Light entertainment shows aren’t always studio based, they often have whole series, episodes or segments broadcast on location from pretty much anywhere – a cave, a beach, a festival site, or anywhere else that fits the theme of the show. By providing portable production units (PPUs) and flyaway video equipment, the Trickbox team can reach any location that an OB truck can’t, which is a huge benefit for broadcasters. 

For professional broadcast projects the sound facilities are just as important as the video facilities , which is why Trickbox works in collaboration with Terry Tew, an audio hire company specialising in broadcast TV and events, for these types of jobs.  Owned and run by professional ex-BBC Sound Engineer Terry Tew, the company provides sound flyaway systems for the broadcast, recording and live sound sectors. Trickbox and Terry Tew have worked on several recent projects including the Rated Awards 2018 (Channel 4), the Live This Morning Wedding from the Royal Albert Hall, The Wave (W) and the Deal or No Deal Tour (Channel 4).

A sound flyaway generally includes a sound desk, radio mics and comms equipment. “We’ve got various sizes of sound desks starting from 22 channels up to 200 channels,” explains Terry. “We select the system depending on the requirements of the job.” At the recent Rated Awards 2018 at the Eventim Apollo in London, Terry Tew dealt with comms for the floor team, the sound crew, the lighting team including  the follow spot operators. The company integrated with Trickbox for the video OB, as well as the live sound show team. Terry says,  “We used the Eventim Apollo’s comms system, the Trickbox comms system and we bolted additional Terry Tew comms and all the walkie talkies onto it. For this event they had an in-house company that looked after the live sound and we took feeds from them for the recording for Channel 4, which went out a few days after the event, we also provided the sound for the live feed for GRM Daily and Channel 4 YouTube channels.” 

Trickbox and Terry Tew integrate seamlessly. For the Rated Awards, Trickbox provided its state-of-the-art, bespoke 12-camera portable production unit (PPU) flyaway for the live stream and the recorded Channel 4 show. 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, again without the need for an OB truck.

On Thursday 4th October 2018, Trickbox and Terry Tew provided video and audio flyaway services to ITV Daytime for the Live This Morning Wedding from the Royal Albert Hall. Part of This Morning’s 30th Anniversary celebrations, the wedding saw former Marine Shane Maddison and Sarah Roustoby say, “I do” in front of family, friends and the This Morning presenting team, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. This is the first time that a wedding has taken place at the iconic venue’s 150-year history. 

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 also managed all the connectivity for the live broadcast, which included three independent circuits to ITV (a main and two backups). Terry Tew supplied a Studer Vista 1 32 fader desk, two Studer stage boxes, one for the foyer and one for the main hall, 16 radio mics with duplicate receivers in the foyer and main hall, six presenter talk back systems, four duplex base stations and 60 walkie talkies and Schoeps mics and fold back for the Kingdom Choir and a PA system for the congregation.

Trickbox has also worked with Terry Tew on The Wave for W, which was broadcast earlier this year. The five-part series, hosted by popular presenter Rylan, 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.

Filmed on location in Portugal, Trickbox supplied production company, 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. Terry Tew supplied all the radio mics, walkie-talkies and base stations so that everyone could communicate. Terry says, “We had radio mics and effects mics on all six of the pontoons. All the contestants wore radio mics, as did Rylan who also had talk back so that he could hear the director. It was a fairly complex set-up because the contestant on the pontoon also had to hear Rylan and the other competitor and vice versa.” 

Every show is bespoke, for Trickbox from a video perspective and Terry Tew from a sound perspective, and there are often challenges. Terry says, “It’s normally a logistical problem. Sometimes there’s limited access to the venues, which means everything has to be carried in but that’s also a benefit because it means that we can get into places where an OB truck can’t.

“We’ve really enjoyed working with Trickbox on these projects. We have a very similar working style and we look forward to more collaborations in the future.”

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 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.”

Trickbox TV is proud to announce that it has provided a range of outside broadcast services to Eden Sessions. Based at the famous Eden Project site in Cornwall, Eden Sessions is one of the most spectacular outdoor live music events, featuring a series of one-day concerts from world-class artists during June and July 2017, annually.

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 provided a range of outside broadcast services to Eden Sessions. Based at the famous Eden Project site in Cornwall, Eden Sessions is one of the most spectacular outdoor live music events, featuring a series of one-day concerts from world-class artists during June and July 2017, annually.

Eden Sessions contracted Trickbox TV to provide a multi camera set-up, including live vision mixing with talkback, tally lights and a 32-foot track, which runs across the front of the stage. The Trickbox kit was installed onsite and remained at the location for the four-week duration of live shows from renowned artists including Bastille, Madness and Van Morrison. The concerts will be shown at a later date on BBC iPlayer.

“We have a lot of experience providing outside broadcast facilities at music venues and festivals across the UK,” says Liam Laminman, Trickbox TV Managing Director. “The pressure is on at these events, organisers have to plan meticulously and they want to know that they are getting the best OB service and ultimately the highest quality material. That is what they get with us.”

It is well known that there’s currently a shortage of mid to large multi-camera studios in London.

This means that there are productions out there being compromised or not being able to be made. We all know the format of panel shows that span an array of different genres including comedy, sport and news; 8 Out of 10 Cats, Would I Lie To You, Have I Got News for You, Celebrity Juice, and so on.

Each production will have its own requirements; some will need a relatively small space to house a small audience, while some may need to be big enough to drive a car into.. What they all have in common is that they are traditional studio shows shot multi-camera, and for that, they’ll need traditional multi-camera studio facilities spanning from the cameras to the talkback.

So what’s happening to new productions that are being developed or that have been commissioned? Where are they going to shoot the series? If the production isn’t lucky enough to find a studio in town – and it’s likely they won’t be – then there’s a problem…

This situation has come up a few times for us recently; we’ve been approached by several production companies to find a suitable venue space rather than a studio, and install temporary multi-camera studio facilities for either a one-day shoot or for a whole series.

There’s often some initial scepticism from all involved on whether we’ll have all the facilities that they would expect in a studio and whether it will cost more. By the end of the production, however, we’re proud to say that every aspect of the production has been delivered as required – and each one has come in on budget!

A key element of a traditional multi-camera studio is the control room – the gallery – the heart of the production. We take much pride in equipping our temporary control rooms with everything that you’d expect; from flexible video and audio monitoring to digital talkback systems, everything right down to USB charging ports at each position!

Get in touch to see how we can help your next studio production – particularly if you don’t have a studio.

What’s a PPU, I hear you ask? What’s a flyaway? There are a few different names and abbreviations for this sort of thing, depending on which area of the broadcast world you’re in. A PPU, or Portable Production Unit, is essentially a broadcast OB truck or a broadcast television production control room in a flight case – a portable, mobile unit, or a series of units that can be taken to any location and set up. Other names and variations on the same theme include ‘flypack’, ‘flyaway’ and ‘de-rig’. Essentially, it all boils down to providing broadcast production facilities, on location, for a temporary period.

But that sounds like a job for an OB truck, doesn’t it? Quite possibly, but it depends on the project. The concept of an OB truck is well known and they’re perfect for those projects, such as sporting events and large-scale televised national events. Where a PPU or flyaway works perfectly is those smaller productions or ones in small or unusual locations. A quick look back at some of our recent PPU jobs show a range from live music to talking heads broadcast programmes to live poker tournaments. What all those jobs have in common is that all the locations were small and space for an OB truck just wasn’t possible.

Another obvious consideration is budget. OB trucks are expensive – but that’s because they’re built for large-scale productions, requiring 30 camera channels and 20 HDCAM VTRs. PPUs are built on a smaller scale and you’re only paying for what you need. Don’t require audio? Then the audio PPU stays at base and you don’t pay for it. Don’t want to ISO every camera? No problem, no charge.

So what don’t you get with a PPU? There has to be a compromise, doesn’t there? Well, they don’t come with air conditioning for a start and you won’t fit 30 people in one! But that’s the point – you choose a PPU because the requirements of the project are different, be it space, budget or accessibility.

When it comes down to the hardware and functionality, a good PPU or flyaway should offer everything your production needs. Our PPUs and flyaways are designed to include all the same standard broadcast features and functionality that you’d expect to find in an OB truck or television studio. They’re also designed to be able to be rigged and setup very quickly. 90% of our PPU and fyaway jobs are one-day wonders – rig, RX (or TX) and de-rig – all in one day. A separate rig day is a nice comfortable way to do it, but if the venue has time restrictions or there are budget restrictions, it’s not always possible. A recent broadcast programme we provided facilities for was in a cinema. Not only did we rig a 5-camera set-up and record a whole broadcast hour long show in one day, but we had to de-rig in 45 minutes as the cinema was opening its doors for the evening screening! The other quirky element of that job was that there very little space anywhere in the building to set up the ‘control room’ (and no space for an OB truck outside). So we built a bespoke compact flyaway in a corridor. Had to buy fold-away chairs for that one!

We’re also fans of designing PPUs and flyaways that have flexible use with multiple options for clients. There used to be a time when a standard Sony triax or fibre CCU camera would be more than adequate for any production. These days there’s so much choice in terms of cameras, it’s important to offer capability for what the client wants. Cine-style cameras like Canon C300s and Sony F55s aren’t traditional multi-camera cameras, but we’ve designed all our PPUs and flyaways to cater for them. What’s great about this is that it ups the production value by adding uniqueness to it.

So next time you hear “we’d better get an OB truck in for that job then”, remember there are other options out there…

An Outside Broadcast (OB) truck was first used for King George VI’s coronation in May 1937, watched by around 10,000 people at home on the BBC’s television service.

Since then, broadcast has changed massively – analogue has been killed off by digital, HD has surpassed SD, and new technologies are set to change things in the next few years even more. Broadcast giant Sony helped pioneer the first 3D OB truck a couple of years ago and built a 4K multi-camera OB truck in 2013. NHK even trialled a modified 8K OB truck during the London Olympics 2012.

So, how has the advance of technology changed the OB market? Well, for one thing, equipment is smaller. Instead of a cumbersome rack of VTR decks, space-saving file-based servers are now the norm. The advent of multi-viewers has changed OB trucks, too – no longer do you need a wall of chunky CRT monitors when large flat screen monitors will do the job instead. Fibre cabling has also increased capabilities. Fibre means longer distances and fewer cables required. At Trickbox TV, we use the most compact kit possible. Not only is this great for our clients, it means our kit rooms and trucks have also shrunk!

The cost of kitting out an OB truck or studio facility has plummeted. A few years ago, for a simple multi-camera set-up, you’d need a vision mixer, a separate multi-viewer, a video server to play the show’s opening title in on, some up-converters for that last-minute SD feed, a video scaler for that PC feed you need to get into the mixer etc. But now, one unit – a vision mixer for under £10K – can do all that! The cost of equipment has reduced considerably, in part due to a fierce market, but largely because the cost of producing components has reduced. CMOS sensors over CCD sensors is an obvious case. The introduction of KA band and 3G and 4G video uplink means it’s easier and cheaper to transmit. Will this mean more outside broadcast? We certainly hope so.

There are some staples of television which OB will continue to dominate, such as sport and large-scale national events. But other traditional OB territory, such as music, events and festivals, can now be achieved on a smaller scale. You can get the same functionality as an OB truck with a portable production unit (PPU) but with a smaller footprint and lower budget. Trickbox TV often get asked to quote for music jobs and big events because, sometimes, an OB truck just isn’t cost effective or there are space limitations. Plus, we work with some smaller broadcast production companies to help provide bespoke solutions for pilots or low-budget productions.

So what other emerging technologies are likely to change the face of OB? IP broadcast technology is sure to grow. BBC R&D has developed Stagebox – a camera adaptor designed to transmit everything you’d expect in a conventional triax or fibre cable (video, talkback, tally lights etc), but it’s all done over a single cat5E cable. The video is encoded at industry standard AVC-Intra 100 compression in real time. With the right software at the other end, you could ISO record all your cameras onto one storage device.

IP control is another technology changing how things are done in the field. Sony has brought out a software application which allows you to rack multiple cameras over IP. Every vision engineer must be thinking: “Do I actually need to get out of bed for this job? I could rack that show from home!”

As IP technologies get stronger, will it get to a point where there’s just a skeleton crew out in the field, but everything’s controlled from another location? Well, since technology is getting better, passion from people in the industry is strong and the demand is high from viewers, it’s clear the future of OB is going to get better and better.

If you’d like to find out how Trickbox TV can help with your next outside broadcast, contact us today.