Sri Lanka With Video Europe (UK)

Video Europe, one of the UK's most established broadcast hire companies specialising in sporting events, has recently invested in an INNOVASON Sy48 digital mixing console complete with stagebox and several I/O cards supplied by SSE Hire.

SSE's digital systems manager, Richard Willis, stated that Video Europe was delighted with its latest addition to their inventory. "They specifically wanted a small footprint, high performance console capable of handling a full mix for live TV yet that remained compact and lightweight enough for easy transport around the globe. One of their engineers mentioned that INNOVASON might be a good choice, so they approached us for a demo. Once they saw for themselves the amount of processing power housed in such a stripped-down and accessible format, they didn't need any further convincing."

The Sy48's first job was live international cricket coverage in Sri Lanka for Sky TV. According to Video Europe's Dan Dalton who handles the company's 'Flyaway' systems (complete broadcast packages designed for easy transport by air), the console acquitted itself admirably. "Our engineer on this job, Chris Doyle, was deeply impressed with the performance and handling of the Sy48," remarked Dalton. "We all breathed a big sigh of relief at his reaction because Chris is a traditional analogue guy used to using Calrec desks. However, after an hour or so of tinkering around on the INNOVASON, he was up and running. He found the control surface to be extremely intuitive and was delighted at the complete flexibility offered by the desk. He particularly loved the XFAD function which allows one fader to control a set of expansion faders which are all available on the same layer – in other words instant accessibility to everything. And of course the desk is completely configurable to whatever you want it to be, which is invaluable in a live broadcast situation where you can be guaranteed that someone is going to come up to you and ask for just one more feed to this or that. In fact, there wasn't anything Chris didn't like – he was all smiles which makes us happy too!"

From a more corporate point of view, Video Europe was also keen on the possibilities offered by digital networking. As all INNOVASON consoles are EtherSound-enabled, Video Europe is currently considering the possibility of investing in INNOVASON's EtherSound-enabled Dio Core Stage Box system to allow the linking of one or multiple consoles to a network and/or to one another. "This could be the answer to a lot of cabling headaches and considerably reduce costs both in terms of hardware and weight," commented Dalton.

The console's next assignment is a three-month stint in the West Indies covering international cricket events and test matches.