New Trio Video truck hits the road

Chicago-based mobile production company Trio Video has added a full complement of HD production technology from Grass Valley and signal-processing cards from Cobalt Digital onboard its new Tempo production truck to make it as flexible as possible.

The 48ft Tempo (a rebuild and HD upgrade of an existing trailer) is designed for quick setups and teardowns of HD projects (saving producers time and money) and can easily fit into tight spaces where larger trucks cannot; however, it still features some of the most sought-after HD production gear required by producers. The central control room area alone includes a monitor wall with more than 67 individual high-resolution LCD screens.

To handle any type of HD project (all versions of 720p or 1080i), the truck carries a dozen Grass Valley LDK 8000 Elite HD cameras, a four-M/E Grass Valley Kalypso HD video production center switcher, a Trinix NXT HD video router and a Concerto Series audio router. The Concerto is used to distribute audio, time code and machine control commands.

The Cobalt Digital equipment is used to distribute audio and video signals throughout the vehicle and to convert HD signals to different resolutions and formats. It comprises the core of Trio’s infrastructure with the company’s 9000 series HD dual DAs and analog audio DAs used for video and audio signal distribution, and advanced audio processing and signal conversion performed through its Fusion3G 3Gb/s/HD/SD-SDI conversion range.