NASHVILLE, Tenn.—TNDV Television has launched Aspiration 35, a new version of its 40-foot Aspiration truck reimagined for cinematic multicamera productions.
Developed in collaboration with dbV Rentals, Aspiration 35 is one of the first ARRI camera-equipped trucks and among the first to deliver a complete cinematic workflow natively from a TV truck, offering a blend of film-quality imaging and traditional live production infrastructure.
TNDV debuted Aspiration 35 on July 8 at a special block party in Nashville. The event featured hands-on demos of the truck’s cinematic workflow and brought together production professionals, vendors and industry groups. The party also featured new products from local vendors like Elite Script (debuting its new Jumbo Bright Teleprompter system) as well as interactive experiences from media outlets, such as the Cams Channel podcast.
“Our refreshed Aspiration 35 truck is more than just another upgrade,” TNDV founder Nic Dugger said. “It’s a leap into the future of what live production can look like when it embraces the art of cinema. The ARRI Alexa 35 has long been a top pick of DPs on many films. There are only one or two other trucks like this in the country, but Aspiration 35 is the first to have ARRI Alexa 35 Live systems.”
TNDV sees Aspiration 35 as the industry’s answer for filmmakers and high-end corporate clients who want the look of cinema in a scalable, broadcast-capable truck environment. While traditional broadcast trucks are engineered for 1080i and 60p sports or news content, Aspiration 35 is built to handle today’s demand for cinematic aesthetics across sectors that include entertainment, corporate and sports productions through technologies that bring together true 35-millimeter sensors, 4K and 24p acquisition and shallow depth of field, TNDV said.
“For years, producers have been rigging together handheld cinema-style cameras and running them into trucks that were never really designed for that type of workflow,” Dugger said. “There is now a native, professional solution where everything is built up clean and transmitted to the truck over traditional SMPTE cable without additional hardware or cabling. These cameras are powered from the truck, they’re tethered with full shading and tally and they give us that beautiful, film-like imagery without sacrificing any aspects of production control.”
Nashville-based video production rental house dbV Rentals provided the ARRI Alexa 35 Live cameras and worked closely with TNDV to develop the single-wire architecture to new base stations installed on Aspiration 35.
The truck’s camera packages are fully scalable, can support up to 12 Alexa 35 Live multicam systems with each deployment, and are also integrated with essential live production systems, including return video, tally, intercom and remote camera shading, TNDV said.
The partnership also gives TNDV and its clients access to a very large inventory of specialty cinematic lenses from ARRI, Canon and Fujinon.
“The industry has made significant advances in offering lenses that can provide both cinematic image quality and broadcast integration capabilities, especially with extremely long-range zoom lenses,” dbV Rentals owner Doug Bates said.
“They have quickly reached the level where they are familiar to the seasoned broadcast teams with their boots on the ground, while also providing DPs from the cinematic world with the images they’ve come to expect from years of extremely high-quality optical designs,” he added. “We have truly reached the point where cinematic multi-camera shoots can offer clients the very best of both worlds from top to bottom.”
More information is available on the TNDV and dbV Rentals websites.
