Inside Celebrity, All Mobile Video’s newly upgraded mobile unit.
Celebrity, All Mobile Video’s 53-foot triple mobile unit, is a fully digital (SDI video, AES audio) production truck introduced in 1998. The Manhattan-based AMV recently upgraded the vehicle’s video facilities to high definition and added a Studer Vista 8 digital audio console.
At over eight feet wide, AMV’s new console is also one of the largest Vista 8 ever assembled by the manufacturer, comprising 50 input faders, a 10-fader master section and remote 10-fader input bay, in addition to an extensive outboard Studer DSP rack. The frame was customized to fit within the tight confines of the truck by Boulevard Body Works (Warren, NJ).
AMV director of mobile operations Lee Blanco reports that the Vista 8’s comprehensive redundancy was a primary reason for selecting the console: “Our desk has a fully redundant control system with all current console settings mirrored from the primary system, which means that in the unlikely event of a control system problem, we can switch to the backup system and transparently restore to the most recent desk settings. Seeing that Celebrity is frequently used for live broadcasts, this capability was vital in ensuring uninterrupted operation and gave us guaranteed peace of mind.
“We also greatly appreciate the functionality of the board; it’s very versatile and the unique Vistonics interface makes operation extremely intuitive. High-end digital desks often have a reputation for being a bit daunting, but we’ve had a number of freelance engineers sit down with the Studer and they’ve all walked away very happy and confident in their ability to use it simply because it is so user-friendly.”
AMV president Eric Duke considers the Vista 8 key to keep Celebrity firmly on the forefront of digital technologies, saying that, “In the short time that we’ve had the console, we’ve already used it on a PBS taping of The American Ballet Theatre production of Swan Lake at the Kennedy Center, a live broadcast of Birth Day Live! for Discovery Health Channel and season tapings for Showtime At The Apollo, and it performed superbly at each location.”
For more information, please go to www.studer.ch.
