With over 15 years serving the events industry and providing a complete range of AV production services, Australian company Audio Visual Events (AVE) continued with its precise level of technological achievement and client satisfaction even when live events ground to a halt. By partnering with Create Engage and Sydney Masonic Centre (SMC), the company brought ON AIR to life, offering a plethora of high-end Audio Visual and virtual event capabilities, enhanced by powerful and intuitive Brompton Tessera processing.
“AVE, Create Engage and SMC have long-standing relationships and have delivered many successful events together over the years, so we knew we could count on them when the pandemic engulfed the events industry,” said AVE General Manager, Paul Keating. “Together, we focussed on ‘why’ we should create the ON AIR studio, with key goals being saving jobs, helping our clients, supporting our industry, and building a product we can all be proud of.”
From there, AVE and its partners created ON AIR; a state-of-the-art, semi-permanent studio in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, which provides AVE’s customers with an innovative platform to live-stream and share their messages in a timely, cost effective and safe way.
The studio is equipped with high-resolution Panasonic robotic cameras, a large, fine pitch LED screen backdrop, stage lighting, microphones, presentation computers and confidence monitors.
“We installed a 7m by 2.5m LED screen in the studio that consists of 70 Unilumin UPADIII P2.6 LED tiles,” shared Keating. “In addition, 36 meters of ROE Strip are set up at angles flanking the LED screen to introduce depth and another creative element for the space. The LED screen and ROE Strip, both running seamlessly together on Brompton Tessera processing, create a cost-effective immersive environment which allows clients to digitally brand the space with stunning visuals.”
The LED screen is controlled by Brompton’s 4K Tessera SX40 processor, along with a Tessera XD distribution unit, fed from Barco’s E2 screen management system. A Brompton Tessera M2 controls the ROE Strip and is also fed from the E2. Additionally, a GrandMA2 Lighting console sends DMX to the M2 allowing live adjustment of the colours of the video content on the Strip.
Brompton’s Tessera processing was chosen by the AVE team for several reasons. “The interface is simple and easy to use, and we can minimise cable runs by having the processors in centralised positions and still configure it remotely with its network control,” continued Keating. “Setting up angled ROE Strip is very easy in the Tessera software, with the ability to rotate fixtures on a canvas. The SX40 accepts high resolutions and 12G SDI signal from our E2 is all processed with no visible latency. With the XD 10G distribution units, we can simply run a fibre cable up to the screen then distribute the signal from the XD to the panels, saving us both time and cable runs.”
With the future for the events industry still being somewhat uncertain, Keating believes that solutions like ON AIR support its clients and help them stay connected with their audiences.
So far, ON AIR has helped clients from multiple sectors, including government, associations, sport, corporates and charities. “There are some events we can mention, but a lot more that we cannot. Some of my personal favourites have been Salesforce, Palliative Care Week (which featured Dr Norman Swan) and Vinnies CEO Sleepout – an amazing event which changes people lives. Also, Events Uncovered has just announced that its 2020 event will be delivered by ON AIR team at SMC as a hybrid event,” revealed Keating.
Feeling incredibly proud of what the AVE team has achieved together with its partners, Keating shares how they all had made a commitment that they would do everything possible to support each other and be here on the other side of the pandemic.
“David [Campbell, MD at AVE] and I are very proud and thankful that the team have stepped up, been flexible, been resilient and remained positive. That has helped the ON AIR team and our clients achieve so much in such a short time,” Keating added.
With plenty of exciting projects in the pipeline, Keating and the team are confident that ON AIR is fully equipped to deliver virtual events to suit any taste and technical requirement. “There is one ingredient that makes our ON AIR studio future-proof and capable of delivering a fantastic array of visually stunning content – and that’s thanks to Brompton Tessera processing,” he concluded. “The Brompton team have always provided AVE with amazing advice, support, and training opportunities. Their support of the events and technical production industry during COVID-19 is amazing, and I look forward to catching up with them in person down the track.”
