All Mobile Video takes Grass Valley route for IP-based truck

Inside AMV’s new truck, Eclipse. Construction has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it should be on the road by mid summer

US-based All Mobile Video (AMV) has built its new all-IP truck around Grass Valley’s open standards-based IP workflows and infrastructure for its latest outside broadcast truck, Eclipse.

The completion of the truck has been delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak, but AMV president, Eric Duke, stated on a Grass Valley press conference call that he hopes construction will be able to continue so that it can get on the road by mid summer.

Grass Valley equipment – from cameras to switchers and shading to orchestration – give AMV the capability to handle everything from HD to 4K UHD and HDR, plus the ability to scale up to 8K when needed.

Once complete the future-ready unit will support a range of live productions, including major award and red carpet events, the ‘Live from Lincoln Centre’ performing arts series, and the Times Square Ball Drop on New Year’s Eve.

The new AMV IP unit comes fully loaded with Grass Valley’s new LDX 100 IP camera platform, delivering 3x high speed UHD capture, with the Creative Grading solution bringing creative control to camera shaders. Simplifying the IP workflow is the GV Orbit dynamic system orchestrator; using the interface, operators can easily configure and change systems on the fly. The IP workflow is supported by an IP fabric built with Nexus 9000 Series Switches from Cisco Systems, implemented by systems integrator, World Wide Technology (WWT).

One of AMV’s fleet of OB trucks – Zurich

Commented Duke: “Technology is changing at a rapid pace, and SDI can no longer support the forthcoming formats. IP allows us to futureproof our offering and adapt much quicker, plus we can offer clients much more operator space, more firepower and greater production capability all in one unit. In the past, we would have to outboard extra capacity to additional trailers, but now we can do everything we need to, and more, with a smaller footprint on location.

“The biggest challenge with IP is getting control and diagnostics right. We need a partner with great switching capabilities and great diagnostics and Grass Valley delivers the best solutions in those areas, plus the added reliability and expertise made it the clear choice for us,” Duke continued.

AMV IP is also home to Grass Valley’s K-Frame X video production engine, with Kayenne switcher control panel; Kaleido SD, HD and 4K UHD IP multiviewers; IPVU IP to HDMI monitoring gateways; Densité and IQ Modular signal processing and conversion; and the Audio Live router for live multi-stream IP audio.

Marco Lopez, Grass Valley’s senior vice president for live production, stated: “As broadcasters, content producers and OB companies drive to deliver the rich, captivating viewing experiences that audiences demand, IP brings the scale and agility needed to create greater volumes of first-class content more efficiently. This project with AMV demonstrates how Grass Valley works in partnership with customers to ensure they get the best solution for their business and we’re absolutely delighted that our solutions are helping the company springboard into the next phase of its evolution.”