MAY | SECTOR FOCUS
with in the cabinet itself,
rather than relying on digital
programming, it means that
the system is quick and easy
to set up and can give a great
sound to the whole audience
straight away.
One of the great bits about
our horizontal coverage is that
it behaves consistently across
low frequencies as well as high
frequencies (all the way down
to 300Hz for people that know
about that sort of thing). With
this even behaviour it means
that subtle stereo effects across
keyboards and guitars that
you wouldn’t normally notice
in a live environment, all of a
sudden start adding depth and
texture to the sound. Every
engineer that I have worked
with on the A Series has picked
up on this and commented on
how it has given their mix an
extra quality that they would
only really hear in the studio.
Companies are less willing
to move all staff to one location
and are therefore driving video
conferencing.
Last month Storm supported
a 17 location VC using an online
platform. This was a first for
the bank and proved highly
successful.
Technology is not about the
latest gadget – which does
tend to be expensive. Good
technology should allow you
to be creative with what is
possible and that is why expert
technicians are invaluable.
We are always asking for
something that doesn’t exist
and mostly these are ridiculous
and anything that is logically
not invented yet doesn’t
exist. Mostly its unicorns and
juggling monkeys that will do
it for free in a LED costume.
VALLEY OF AV
AV STORM
Storm Events’ Clair May talks
organiser demands
Storm operate in the gap
between pure AV provider and
agency. We are finding there
is a greater move towards
cost cutting and client liaising
direct with us.
We find the layers that exist
when an agency is involved
are often superfluous, cost
more and therefore are not
appropriate for our clients.
We have been web casting
and VC’ing for years and
enjoy pushing technology and
possibilities. If a request comes
in saying ‘We’ve not done this
before is it possible’ we get very
excited.
Anna Valley equipment at Triopera
AV technology provider Anna
Valley’s Peter Jones gives his top
AV tips
Our main investmentment
this year has been the new
headquarters, which for us is
about building a place where
we can bring all the prep and
pre-production together. The
increasing sophistication of
tech means we have to nail the
prep and pre-production. We
will be investing heavily over
the next 6-12 months, mainly
in huge slabs of LED. High res
is in heavy demand.
The demand has come from
corporate markets doing
arenas in large shows. They
want huge screens that look
fantastic. They want the very
best screens. We buy a lot of
LED from Unilumin, which are
engineered just to the right
performance, weight, cost and
complexity.
The challenge with VR and
AR is bringing it to a large-
scale audience. It’s usually a
small number of users and a
headset.
We build a lot of immersive
environments with video all
around you, plastering every
surface with video. We’re also
building a VR cage. Overlaying
content, touchscreens, gesture
tracking and having a smart
server backend can get
impressive results.
Several technological
iterations have come to a great
level now: computer power
can now allow us to model
3d worlds, unleashing new
creative potential. Meanwhile,
LED is lighter, more flexible,
and higher resolution, allowing
us to build amazing canvasses.
The power of projectors too
is phenomenal. We can over
power ambient light, and lens
technology allows us to place
them tucked out of the way.
39