Complete Solution

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.

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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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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.

Superdry Amsterdam – Store Managers Conference

29/10/2017 by petermccrea

Production AV were pleased to be involved with Superdry’s Store Managers Conference hosted in Amsterdam on behalf of Tarren. We were tasked with providing a full AV solution to the conference space, catwalk and dinner presentation as well as four break out rooms. Our five strong team led by Olie Goulding were onsite providing the coordination and technical knowhow to assist Superdry in maximising the conference and drive home a strong, positive message for 2018.

Superdry Complete AV Conference Solution

The main conference area provided a space for the Superdry business briefing and a Barco HDX W14 DLP Projector was rested on our projection racking to rear project onto a Stumpfl 16′ x 9′ which allowed the entire audience to fully engage with the presentation through figures and animations. The presentations were loaded onto our PlayBack Pro software and then switched using our Barco PDS-901 9 in 1 Out Seamless Switcher. As this was a complete AV solution, audio was also provided with Sennheiser radio microphones for presenters , l’Acoustic X12 loudspeakers plus l’acoustics SB18 Subs and a Midas M32R Mixing Desk for control.

A similar setup was used in the catwalk/dinner presentation space where another Barco HDX W14 DLP Projector projected onto an identical Stumpfl screen. Instead of a PDS, our new Roland V1-HD 4 Input HDMI Vision Mixer capability mixed the show and we were impressed by it’s versatility despite it’s small and simple design. Sixteen D&B T10 loudspeakers were flown in arrays of four supported with D&B B22 subwoofers under the stage. and the show was driven using a Yamaha QL1 Mixer. This delivered superb sound for both the presentations and the catwalk where the the newest range of products were being premiered for their Autumn/Winter Collection.

In the breakout rooms we worked with Superdry’s own stock of 3.9mm LED screen modules and created two LED screens. They were being used for more intimate workshops and presentations for 20 – 30 people. Data was scaled using Barco ImagePRO II Dual’s and then fed to the screens using our Nova MCTRL660 Processors. Audio equipment was also provided to these rooms in the form of Sennheiser microphones and loudspeakers. The final area that audio was provided was the mock shops where presenters had Sennheiser radio mics and four D&B M4 loudspeakers were used to relay their voices around the shops.

The conference was a massive success with Superdry store managers feeling positive and prepared for the exciting new developments the company has planned for 2018 and beyond. We’d like to thank Tarren and Superdry for their continued support and we look forward to providing the AV solution for the next Superdry briefing.

ExCeL London – Move It 2017 Dance Exhibition

15/03/2017 by petermccrea

Production AV were back out once again this time to ExCeL London providing the LED screen for London Studio Centre’s exhibition stand at the Move It 2017 Dance Show. Contact us soon so your stand can be taken to the next level at Move It 2018! With over 24,000 dancers attending the three day event, Production AV were excited to be providing the video solution for one of the biggest dance studios in the country. The aim of Move It is to celebrate all forms of dance and performing arts and with several performance stages, workshops, stalls and dance programmes our onsite LED technician Sam McCrea certainly had plenty to do!

High Resolution 3.9mm Exhibition LED Screen Solution

Using our high resolution digiLED Indoor 3.9mm LED Panels, we provided a 5.5m x 3m LED Screen that was built on our LED ground support system mounted on a Litedeck stage. As well as providing the screen, playback and lighting solutions were also catered for. The kit was loaded in the day before the event and the screen went up quickly – under 4 hours from loading in to completion. 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 with a redundant cable route. Scaling for the screen was handled through the Barco ImagePRO II Dual which had no trouble showing LSC’s promotional videos and other media content that was being cued and ran through our Apple Macbook Pro and PlaybackPro software. Four Source 4 Junior Profiles were positioned above the screen on a discreet truss structure and provided a fixed lighting state so members of the dance community had a space in the exhibition to learn what London Studio Centre was all about.

The event was a massive success, with LSC able to use the LED screen to reveal all the amazing talented they have curated in their studio in the most eye catching way possible. We’d like to thank London Studio Centre for choosing us to provide the video and lighting solution for your exhibition and we hope to back working with you for Move It 2018 to show another great year of dance and performing arts.

Hello #moveit17 #day2. Come along and see our dance film on stand 155 and have a chat with our lovely LSC ambassadors! #LSCarmy #ambassadors #movie #cinema #danceonfilm #LSCclasses #dance #training #performance #specialist #ballet #jazz #hiphop #contemporary #commercial #musictheatre #theatre #moveit17 #LSConthemove

A post shared by London Studio Centre (@ldnstudiocentre) on Mar 11, 2017 at 2:56am PST

Belfast – Ulster Unionist Party Conference 2016

10/01/2017 by petermccrea

Production AV were back out once again working on behalf of BNL providing the largest scale production we have jointly worked on to date. We were providing a complete video solution for the 2016 Ulster Unionist Party Conference. We were looking forward to being involved in such a prestigious and well publicised event. In his speech at the conference, Colum Eastwood the leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party stated despite party differences with the UUP, they both aimed to “make Northern Ireland work” and was looking forward to “closer party cooperation”.

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

Using our stock of digiLED HRi3900 Indoor 3.9mm LED Panels, we built a 10m x 3m LED screen as well as providing full processing and playback support using our Barco screen management system. Travelling over with the kit to Belfast the day before, the Production AV team were began the load in early next morning and had the screen built into it’s custom set and operational in three hours. A pair of Nova MCTRL660 Processors were used to manage the data being fed to the screen with one acting as a fail safe back up to the main processor. For playback, our Barco S3-4k Screen Management System along with it’s counterpart the Barco EC50 Event Controller ensured that we could output a range of feeds including Keynote presentations, camera feeds and a twitter stream to the LED screen which provided flawless motion to the conference and allowed the UUP to focus completely on laying out plans to do what’s right for Northern Ireland in 2017 and onwards.

The event was a great success and we really enjoyed working alongside BNL to make sure this important event had the best production quality possible. Thank you for selecting us to be the supplier of the video solution we really enjoyed working with your team and the UUP Party itself. We hope to be back for next years party conference to hear the exciting changes the UUP have and aim to instrument in Northern Ireland.

SSE Wembley Arena – Seasick Steve Concert

14/12/2016 by petermccrea

Production AV were delighted to continue working with Crosstown on behalf of Seasick Steve to provide a full video solution for his biggest ever headline show at the SSE Arena, Wembley. Having previously been the video supplier for Steve in his UK 2015 tour, we were looking forward to being back for his ‘10 Years Out Of The Dog House’ party that was promising great crowd atmosphere and funky guitar work!

6mm LED Screen Concert Video Solution

Using our stock of Desay 6.25mm Indoor/Outdoor LED Panels, we built a 9.6m x 5.3m LED screen that was flown at the rear of the stage. As we were providing the full video solution, two Sony HXC-100 HD Camera Channels and a Sony PMW-EX3 HD Video Camera were positioned around the venue with the aim of taking the production quality to a new height with multiple live feeds running to screen. Control was set up in front of house and the live feed management was run using our Panasonic AV-HS400 Vision Mixer Portable Production Unit (PPU). Two Nova MCTRL660 Processors were used to manage the screen with one being set up to act as a redundant backup to the main processor. Scaling for the screen was handled by a Barco ImagePRO II Dual – industry standard due to it’s great processing.

The concert went exceptionally well, with the screen performing perfectly throughout the evening and our skilled camera operators not missing a moment of the exciting evening. Seasick Steve had an amazing performance, bringing people up on stage to sing with him made it a real party atmosphere and he managed to turn the arena into the most intimate venue. He also didn’t let his eccentric reputation lessen as he turned up to the venue driving a tractor! Production AV filmed Steve’s arrival at the iconic venue for playback on the LED screen, as well as introductions for the support acts.

It has once again been a real pleasure working with Steve and his team and we’d like to take a moment just to thank them for selecting us to provide the video solution for this performance. We hope that we’ll be back in Spring for his next one!

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

Ecclesiastical Group Leadership Conference 2016

14/03/2016 by petermccrea

Production AV were pleased to once again be chosen as the sole supplier to Ecclesiastical’s annual Group Leadership Conference. With previous years conference’s utilising a simple screen and projector with drape surround, the decision was taken to undertake a massive step up in the visual impact of the event and enhance the narrative of the numerous speakers throughout the day.

3.9mm LED Video Wall Conference Solution

Using our stock of DigiLED 3.9mm LED Panels, Production AV created a 7m x 2.5m LED Video Wall as the focal point of the conference. The 3.9mm LED Wall sat on it’s own ground support; raising it above the presenters stage for improved viewing. Throughout the event it worked seamlessly for numerous speakers with their own unique content requirements. The high brightness of the screen meant that the room could be well lit and the curtains remain open allowing the views out over the lakes to remain and be enjoyed by the delegates.

Using Keynote and Powerpoint, content was fed from various laptops provided by Production AV. Live video was also run directly onto screen coming from a Sony EX3 HD Video Camera positioned at stage right. All the source switching was handled by a Barco S3-4K switching system set up backstage with the Barco EC-50 controller allowing for easy recall of previously stored scenes.

Relay Flatscreens and Breakout Rooms

Alongside the large 3.9mm LED video screen, two pairs of Samsung 65″ Flat Panels were provided to ensure the delegates could clearly see the content in the long thin room. The four screens were set out on Unicol Parabella Stands along the length of the room in order to stop any loss of clarity for those sat further back.

In addition to the main session space, multiple breakout spaces were also provided with a mix of 50″ and 42″ Panasonic Plasma Screens to enable clear communications.

Sound and Lighting for Complete Conference Solution

As Production AV were providing the full conference solution, audio requirements were also covered in full. Sound was projected using a combination d&b E3 and QSub Loudspeakers driven by d&b D12 Amplifers. All the sources were mixed on the QU-32 Digital Mixer utilising the onboard dynamics and feeds to the various speaker sends. Sennheiser EW300 G3 Wireless Handheld and Lapel microphones were provided for the presenters during the day and also during the evening quiz. ETC Source 4 Junior Lanterns and Miltec LED Batten 2’s were also used to great effect throughout the event in creating the relaxed atmosphere aimed to be achieved throughout the conference.

All the equipment was rigged during the load in on the afternoon before the event, with a fairly typical schedule of rehearsals in the morning then moving through the conference sessions and into the evening dinner and quiz, to a post event load out handled by our experienced team of event professionals and led by our in house project manager.

A big thank you to Ecclesiastical for choosing to work with us on the show and we look forward to working together in the future.