Cameras form part of “360-degree production set-up”
Panasonic PTZ cameras are part of the production set up for Ed Sheeran’s global tour.
With the crowd surrounding the stage on the minimum three-year global tour, the cameras are operated remotely to bring the audience closer to the action. Tour video director Phil Mead, from tour video production company Colonel Tom Touring, believes it’s the first time PTZ cameras have been used exclusively in a global stadium tour
12 Panasonic AW-UE150 PTZ cameras, after a recommendation and demonstration from video solutions partner the CVP Group, are used in the tour set-up; six on the masts that support the whole steel structure, four at each corner of the stage and two on the large screens above. Images are fed back over fibre to the remote broadcast truck, equipped with production switchers, up to 300 metres away. The cameras are controlled using seven of Panasonic’s AW-RP150 remote camera controllers, with a large touchscreen display, a joystick for one-handed operation and simplified PTZ camera presets and tracing memory.
The team consists of six operators overseen by tour video system engineer Bob Larkin and the video director. Using the IP-based system, with video signal routing over SDI, Larkin can quickly tag into any camera.
Ahead of the tour, Panasonic worked closely with the production team to enhance the system’s firmware to increase the number of controllers that could be used together with the cameras up to nine.
Mead explained: “With the in-the-round stage design, we couldn’t have anything to obscure the crowd’s view. A tour like this would typically use traditional cameras with operators but they would have been too intrusive and that wasn’t an option.”
He added: “We were immediately impressed by the incredible picture quality, the size of the cameras and their versatility. Another great benefit was the ability to use the crop function. It means that a single camera and operator, can achieve two shots – a full body shot and a close-up.
“Before we began this tour, people would have said that using a PTZ camera as your main lens on a stadium show was insane, but I am very keen on pushing new technology and seeing where its limits are. We are doing that with the Panasonic PTZ cameras on this tour and there is no doubt that they are more than up to the task and are helping to deliver an incredible experience for the fans.”
Top images: Nick Lepoutre
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