The primary supplier and system integrator for the broadcast portion of the project was Sapphire Sound , whose Calgary and Vancouver offices both participated in the build . Sapphire was particularly involved in the video end of the broadcast upgrade ; supplying the technology necessary to turn the concert hall into a venue for video production and multi-track recording .
The electrical upgrade / new cabling was undertaken by Calgary ’ s Unitech Systems , explains Arts Commons associate director of venue operations , Brian Beaulieu , who took the lead on the broadcast / video portion of the project : “ They were responsible for running 12G cabling throughout the room . Because this was a retrofit , they had to do some serious spelunking ; fishing cable from balcony faces back to these tiny crawlspaces – literally , with a headlamp . And crawling around to get to appropriate locations , especially for camera positions without existing cable pathways .” With no dedicated in-house video / broadcast department yet , Beaulieu continues , “ We were sort of building the plane as we were flying it and worked closely with Sapphire Sound , Ross Video , and Canon Canada on the design .” Beaulieu notes , as well , that Sapphire Sound was largely responsible for facilitating those connections with Ross and Canon .
The video / broadcast portion of the project took off in 2020 , Beaulieu explains . “ We recognized after the pandemic hit where things might be leading and what we might need in terms of out-of-the-box thinking to support hybrid presentations from JSCH .”
Before that , the Calgary Philharmonic relied on a relationship with a local video company for several years , he adds , with the local company shooting several performances a season and gradually building up a digital library . Although they ’ d previously discussed changing how that was done : “ We didn ’ t get too far , partly because a few years ago , the technology wasn ’ t affordable enough to meet the production standards we wanted .” Once they decided to move forward , however , “ We quickly got into conversations with Ben Burrell at Sapphire Sound . They have a lot of experience and expertise in doing this type of install in big house of worship settings .”
Going forward , Beaulieu explains , the broadcast rig will be central to JSCH and Arts Commons efforts to support local artists and further their reach , as well as build up a deeper digital archive of performances .
As with any project of this nature , futureproofing was a primary consideration - perhaps even more so given the fact that , in some ways , the future arrived at JSCH ’ s doorstep sooner than expected in March 2020 , underlining the need for a broadcast system that spoke to future virtual and hybrid performances and events .
“ In terms of equipment selection there was a little bit of ‘ crystal balling .’ We also considered what provided the best value , which doesn ’ t necessarily mean buying the most affordable pieces . We had to find the right balance between
THE HALL UNDER WORK LIGHT CONDITIONS ; NOTICE THE UNDER-BALCONY NEARFIELD CAMERAS FLANKING THE STAGE
bang for the buck and extending the useful life cycle of the gear .”
Beaulieu takes me through some of those decisions , beginning with the choice of Ross Video ’ s Carbonite Ultra ( with the new TD2 panel and Touchdrive touchscreen ) and Ross Ultrix , for switching and routing , respectively . “ When it came to the infrastructure , overall , we tried to keep it 12G capable [ throughout ]. What ’ s really appealing about Ross ’ hardware is its scalability . Right now , for our application , we ’ re only scratching the surface of its capabilities , but it ’ s comforting to know that if we need more features , we ’ re not going to have to replace anything .”
For recording / streaming , JSCH went with three AJA KiPro Ultra 12G and AJA HELOs . “ They ’ re industry standard for 12G-capable recorders and right in the sweet spot as far as recording without having to get into network-accessible storage investment , which is several orders of magnitude more expensive than what we need to get the job done now .”
In all , JSCH now has six permanently-installed camera positions around their Dress Circle ( first balcony ) level and the ability to patch in four additional , portable cameras at nine other locations . “ We ’ re 12G UHD through to the recorders , then streaming dips down to 1080p60 H . 264 .”
CAMERAS 1 THROUGH 4 : LONG LENS SOLUTIONS ACROSS THE BACK OF THE HALL
For cameras / lenses , the package is comprised of eight Canon C300 MKII cameras , and two each of the following components : CN20x50 IAS S Cine-Servo 50-1000mm T5-8.9 EF Mounts , CN10X25 IAS S / E1 ( EF ), CN-E 70-200mm T4.4 L IS , CN-E 18-80mm T4.4 L IS , and ME200S-SH with CN-E 70-200mm T4.4 L IS .
The choice of Canon is thanks to discussions with new Arts Commons President and CEO , Alex Sarian , who had a pre-existing relationship with Canon during his previous tenure at New York City ’ s Lincoln Center . “ So , we went back to Sapphire to discuss using Canon cameras and lenses , determine what we were going to do for heads and control , and what we needed to do for routing and switching to take advantage of 4K imaging in terms of elevating the level of quality [ for the system ].”
That ’ s allowed them to achieve cinema-quality capture , Beaulieu says , adding that deploying industry-standard technology across the board also led them to SKAARHOJ shading controls , a Vinten VRC system , and FHR-35 and Vantage robotic heads for six of their cameras .
“ Vinten is an industry leader in robotics and camera automation . They ’ re rock-solid and we needed substantial capacity on the bigger cameras and lens setups . Their camera control
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