Click here to see a still frame from the finale, grabbed from the digital recording of the show. (Download is 178,132 bytes.)

Location of production and recording facilities:

The first floor room, situated at the back of the Hall and equipped with folding panoramic windows which open out onto the Hall, was used as the Control Room for the production. This housed most of the equipment with the exception of the main public address loudspeakers, 3 of the video cameras, a motorised pan/tilt head for one of these cameras, and the microphones, all of which were located in the Hall. All the production and recording crew worked in the Control Room.

Sound - production facility:

The sound production crew for the show used two CD players, both of which provided a digital output, and a laptop PC which provided images for projection on certain tracks, and also the audio tracks themselves via an analogue stereo output.

The digital outputs of both CD players were used, co-axial in the case of the Philips player and optical in the case of the Technics, with the digital signals being taken to a borrowed Cambridge "Dacmagic 2" outboard DAC. The Cambridge DAC provided a noticeably higher quality output signal than either of the CD players themselves could provide via their internal DACs, and also made switching between the players easier and more convenient. The unbalanced stereo outputs from the DAC were taken to 2 line-level inputs on the Seck 12 channel desk, and were pan-potted to the centre in order to provide a mono signal for the PA amplifier and Top Team Video's recording system. The unbalanced audio outputs from the PC were treated identically to those from the DAC.

For the speeches of appreciation given by senior members of staff at the end of the final (Saturday) show, the School's radio microphone was used with the receiver being plugged into 1 channel of the Seck desk, this signal being pan-potted to centre. Thus these speeches were relayed via the main PA system to the audience in the Hall, and were also available at the main desk outputs for recording.

The mono auxiliary output from the Seck desk was taken to both inputs (in parallel) of the School's 250 watt/channel stereo P.A. amplifier in order to feed the Hall speakers.

Note for next year: The Cambridge DAC actually provides balanced outputs via XLR connectors. We should try using these rather than the unbalanced outputs, as the sound quality should (theoretically at least) be higher. On the other hand, the sound quality this year didn't exactly give any grounds for complaint.

Sound - recording facility:

In addition to the unbalanced mono output, the main outputs from the Seck production desk are balanced line-level stereo (XLR), and it was these which were used for linking to the TTV sound recording desk. Balanced lines were taken from these outputs to a pair of line-level balanced (1/4 inch TRS jack) inputs on a borrowed Behringer 1602 desk. These signals were both pan-potted to the right-channel output of the desk.

A single Audio-Technica MB3000 microphone was installed on a stand in the Hall, for the purpose of picking up both the audience reaction and and any speeches made after the show which were not picked up by the radio microphone. This was linked via the stage lines and up-lines to the Control Room, and then into a balanced microphone channel on the Behringer desk. This microphone signal was pan-potted to the left-channel output of the desk.

The main outputs from the Behringer sound desk were taken to the auxiliary audio inputs on the Panasonic WJ-AVE5 A-V mixer so that the sound level reaching the recorders could be closely monitored, and also so that synchronised vision and sound fades could be performed if necessary.

By recording the direct (PA) sound and the ambient sound picked up by the microphone on separate channels, it was possible to vary the proportion of direct and ambient sound in the edited mix-down. We have previously reported our use of this technique in Camcorder User - "Live Aid" on page 14 of the April 2004 issue. ).

Cameras - choice, position, and set-up:

We found out earlier in 2004 how to enable manual white balance setting on the School's Sony TR913 camcorders, and this has made it possible to integrate them with cameras borrowed from elsewhere without the embarrassment of having dramatic changes in colour balance when cutting or mixing from one camera to another. We were thus able to use 4 cameras for the 2004 dance show, 2 of which were borrowed.

• Camera 1 was a borrowed Sony TR2000, chosen for it's picture quality and controllability. This was mounted on one of the Velbon tripods in the Control Room adjacent to the recording position, and was the only camera to have a dedicated operator, so it was not necessary to aim it in a particular direction at the installation stage. White balance was set to "outdoor", as this seemed to give the best overall colour balance with the lighting scheme used. Program AE (twilight mode) was selected so that the exposure was automatic over most of the range, but the gain did not go high when the lights faded down. Manual focus was used.

• Camera 2 was one of the TR913s, and this was mounted on a Maplin CCTV camera bracket above the "No Smoking" notice on the right hand side of the Hall. This camera was initially was aimed centrally at the stage, but was provided with a Jessops power pan/tilt head which enabled us to vary the aim by remote operation from the Control Room. White balance and Program AE as for camera 1, but the focus was fixed as it was not possible to adjust the focus after installation and we could not risk the auto-focus drifting off in a low-light shot.

• Camera 3 was the other TR913, and was mounted on a Maplin CCTV camera bracket high on the pillar immediately forward of the rear fire doors (left hand side of the Hall). Aim, white balance, focus, and Program AE as for camera 2, but there was no power pan/tilt head for this camera.

• Camera 4 was a borrowed Sony TR707, and was mounted on a Maplin CCTV camera bracket high on the pillar immediately behind the front fire doors (also left hand side of the Hall). This camera was aimed directly across the Hall for picking up dancers in the finalé who were on the Hall floor rather than on the stage, and also possibly some of the ceremony associated with the speeches of appreciation. White balance and focus as for camera 2, but the exposure was set to full auto as this older camera does not have Program AE modes.

Cameras - remote control:

Camera 1 was in the Control Room and was fully under the control of an operator, so no remote control was necessary. However, cameras 2, 3, and 4 were all were out of reach, necessitating their main parameters being set at the time of installation.

Zooming (or framing of shots) on cameras 2-4 turned out to be possible by using a Sony RM155 remote control device comprising a hand-held transmitter (RMT155) and it's matching receiver (RMR155). This equipment dates back to the early 1990s, and was originally intended to provide a remote control facility for cameras which did not include this as part of the original manufacturing specification. The RMR155 receiver is equipped with a foot which engages with a standard accessory shoe on the top of a camera, and it has a short lead terminating in a 2.5mm stereo jack plug which plugs into the LANC port. The transmitting handset has only sufficient power to operate over a few metres, far less than the distance from the Control Room to even the nearest camera, so we tried to increase it's effective range by extending the lead from the receiver to the camera, and keeping the receiver in the Control Room (stuck to the top of the backup VCR with Blue-Tack!).

For the extension lead we used 4-core BT specification telephone installation cable, with 1 core for data (tip of the plug), 1 core for the 5 volt supply from the camera back to the receiver (ring of the plug), and 2 cores in parallel for the earth return (sleeve of the plug). Our decision to use this type of cable was based on on the regular and reliable usage of such cable for high-speed (broadband) Internet data transfer. We reasoned that if it could carry data reliably for miles at hundreds of kilohertz, a few tens of metres at 9600 baud would not be a problem. This turned out to be the case.

A simple multi-way switch box made up inexpensively from Maplin components enabled us to use one receiver with the three remote cameras.

The Jessops power pan/tilt head uses a wired remote control with 7 core cable and a 7-pin DIN plug, so we simply extended the cable by using two 4-core phone cables taped together (only 7 of the 8 cores used), wired between a 7-pin inline DIN socket and a 7-pin DIN plug. This worked successfully, and enabled us to get a few different views using camera 2.

Our report on the use of telephone cable for remote control of cameras and pan/tilt heads appears in Camcorder User issue 190, page 12. The item is headed "Wired up".

Cameras - cabling:

• Power: Camera 1 was powered using a mains PSU in the Control Room. Cameras 2-4 had their mains PSUs mounted close to the cameras themselves, and special extension cables were made up to carry the mains from the Control Room to the camera PSUs. All the cameras were left powered-up from mid-day on Wednesday until the end of the final show on Saturday, so that their settings would not be lost.

• Remote control: Camera 1 was not remote controlled as it had an operator, but cameras 2-4 each had a telephone cable for remote zoom plugged into their LANC sockets. At the Control Room end of these telephone cables was the previously-mentioned 3-way switch box, the input to which was provided by the RMR155 remote-control receiver.

• Vision cables: Camera 1 was connected to the switching/selection equipment with both a composite (75 ohm co-axial) cable and an S-video cable. Cameras 2-4 were each provided with a 75 ohm co-axial composite cable to carry the signal to the switching and selection equipment.

Cameras - selection and mixing:

We used the Panasonic WJ-AVE5 vision mixer, which we initially set up with camera 1 connected to input A, and all the remote cameras (2-4) connected via the switcher to mixer input B. It would be necessary to ensure that we were on camera 1 while pre-selecting one of the remote cameras. We could then cut or cross-fade cleanly to the remote camera using the mixer, but we would have to cut or cross-fade back to camera 1 before pre-selecting another remote camera. This is basically the scheme we adopted, but with a minor variation. The S-video signal rather than the composite signal from camera 1 was taken to input A on the mixer. This enabled us to take the composite signals from all the cameras including camera 1 via the switcher to mixer input B.

Master recording:

The Panasonic WJ-AVE5 mixer provides 2 S-video outputs. One of these was taken to the first of 2 input-enabled Sony TRV320E Digital-8 camcorders for making the digital master recording, and the second to a JVC HM-DR10000 D-VHS VCR for making the backup recording. The backup was made in S-VHS rather than D-VHS.

The mixer also provides 2 sets of audio outputs. Again, one set was taken to the first of the Digital-8 camcorders, and the other to the JVC VCR.

The first TRV320E camcorder as mentioned above, as well as making a master recording, also provided the A/D function for the second TRV320E which was coupled via a Firewire link to the first. The idea of using only 1 such camera to provide the A/D is to alleviate the risk that there may be slight variations in performance between 2 A/Ds, resulting in a difference in brightness or colour when switching between master tapes.

As one TRV320E comes to the end of it's tape the next one can be set to record, so there can be continuity of recording over a period longer than the recording time limit of 1 tape.

Vision onitoring:

The loop-through signals from the switcher were used for camera monitoring. Rather than using an individual monitor for each camera which would have been wasteful of desk space, we used a quad video adaptor (actually a CCTV component) to enable us to show all the camera signals on a quartered screen, and used one of the School's 21 inch TV sets to provide the display.

For the main-mix monitor we used one of the School's Hitachi 14 inch sets, connected via a fully wired SCART cable to the output of the JVC HM-DR10000 VCR which we used for the backup master. The Hitachi sets provide the option of either S-video or composite input, so for the best monitoring quality we selected the S-video option. To use this correctly we had to select "S-video out" at the SCART socket on the JVC VCR.

The colour LCD screens of the Digital-8 cameras used to make the digital master(s) were used to verify that the requisite signals were reaching these cameras.

Sound monitoring:

Sound level to the recorders was monitored using the LED meters on the Panasonic WJ-AVE5 main A-V mixer, and also those on the JVC VCR. The Digital-8 cameras used for digital mastering do not have any sound level monitoring facility, but a set of headphones connected to the second TRV320E camcorder proved that the sound was reaching this final point in the chain at an acceptable level and quality. Sound quality output from the Behringer 1602 desk was monitored using another set of headphones.

Quality of master recording:

Picture quality was judged to be acceptable, but some colour correction had to be applied (using an "ACE" processing device) at the editing stage. This necessity was brought about by using a fixed daylight setting which was not 100% appropriate for the lighting conditions used. We could, perhaps, have circumvented this error by setting the white balance manually using the "hold" facility on the cameras. However, trying to determine which set of lighting conditions were the most appropriate for setting a neutral white could simply have created a different set of colour balance errors for us to correct.

Sound quality was also judged to be acceptable. It was noted that by recording the PA sound on one channel of the stereo pair and the ambient Hall sound on the other channel, the final edited mix of sound was better than in previous years when an approximate or estimated mix had been done on both channels at the master stage and no subsequent correction had been possible.

Editing:

Editing was performed in the analogue domain using the S-video and stereo outputs from a Digital-8 camcorder feeding channel A of a Panasonic WJ-AVE5 A-V mixer. The mixer provided the following facilities:

• Timebase correction (although as the master recording was from a digital source, it is doubtful if this was actually needed)

• A loop from the vision monitor output of channel A into channel B input, into which a titler could be introduced.

• A-V fades, either synchronised or separate

• Digital still facility, necessary because at the end of some dances the girls break formation and leave the stage before the applause has died down

• Sound level setting and metering, both for the relative levels of the direct and ambient sound, and for the absolute level

Picture corrections (contrast, brightness, colour saturation and balance) were made using a GTH Electronics "ACE" processor.

Titles and credits were created and added using a Videotech VTG228+ title generator.

The edited sub-master was recorded onto BASF SE240 Super-VHS tape using a Panasonic NV-FS88 VCR

Page last updated: 10 September, 2005

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