The Science of the Show Part 5 - New Tools and Toys
by Jim Fuller
Advances in technology are taking the Science of the Show to new levels of quality and reliability. Here’s an update on some tools that can make your shows look and sound better – and run more reliably.
Digital is an important trend in both audio and video. In video, conversion to digital brings diverse elements of a meeting – TVL, Power Point, proprietary software, even overhead projectors – into common standard. Once the technologies are merged, they can share a common switcher, allowing for smooth transitions between elements. Unlike analog signals, digital signals will not pick up electrical noise from power systems. By minimizing signal loss, digital produces a cleaner, stronger signal.
Wide-screen format. Like movies, meeting presentations are going to a wider-screen format. New 16X9 format has a high-tech look and allows you to put more information on single screen. Now, in many venues with a low ceiling, you can keep the same screen height and go to a wider format that fills more of the audience’s field of vision. To show TV commercials and other existing video elements, we drop a traditional 3X4 format within the wide screen.
Video projectors that output 150 to 250 lumens influence meetings two ways: First, they slow down the set-up. Technicians have to wait until everything is set before they can darken the room and tweak the projectors. Second, they necessitate keeping ambient light levels low during meetings so the audience can see what’s on the screen. New video projectors put out 1800 lumens and up. Ten times the brightness speeds set-up time and allows more ambient light in the room for the audience. Keeping them awake during your show! Most new projectors use a single lens. Single, interchangeable lenses allow us to easily change the projection distance from the screen and cuts alignment time dramatically.
Telex UHF Wireless Intercom is a communications tool linking show directors, stage managers, and technicians. Like cordless telephones, wireless show communication gives freedom of movement and eliminates cords that can tangle and wreak havoc. Earlier wireless systems used the VHF frequency spectrum which caries TV signals, so interference was a big issue.
Line Array Speakers. Most speakers are designed to be arrayed side-by-side in horizontal clusters. The new EAW KF860 series speakers fly vertically in line arrays. These 72” long, narrow, trapezoidal speakers can be stacked 3 to 12 units high allowing us to keep speaker above the audience’s sight line. Their dipolar directivity gives much more precise control over sound placement. We can focus sound to within 2 to 3 degrees of where it’s needed in the room and also keep sound energy off the stage and away from the microphones to prevent feedback.
Digital Speaker Processors separate frequency spectrums and provide a crossover network that routes the lows to the lows, the highs to the highs, etc. The XTA DP226 Digital Speaker Processor is the best sounding we’ve found. With 6 outputs, we can run a stereo 3-way system off one processor and have full digital control.
TC Electronic M5000 Digital Effects Processor allows us to produce reverbs, pitch shifting, chorus, flange, sampling, delays, ambience, and more. Because it’s digital, it can be upgraded via downloads from the Internet. For performance consistence, entertainers can bring a diskette that contains their effects pre-sets and upload their information into the mainframe. The remote control allows easy operation from a remote location.
Microphone Preamplifiers are used on podium microphones to increase the signal-to-noise ratio in order to deliver a cleaner signal. Focusrite Red One Microphone Preamp features 4 channels of ultra high quality amplification; Green One features 2 channels in one rack space. We use preamps on all podium microphones to ensure the highest sonic quality and a noise-free environment.
Podium Microphones have always been mount specific. They mounted either to a metal flange on the podium or a hole in the podium. The new Shure condensor gooseneck podium microphones mount both ways. So no matter what kind of podium is used, these microphones will work. Their super colloidal design reduces feedback, and they are shock mounted to reduce noise.
Motion Lab Motor Controllers can be used to control equipment flown in the air by a chain motor including grids of speakers, lights, and video projectors. It controls eight motors from a single, central remote, allowing one technician to do a job that used to require eight.
If you want the best show possible, be sure to take advantage of the new tools and technologies that are available.