BILLERICA, MASS. —Creative Video of Washington, Inc., made the move to native HD production with its latest mobile package, which is anchored by a Broadcast Pix Granite 1000 integrated production system.
According to Kirby Whyte, CVW president, the Granite system has been in “almost constant use” since its launch in October 2012. In addition to meetings, Creative Video regularly provides live video production for trade shows, awards ceremonies and indoor and outdoor concerts. The company also offers pre-production and post-production services.
Creative Video had been using a Broadcast Pix Slate integrated production system since 2006.
“When we decided to upgrade the production switcher to Granite, we built a complete mobile production package and then realized how powerful the Granite was,” said Whyte.
The Granite is housed in a six-foot rack, along with two 17-inch monitors, intercom equipment, and CCUs for the package’s Sony HXC-100 cameras. The patch panel on the back of the Granite makes it easy to connect cameras and other inputs during setup.
On location, an engineer is stationed in front of the equipment rack to handle camera shading. The Granite’s control panel is positioned nearby on a work table, along with two 42-inch monitors and a laptop loaded with Granite’s optional Chyron Lyric PRO 8 graphic creation software. The company opted to install the software on a separate computer so the remote package would not need to be accessed to create graphics during pre-production.
For most live event projects, Creative Video relies on a technical director, engineer and perhaps a content manager who handles clips and CG. The Granite provides the flexibility to adjust to each client’s specific crew requirements.
Creative Video utilizes several of Granite’s built-in workflow tools, including Fluent-View, the customizable multiview. Vice President of Production Matthew Eidemiller changes the screen layout based on the type of live program being produced, and will often customize each 42-inch monitor separately to suit the unique viewing needs of the TD and content manager.
