CREATION
December 2017
19
AJA’s RovoCam camera
system creates IMAG
workflow for Casa Loma
AJA’s RovoCam cameras
are helping Casa Loma,
a castle-turned-event
space in Toronto, Canada
to create a new workflow
centred on image
magnification (IMAG).
Owned by Liberty Enter-
tainment Group (LEG),
Casa Loma is a castle-
turned-event space located in
Toronto, Canada.
Consisting of indoor and outdoor spaces suited
for private and corporate events, the facility houses a modern
A/V infrastructure connected via CAT 6 cabling. Each summer,
Casa Loma opens up its glass pavilion for a series of live concerts.
Ticketholders watch performances live from the pavilion, or view
Lawo KICKs off automated
audio mixing for Bundesliga
them on an LED video wall located outside.
To improve the quality of the on-screen
content, LEG turned to ESG Show Services
owner Wes Thuro and 4NR tech production
designer and manager Clark Graff to design
a new workflow centred on image magnifica-
tion (IMAG). Graff brought in AJA RovoCam
cameras and RovoRx-HDMI receivers to
replace existing HD pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ)
cameras, which had become “increasingly
problematic” as rotating A/V crew members
would plug in the wrong RJ45 connection
and blow out the cameras.
Graff explained: “A certain degree of ope
rator error is expected when working with
transient crews, but RovoCam is foolproof;
it’s intuitive to set up and use. Its HDBaseT
interface makes it easy to get it right the first
time; there’s simply one cable, so you plug
in and you’re ready to go.”
Three RovoCams mounted to remote
pan-and-tilt heads located on the left, right
and centre of a support beam inside the
pavilion capture performances. Using an
AJA RovoRx-HDMI receiver and RovoControl
software, the A/V team controls the units
from the front of the house (FOH), where the
mixing control and lighting console reside.
Although each camera shoots 4K/Ultra HD
(UHD), the output is HD, with RovoControl’s
ePTZ functionality enabling IMAG. A region
of interest (ROI) frame is selected from the
4K/UHD raster and output through a Roland
switcher to a 20ft by 9ft LED video wall out-
side in 1080p, giving attendees a close-up
of the performers.
Graff shared: “The image quality that
the RovoCams capture is fantastic, especially
compared to other cameras on the market
that can cost three times as much and only
offer an HD image. I also know they will work,
and that’s what matters most, because you
don’t get second chances in a live setting
like this.
“I appreciate that the RovoCams are point
and shoot, and the convenience of HDBaseT
and a single cable is great; the camera is un-
like anything out there.”
A fourth RovoCam sits in another Casa
Loma event space nearby, where it powers
IMAG for footage fed through four Christie
Projectors, which display close-ups of high-
profile presenters on four sections of the
room’s walls.
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