Archive for March, 2013

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20 Subcompact and Mini Line ...

Category Audio, Concerts, Conferences, Entertainment, News, Technology - by - on March 23, 2013

List of 20 Subcompact and Mini Line Arrays reviewed.

KIVA Line Array
The increase of small and subcompact line arrays today has enabled almost every space to benefit from line array technology.

When Line Array’s first came onto the market their size limited their application especially in Live sound in ballrooms, houses of worship, etc.

I remember testing the original Meyer Sound MD3 in Daytona, FL in the Ocean Center Arena and thinking what a great sound and box – but totally unsuitable for anything less than large arena’s and stadiums because of its weight and size, giving it a limited scope of usability.

Keeping with  Meyer Sound as an example; Meyer Sound now has a line array for every facility and venue, from their new Milo through to Mina.

So what else is there available? Tech Decisions recently did a list of 20 of the subcompact and mini line arrays currently in use.

Click here for the guide to 20 Subcompact and mini Line Arrays from Tech Decisions.

Steve

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How much do you know ...

Category Meetings, News, Technology, Tutorials, Uncategorized - by - on March 22, 2013

What do you know? Take the test.

Whatever level of experience you have in the AV field, technicians and engineers are always learning each day about new technology, as well as great tips and tricks to save time on setup and what works best with this or that piece of equipment.

But how many of the AV engineers that we know, actually sit down and prepare for exams on AV?  A lot of the time, experience is passed down first hand on the job, or in the office, or warehouse during QC and prep for events.

I am all for education. I enjoy reading about new technology but its also good to evaluate what you think you know, and then if there are any areas you need to revise, you can focus on getting that area of expertise up to standard too.

infocomm internationalI was on InfoComm International site this week and found a number of quick written tests you can download and take, to see how much you have learned so far, and see where you need to improve. Answers are at the back of the test – but don’t look until you’ve finished.

Here is their website Infocomm International-self-assement you can scroll down and see 8 practice exams to test how much you do or don’t know.
Take your time, some of the questions will make you think.

Here is the link to download  the Certificate Preparation Pretest Essentials.pdf try it and see how you do.

Steve

 

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Top 10 tips for great ...

Category Conferences, News, Technology, Uncategorized, Video - by - on March 19, 2013

Top 10 tips for great video projection
1 Choose the brightest projector that your budget will allow. There is a big difference between a 2500 ansi SD NTSC table top projector and a 5000 ansi HD-SDi projector, especially if you are showing video or graphics in a well lit room.

2 The size of screen(s) should be proportional to the size of audience and room size you have. A good rule of thumb is an equation of 1/10. If the room is 100ft long divide by 10 and your screen height should be approx 10ft tall. For HD that would be 9x16ft screen and for SD that would be 10.5x14ft screen

3 Check the manufacturers recommendations as to whether the projector needs to be placed level with the bottom of the screen, or whether the projector needs to be in the center of the height of the screen. This helps reduce keystone, having to lens shift too much and helps with focus on the screen edges.

4 What to do when showing graphics…

5 Type of Lenses…

6 Power type…

7 Connections to use…

8 Type of cabling…

9 Cold Stacking…

10 Lamps, lens cleaning, filters…

<- Click logo Top 10 tips for great video projection to read the full list of 10 tips for great video projection.

 

Steve

 

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Facebook and hashtags?

Category Technology, Web - by - on March 15, 2013

Resource Group AV | 

Is Facebook looking to produce its own version of the Twitter hashtag #fb?

Last week Facebook’s News Feed redesign is the most similar idea to Twitter feeds seen yet.

What makes the # hashtag so important is its valuable advertising monetization. For instance if you are following a hashtag about #lunch, then companies like Olive Garden could sell ads against anyone who searches for that hashtag, putting their restaurant promoted tweet in front of everyone. You know that’s how its done right?

Facebook can’t do that yet, but Graph Search by Facebook may be the start of making that connection through Friend Graph, essentially providing a new way to bring ads to users.

Wall Street Journal first reported the new trend and Mike Issac has verified this next move in the future plans of Facebook.

To read more on these details go to Mike Issac and WSJ

Steve Brown.

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GRAMMY® Awards

Category Audio, Entertainment, News, Technology, Uncategorized - by - on March 14, 2013

DiGiCo audio consoles used at the Grammy AwardsLet me ask you a question. How many consoles do you think it takes to run just the live production at an awards show like this?
Guess again.
For the second year running Digico Consoles, manufactured in the UK, have been the consoles of choice at the GRAMMY® Awards.
This year they used a total of 10 consoles for the Academy Awards.

The audio production team used five DiGiCo SD desks: four SD7′ consoles and an additional SD5 all connected to 11 SD Racks.

On the night they used 276 mic pre-amps with 176 outputs being shared between the five front desks and the 11 DiGiCo SD racks. All this to drive JBL”s new line array, the Pro VTX V25 3 way system.

If that wasn’t enough, there were over 50 wireless microphones used on the stages and trucks outside feeding back any of the band’s Pro Tools backing tracks – oh you thought it was all live?

Did you guess the right number of how many consoles would be needed to produce an event like this? Me neither.  But what a great night.

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