Leading in times of change: Australian companies embrace the future

In today’s unpredictable world, companies face a tough decision: to survive andget through it, or to thrive and develop a new worldview and set of tactics thatwill favourably position them for the opportunities that exist in the new normal.

That’s exactly what happened here in Australia at the end of March 2020 when we began living under strict lockdown rules with many industries, including live events and entertainment, shutting down overnight.

However, with the doors to live production locked until further notice, many companies quickly realised that they needed to adapt. Instead of producing events on location which, in many cases, was simply not possible due to global restrictions, the location could be ‘virtually’ brought to the production.

Those already in the virtual studio space shifted up a gear, while others took a look at their business models and realised that they too could migrate into this new arena.

Audio Visual Events (AVE), Big Picture, Ikonix, Intraware, Last Pixel, Mediatec, Novatech, Spectre Studios, Technical Direction Company (TDC), and Woohah Productions are all great examples of businesses that have fully embraced the era of immersive storytelling by taking full advantage of Virtual Production, Extended Reality and Mixed Reality workflows either by creating their own virtual production facilities, or by supplying LED screens with high quality LED processing to creative content production companies.

For those companies, Brompton Technology has become the gold standard in LED processing due to its exceptional image quality on camera and comprehensive feature set.

Tessera processing offers very low latency and perfect system-wide synchronisation, with a variety of useful genlock options, as well as the ability for users to seamlessly match their LED panels, do detailed on-screen colour adjustment, and control the system remotely.

“Choosing Brompton was a no-brainer for us,” says Josh Moffat, Business Development at Big Picture.

“The company has been our loyal partner and a perfect LED processing solution for years, with its Tessera processors offering exceptional colour control and comprehensive image manipulation, coupled with quick easy tools like the OSCA seam correction feature.

“The advanced remote control options have also been a particular benefit to us in this workflow, given the current situation.”

AVE’s general manager, Paul Keating, cannot agree more, describing Tessera’s interface as simple and easy to use. “Setting up angled ROE Strip is very easy in the Tessera software, with the ability to rotate fixtures on a canvas,” he says.

“The SX40 accepts high resolutions and 12G SDI signal from our E2 which is all processed with no visible latency. With the XD 10G distribution units, we can simply run a fibre cable up to the screen then distribute the signal from the XD to the panels, saving us both time and cable runs.”

Although originally developed with the live entertainment sector in mind, Brompton has embraced the challenging requirements of cinematographers and creative content producers.

Its revolutionary Dynamic Calibration technology has raised the bar for virtual production once again, unleashing the true performance of LED and breathing new life into existing panel inventory.

Dynamic Calibration is the enabler for Brompton HDR (High Dynamic Range), which delivers exceptionally realistic-looking image quality, especially for content with extreme contrast, or when achieving true, natural skin tones on-camera.

Its revolutionary Dynamic Calibration technology has raised the bar for virtual production once again

Anticipating the future needs of creative content creators, Brompton Technology has developed a new feature set for its Tessera v3.1 software, launched in January 2021.

The new release includes innovative features for the Tessera SX40 and S8 processors such as HFR+ (High Frame Rate), which enables support for frame rates up to a massive 250fps (frames per second), and a new Frame Remapping feature, bringing a range of creative options for VP workflows.

Building a strong organisational immune system rather than maximising short-term profits has been part of Brompton’s vision right from the beginning and has paid off tenfold when the company, like many others, was faced with the many obstacles presented by the pandemic.

“To us, Brompton Technology is a world leader in what it does; its products and 24/7 technical service is the best in the industry. That’s why we had made a promise to only buy Brompton for our hire/rental stock,” says WooHah Productions and Studio45 MD, Arosh Fernando.

Spectre Studios’ Technical Director, Rick Pearce, echoes Fernando’s thoughts:

“We feel confident that with our knowledge and expertise, as well as working with leading industry partners such as Big Picture that supply future-proof hardware that we can rely on and trust, like Brompton’s Tessera processing, we are able to facilitate whatever challenges our clients throw at us and whatever new technological innovations come our way in the new year. Bring on 2021!”

By embracing new technologies these Australian companies have achieved noteworthy firsts including Australia’s first full Virtual Production for TV commercial, the world’s first live to air XR broadcast, and hosted ACS (Australian Cinematographers Society) for hands-on creative sessions with some of the country’s best DOPs.

They have now made virtual production a standard part of their creative toolkit, used for product launches, fashion roadshows, music live streams and news bulletins, not to mention high profile sports events like the 2020 NRL Grand Final and State of Origin series.

“Being resilient and retaining focus on our long-term strategy of innovation to solve the needs of our customers today and in the future has been especially critical in these uncertain times” concludes Brompton’s CEO, Richard Mead.

“We look forward to continuing to work with our Australian partners and seeing how Brompton HDR technology, as well as the exciting features of the new Tessera 3.1 software, can support them with their creative projects and virtual production workflows in 2021.”

Brompton Technology
www.bromptontech.com

CX Magazine – February 2021   

LIGHTING  |  AUDIO  |  VIDEO  |  STAGING  |  INTEGRATION

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