PRG and the audiovisual production of large musical events: “We are already broadcast”

David Lopez, senior project manager from the international provider of technical and production services PRG, addresses the audiovisual technology used in some of the largest concerts in Europe, corroborating how broadcast solutions such as cameras or mixers have been consolidated in large concerts, tours and festivals.

Festivals de la talla de Mad Cool Festival, Primavera Sound, Pukkelpop, Creamfields, Wacken Open Air, Soundstorm Mdlbeast Festival o Untold2024; top-notch tours como Elton John, Andrea Bocelli, Parkway Drive, Bring Me The Horizon, The 1975, o special events like the last break show of the SuperBowl oh go Grammy Latinos 2023 have relied on the performance of the audiovisual services of PRG, a company that since 1983 has specialized in providing audiovisual services to major artists and festivals around the world. With 42 workshops on all continents and a portfolio that expands to corporate events, sporting events, theatrical productions or forays into the field of television and film, the Spanish arm of the company joined the group in 2011. Since then, he has left a deep mark on the Spanish audiovisual ecosystem competing for a coveted and expansive market.

The PRG team in Spain has witnessed the technological evolution of the industry proAV. Little by little, it has gone from “anything goes” to a commitment to solutions high quality technology. This search for excellence In a saturated market such as festivals, it has educated a type of public already accustomed not only to first-class sound displays, but also to a audiovisual coverage that bases its foundations on the universo broadcast. The technical teams attend the main broadcast fairs in the sector to form their offer and be able to offer a high-quality display, which embraces the transmission of signals over fiber, UHD cameras, mixers top level and even parallel realizations to be able to produce the signal for the attendees, yes, but also to sign productions for this for the thousands of followers who follow the show via streaming.

David Lopez, senior project manager of PRG in Spain, helps to understand the dimensions of the technological leap of the industry of big tours and festivals in Spain; environment that, like society, presents itself unable to give up screens. “We are now all broadcast,” López remarks at several moments in the conversation, suggesting how the world of live musical events can be a driver of industria broadcast global, and how the bet of fairs like WHEREAS in favor of this type of technology has all the sense in the world.

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Not just music: also technology

The influence of large American tours, the lowering of the costs of technical solutions, the professionalization of the sector or the extreme competition in the music sector in Spain, which in 2023 exceeded 100 festivals, are some of the factors that explain the improvement of technology in large tours and festivals. “Everything is more spectacular"acknowledges López, identifying the growing lightness of screens or the consolidation of LED technology in lighting as key elements of increasing qualitative and quantitative of audiovisual resources in this very important cultural sector.

Attendees to these events look for a complete experience that satisfies their social needs, helps them coexist with the FOMO and overcome their visual and sound expectations, an innate demand in generations that interrelate their cultural consumption to their audiovisual education. This is answered directly by the promoters of festivals and large concerts, and the bands themselves, who know in detail the technology they want to use and are increasingly allowing less. counterriders: "The requirements are much more specific. In lighting, a lot is asked for Robe, GLP, Ayrton, and at the sound level they usually require Meyer Sound o L-Acoustics. Furthermore, international artists always ask Klang, an immersive monitoring system.”

“Each time it happens more priority to video and to the video interaction with the artist”.

This increase in the cost of audiovisual productions is also noticeable in the fans pocket, who can see how the latest big international tours cost them no less than €100 per ticket. However, (and leaving aside the issue of the oligopoly of American production companies) it is the price to pay for “quality” and for a “more immersive” concert approach that also extends to the audiovisual production. Just a decade ago, an audiovisual production from a medium-sized pavilion or secondary stage at a large festival was often a added to thank you; now, they are unavoidable standards. As you remember López: “Before you mounted two cameras on the front, one camera on the man moving on the stage and one dolly, and you had the festival set up. Now, depending on the production, you can go with five, six, eight or ten cameras. Every time it happens more priority to video and to the interaction of the video with the artist.”

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Recruitment at major musical events

The pickup is configured as a critical element for planning large world tours, spend these offering solo concerts or be part of large festivals. to the usual rider technical in which the technical needs of an artist or band were detailed, a rider audiovisual in which specific needs are collected regarding supports, cameras or mixing consoles. The requirements, as López explains, have “names and surnames” with specific technologies or devices, being defined by those in charge especially dedicated to this purpose.

He look cinematographic has not yet reached big tours “for the extra production costs what they suppose.”

In this way, they claim broadcast quality cameras to be arranged in specific production locations; “many points of PTZ"high quality" cameras pencil o GoPro “to have all the artists recorded”, and, of course, the cranes, fundamental component to provide dynamism; at least until the restrictions regarding drone flight above concert-goers. PRG has among its capture solutions cameras Panasonic, Sony y Blackmagic, although López recognizes that PRG's path involves trying to build an ecosystem of products instead of integrating equipment from different manufacturers. On some occasions, cameras have been requested ARRI Amira for special concerts or chambers mirrorless for live recording, but for now it is not the standard: the look film has not yet reached major tours "due to the extra production costs they entail."

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Better screens and higher resolution

The arrival of 4K to the vast majority of cameras in the ecosistema broadcast makes companies like PRG prepared to offer productions in this resolution. Of course, for now, the standard remains the resolution Full HD: “In the end, the client wants quality and price. There may be a couple of years left for 4K to be standardized, but when that time comes we will be ready. All new devices come by default with 4K inputs, you don't have to be buying 4K cards…”

Although it is not a requirement on the part of the artists, the PRG team in Spain deploys every time it has the opportunity 4K signals to take advantage of large screens, an area that “has advanced a lot” in recent years: “You no longer have to have a 14 pixel or 10 pixel screen like before; now we are working outdoors at a 4.6 pixel with 20 meters or 12 meters of screen. It all depends on pixel pitch "Whatever you have, of course, but if we have the opportunity, we will go with 4K."

López, in any case, considers that especially in the world of large musical events, creativity is the variable that marks the performance of one technology or another. In the words of senior project manager: “If you have a central screen and you reinforce it with screens on both sides of the vertical stages, with the 4K you no longer have to turn the camera as it was done before. “Now you can take advantage of the resolution to integrate the same image on each screen.”

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Carrying out large events: towards the ecosystem

It is increasingly common to attend the area first thing in the morning FOH from the main stage of a big festival and see various mixing surfaces video for achievement of each show. And, as López explains, the industry is at a point where “many artists bring its own filmmakers”: “I can do it with pleasure and taking into account the entire production, but the artist who brings his director knows very well what he wants: a PTZ here, this camera with this lens, this position… In addition, they go further and can ask you for a video recorder. AJA or of Blackmagic, h.264 and h.265 codecs, whether ProRes or 4:4:4… Each one has its own requests and needs”.

On the part of PRG, on those occasions in which they receive the order to implement and perform a show, the company opts for the model ATEM Constellation of Blackmagic: "They are stable tables, with quality and that do not fail. In the end, we seek to create a ecosystem, achieve a workflow and seek versatility: by having three or four M/E on the same panel, we can manage several realizations: the center screen, the one on the sides... ".

The complex network of audiovisual production is completed with a signal transport over fiber, with signal duplication capacity if necessary to avoid the limitations of interconnection via SDI or HDMI; the provision of servers video coordinated with the performance to manage the entire visual production of the bolus, or a parallel realization for the broadcast of the concert via streaming: “The realization can never be the same. We want to make the viewer feel immersed in that world from the outside, and that cannot be done with the same thing that appears in the show screens”.

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5G, backpacks, RF… also at big concerts?

For now, the big tours and festivals of the musical world have adopted cameras, mixers, switchers, recorders, accessories, streaming platforms or servers coming from the broadcast universe. This source of direct inspiration extends to López's observation of other resources frequently used by radio and television networks in external coverage of events.

The use of relay backpacks or the application of the network slicing or private 5G networks to reduce wiring in large productions, have unique angles and all with low latency, it can be a reality in the medium term, but for now it has limitations. López provides the details: “You can have a team LiveU and reduce cables by transmitting a signal through 5G, but in the end it costs the customer. When these resources are standardized and prices go down, which they should, it will be an option.”

Radio links are a proven alternative, and, in fact, López recognizes the use of solutions from manufacturers such as Teradek o Hollyland at some of the other events that PRG produces. However, their use on the boards entails risks that no professional is willing to assume: “They may do well in tests, but when the concert comes, wireless interconnectivity does not work.” Given this situation, the senior project manager of PRG claims the need for an “exclusive band for broadcast applications” in order to expand production possibilities.

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When technology is no longer the limit

To López, the universe of live music has long left the solutions proAV to definitely bet on technology broadcast. The demand for higher production quality has been fundamental, of course, but also the cheaper solutions: "Before, buying a broadcast camera meant spending a 30,000 euro body and 20,000 optics. Now, with With 100,000 euros you can even have a mobile unit. Within the broadcast you will have more expensive alternatives, but there is other equipment that already provides you with good quality and resolutions. 4K or 6K with decent quality and affordable price. It's the same with mixers: before you didn't know what table you were going to find. Now, the quality standard has risen quite a bit.”

“We can do what you imagine. We are at a point where, if you wanted surround a stadium con LED screens, you could do it technically.”

This access to broadcast-quality production solutions at a low cost coexists with tours and concerts in which audiovisual technology tirelessly pursues spectacularity. The creativity and the budget have become the only conditions that allow you to create stages with unimaginable dimensions, stages consisting of LED screens with all types of content or hundreds of luminaires coordinated with every detail of the production: “Now, the productions tell you”I want to do this", and our role is to make it happen”says López.

Create 180 meters of stage for a festival Abu Dhabi, get it Rihanna o Beyoncé appear flying in the Super Bowl what Taylor Swift have a stage with mobile LED screens... Anything is possible, and broadcast technology will play an increasingly important role in not losing a single detail of the major sociocultural events of our century: "We are talking about long-term productions that require very large R&D teams, like the one we fortunately have. We can do whatever you imagine. We are at a point where, if you wanted to surround a stadium with LED screens, you can do it technically. Before you had resolution limits, but now if you want to move 40,000 pixels x 1080, if you have to put up 25 servers Disguise, you put it. Those limitations no longer exist.”

A report by Sergio Julián Gómez