EMERGING COMPLETE HD UPGRADE AT LIME PICTURES
eMerging, the UK distributors for Merging Technology's products, have
completed a lengthy high-definition upgrade project at Lime Pictures,
Liverpool. Lime, who produce Channel 4's successful soap Hollyoaks
virtually continuously for 52 weeks a year, began a through overhaul of
their video and audio production and editing facilties in 2007 to enable
the show to be produced, edited and broadcast in high definition. The
completed upgrade has involved eMerging in the design, construction and
installation of six new audio dubbing suites at Lime, each with Merging Pyramix audio Post-production DAWs, VCube HD high-definition video playback systems, and Merging Ramses control surfaces. As part of the comprehensive upgrade,
Lime also purchased new HD Sony HDC-1500 cameras, built a new Central
Apparatus Room (CAR) with a 102-Terabyte Data Direct video production
SAN, and added six new-build HD video editing suites based around
Apple's Final Cut Pro.
Under the guidance of its now-retired former Head of Technology Graham
Deaves, Lime Pictures installed one of the first centralised video
production servers in the UK in 2001, and one of the aims of Lime's
Group Head of Production Jamie Hall was to retain the server-based
approach to production when the systems were eventually upgraded to HD.
When UK broadcaster Sky began pushing Channel 4 for more HD content for
its satellite services, money became available to upgrade the Hollyoaks
production systems to high definition, and Jamie Hall chose to make this
part of an extensive reorganisation at Lime, introducing tapeless
operation (with the exception of material filmed on location, which is
still ingested from XDCAM) and bringing formerly scattered video and
audio editing and dubbing suites and staff together on one completely
reconstructed corridor at Lime's headquarters. This approach also
allowed the new audio and video systems to be constructed while the
older SD systems were still in operation, which was logistically
important given Hollyoaks' continuous production process.
In 2006, before the far-reaching HD upgrade, Lime's Head of Dub Chris
Lovgreen was in talks with eMerging's Paul Mortimer about the
replacement of Lime's old AMS AudioFile audio editing and dubbing
systems with Merging Pyramix DAWs. "We looked at all the other systems,
but pretty quickly, the consensus was that Pyramix was the way to go,"
comments Lovgreen. "I fell in love with it, really — it integrates
fantastically well into the post-production process."
When Jamie Hall announced the expansion in scope of the upgrade,
Lovgreen and Lime's Installations Project Manager Andy Murray saw a
greater role for eMerging in the project, and settled on the VCube HD
and Ramses control surfaces as the best means of integrating with
Pyramix.
Lovgreen explains: "It's all about integrating well with the
network, basically. We didn't want work to tape at the dubbing stage any
more, we wanted to stream all the pictures straight from the production
SAN, and, put simply, the VCube HD is the high-definition video playback
tool that integrates best with Pyramix. Similarly, with Ramses, I liked
the integration with Pyramix." "Also, integrating an untried desk into a
Pyramix system could have caused a lot of heartache," adds Andy Murray,
"whereas we knew the Ramses would work. And of course, the other thing
that's beneficial about that kind of arrangement is that you've got one
set of people supplying your kit, who you can go to for help if it's not
working. Naming no names, but we've all heard of situations where there
are two manufacturers supplying equipment that turns out not to work
properly together, and all they do is point the finger of blame at each
other."
"The guys at eMerging, by contrast, have been great.
During the install, if we've had a problem, they've just dealt with it,
which is what you want from a supplier."
"This was a flagship project for us, involving all of Merging
Technologies' major products in a state-of-the-art high-definition
installation" comments eMerging co-founder Richard Bowen. "We're proud
to have been involved in such a forward-thinking installation, and are
confident that the audio and video systems we've helped to install at
Lime will be the mainstay of Hollyoaks production for many years to
come."
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