The Cynthia Lee is the latest OB truck to be rolled out by mobile production and satellite services provider, Shure Shot Transmissions. The fourth 40-ft full-service expandable truck to join the Shure Shot fleet, it is equipped with a DiGiCo SD10B console enabling it to interface with company’s the other trucks via Madi and fibre networks.
‘Our intention when we built the truck was to meet ESPN’s need for a mid-level production truck – six-to-eight camera production,’ explains Sure Shot owner, Dennis Kunce. ‘We worked closely with ESPN to determine what audio board would be suitable for them in this specific application, and DiGiCo is what they recommended and gave us their blessing. The people at DiGiCo worked with us to meet our price point to stay within the budget but, more importantly, the SD10B’s footprint, versatility, and power all came into play in our decision.’
In addition, Kunce knew that the SD10B has been a mainstay of the submix trucks used on X Games (an an annual sports event hosted by ESPN) for several years at events around the globe.
The Cynthia Lee will handle sporting and entertainment events under the direction of EIC Kory Loy.
‘As the engineer in charge of the mobile unit, ‘I’m tasked with ensuring that all the pieces of equipment in the truck are up and running for the freelance crew to operate – everything from the audio console to the video switchers to the cameras,’ Loy explains. ‘So, even though I’m not one of the hands-on operators at these events, I have to train, or at least show the different operators how to use the console, with only a couple days training. A lot of our events are set up, shoot and strike and in a single, ten-hour day, and I’ve got to give individuals that have never operated the console before a generic overview in 45 minutes to an hour time before I have to move on to doing other functions in the truck. And I believe I’m able to do that rather well because the console is very easy to use.’
Coming months will see Sure Shot covering a host of major league baseball and basketball events for the major networks and ESPN, as well events as for the NHK channel in Japan: ‘We will be handling a lot of split feeds for them, the same thing as we did for the Super Bowl,’ Loy confirms. ‘Nippon TV operator Shuhei Anraku took generic feeds from the NFL, supplemented by several of their own cameras, to create and produce their own game with their own announcers, which was fed to the broadcast headquarters in Japan.
‘Another benefit is that the console is scalable, you can literally have as many inputs/outputs as you want,’ Loy continues. ‘So if we ever find a need for more ins or outs, we can add a few and connect them via fibre. Having Madi available in and out also makes it very flexible to integrate either into a router or an intercom system.’
For Janice Stief – a 30-year audio veteran who has worked on sporting and entertainment events ranging from the Olympics to the most recent Ryder Cup in the Sure Shot truck – the new truck has provided first of a DiGiCo console: ‘I was handling cut-ins for the Sky Sports news show in London,’ she explains. ‘I had eight-to-ten mics set up around the course, from stick and RF mics to in-studio lavalieres, and I was handling EVS inputs into my console for playbacks, as well as programme feeds from NBC and the world feed –36-40 inputs on the console in addition to the mikes. Prior to getting started, I was given a quick tutorial from Kory, who was fantastic and very knowledgeable. There’s a lot to the console that clearly you have got learn over time; you can’t learn it all on one show. I liked that when I would attention a fader, I could do most of my adjustments from the corresponding touchscreen strip, without moving to other areas of the console. Adding delay, which we often need to do on golf in order to sync up on-air talent to RF cameras, is quick and easy.’
‘I think the neatest feature of the DiGiCo SD10B is the ability to have Madi interfacing to the trucks and Optocore to the SD Racks,’ adds Shawn Peacock, who was the main console operator for the Daytona 500 and has worked with DiGiCo consoles on several X Games events in Los Angeles. ‘The ability for us to talk across Madi in these situations is huge.’
‘The DiGiCo console offers us the kind of flexibility and versatility we have to have as an independent contractor working with all the major networks including NBC, Fox, Turner, ESPN, Sky Sports...’ Kunce says. ‘The exposure we’re getting by having the board in our truck has been very positive. Overall, it has been a very positive experience across the board.’
See also:
DiGiCo SD10B broadcast console
