One of the few remote trucks in the US to adopt IP networking on a major scale, All Mobile Video (AMV) has commissioned a new 4K-capable truck named Zurich, trialling it at iHeartRadio’s iHeart80s Party in Los Angeles where it handled management and distribution of the audio communications, IFB and camera control circuits throughout the video and audio production environment.
The truck uses 11 Focusrite RedNet converters, with an RTS Adam Frame with Omneo media networking option to distribute audio communications over Dante to audio and video production personnel. A single eight-channel RedNet 1 carries IFB interrupt signals while a second RedNet 1 handles IFB non-interrupt circuits. Five 16-channel RedNet 2 boxes take the 4-wire intercoms to the outside world, along with camera CCU links and 2-to-4-wire comms.
The set-up at the 17,500-capacity Forum supported a live broadcast to iHeartRadio’s digital platforms, while also shooting and archiving Ultra High-Definition video of the show to meet future demand. A1 audio operator Al Centrella created the live audio mix in Zurich, integrating the music mix delivered by mixers Jay Vicari and John Harris in two M3 (Music Mix Mobile) trucks at the venue.
While the Zurich’s mixing console primarily interfaces via Madi, everything else is handled through RedNet using Madi: ‘We’re up to 68 ports just for the Dante system – it’s every panel, every device,’ says AMV Audio Development Specialist, Ian Vysick.
The truck’s mixing console and broadcast audio monitoring system are additionally fitted with Dante interface cards, and Vysick plans to use the other four RedNet 2 units as portable 16-channel interfaces: ‘This vehicle will lead the way as AMV continues its path towards full IP integration,’ he predicts. ‘At an event I can say, I’ve got Dante at stage left, just patch something into it. Let’s start passing Dante audio back and forth, crimp it, run over it. Let’s learn what networking does and get other people to play along. Then we can all go forward together.’
Vysick already had a couple of Focusrite RedNet units when he began designing the new truck, and was particularly attracted to the front panel metering features. ‘Dante as a platform is so new that there’s a limited amount of test equipment out there,’ he says. ‘The metering built into the front panel of the RedNet devices is important because I get a visual confirmation that the signal is hitting the converter when I talk. It provides an important level of confidence in that way.’ Plus, he says, RedNet just plain sounds good. ‘A lot of what we do is music, so the sonic quality has to be there, even for intercoms.’
RedNet and Dante are also providing some very practical benefits, eliminating explains at least 15 patchbays and associated cable runs, and saving significant weight – a critical factor in a truck’s design and its operational costs, including, over the road tariffs, fuel and tires.
The networking capabilities of the RedNet system enable AMV to deliver Dante from the truck to anywhere within the remote production set-up. ‘We’re able to bring intercom directly to the stage,’ he says. ‘It’s changing the way that we’re working, and RedNet is a part of that.’
More: www.focusrite.com
