|
|
|
| |
Projects - Remoting the Barbican
The
Barbican
Centre in London is this year
celebrating 20 years not only as a leading venue for live
contemporary and classical music, but also a wide range of
performing arts. So high is the quality and quantity of notable
programmes, BBC camera crews rigging and de-rigging are a constant
presence. At a time when financial constraints are increasing, the
Barbican management and the BBC have been working together to
implement a versatile, permanent programme-making facility. Using
the latest technology the project centres around a custom-built
control studio and fixed-location remote-controlled camera positions
within several of the Centre's auditoria.
|
 |
The use
of remote cameras has increased dramatically over recent years due
to cost-cutting, the constant search for innovative camera shots and
mechanical and electronic advances; the impact of reality
television, the Olympics and rock concerts has been transformed by
strategically placed remote cameras.
At the Barbican the
structure of an air-conditioned, soundproof control room was
built and the BBC Consulting and Projects Group and BBC OB's
produced a technical specification for Rotronics Systems, who
were awarded the contract for installation.
On the Barbican project, the challenge for Rotronics was
flexibility. The set-up had to be very adaptable and simple to
use. Coverage of the resident London Symphony Orchestra requires
more sophisticated coverage than, say a quartet. Often the
coverage will be handled entirely with in-house equipment but
occasionally it will have to interface with additional manned
cameras and linked to an OB truck.
|
 |
Having
located a choice of prime camera positions with fixed brackets
within the main auditorium, triax cable for SDI camera signals and
CAT 5 cable for camera control was rigged back to the control room.
Three 19” bays house Quartz matrices and a BBC “BNCS” computerised
routing system. The 9 metre control desk has been built for
adaptability so the vision mixer and some control panels can be
moved to different operational positions on the desk as required.
The touch-screen panel of the BBC “BNCS” controls not only the sound
and vision matrices and camera parameters but also controls two DVC
PRO decks used for mastering. Telex talk-back with programmable
assignment connects multiple tie-lines throughout the centre. A
Philips/Thompson DD10 vision mixer was chosen for the desk. Sound
mixing can be carried out in either of two positions and the
associated jackfields can be re-located accordingly.
A
uniquely adaptable monitor stack will meet requirements for the
simplest or most complex recording. We had to keep thinking about
different ways people would use the set-up. Everything had to be
moveable and easily added on to, but at the same time, fully
operational in self-contained mode.
Cameras
chosen were Panasonic 800 series working in 16:9 with SDI output.
These can be rapidly mounted in any of the fixed camera positions on
Radamec remote heads. Full control of zoom, focus, iris and pan/tilt
is achieved using the studio-based touch-screen.
This is
the future for reducing costs in programming. At the Barbican, we've
created a flexible broadcast facility which can be operated by only
one person if necessary. The BBC plan to produce at least 12
programmes a year from here and I'm sure the breadth of those
programmes will use the set-up in every conceivable configuration!
|
|
|
