FLETCHER, NORTH CAROLINA: With multiple, well-booked indoor and outdoor event spaces, something exciting is always happening at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center (WNCAg). On any given day, equestrian shows, dog shows, or gun shows may run in parallel with conventions, meetings, or workshops. For a week-and-a-half every summer, the North Carolina Mountain State Fair celebrates life in the Blue Ridge Mountains at WNCAg. The center recently updated the Davis Arena, which boasts 45,000 square feet of exhibition space plus meeting rooms and hospitality suites. In order to deliver reliable, sophisticated sound reinforcement, local A/V integrator B&R Audio deployed Ashly Audio amplifiers and signal processors, including a Pema Multi-Channel Amplifier with on-board Protea(tm) DSP Processor. To give the non-technical staff a transparent user interface, the company provided WNCAg with Ashly’s new FR-8 and FR-16 Networkable Remote Fader Controls.

“The Davis Arena supports a huge diversity of events,” said Bruce Jensen, president and owner of B&R Audio, who led the design and installation. “The center needed a very flexible sound reinforcement system that would allow any member of the staff to play music from a variety of input sources and deliver announcements that would be clearly intelligible. In a nutshell, they asked for input volumes and mutes as well as output volumes and mutes to a number of zones, including several far-flung buildings. But perhaps even more importantly, they wanted something that would not intimidate even the most technologically bashful user.” Jensen had worked with Ashly Audio before and caught wind of the FR-8 and FR-16 before they were officially released.

“Ashly’s FR-8 and FR-16 remote controllers were perfect for this installation,” continued Jensen. “And because Ashly’s support is so complete and reliable, I had no fear that I’d be stranded with a semi-functional beta if I pressed the company for an early model.” The FR-8 and FR-16 offer eight and sixteen faders and mutes, plus a master fader. The integrator has full control over which input, output, or mixer volumes are controlled by each fader, with flexible range limits and defaults. An Ashly ne24.24M DSP Matrix Processor handles all of the complex input processing, matrix logic, and output processing behind the scenes. Jensen was careful to set the fader limits and the ne24.24M’s output protection limiting in such a way that even a complete novice can do the system no harm.

Four Ashly Audio amplifiers provide power to the Davis Arena’s distributed loudspeakers. An ne2400.70 Two-Channel Networkable Amplifier rated at 1200W into 70V feeds an outdoor collection of Community R1-64Z weather-resistant horn-loaded loudspeakers. An ne800.70 Network Amp covers the bathrooms and corridors, with ne1600pe.70 and ne2400pe.70 Networkable Amplifiers powering the main exhibition hall. All indoor speakers are down-firing SoundTube models, which do an excellent job of keeping energy off the reverberant walls. Both main exhibition hall amplifiers deliver loudspeaker conditioning with integrated DSP. “Like everything with Ashly, when I buy the amps, I know I’m also getting the company,” said Jensen. “The stuff is solid, and on those rare instances when there is a problem, the people at Ashly are on it right away. Ashly installations always run smoothly.”

Because several of the buildings that require a music and/or announcement feed from the Davis Arena are quite distant, Jensen convinced the WNCAg for forego the miles of speaker cable (literally!) they had been using in favor of fiber optics. A MultiDyne DAM-1000 provides conversion on either end of a pilot feed. “They weren’t sure that they wanted to commit to fiber optics, so we did one trial run,” said Jensen. “They love it, and we’ll be upgrading the other distant feeds in the near future.” Every aspect of B & R Audio’s installation is future-proof. Jensen continued, “One of the nice features of the Ashly ne24.24M is that the input and output count is totally modular. So when the needs of the event center change, we can accommodate those changes without having to rip everything out.

As part of the renovation, the WNCAg added three classroom spaces that are large enough to require sound reinforcement. “It was the perfect application for Ashly’s Pema Multi-Channel DSP Amplifier,” said Jensen. “Because the Pema has everything I needed inside a two-rack space unit, the installation was simple, quick, and reliable.” The Ashly Pema 4250 four-channel delivers input conditioning, switching logic, and loudspeaker conditioning (again for SoundTube loudspeakers). Similar to the FR-8 and FR-16 in the big room, each classroom has an Ashly neWR-5 wall-mounted remote control that allows users to easily select inputs and volumes.

ABOUT ASHLY AUDIO With a greater than thirty-seven year history, Ashly Audio Inc. is recognized as a world leader in the design and manufacturing of quality signal processing equipment and power amplification for use in the commercial sound contracting and professional audio markets.

www.ashly.com

ASHLAND, MASSACHUSETTS – FEBRUARY 2012: RFvenue, maker of innovative remote antenna products for production wireless, announced today that it has released its high-gain, foldable, circularly polarized CP Beam(tm) Antenna for sale to audio/visual integrators, location sound mixers, broadcast engineers, and touring companies.

“The patent-pending CP Beam is a convenient, easy-to-use, full-size beam antenna for long-range applications that can be very quickly utilized when needed,” remarked RFvenue CEO, Chris Regan. “Customers wanted a compact and durable high-gain antenna without the size, weight, and additional cost of hard plastic or metal designs. It’s great that it folds up for storage, yet is quickly deployable. There’s no need for a dedicated flight case to store the CP Beam – it fits in a two RU rack drawer when folded.”

Robert J Crowley, inventor of Crowley and Tripp microphone technology, and chief of the company, Soundwave more

New Bedford, MA – February 2012… The ability to offer picture and sound in an easy-to-use presentation package is, without question, the most compelling reason for incorporating an audiovisual system into the contemporary education/business facility. Being able to see and hear all that takes place is, by far, the best means of comprehending information. Recognizing the importance of a capable and intuitive A/V presentation system, New Bedford, MA-based Southcoast Health System has embarked on an ambitious program to re-vitalize its training capabilities—and this has led to the deployment of several Showtime presentation systems from Brea, CA-based Altinex. more

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 2012: When compared to its peers in other states, the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce is an especially active and involved institution. Nearly 8,000 businesses statewide hold membership and provide fully half of Utah’s 1,000,000 jobs. Its Salt Lake City headquarters is a bustling hive of activity, with multiple events, such as meetings, trainings, and seminars, scheduled every day. To accommodate a happily burgeoning request for event space, the Salt Lake Chamber worked with member business General Communications of Draper, Utah to expand and update the A/V systems in its executive conference and training rooms. With an eye toward future expansion, General Communications centered the new sound reinforcement equipment on a pair of Symetrix Solus 16 open-architecture, fixed-I/O signal processors.

“Of course, a chamber of commerce is all about helping member businesses make money, but, like every other chamber of commerce, the Salt Lake Chamber needs to use their financial resources judiciously,” said Ingolf de Jong, president of General Communications. “As a result, the budget was exceptionally tight.” The Salt Lake Chamber asked de Jong and General Communications system engineer Brandon Gramse to update the A/V system in the executive conference room, which subdivides into two separate rooms, and to add infrastructure to a larger training room that would allow it to subdivide into four smaller rooms.

“Like other clients that have existing equipment, they hoped we would be able to keep costs down by reusing the existing equipment,” explained de Jong. “However, using the existing equipment we ran into incompatibility issues. To make the Salt Lake Chamber future-proof and still stay within budget, Gramse based the design on Symetrix’ new Solus 16 processor. The Solus 16 offers powerful open-architecture DSP design within a fixed sixteen-input, eight-output frame. The fixed I/O makes the Solus 16 very affordable.

The setup itself is not unlike a small conference center, with the requisite flexibility to accommodate events of widely ranging nature and size. The systems for the executive conference room and the training rooms are entirely separate, and each gets its own Symetrix Solus 16. Two large Crestron touch panels and four smaller Crestron touch panels located in each subdivided space (six total) communicate with the Solus 16 audio processors and the Kramer VP-4x4k video matrix switchers to control audio and video source routing out to ceiling-mounted projectors and LCD displays. The executive conference room can be divided into two conference rooms, and in addition to VGA inputs each contain one owner-furnished Blu-ray player, whereas the training rooms each contain four owner-furnished Blu-ray players, one for each subdivided room. New Listen Technologies ListenPoint ceiling speakers powered by QSC amplifiers deliver clear, intelligible audio. The executive conference room takes four microphone inputs and two stereo line-level inputs, using only half of the Solus 16′s inputs. The training rooms require one stereo input per subdivision, plus two microphone inputs, for a total of ten.

“The Salt Lake Chamber wanted the new system to accommodate future conversion of adjacent office space into meeting space,” said Gramse. “The two Solus 16s have plenty of available inputs and outputs for those expansions. Although it would be simple to collapse the stereo inputs into mono inputs if they need it. In addition, the Solus 16′s open-architecture will allow us to program the requisite functionality for future systems without limitation. “Working with the people at Symetrix was a real pleasure. The sales support and the technical support are both excellent.” Chamber COO Heidi Walker stated that the chamber is extremely pleased with the system. General Communications provided excellent design, installation, and support for our facility. This system allows us to host people from around the world, effectively communicating the chamber message.

ABOUT SYMETRIX
Sound professionals rely upon the performance, value and reliability of audio mixing, routing and processing products from Symetrix. For more information on Symetrix professional audio products, please visit www.symetrix.co or call +1 (425) 778-7728.

BALTIMORE, Maryland – To help the world’s leading broadcasters and advertising agencies fully realize their ideas and visions, Baltimore, Maryland-based Producers Video relies on Fairlight’s XCS Constellation with the Xynergi as a center panel for a professional A/V solution. As Maryland’s premier film, video, audio production and post-production house, Producers Video runs campaigns for nationally known brands such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, Under Armour and Toyota, among others.

The addition of Fairlight’s XCS Constellation to Producers Video’s facility has been a catalyst for its continued success and expansion. “We never want to turn away clients or work opportunities as the flexibility and options we receive with Fairlight products is our major strength,� says Bob Bragg, Senior Audio Engineer at Producers Video. “Since the installation, we’ve been able to evolve and learn to incorporate more features that help expand our business and capabilities.�

One of the benefits of Fairlight’s XCS Constellation and Xynergi is their flexibility to work with many file formats. Bragg notes, “Fairlight continues to add new levels of innovation by adding HD video to the timeline as well as the capability to import and export different file formats and VST plug-ins. The ability to work on audio and signal processing on every channel, without a separate program saves a great amount of time and helps to keep workflow constant. There is no need to launch another program or extension, and all the native EQ’s and dynamics are all instantly there.�

On a day-to-day basis, Bragg mentioned some of the challenges of production and how Fairlight consoles help to eliminate issues that can slow down workflow and productivity. The user-friendly footprint of the Constellation provides plenty of inputs and outputs, and the ability to instantly adjust feeds to send to other studios via ISDN with picture lock makes it easy to keep workflow constant.

“It’s great to work with other studios and be able to have both sessions running at the same time, helping to judge the performance and make creative decisions instantly even if you’re not on site. Many of the more compact systems don’t have the versatility and ease of use with parameter adjustments and routing that you get with Fairlight and the Constellation.�

The system comes with very good sounding native EQ and dynamics that are superior to most plug-ins Bragg has used. “The native processing really sounds rich and detailed plus you still have the five plug-ins available to drop in per channel if needed, giving multiple options,� stated Bragg.

“Other features we use often are the AAF import and EDL conform capability. We drag and drop multiple cuts onto a single timeline. When a version is finalized, it’s great to be able to access the original polyphonic broadcast wav files recorded during production. This gives us access to every microphone that was on set or location and can help us sort through the feeds to pick the best audio for the circumstance.�

Working under continuing deadlines makes maintaining constant workflow crucial. For one project, Bragg described that the timeline was extremely short and the project needed to be set up on Friday and mixed for completion by Monday. With no room for leeway, strict deadlines and a tight budget, the quality still needs to be at the highest level. “At Producers, we pride ourselves in being able to do everything in house; production, editing, motion graphics, audio, and color correction. With the Fairlight Constellation and Xynergi,� said Bragg. “We can do audio post for every kind of project. It is a very versatile tool and we use its networking strengths facility wide. We can have different engineers working on different aspects of the project and it’s extremely easy to bring it all together for the final version. We really rely on the gear to perform and push the project through workflow-wise.�

The intuitive layout and ease of use of the Fairlight consoles continue to make the learning process for engineers very easy. “The ongoing support we receive is impeccable. We are constantly reassured of our decision to go with Fairlight and continue to enjoy working with them and the systems,� Bragg continued. “It’s clear Fairlight truly cares about our professional needs.�

For more information on Producers Video, please visit: http://www.producers.tv

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About FairlightUS:
FairlightUS is headquartered in New Jersey USA and is the exclusive distributor for Fairlight products in the North American market. Fairlight has been at the forefront of digital audio development since its inception in 1975. Fairlight designs and manufactures media creation tools including digital audio recording, editing and mixing systems for standard and high definition audio post, broadcast and music production applications. www.fairlightus.com

About Fairlight:
Headquartered in Sydney, Australia Fairlight designs and manufactures media production systems powered by the company’s groundbreaking CC-1 FPGA digital processing engine. The Fairlight product range includes EVO, Xynergi and the new PyxisG2, all of which feature in the world’s leading broadcasters, commercial post facilities, music studios and film production studios. Fairlight has a rich tradition of innovation and development and is at the forefront of green computing technology.

The Ashkelon Academic College has recently completed an entire wing expansion. The new, beautifully designed building has over 45 learning spaces, all were equipped with Tecom’s All in One Interactive Lecterns.

The lecture halls, classrooms and computer labs were equipped with TechPod Interactive (TPI-12), a breakthrough audio-visual lectern that has every multimedia capability built in.

One simple control panel is used for controlling every AV device, from an LCD projector, PC or document camera to a laptop and DVD player.

The rooms were equipped with short-throw projectors and a sound system to allow complete interactivity and new, ease to use and comfortable learning environment.

www.techpod.com

WEBSTER, NEW YORK – JANUARY 2012: Jointly hosted by InfoComm International and CEDIA, ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) became the A/V industry’s largest trade show last year, drawing almost 35,000 attendees. Ashly Audio, which has been represented by one of their distributors in previous years, will have its own stand (#7V214) at this year’s show (31 January to 2 February in Amsterdam). In addition to its stalwart network-enabled amplifiers and Protea(tm) processors, Ashly will demonstrate the capabilities of its new, highly-efficient KLR-Series amplifiers, all-in-one Pema(tm) multi-channel amp with on-board Protea(tm) DSP processor, intuitive FR-Series network fader remotes, and the new TM-Series mixer/amplifiers.

“Our international business has grown significantly in recent years,” said Ashly’s president, Mark Wentling, who will be joined by John Sexton, VP of sales and marketing, at the show. “We’re looking forward to meeting face-to-face with customers and industry friends from around the world. Of course, we’re also looking forward to introducing a broad audience to the unique value, functionality, and reliability of the Ashly product line.”

ABOUT ASHLY AUDIO With a greater than thirty-seven year history, Ashly Audio Inc. is recognized as a world leader in the design and manufacturing of quality signal processing equipment and power amplification for use in the commercial sound contracting and professional audio markets. www.ashly.com

STOP BY AND SEE US AT ISE 2012 STAND #7V214

Apantac continues to expands its line of MT HOOD and MAZAMA signal processing and extension solutions and is launching ten new products at ISE, stand 11 N67.

New to the MT HOOD series:
• HDBaseT extender and receiver set with Ethernet and Power over Ethernet (POE)
• 4×4 and an 8×8 HDMI Matrix switch
• Dual Head KVM Extender to extends VGA, USB mouse, and keyboard over two CAT 5e/6 cables
• A USB Touch Screen Extender extends VGA with USB control over a single CAT 5e/6 cable
• VGA Skew Corrector – provides skew delay correction between the Red, Green and Blue VGA signals being transmitted over CAT 5e/6 cable.

New to the MAZAMA Series:
• DVI Fiber Optic fixed cable extender that extends 1080p signals up to 500 meters up to resolutions of 1920×1200
• DVI Dual Link Fiber Optic fixed cable extender that extends Dual Link DVI signals up to 330 meters, using two multi-mode SC fibers
• HDMI Fiber Optic extender that extends 1080p signals up to 500 meters over a single multi-mode SC fiber

Apantac will be at ISE 2012 on stand 11 N67.

Vaddio announces new enhancements to the ProductionVIEW HD MV all-in-one camera control console with multiviewer capabilities, digital inputs/outputs, HD, RGBHV and SD video mixing, transitions, lower screen graphics and automated control functionality.

New Multi-View Input Screens allow the user to select between screen layouts that display four, five or six inputs. When set up with four or five preview windows, the preset video thumbnails become larger on the bottom of the screen. In addition, the Preview and Program windows can be swapped on the multiviewer output. With Vaddio’s TeleTouch touch screen monitors, all live video feeds can be selected and up to 12 video thumbnail presets can be created, recalled and stored by simply touching the monitor. The thumbnails are a snapshot of what the camera preset shot looks like, to make storing and recalling presets even easier. Simply touch a thumbnail and the camera will pan, tilt and zoom to that position. The Cut, Wipe and Fade buttons illuminate on the multiviewer display, giving a visual indication of which effect is active.
An additional capability of the system is Dual Bus Multiview output. “A big request from our integrators was to add greater flexibility in allowing them to configure the system output options,� explained President of Vaddio, Rob Sheeley. “As a result of this feedback we now allow the system to be configured in several different ways including a Preview/Program mode, a Split Bus mode, where the system can be configured as two independent 1 x 6 switchers, and a third discreet multiviewer output for control and display.�

All inputs are autosensing for video resolution, control and camera type. Video inputs include five analog HD YPbPr video, RGBHV, SD (Y/C and CVBS) and a single DVI-I input on channel six that allows for multiple formats (DVI-D, YPbPr, RGBHV and HDMI) with 36 additional input resolutions. The Program and Preview outputs have both analog (YPbPr, RGBHV, Y/C and CVBS) and digital (DVI-D or HDMI) outputs. HD resolutions up to 1080/60p are supported.   

An additional capability of the system is Dual Bus Multiview output. This allows the user to switch the Preview and Program buses as discrete outputs – with one output going to an IMAG Projector and the other going to a recording device. The control surface includes a broadcast-style 3-axis Hall Effect Joystick with twist-handle zoom control and separate Pan, Tilt and Speed control knobs. Get an all-in-one camera control console with video mixing, built-in multiviewer and broadcast-quality effects.

This firmware upgrade is available at no charge for any customer who currently owns a ProductionVIEW HD MV. Contact Vaddio Tech Support at +1 (763) 971-4400 for assistance in loading the new firmware.

The ProductionVIEW HD-SDI MV is an all-in-one camera control console with HD-SDI/SDI video switching/mixing, a built-in multiviewer, lower screen graphics and automated control functionality.

“Our new Multi-View touch screen control panel layout options allow our integrators the ability to match their screen layout to the number of camera or computer input sources that they have connected to the system,� explained President of Vaddio, Rob Sheeley. “This way they can maximize the potential screen size available for previewing their live video feeds and not see unused multi-viewer input windows. The ProductionVIEW MV series of production switchers combines the best of Vaddio’s PTZ camera control technology with best-of-class digital SDI switching technology. Now with an integrated multiviewer functionality that includes touch screen control, we can’t think of a better customer experience than allowing the end user to visually control input sources, camera presets, and system control – all by just touching the screen.�

Vaddio’s TeleTouch multiviewer touch screen monitors allow switching of all live video feeds, and up to 12 video thumbnail presets can be created, recalled and stored by simply touching the monitor. The thumbnails are a snapshot of what the camera preset shot looks like, to make storing and recalling presets even easier. By touching a thumbnail, the camera will pan, tilt and zoom to that position.

An additional capability of the system is Dual Bus Multiview output. This allows the user to switch between Preview and Program as discrete outputs – with one going to an IMAG Projector and the other going to a recording device. You now have three options for configuring the system: Preview/Program mode, Dual Bus mode and a third discreet multiviewer output for control and display.

All inputs are autosensing for video resolution, control and camera type. Video inputs include five HD-SDI/SDI (480i to 1080p) inputs on BNC connectors and a single DVI-I input on channel six that allows for multiple formats (DVI-D, YPbPr, RGBHV and HDMI) with 36 additional input resolutions. The outputs have been enhanced to include both HD-SDI and HDMI outputs – a distinct advantage when choosing a set of inexpensive preview and program monitors or using Vaddio TeleTouch touch screen monitors.

The control surface includes a broadcast-style 3-axis Hall Effect Joystick with twist-handle zoom control and separate Pan, Tilt and Speed control knobs. Because ProductionVIEW HD-SDI MV is a live broadcast production console, not a computer, the entire system produces only one frame of delay – a critical requirement for live production where IMAG is used.