen using our industry standard Barco ImagePRO II Dual. In Winchcombe, the task was similar as we used our Desay 6.25mm Indoor/Outdoor LED Panels to create a smaller screen four panels wide and two panels high constructed on the back of a Mudway Workman trailer using our ground support system. The screen faced outwards into the local Fanzone that was positioned within touching distance of the road where the race would fly through.

Overall the stage was a massive success with thousands of people lining the streets to support the riders. Mick Bennett the Race Director of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain mentions the overwhelming warmth and unprecedented support shown during Stage 7 and we’d like to thank APT Marketing and Mudway Workman for allowing us to be apart of that support. It was a pleasure having you both as clients and we look forward to continuing our relationship with you in the future.

Montpellier Gardens – Cheltenham Literature Festival 2016

19/12/2016 by petermccrea

Having worked with Cheltenham Festivals on the annual Literature Festival for the last five years, Production AV were looking forward to being back for a sixth year providing the video solution to all the venues at the festival. From the 7th – 16th of October, Cheltenham Literature Festival promised to continue delivering an inspiring mix of debate and discussion by welcoming over 600 of the world’s greatest writers, poets, politicians, thinkers and stars to Cheltenham.

In Forum, the main venue of the festival, Production AV provided a full video solution using a our Barco S3-4K Screen Management System coupled with its Barco EC-50 Controller which enabled us to manage numerous signals and outputting them to our Christie LHD700 Full HD Projector via a fibre system. Situated in front of house, three Sony PMW-EX3 HD Video Cameras provided numerous angles for the technical director to select during each event and one camera operator worked back stage controlling the two close up cameras using a pan tilt remote head system which enabled less intrusive production and greater communication between the technical team. The Barco S3-4K, also accommodated two laptops and was able to seamlessly switch between keynote and powerpoint presentations as well as raising the production quality by providing PIP’s of the camera feed when desired over presentations. The last output required from the Barco S3 was to the LG BD370 Blu-ray Player that recorded certain events for later use. Also provided for the guests was the Interspace MasterCue V6 Cueing System and comfort monitors leaving guests with the peace of mind that they can easily manage their presentation.

In The Pillar Rooms, the venue was more intimate and required a smaller technical setup. The main operating hardware was a Barco PDS-901 3G 9 in 1 Out Seamless Switcher that took feeds from two ASUS X555LA 15 Inch Laptops and outputted to an in-house projector as well as another LG BD370 Blu-ray Player for recording purposes. Comfort monitors and another MasterCue System was also set up in this venue to improve the presenting experience.

Working with Adrian Hensley and the team at Cheltenham Festivals is always a pleasure and getting to play our part in providing this yearly gathering of people with fantastic intellect as well as fascinating stories is always near the top of yearly event experiences! We would like to thank Adrian and the team for continuing this relationship between our companies into it’s sixth year and we hope it continues as it is such a rewarding and enjoyable event to be apart of each year.

Superdry Fashion Show – Sportswear Launch

12/08/2016 by petermccrea

Production AV were appreciative to once again work for long term client Tarren Production Ltd by providing a complete video solution using LED screens, flat panel displays, HD camera feeds and screen management systems. It was an honour to be apart of Superdry’s exciting businesses developments namely the launch of their sportswear line.

3mm High Resolution LED Screen with Barco S3-4K Switching

The main centerpiece of the event were our DigiLED 3.9mm LED Panels. We built two 4.5m x 2.5m LED walls on either side of the stage. These screens were used to showcase content that expressed the evolution of Superdry’s aspirational design story, offering essential items for everyday fitness as well as capsule collections for Athleisure, Yoga, Gym, Running and Cycle.

Positioned to capture the catwalk was a Sony PMW-EX3 Video Camera which fed live video to a Samsung ME65B 65″ Flat Panel Display which the models used as reference for their cues throughout the show. Playback of Powerpoints and keynotes were also displayed on screen for numerous talks by members of the Superdry team and brand ambassadors. All content was managed and switched by pairing the Barco EC-50 Event Controller with the Barco S3-4K Screen Management System which functioned flawlessly throughout the event.

Again we’d like to thank Tarren Production Ltd and Superdry for choosing us to provide the screen and video management for this event. We look forward to working on more successful events in the future.

Superdry Sport SS17 ?????????????? #superdry #fashionshow #potd #catwalk #fashion #clothing #cheltenham #designer #fashiondesigner #ss17 #springsummer #work #lovemyjob @sd.stylist @superdryglobal #superdrysport

A photo posted by Victoria Bramwell (@vee.beee) on Jun 21, 2016 at 11:42am PDT

Science Festival 2016 – Space World

23/06/2016 by petermccrea

Production AV were appreciative to be welcomed back to the Science Festival for the fourth year running to supply an immersive, audiovisual solution for the event space named Space World. Being asked to provide a complete solution, from collecting and editing content to programming the show, was a challenging yet enjoyable experience and we are proud to be involved in the education of the next generation in the topic of space travel.

Complete Mission Control Video Solution

Using four Samsung ME65B 65″ LED Flat Panels as the centre piece for the mission control experience, Production AV were instructed to find realistic and suitable content to put into a 10 minute video sequence that would show a rocket preparing for launch as well as taking off. To greater enhance the experience, QLab was used to program lighting and smoke effects at numerous points throughout the video sequence as well as syncing the timing screen to match the rockets take off. Once this was set up, control could be handed over to the mission control presenters who only needed to click the play button and the entire sequence would run unaided.

Numerous other screens such at 50″ and 42″ plasmas were also installed around the venue and a Christie LHD700 Projector was positioned in the space dome tent as used along with other AV equipment to communicate with Tim Peake on his last ever interview on the ISS before he returned to earth. A massive thank you from Production AV to Adrian Hensley and the whole of Cheltenham Festivals for having us provide such a unique and creative solution. Below is a short clip from Tim Peake’s direct interview with the Science Festival.

Tim Peake doing a direct QnA with Cheltenham Science Festival in his last ever interview before he returns back to earth from the ISS. #timpeake #astronaut ????

A video posted by Sam (@sam_mcconnochie) on Jun 8, 2016 at 11:12am PDT

Superdry Autumn/Winter16 for Tarren Production Ltd

20/01/2016 by petermccrea

Complete Conference AV Solution

Production AV had the pleasure of working for our long term client Tarren Production Ltd on several parts on the Autumn/Winter 2016 launch held by Superdry in Cheltenham in early January 2016. SuperGroup used a disused warehouse near their HQ in Cheltenham, which was used for a catwalk show and after show party, as well as running a series of presentations in their new staff canteen adjacent to the new site.

In the Cafe space, Tarren Production contracted Production AV to supply a simple but complete production package of sound lighting, video and staging. Utilising d&B Audio Q7 and QSUB speakers, D12 amplifiers and Allen and Heath QU32 mixing desk to provide a full range sound system for the spoken word and presentations, video was taken based around a 12,000 Lumen projector and 16’x9′ screen for the brightly lit space, with a Barco PDS901 switcher for allowing a clean fade between laptops and video playback handled by PlayBackPro+ running on Apple Mac Mini computers. Simple lighting highlighted the presenters on the 3m x 2m stage that was set up in the venue. Olie Goulding was onsite to oversee the running of the event and ensure that the presenters could focus on their presentations.

Fashion Show Catwalk Monitoring

Over in the launch area, Production AV provided several small but key bits of infrastructure. For the catwalk, a pair of Sony PMW-EX3 cameras were rigged in fixed positions, then fed their Full HD signals back to 3 pairs of Panasonic flatscreen displays positioned to allow the show caller and dressing teams to clearly monitor the action on the catwalk, and ensure they timed the model entrances correctly. Whilst not an overly glamorous part of the show, quality of the image and reliability were critical to ensure models were able to time the show correctly.

Presentation Flatscreen Hire

In a temporary structure located beside the catwalk space, members of the Superdry team briefed different groups on the new Sports and Snow product lines. Within this space Production AV provided a large 65″ Samsung LCD flatscreen display to enable the presentation to be seen clearly by the delegates. Another small d&b sound system with a wireless microphone allowed the presenter to be heard over the background noise of the busy site.

Our thanks go to Tarren Production Ltd for asking us work for them on this event.