TVM provides OB7 for Irish Derby coverage
The Irish Derby took place yesterday (29 June) at The Curragh, with full live coverage from public broadcaster RTÉ. Technical facilities were provided by outside broadcast company TVM using its OB7 unit.
The Derby was the centrepiece of a three-day festival of racing at the course in Ireland’s east Midlands. Broadcasts from The Curragh began Friday (28 June) and continue through until later on RTÉ Two and RTÉ.ie (within the Republic of Ireland only).
TVM OB7 is equipped with 24 cameras, including Sony HDC-1500s and HDC-1000s and up to six digital radio systems, Gigawave D-Cams and Link-XP among them. The vehicle also offers HDC3300 Supermotion channels. Pictures are mixed through an 80-input/48-output Sony MVS 8000G vision switcher with two-channel internal DVE, eight frame memories and re-sizers on all keys. Video is distributed through a 288 x 576 Trinix HD router, while the VT section has positions for 10 operators running up to 8×6 channels of EVS XT2. The audio section is based round a Studer Vista 8 with surround sound monitoring. Commentators have a choice of Glensound and Prospect units.
TVM is based in Bartlemy, County Cork and was founded by husband and wife Bart and Helen Arnold in 1986. Over the years the company has grown and now has a fleet of seven trucks, the more recent of which, the 3G/3D capable OB8, went on the road in June 2012. The 16.8 metre long, 4.1 metre high, 5.6 metre wide expandable trailer is pulled by a Volvo FH12 Globetrotter 460hp tractor and houses 30 Sony HDC2500 cameras, with six Link XP radio camera channels and capacity for HDC3300s.
Video equipment includes a Sony MVS8000X 4 M/E vision mixer, offering internal HD DVE, Evertz EQX 3G hybrid router with X-Link connecting to VIP-X multiviewers, VSM control systems and 12 EVS XT3s, supported by a range of disk and tape recorders, X-file and IP Director, with 18 VT operator positions.
The audio area features a 52-fader Studer Vista 9 console, the first in Europe to feature backstop PFL (pre-fade listen). The desk offers 760-input mono equivalent signals and 680-output mono equivalent signals, plus 16-channels of embedded audio. A Soundcraft SI6 is used for both sub mixing and grams play-in.
Since coming into service OB8 has worked on a wide range of events, including the 2012 Open, Heineken Cup Rugby Final 2013 and the European Athletic Championship. Its trailer conforms to the voluntary European EEV (Enhanced Environmentally-friendly Vehicle) code and is in keeping with TVM’s policy of eco-awareness. In April the company won a National Green Building Award for its headquarters, which include a Final Cut Pro edit suite and were built last year to the Passivhaus Design guidelines.