ob facilities | Trickbox TV

Pilot TV shows are essential for broadcasters to determine if a programme is likely to be successful as a series. A channel might launch one show, or a range of shows in the same genre, game shows for example, to see which is the biggest hit with viewers and which then makes it to the series commissioning stage. Because these shows may only be seen once, when it comes to production, the budgets for pilots are often stripped back, particularly for daytime light entertainment TV.

At Trickbox we can help broadcasters to achieve a high quality professional production with our cost-effective, state-of-the-art, bespoke 12-camera portable production unit (PPU) flyaway. This multi-camera OB solution provides a scalable unit for small to large scale HD and UHD outside broadcast and studio productions and is perfect for light entertainment shows.

The expanded PPU flyaway, which can be rigged or de-rigged in minutes, is built to the highest broadcast specification and delivers a cost-effective solution, providing all the tools required for a full-scale production without the need for an OB truck. It works with either Sony system camera channels or ‘cine’ style cameras and features: a Ross Video Ultrix video and audio router; Ross Video openGear signal processing; a Ross Video Carbonite vision mixer; and full redundancy including uninterruptible power supplies.

The unit provides clients with a full range of services for every outside broadcast and temporary studio requirement. Trickbox has recently worked on a range of OB projects including three pilot shows for UK broadcasters; This Morning Live Wedding from the Royal Albert Hall for ITV Daytime; Soft Cell’s farewell concert for concert films and music documentaries specialists Toward Infinity; The Wave, a Primal Media production for channel W; Bananarama and Steps shows for Toward Infinity; Gary Barlow’s headline concert for Eden Sessions, as well This Morning Live at the NEC Birmingham, for ITV Daytime.

If you need a cost-effective state-of-the-art OB flyaway for your pilot or next production get in touch today.

We’re having a fantastic summer! Not only has the sun been shining every day for weeks now (which is unheard of!), we’ve been travelling around the country providing our new state-of-the-art, bespoke 12-camera portable production unit (PPU) flyaway for some very cool outside broadcast (OB) jobs.

One of the great things about OB projects is that no two are alike. In the past month we’ve supplied our new multi-camera, OB solution to Eden Sessions TV for its spectacular headline Gary Barlow concert in Cornwall. The show kicked off Eden Sessions’ summer of live music events, which was recorded on 6th June and was broadcast on BBC One on Friday 13th July and is now available on BBC iPlayer. We also supplied a range OB services to ITV Daytime for This Morning Live at the NEC Birmingham. The popular show was filmed live on stage on the first day of the programme’s annual four-day shopping and lifestyle event, in front of a live audience of thousands.

Our 12-camera PPU flyaway is perfect for these types of projects as it provides a scalable unit for small-to-large scale HD and UHD outside broadcast and studio productions. It can be rigged or de-rigged in minutes, it’s built to the highest broadcast specification and it delivers a cost-effective solution providing all the tools required for a full-scale production without the need for an OB truck.

The flyaway works with either Sony system camera channels or ‘cine’ style cameras and features: a Ross Video Ultrix video and audio router; Ross Video openGear signal processing; a Ross Video Carbonite vision mixer; and full redundancy including uninterruptible power supplies. The unit, which builds upon our existing PPU flyaway facilities, provides clients with a full range of services for every outside broadcast and temporary studio requirement.

Trickbox has provided a range of outside broadcast services to Eden Sessions TV for its spectacular headline Gary Barlow concert.

The show kicked off Eden Sessions’ summer of live music events, which was recorded on 6th June and was broadcast on BBC One on Friday 13th July.

This is the second consecutive year that Trickbox has supplied Eden Sessions with a multi-camera setup. This year the outside broadcast production was further expanded, kit provided by Trickbox included its new state-of-the-art, bespoke 12-camera portable production unit (PPU) flyaway, which is built to the highest broadcast specification delivering a cost-effective solution that provides Eden Sessions with all the tools required for these full-scale productions, without the need for an OB truck.

“We really enjoy working with Trickbox. Their professionalism and expertise help us to deliver stunning shows to a wider audience,” says Eden Sessions Film Producer, Anna Meneer. “We love the fact that we can bring renowned artists to Cornwall and give people from every demographic the opportunity to see bands covering multiple styles and then give fans that couldn’t make it to the live shows the opportunity to see their favourite artists.”

Liam Laminman, Trickbox TV Managing Director adds, “We’re delighted to have been asked to provide OB facilities to Eden Sessions TV for the second year running. The shows are visually spectacular, and the atmosphere is electric. To be able to provide our 12-camera PPU flyaway to convey that energy to viewers at home is a real treat.”

New Trickbox 12-Camera Flyaway is built to the highest broadcast spec.

Trickbox TV, a leading supplier of equipment and services for studio and location multi-camera productions for broadcast, video production, live streaming and live events, is continuing its expansion with the launch of its state-of-the-art, bespoke 12-camera portable production unit (PPU) flyaway. The new multi-camera OB solution provides a scalable unit for small to large scale HD and UHD outside broadcast and studio productions including: broadcast, corporate, live streaming, events, live music, festivals, and conferences.

The expanded PPU flyaway, which can be rigged or de-rigged in minutes, is built to the highest broadcast specification and delivers a cost-effective solution providing all the tools required for a full-scale production without the need for an OB truck. It works with either Sony system camera channels or ‘cine’ style cameras and features: a Ross Video Ultrix video and audio router; Ross Video openGear signal processing; a Ross Video Carbonite vision mixer; and full redundancy including uninterruptible power supplies.

The unit, which builds upon Trickbox TV’s existing PPU flyaway facilities, provides clients with a full range of services for every outside broadcast and temporary studio requirement. Trickbox has recently worked on a range of OB projects such as The Wave, a Primal Media production for channel W; Bananarama and Steps shows for concert films and music documentaries specialists Toward Infinity; Gary Barlow’s recent headline concert for Eden Sessions, as well This Morning Live at the NEC Birmingham, for ITV Daytime.

“We’re really excited to make this announcement, which is the next step in our company’s expansion,” says Liam Laminman, Trickbox TV Managing Director. “By providing this 12-camera unit, we’re answering the needs of our diverse client base delivering a cost-effective, scalable solution for any kind of production.”

Broadcast from the NEC Birmingham, This Morning Live gives thousands of fans the opportunity to experience the hugely popular show based around a four-day lifestyle event.

Trickbox TV, a leading supplier of equipment and services for studio and location multi-camera productions for broadcast, video production, webcasting and live events, has announced that it has recently provided a range of outside broadcast services to ITV Daytime, for This Morning Live at the NEC Birmingham.

The popular show, which has won multiple awards with presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, was filmed live on stage on the first day of the programme’s annual four-day shopping and lifestyle event, in front of a live audience of thousands. Trickbox supplied ITV with a multi-camera fly-away solution that included six HD fibre camera channels, and a fly-away control area with positions for the ITV Production team and Trickbox engineers.

Trickbox TV Managing Director Liam Laminman says, “We’ve worked with the This Morning team on previous projects including the Live Wedding, which was broadcast from The Shard last summer. We’re delighted to have been selected for this latest project at the NEC and look forward to working with the team again in the future.”

Trickbox TV, a leading supplier of equipment and services for studio and location multi-camera productions for broadcast, video production, webcasting and live events, has announced that its outside broadcast fly-away solution was used by ITV to record Piers Morgan’s exclusive interview with Donald Trump, which aired, January 28th, on ITV.

Trickbox flew a crew member and the OB kit out to Davos last Wednesday ready for the interview, which took place on Thursday. Trickbox’s OB solution provided ITV with a portable production unit (PPU), which is designed to enable broadcast quality, multi-camera projects. The Trickbox fly-away solution can be set up and de-rigged in minutes.

“The interview has already been shown around the world on television and across social media and we’re delighted to have been part of this high-profile project,” says Liam Laminman, Managing Director, Trickbox TV.

Trickbox TV, a leading supplier of equipment and services for studio and location multi-camera productions for broadcast, video production, webcasting and live events, has announced that its outside broadcast fly-away solution was used by ITV to record Piers Morgan’s exclusive interview with Donald Trump, which aired, January 28th, on ITV.

Trickbox TV, a leading supplier of equipment and services for studio and location multi-camera productions for broadcast, video production, webcasting and live events, has announced that UK production company Primal Media has used its fly-away, multi-camera solution to record new game show, The Wave. The five-part series, which is hosted by popular presenter Rylan, will launch tonight at 8.00pm on premium UK entertainment channel W.

Filmed on location in Portugal, Trickbox supplied Primal Media with a full OB fly-away solution including: a beach-based control room, five Sony HDC-1500 cameras, a 100:1 box lens; a boat-based RF camera set 300m – 400m from the shore; and the technical crew. The show sees pairs of contestants work together to win a cash prize. One contestant stays on the shore answering a series of questions with Rylan, whilst the other swims between six pontoons in the sea. If they get the question right, the pontoon earns them extra prize money, if they get it wrong they win a 1kg bag of pebbles to swim with to the next pontoon. But that’s not all; to win the money they then must race the clock to swim back to shore and join their partner.

“We chose Trickbox for this project based on their reputation,” says Fran Peters, Head of Production, Primal Media. “The solution that they offered was cost-effective and met all of our requirements.”

Liam Laminman, Managing Director, Trickbox TV adds, “We’re delighted to have won this project. Our multi-camera, fly-away is designed to provide a solution for low-cost, broadcast quality 4K/UHD or HD multi-camera productions. It can be set up and de-rigged in minutes and is the perfect fit for outside broadcast projects for any environment.”

The summer’s nearly over here in the UK but the Trickbox team has some great memories to look back on from some of the UK’s top music events. This year, we provided outside broadcast (OB) services for Toward Infinity, a specialist in multi-camera concert films and music documentaries for world-class bands at concerts across the UK in venues including: The O2 (Status Quo), the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff (Thunder), O2 Academy Brixton Academy (Bullet for my Valentine) and in October, Royal Albert Hall (Marillion). As well as this, we provided OB services to Eden Sessions, one of the most spectacular outdoor live music events based at the famous Eden Project site in Cornwall for renowned artists including: Bastille, Madness and Van Morrison for a series of one-day concerts held annually during June and July.

Watching bands like these play live at amazing venues is the ultimate experience but to ensure a successful event, organisers must plan meticulously, making sure they have the best OB service and ultimately the highest quality material. Our partnership with Toward Infinity, run by Producer, Director and Editor Tim Sidwell and Producer and DP Jeremy Mason, started around 18 months ago when they began to take on multi-camera projects and needed an OB provider that could supply a fly-away, multi-camera solution that suits the budgets and scope of its clients.

The workflow between us is seamless. Before an event, Toward Infinity supplies us with the camera plan and production design and we manage the whole installation, providing the technical equipment to record the show as well as the crew to rig and de-rig it and Vision Engineers and Unit Managers, as required. We can rig a multi-camera shoot in the morning, get it ready for the show and then break it down and get it out of the venue by the end of the night. All the camera feeds, which are HD, are recorded to separate solid hard disk drives and are given to Toward Infinity so it can transfer the footage before sending the drives back to us.

For the Eden Sessions project, we also provided a multi camera set-up, including live vision mixing with talkback, tally lights and a 32-foot track, which ran across the front of the stage. Our kit was installed onsite and remained at the location for the four-week duration of live shows.

If you’ve got a live music event coming up and you need an experienced OB services provider give us a shout.

Shot at Europe’s tallest building, The View from the Shard in London, the wedding was granted to a highly deserving couple, Sonya Keating and Paul Brough. It’s the first wedding that The View from the Shard has ever hosted, with the ceremony taking place 800 feet high, on the 72nd floor. Trickbox TV supplied ITV with a multi-camera fly-away solution that included six HD fibre camera channels, and a fly-away control area with positions for the ITV Production team and Trickbox engineers.

Trickbox began rigging the show the night before and continued through the night with the first rehearsal taking place at 6am on the morning of the show. The remit included camera fibre cable drops on multiple floors, to allow for quick repos for different sections of the programme.

“We were very excited to win this project and work with ITV’s This Morning team,” says Liam Laminman, Trickbox TV Managing Director. “Live TV is high-pressure but it’s an environment that we’re used to working in and we have the skills and the experience to ensure a successful production. Broadcasting from different floors of a building 800 feet in the air also has it challenges but it was a spectacular day that will be remembered by the families, the team and the viewers.”