UK-based 3sixtymedia, which produces live entertainment programmes for ITV and the BBC, has installed four Snell & Wilcox Kahuna SD/HD production switchers at The Manchester Studios as part of a move to standardise its three studios and Starlight Theatre on Kahuna.
The 4-M/E switcher Kahuna switchers in Studios 6, 8 and Studio 12, feature a separate master auxiliary panel, six remote auxiliary panels, four channels of DVE, and an 80-input option. The 2-M/E Kahuna installed in the Starlight Theatre ensures compatibility across the facility's switching systems.
The dual SD/HD capability means that moving across to HD production will only involve a straightforward upgrade. S&W's FormatFusion technology also enables internal SD/HD format conversion with less than one frame of delay and negligible lip sync delay.
Studio 6, with its newly installed Kahuna has already been used on The Jeremy Kyle Show for ITV1, while the Kahuna in Studio 12 played a key role on 20 episodes of BBC game show BrainBox where it was used to create a composite of six stills, resized and trimmed to the aspect ratio required by the graphics team. The switcher allowed complex graphics to be created quickly and delivered on a USB stick eliminating the need to hire in external equipment.
"With its open architecture and support for both SD and HD, the Kahuna provides a superior all-around production switching package for production at our Manchester facility," said Paul Bennett, director of northern resources for ITV Productions. "We enjoy the ease with which we can configure the switcher and extend its functionality through remote panels. This versatility has allowed us to increase the complexity and sophistication of our live entertainment productions, and the feedback from our operators has been very positive."
