Ruina Video Art trusted Blackmagic Design solutions

All aspects of the audiovisual production, including the projection of enlarged images during the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival, were carried out by Ruina Video Art with a content capture, monitoring and delivery solution based on products from Blackmagic Design.

Images of the festival were recorded live and subsequently broadcast on Canarian Radio Television in two programs of 50 minutes each, with the Spanish production company Ruima Video Art in charge of all elements of the technical production of the event.

La octava entrega de este festival que tiene lugar en la pintoresca Playa de San Agustín, en Gran Canaria, contó con un repertorio ecléctico de artistas internacionales del soul y el R&B. “Los 500 m² de playa se transformaron en un escenario deslumbrante para el festival, aunque esto presentó desafíos técnicos y logísticos considerables”, revela Pedro Ruiz Mateos, by Ruina Video Art.

The challenge was maintain signal integrity and stability in an environment that lacks any infrastructure and, at the same time, fight against hostile environmental factors, tales como la arena y las altas temperaturas. “Esto requirió de un sistema robusto con latencia reducida, que permitiera hacer frente a todo el proceso de producción, desde la adquisición y la supervisión de contenidos hasta la distribución y la mezcla de señales, tanto para la proyección de las imágenes ampliadas como para la grabación del material”, observa Ruiz Mateos.

Multi-camera production

La producción multicámara confió en un conjunto de equipos compuesto por siete cámaras de Blackmagic Design, entre ellas, dos unidades Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2, which were located in front of the stage, in order to capture the artists' presentations. In turn, an additional unit was mounted on an 8.5 meter crane with a remote head, to record general and dynamic plans. “Connecting the Blackmagic equipment via SMPT fiber optic cables gave us access to the images, return signals and power supply, and allowed us to control the cameras,” adds Ruiz Mateos.

Likewise, four units were used Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro G2 (two fixed remote controlled and two manually operated) with the intention of covering other areas, in addition to a mixer ATEM Camera Control Panel in order to control the cameras and process shadows remotely.

On the other hand, the model was used ATEM 2 M/E Constellation HD in order to mix the live images in HD for the extended projections and the main signal for further transmission. At the same time, when managing and distributing the signals, a switching matrix was relied upon. Blackmagic Videohub 40×40 12G, while the isolated signal coming from each camera, as well as the main one, were recorded by eight devices HyperDeck Studio HD Plus.

A dynamic environment

“El eje de nuestras transmisiones gira en torno a la capacidad de los mezcladores de realizar composiciones con múltiples capas y transiciones avanzadas, lo cual garantizó que pudiéramos adaptarnos rápidamente al entorno dinámico del festival y ofrecer al público una experiencia visual extraordinaria”, afirma Ruiz Mateos.

“Enviamos las imágenes en directo provenientes del mezclador a una superficie audiovisual de seis metros de ancho y tres metros, ubicada detrás del combo, y a otras pantallas adicionales para acercar las presentaciones a los espectadores que se encontraban más atrás”, añadió.

La señal principal y las aisladas de las cámaras se grabaron en 1080p25 format for subsequent editing and chromatic correction. “Once post-production is complete, we process the images to meet the station's technical specifications and deliver the program to the television network in 1080i50 format using the FTP protocol.”

"When covering an outdoor event in demanding conditions where the heat and sand put the equipment to the test, the technology did not let us down. Knowing that we could rely on Blackmagic products, we were able to concentrate on the creative aspects of the festival production," concludes Ruiz Mateos.