Gravity Media expands its remote capabilities with Calrec

Argo technology and True Control 2.0 Calrec, compatible with remote and distributed configurations, will bring new remote audio capabilities to the production center of Gravity Media located in White City (London), which continues its expansion phase.

From 2024, the Remote Operations Center (ROC) of Gravity Media in White City, Londres, has provided live production, post-production and studio services to a wide range of clients in the world of sports and live entertainment. He ROC, which provides services to clients such as Formula E, ATP Media y TNT Sports, has recently expanded its capacity with two consoles Calrec Argo S of 48 faders and one Argo M of 36 faders, which are fully integrated into the ST 2110 network topology native to the facilities.

Neil Ottley, senior audio engineer at Gravity Media, acknowledges that for this deployment they needed a partner allowing them to not only remotely and instantaneously access different audio channels, but also incorporate a “large number of legacy sources” into the equation. “Calrec was a perfect fit and the fact that their IP gateways, ImPulse cores and Hydra2 networking products worked seamlessly together suited us very well,” he explains.

Calrec Argo, en Gravity Media White City

After the incorporation of the consoles Calrec Argo, the London White City production center now has nine dedicated sound control rooms. The facility also manages six flexible multiple booths for off-air commentary, voiceovers and other functions.

This integration has allowed Gravity Media to continue refining its workflows, simultaneously increasing its performance and reducing both its financial expense and its environmental impact. As explained Paul Sykes, chief facilities engineer of the production company: "In a period of 24 hours, we had 160 people in our production center broadcasting live tennis from Rome, rugby from London and Formula E from Tokyo. That's 160 people who don't have to take flights to Tokyo or Rome or book hotels. This means that we can use all our equipment and use it several times a day."

True Control 2.0: window to the future of Calrec and Gravity Media

Gravity Media is already studying how it can continue to benefit from True Control 2.0 by Calrec. This technology expands remote and distributed production ecosystems by providing broadcasters full operational access to any enabled core and surface, regardless of your location. Each control console can access up to five other consoles simultaneously to offer broadcasters much greater levels of remote control without the limitations of parallel or duplicate control.

"True Control 2.0 can be used across the entire Argo range, our existing RP1 remote production units and Calrec's Type R. This greatly expands the level of control we have over all of those devices and opens up new possibilities such as dynamics, EQ, delay and any other processing needed to produce a real remote mix from our London facility. The combination of the Argo mixers and the truck builds currently taking place with Gravity Media means we now have the opportunity to do true remote control of a surface in situ. This means that we can use an Argo in our facilities to control a console in a venue and access the full range of controls that we cannot currently use. Having that capability really expands what we could do in the future,” he explains. Ottley.

Anthony Harrison, Sales Director at Calrec, adds: "The adoption of True Control 2.0 across the ecosystem is hugely flexible. It is more environmentally sustainable and offers broadcasters greater control and confidence by seamlessly integrating on-site and remote operations."