PROOB Inside the OB van.
specs. Here, we gave the customer a choice between Iveco and Mercedes. In terms of price, there was negligible difference so it didn’t matter. The key thing was that they wanted to fit in eight cameras and all of the electrical equipment, so the trailer became a clever add-on. There is also slightly more space in the rear side of the Iveco as well as more height to the van and that makes a world of difference.” Besides this, there is the political element that immediately makes Iveco, an Italian brand more appealing than the Mercedes to an Ethiopian client, explains Thompson. “Historically, the whole of Africa and Italy have had good relations, which means there’s good support for Iveco in Ethiopia. So if they need servicing which they are going to need every now and then, there’s good representation from Iveco and this immediately turned to their advantage,” adds Thompson. Every element of this OB van has been designed to take into consideration the Ethiopian terrain, its narrow roads and its dusty environment, explains Thompson. “The roads in Ethopia cannot accommodate a massive OB truck. So we went high instead of going broad. In addition, we designed a platform on the top of the van to mount a tripod if the end user required the facility.” In addition, Sony had to keep in mind the cold climate and the dry dust when designing the van.
“We spent a lot of time considering the altitude factor and, therefore, we over specified by about 30% the capabilities of the generator which is now, on board the trailer. Again, the trailer is considered clever because it can accommodate a much bigger generator, which is heavier and requires more space. With just an OB van, you could not have managed that,” he explains. Besides the fact that Sony had to revisit traditional OB designs and draw up a new plan for a unique environment, where budget and terrain requirements demanded something new, this van connotes the change that is coming to Africa’s broadcast landscape. The shift to multi-format cameras will eventually demand changes across the chain, explains Thompson. “Most of these cameras incorporate tapeless technology such as memory cards. This, in turn, is pushing the rest of the chain to also adopt a tapeless format. If you are coming in with a memory card as opposed to a tape, then invariably you are going to put that memory card into a computer as opposed to a Video Tape Recorder (VTR) to do the digitisation. This then follows through in terms of editing, central storage, playout, and then, eventually the archives, all of which will be attached to a network.” African clients are in no doubt that they want to implement these new technologies. Their main concern is how to implement them and whom
www.riedel.net
December 2012 | www.broadcastprome.com |
53