NASHVILLE, TENN.—Camp Digital is a mobile video production company based in Nashville. With our skilled team of experienced professionals and an impressive OB equipment arsenal, we handle both large and small scale live-event entertainment productions and broadcasts across the United States. In October 2014 our team took to the road to capture more than 500 hours of content for “Life is Beautiful,” an annual three-day music and lifestyle festival held in Las Vegas that featured musical acts ranging from the Foo Fighters to Lionel Ritchie and Kanye West.
Tom Gregory To transmit more than 60 live performances over the Internet, we assembled and mobilized a 97-person team that included technical directors, camera operators, audio specialists, directors, motion graphics artists, editors, broadcast engineers and others, along with numerous production trucks. Early on in the planning for this event coverage we decided that AJA’s Ki Pro would be the ideal recording medium and ended up using more than 40 Ki Pros throughout the three-day production.
AN ABUNDANCE OF POSITIVES
The Ki Pros were a natural choice for us as Camp Digital was an early adopter of the Ki Pro when we were transitioning to a tapeless environment. And more recently, we had installed 16 Ki Pro Racks into our main mobile truck. Also, as the Ki Pro records to a native NLE codec, we don’t have to spend hours capturing to tape. As a result, we can achieve a better quality picture while saving time and money. To top it off, with their small profile, these recorders are also great space savers, especially in a mobile production environment.
Within the five trucks used for this project, we also tapped hundreds of AJA Mini-Converters including everything from Hi5 HD-SDI to HDMI video and audio converters to HD5DA distribution amplifiers. By using FiDO SDI/optical fiber Mini-Converters, we were able to interconnect all of the trucks via more than 14,000 feet of single-mode fiber to move signals around the festival and get it back to master control.
NO ROOM FOR DOWNTIME
Much of the work we’ve been doing recently is for live streaming, and these clients expect high quality production. AJA products such as the Ki Pro give us the superior look that our clients demand, but are also bulletproof in the field. They’re engineered to be used time and time again. Not only can our Ki Pros withstand the rigors of the road, everything from the AJA Ki Stor drives to their FS1’s and Mini-Converters are also made to be plugged and unplugged hundreds of times without failing.
On the rare occasion that a piece of gear does break down, AJA support is there in an instant, and that’s really crucial when you’re in the heat of production. In live production and broadcasting, equipment failure isn’t an option, so working with a vendor who has your back is a necessity. If you ever run into a problem, you can bet AJA will be there.
Tom Gregory is the co-founder and vice president of business development for Camp Digital. He may be contacted at tom@campdigital.net.
For additional information, contact AJA at 530-274-2048 or visit www.aja.com.
