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Vista Systems' Spyder Revs Up for Autosport International Show
When Massteknik UK, a specialist in providing total
video systems for major live events, was charged
with supplying all the hardware and content
management for the huge screen at the center of the
Live Action Arena at the National Exhibition Centre's
Autosport International Show in Birmingham, UK, it
selected Vista System's Spyder to control the
dynamic visuals.
The arena, a boisterous mix of cars and theatre
popular with both race fans and promoters, featured 17 sold-out shows in four days.
Massteknik was brought on board to furnish something exciting and different, opting for
a single Unitek V9 LED screen measuring more than 105 sq. yds. to fill the vast Hall
Five at the NEC.
The Spyder, from Joys Productions, was chosen to take multiple inputs and multiple
video layers and move them around the huge screen in real time.
"We knew what Christopher Milnes, managing director of Massteknik and overall
project manager for the video, wanted to achieve with the show, and Spyder is without
question the most versatile video layering system for a live environment," notes Peter
Joy, managing director of Joys Productions. "Because of its native high-definition
capabilities, Spyder is more normally seen in high-end corporate events, but it was its
live manipulation facilities that Christopher wanted to exploit."
Joy fed pre-recorded footage, dynamic backgrounds, and live camera capture to
Spyder, which layered the material on the giant LED screen, which had a super-wide
aspect ratio of 5.6:1. Milnes and Chris Perkins of Cue Media used a combination of
handheld cameras, small locked-off units, big lenses, and jib cameras to bring the
dramatic action of the race track to the big screen.
"It was clear that Milnes wanted the Spyder to be the creative tool of the show, and it
most certainly was in every way," states Malcolm Forbes, event organizer for
Haymarket Exhibitions.
Both the Spyder and huge screen performed faultlessly at every show. "It was a fairly
harsh environment for the equipment to be in for eight days," says Milnes, "but there
was absolutely nothing from jib to computers to screen that missed a beat."
About Vista Systems
Vista Systems’ switchers have become the industry standard for live multipledestination
video and data mixed signal switching. For more information on Vista
Systems, visit their Web site at www.vistasystems.net.