Professional Show, ONE TV discuss innovative new OB van project
In a recent story we described from a primarily technical point of view the creation of an innovative new OB van to serve the Italian market. In this follow-up, we go back to project leaders Professional Show and ONE TV to find out more about the evolution of this compact, ‘TV in a box’-style solution.
Andrea Gianolli, technical manager & CEO of ONE TV, comments: “Basically, what we have been able to supplement, in a vehicle of around 10 metres, is a complete system for all television production, including post-production, graphics, play-out, a warehouse and a television studio inside.
“Other important differences between this and other similar vehicles are to be seen even it the project [is the result of an] excellent team with over 30 years’ experience. So this is a concentration of operational functions, in a single vehicle, as never seen before.
“One of the many peculiar features of this OB van is the integration of two expansions conceived to make maximum use of the space inside, to better integrate all the functions. This OB van is [designed] to operate in extreme weather conditions. The engine selected, the AC-tros Mercedes, is perfect and the conditioning system is able to operate efficiently even in places where the wind carries huge amounts of sand and dust, and plenty of excess temperatures, eg. 35 degrees with high humidity. Particular devices were studied to minimise the problems and to minimise the system maintenance.
“An AVI antenna with all of the uplink system is integrated into the roof in compliance with the regulations on the maximum height imposed at international level.”
Providing the Professional Show perspective, sales director Fabio Veggiato remarks: “This is a project that we took when the games were almost done, so we had to integrate our proposals with those already expressed by the customer – and we had to adapt to these wishes.
“This new contract marks a positive growth and consolidation as a system integrator of Professional Show, not only on the Italian territory but also abroad. In it we have integrated a significant added value, covering both technical and operational levels.
“The initial requirements were clear: the OB van was to be complete in itself, to operate without any other support vehicle, and be capable of working as a complete TV studio [with] uplink facility, contribution, satellite diffusion, post production and live event multi-camera shooting. So in the end it is an innovative global approach to TV production, as for instance it has uniquely 11 cameras onboard of which four are wireless, which is very uncommon.
“In addition, the internal shooting studio is capable of hosting a round-up table of three guests or journalists for the comment. And not to be forgotten this conceptually new vehicle is also hosting two warehouses, so again no need to travel together with other spare vehicles for this purpose.”
Paolo Artuso, technical director of Professional Show, comments: “When we took over the job, this project was already underway and we also had to clarify some concepts with the customer, so we had to integrate our ideas and other ‘existing’ technologies.
“We also made a choice for Panasonic remote cameras operating in the studio, model number AWHE120, due to their proven reliability.
“It should not be forgotten that this vehicle is to operate in Chad, Africa, in very [challenging] environmental conditions and it must therefore be totally reliable. So reliability and a [highly effective] use of on-board room were fundamental right from the start.”
The lowering of the roof to host a 180m dish for the satellite uplinks is one of the notable features of the design produced by Andrea Gianolli. Alongside the aforementioned equipment, five Blackmagic Design Teranex processors and two Grass Valley K2 servers are integral to the set-up.