Kurt G. HeitmannELMSFORD, N.Y.
Our "Dotcom" truck was built for events that need a small, versatile, high quality mobile unit instead of flight pack buildouts.
The truck was purpose-designed from the get-go, and as a result is ideally suited for small regional productions such as local college sporting events, smaller corporate meetings, live performances, side-by-side productions and regional sport pickup.
LACKED BUILT-IN FIBER INTERFACE
One of the pieces of equipment we selected in the planning process for the truck was JVC's GY-HD250 high-definition camcorder. We liked this particular model as it's relatively inexpensive, yet produces very high quality video. However, the GY-HD250 does not have its own built-in fiber optic transport system. If we deployed it as received, this would have resulted in a somewhat limited range for transporting the camera's video back to the Dotcom truck.
Also, at a lot of events, even if multicore copper cables had the video signal reach we needed, they're just too constraining. At such productions as the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the X Games, we may have as many as five cameras shooting simultaneously throughout the venues and didn't even want to think about hauling around that much multicore. Fiber was the only solution to getting the sort of versatility and flexibility that we'd planned for the truck. This is where our quest for the perfect fiber solution began.
Actually, it wasn't much of a quest at all. The folks at MultiDyne had worked with us before on several special projects and had a reputation for delivering high quality video and for working with their customers to make sure that they got exactly what they wanted. One call was all it took.
LIGHTBOX SOLUTION
When we made that call, we learned that MultiDyne had just launched a new product—the Lightbox, a battery-powered, bidirectional field fiber transport system for SD and HD video, audio and data signals.
In addition to extending the video reach of the JVC GY-HD250's multicore cable tether, we also had some special needs. It wasn't long before we got together for a few engineering planning sessions with MultiDyne and set forth our requirements. It wasn't that long before the company had created a Lightbox system that not only did everything that we needed, but also one that fit within our budget.
The MultiDyne Lightbox has proven to be both cost effective and a reliable team player. These attributes have allowed us to both provide excellent quality video and to pass the savings on to our clients.
The unit has really come through for us in a big way. The Lightbox has already saved us a lot of time and effort in setting up for field production.
MultiDyne's standard Lightbox is already very versatile, but with the added features we asked for and received, it just really doesn't get much better. We think that we are very lucky to find a company that would go the extra mile to customize their product for our needs.
Kurt Heitmann has been an entertainment sound engineer since 1981, winning three Emmy Awards in the process. Kurt is now the president of Total RF Productions and the senior vice president of sales and marketing for both Total RF and CP Communications. He may be contacted atkurt@cpcomms.com.
For additional information contact MultiDyne at 800-488-8378 or visitwww.multidyne.com.
