Visionary relationships

‘You’re only as good as your last sale,’ is an old salesperson’s adage that resonates more today than ever before. Marketing, advertising, promotions, discounts and cold calling all have their place, but nothing quite comes close to winning repeat business as a result of a job well done. That e-mail, text or phone call confirming the new order is the ultimate ‘well done’ and the non-physical pat on the back recognising that the last job you preformed there was exemplary.

A/V technologies continue to move at a pace dictated largely by the IT industry and as such manufacturers, suppliers and end-users are continually trying to keep abreast with which product will best serve one’s individual needs. The conversion to HD broadcasting has undoubtedly and quite literally opened up people’s eye and wallets. Houses of worship in Asia are a prime example, with the general trend of increasing congregations amassing to participate in evermore contemporary services.

As such, A/V operators must plan ahead in order to stay one step ahead of the worshipper, in order to fulfil his or her expectations. The internet may help them source material, whilst the right training seminars and workshops will definitely assist them in bridging a knowledge gap, but there’s nothing better than receiving help from those in the know. Re-enter the salesperson.

Located in the Mall Mega Kemayoran (MGK) in Jakarta Pusat, the Integrity Convention Centre (ICC) was built in 2008 and hosts a ninth floor convention centre and tenth floor grand ballroom. Multifunctional in nature, it reaches out to a varied client base in order to attract corporate events, live TV broadcasts, lavish weddings, exhibitions and concert performances. However, each Sunday both floors are strictly reserved for the GBI Praise Revival for Jesus (PRJ) Church, ensuring there is no day of rest for any of the ICC technicians.

A 3,000-seated congregation arrives each Sunday to be almost entertained whilst worshipping. A new 17m wide x 4.25m high LED screen lights up the rear of the expansive 21m length stage, whilst an original d&b audiotechnik Qi and Ti series speaker system distributes clean, intelligible audio to all the seats throughout the 56m x 45m venue. The lighting blends Aztec moving heads and fresnels together with Type 64 fresnels on an Avolites Tiger Touch console. The multimedia room at the rear of the venue is a hive of activity during the service. However, nothing is left to chance and the service has been well-rehearsed in advance. The technicians fully understand how to upload content from the three Sony HXC100 (CCU) and single CA-D50 cameras (on a 13.2m crane jib with a super wide lens) together with several Mac computers and DVD players through a growing Datavideo switcher system onto the LED screen and all the other smaller screens throughout the venue.

In addition to the new LED screen, the service has grown to take on more inputs over the past four to five years, and so ICC camera services manager Sugeng Wahyudi realised that the Datavideo switcher system required expansion. PT Harmoni Yogia Inti Selaras technical manager Felix Christian played a large role in specifying and installing the original system in 2009, and had continued to provide consistent aftersales support. So when he received the call for help last year, he welcomed the opportunity to return to the scene. ‘We enjoy a close working relationship with ICC and the real world challenges they provide us,’ he enthuses. ‘The conversion to HD has helped us as all our switchers are HD ready.’

To ensure a smoother workflow during the service, PT Harmoni Yogia Inti Selaras, under the direction of project director Mr Haryanto, installed a new SE-3000 switcher into the multimedia room, which is now dedicated to receiving the four Sony HD camera feeds. Previously the SE-900 display switcher that had been installed in 2009 had been handling the cameras in addition to all the Mac and DVD feeds. Prior to scaling the final picture quality it transmits to the LED screen, it receives a dedicated feed from the four HD cameras that are fed into the SE-3000, in addition to the content provided by five Mac computers, a Blu-Ray player and Chromakey text overlay from an HDR-200 hard drive based video recorder.

Additionally, PT Harmoni Yogia Inti Selaras also supplied a new SE-500 4-channel digital video recording switcher to receive the signals from the various feeds, allowing them to be recorded on either a Datavideo MP-6000 DVD or DN-300 Hard Disk recording device in addition to a Sony DSR-11 cassette recorder. The MP-6000 is a standalone DVD recorder that uses both DVD+R and DVD+RW media, whilst the DN-300 comes with a 250GB hard drive and eliminates the need to digitise cassette tapes. Linking the three recorders and the SE-500 recording switcher is a VP-299 video and stereo audio distribution amplifier, which receives one input before outputting four signals.

The same team installed a number of Kramer devices into the system. Amongst them are four VS−41AV switchers for composite video and unbalanced stereo audio signals, which have the ability to switch any one of four inputs to a single output. A 104LN line amplifier receives SDI video signals from the DVD and VHS players, and helps to eliminate the noise often associated with long cable runs before outputting to the SE-500 and SE-900 switchers. Two PT−102VN distribution amplifiers receive composite video or SDI signals from the computer input feeds, which are then buffered, isolated and distributed to two identical outputs. ‘This is our most complex installation to date,’ remarks Mr Christian. ‘Normally, two monitors are used in a production area such as this, but this one is big and uses three.’

Other suppliers have been called to ICC to assist with the venue’s audio needs, for which PT Kairos Multijaya and d&b audiotechnik SEA added their unique signatures. Adding to the previously existing d&b audiotechnik Max12 monitors for the various musicians on stage, they supplied a number of new RCF NX12-SMA and NX15-SMA models. Located in the upper production area above the multimedia room, an Avid Venue console continues to operate at FOH, whilst the back of house area is home to an Allen & Heath iLive T-112 console for monitoring.

In addition to a large make-up room facility and VIP area, the back of house area is also home to a studio recording facility. Here artists and performers can record acoustic and vocal tracks using Pro Tools on a Digi 003 factory audio music production system. In addition, the mix is enhanced by incorporating two Focusrite Platinum Voicemaster Pro recording channels that take the signals and enhance them in the form of Tube Sound and Vintage Harmonics sections, for example. A Lynx Aurora 8 AD/DA converter can also be found here, while two API 3124+ four-channel mic/line preamps add further warmth to the mix.

The ninth floor shares the same footprint as the tenth, but has been sub-divided into eight smaller rooms that cater for events ranging from weddings to corporate functions. Each room can accommodate approximately 300 to 400 people, and all required an A/V solution to cater for the multipurpose events.

GBI-PRJ conducts many other activities on this floor, such as Sunday School, Mandarin and junior English services and blessings. The Sapphire and Pearl Rooms are joined to create one and this space was recently outfitted with an RCF 4Pro four-way speaker system, which is mixed on a Soundcraft analogue GB2 console. A Datavideo SE-900 switcher can either receive a signal feed from the Grand Ballroom or receive text and images from a Mac for output to the two Panasonic PT-LB3EA projectors and 3m x 2m L-R screens. The other rooms, such as Ruby and Sapphire, have similar set ups, with the former benefitting from a Mackie HD1531 and HD8001 speaker system and CFX20 MkII mixer and the latter utilising a Turbosound TCS-122 and Compact series speaker system with a Soundcraft GB4 console. Once again, SE-900 switchers and Panasonic projectors are common to both rooms, allowing them to operate separately or as an extension to the Grand Ballroom.

For now, the work of Mr Haryanto and Mr Christian is temporarily done, but no doubt they’ll be ready to answer the call in the not so distant future when the ICC technicians realise they face another obstacle in delivering a video solution to their audience. ‘The Datavideo equipment ticks all the boxes for us,’ enthused Mr Wahyudi. ‘It’s really reliable, easy to use and we’re familiar with all of the features. In particular, we like the chroma keys set up function. In terms of price-performance, Datavideo cannot be bettered. Naturally, we enjoy our relationship with PT Harmoni Yogia Inti Selaras as they provide us with great aftersales support, which is not always the case these days.’ Having great products in your tool box may be only half the battle to receiving that follow up sales call, it would appear.

www.gbiprj.com
www.harmoni-yis.com
www.integrityconvention.com