The OB truck is designed to meet the remote production needs of clients including Sky Sports, with it debuting on Women’s Super League coverage

Vivid Barra OB

Vivid Broadcast has launched Barra OB, a custom-built outside broadcast truck to fulfil remote production requirements. 

The 20-camera “fully remote” Barra OB truck complements the company’s traditional OBs and remote production centre, says Vivid Broadcast.

Rory Springthorpe, co-founder and managing director, Vivid Broadcast, said: “Barra OB is unique in terms of the UK market. We listened carefully to clients like Sky Sports and built a vehicle which really serves their needs for remote production and provides a powerful and flexible solution for a wide range of clients.

“Designed to ensure a connected workflow between those on site and those remote, this compact, single unit contains a best-in-class sound area with the latest Calrec Argo M 48 fader desk, and an incredibly quiet room and space for guarantee and supervisor or trainee positions. Vision and engineers have a large space with six positions and plenty of room, whilst the production area in the centre has excellent sight lines and working areas and can fit into tight compounds but still has a feeling of space.

“As soon as we debuted Barra OB, it became apparent immediately this was a real step forward, for not only those in the truck but for the whole on-site operation, reducing rig times and improving the overall standard of operation. It’s a vehicle which is a really great environment for creating, connecting, and has a fantastic inclusive working atmosphere. I couldn’t be more excited about what it will deliver for clients and for Vivid’s continuing evolution in remote production.”

It debuted on 15 March at a Women’s Super League match at Villa Park, and will continue to be deployed for WSL matches, via Sky’s infrastructure which connects directly to Sky’s galleries. 

The truck was designed by Project Builders and built by Spectra, full system integration was managed internally by Vivid head of engineering Peter Daniel, with wiring by Mottram Broadcast.

The truck is built around technology including a Ross Ultrix FR5 SDI router, RTS ODIN and Calrec Argo-M 48 fader mixer. The Calrec includes full Calrec stageboxes which enable True Control 2.0, allowing remote sound supervisors to fully control the workflow remotely.