For its first project, the flypack was used to produce a three-camera production of the inauguration of West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. The following week, the system was used to record Treasury Note for the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office on location at an elementary school. “The show is usually recorded in a studio, but our new system enabled the show to be produced efficiently on location,” said Dan Shreve, owner and co-founder of The Media Center.
Next, The Media Center partnered with RSN Sports to provide coverage of the Big Atlantic Classic high school basketball tournament in Beckley, W.Va. The tournament was streamed to rsnsports.com, and the two companies will provide online coverage of upcoming high school wrestling, baseball and softball events.
The new flypack is built around three JVC GY-HM790 ProHD cameras with Canon lenses mounted to Acebil tripods. On location, two of the cameras are used with full studio configs, including JVC KA-790G studio sleds, while the third is used for handheld shots. Shreve said the company’s uplink business remains robust, but he is excited to expand his business to include more Internet streaming projects.
“The JVC GY-HM790 is a perfect fit for our flypack multi-camera production system,” Shreve explained. “It makes a great picture, it’s very easy to use, and I like the menu system. Plus, it’s really cost effective, especially for the quality you get.”
Initially, Shreve was drawn to the JVC camera because The Media Center is an Apple house, and the GY-HM790 offers native QuickTime (.MOV) file recording (in addition to .MP4 files). As a result, footage can be edited immediately, without transcoding. “That feature is what turned me toward JVC,” he added, “And the more I looked at their camera, the more I liked it.”
The Media Center has been working with tapeless acquisition for years, but Shreve prefers JVC’s nonproprietary approach. “Not only are the SDHC cards we use affordable – and you get so much footage on those 32 GB cards. I can go to Best Buy and buy a $15 card reader instead of investing in another piece of expensive, proprietary gear,” Shreve said. “That’s convenient.”
With its innovative modular design, the GY-HM790 is ideal for multicore or fiber-based studios. Three, 1/3-inch progressive scan CCDs produce 1080I and 720P images, as well as SD (480I) for operations that have not yet made the move to HD. The compact, shoulder-mount camera is also an outstanding choice for ENG use, with a dual SDHC card slot design, pool feed input, retro cache that records up to 20 seconds to prevent missed shots, and both a 4.3-inch flip-out LCD monitor and high resolution LCOS viewfinder.
