Gearhouse Broadcast wins contract for Ireland’s National Film School’s 5 Camera HDTV studio at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology

Leadingbroadcast services specialist, Gearhouse Broadcast, has been awarded the contract to design, supply, install and support a new state-of-the-art HDTV facility at the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) in Dublin. The two-studio campus is due to be officially opened at a ceremony on Tuesday, 26 November 2013.

The IADT project was won in an open tender process. Gearhouse Broadcast’s Systems Integration division submitted the winning proposal and will provide a full turnkey studio, handling everything from planning and project management to design, installation, commissioning, technical support and on-site training. The project is already underway with a lot of the infrastructure being prefabricated at Gearhouse Broadcast’s Watford headquarters. On-site installation will begin at the end of August.

The larger of the two studios will be fully equipped with five Hitachi SK-HD1200 multi-format 1080p/3G HDTV broadcast cameras channels, equipped with Fujinon HA23 x 7.3BERD HD studio lenses. These cameras are hot-swappable between the two studios as needed.

The second smaller studio will feature a FOR-A VRCAM2 Sensor-less Virtual Studio System, including an HVS-390HS 2 M/E mixer with the option of accepting data from a Vinten 430i and Quattro SE encoded head and pedestal. Gearhouse Broadcast is also supplying an ARRI ALEXA camera with ARRI Alura 35mm zoom lenses and three Sony CineAlta 4K Prime lenses.

The production gallery consists of a Sony MVS 6520 2 ME Vision Mixer, a Grass Valley K2 Dyno Replay System, Imagine Communications routing and Glue, and multi-viewers. The audio control area houses a Studer Vista 1, 32 channel audio mixer and an edit station utilising Avid Nitris DX. The audio workstation will behandled by an Avid Pro Tools|HDX system.

“We’re essentially delivering a full TV channel infrastructure, meaning that the studio could easily be dry-hired to broadcast clients when not in use. This project demonstrates the experience and technical expertise of our Systems Integration division to address our customers’ needs and deliver a bespoke and cost-effective solution,” said Kevin Fitzgerald, sales manager at Gearhouse Broadcast. “We’re delighted to have been selected by Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology to deliver this technically advanced studio which will help to educate the next generation of broadcast professionals in Ireland.”

Gearhouse Broadcast’s unique relationship with Hitachi provides prime distribution rights to all Hitachi broadcast cameras in many international territories, including the SK-HD1200-S2 high-end multi-format 1080p/3G HDTV production cameras used in this project.

Gearhouse Broadcast will be exhibiting at IBC2013 in Hall 10 (stand 10.B39), with a fully equipped, live production HD OB trailer installed on the Hitachi stand in Hall 11 (11.D42). Two Hitachi cameras – the 6G Super Slow-Motion Camera SK-HD1500 and the 3G Portable type Production Camera SK-HD1200 – are also being supplied to the IBC Production Insight area in Hall 11, where visitors can see them in action.