Nice, New Arrangement

Not truly new as it is merely an arrangement of two older pieces of equipment - and - 4AVNow has used them together before, but still, it is somewhat new...

We have an Extron ISS 408 (Integration Seamless Switcher) and a Sony Scan Converter DSC-1024. Actually, we now have three 1024's - which is what lead to this new arrangement. Both tools have similar abilities - so this may seem a little redundant to use them together - but, they also have unique abilities. They both allow us to switch between multiple display devices - the ISS allows up to 8; the 1024 up to 3. The ISS allows for a 'cut' or 'dissolve' switch (among other things) while the 1024 allows us to 'freeze' the display. Feeding the ISS into the 1024 allows us to do both. This doesn't sound like much, but it gives us the ability to make a really nice presentation. For instance, using the freeze feature on the 1024 allows us to make on-the-fly edits to a running PowerPoint without having to switch to another display. We can merely freeze on the current slide for display while we are working the edit. The dissolve feature on the ISS just makes for a much nicer switch between devices. Also, the ISS has a 'preview' feature that allows us to hook up a monitor and view the screen that will display after the switch is made. This is especially useful when you are using more than two devices.

The ISS on top of the 1024

As mentioned, we have used these two pieces of equipment together but often needed to use them individually, as well. Now that we have three 1024's, committing one to the above set was a lot easier to deal with. Besides, this seems like it was just meant to be... The road box that the ISS is in had just enough room to support the 1024 and the newly mounted 1024 arrived with the rack ears already attached.

A Big Week

Well, it seems that my plan to only post weekly just isn't going well... I promise, I really will try to comply with my on plan. This week, however, is turning into a much bigger week than it originally looked to be.

Today, I am typing this post in my upgraded, king size room at the Mystic Marriott - provided by our client. This is a two-day event - with the setup occurring yesterday. Today will be a late night and tomorrow will be an early morning, so I knew that they would be putting me up for the night but I wasn't expecting to have the room for two nights - nor was I expecting an upgraded room!

Here's a shot from my window:

For this event, we set 2 Sanyo 6K projectors with short range lenses, 2 10' cradle projection screens, 2 laptops with a seamless switcher, and a sound system including 4 mics, 4 speakers, and a mixer.

OK, another reason why I am posting now rather than later in the week, I will be away on a mini-vacation for the weekend. Of course, this weekend turns out to be a really busy one! 4AVNow will be bringing in some temporary help to cover it. While I am celebrating my 21st wedding anniversary, 4AVNow will set, tech, and strike equipment for a band performance in Bushnell Park along with couple other events in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

EDIT: Oh, yeah... While it may not be a huge addition to the week, while I am in Mystic and the van is not in need of moving lots of equipment, it is getting new tires and an alignment. OK, so it isn't that a really big deal, but it is a good use of the time it would otherwise just be parked...

The Best Laid Plans...

Right, so on the morning after that I state "that I am only going to make weekly blog posts - unless there is something really dramatic that happens," I am making a new post. Saturday morning, I setup a fairly basic venue. It involved a 9x12 Fast-Fold rear projection screen, a Sanyo projector, and a switcher from us along with a laptop of theirs as the video source. Setup went relatively quickly - about an hour. Strike - however - was really interesting!
Originally, I was told that strike was supposed to occur at 8:00 PM. At setup, I was updated with a plan to strike at 10:00 PM, though that was dependent upon how long the event actually took. I got a call at 8:30 PM telling me that, though the event would probably not end until 11-11:30, I could get there and strike the screen and projector.
Upon arrival, I see that the stage upon which the screen sits is still in use - as is the screen! I am, however, informed that I can still strike the screen and projector. To do so, I have to close the upstage curtain that will hide the screen. "That makes sense," I think, "but that gives me a 4 foot area between the backstage wall and the upstage curtain in which to strike the 9'x12' screen."

Well... Given the situation, this definitely should not have been a one-man job!

Decisions Made...

OK, so it may only be one decision made, but I have decided that I am only going to make weekly blog posts - unless there is something really dramatic that happens.

The past few days have been fairly quiet. We only had a couple of events to deliver/setup equipment for. The one with the most equipment only required a drop off while the one needing a setup just needed a laptop. Most of the time 'working' was driving to and from the events in Danbury.
I don't know whether or not I made it clear that 4AVNow is essentially the house A/V crew for the Crowne Plaza Danbury... Any events there require one of our crew members to go set and strike - and tech, if needed for any particular event - the A/V equipment. The closest any one of us lives to Danbury is about a 40 minute drive. This past week, there were two events needing A/V equipment there. So, a lot of driving to and from Danbury. It is a good thing that traveling is not something we are opposed to. We've gone to Denver, Nashville, Las Vegas, Boston (not that Boston is all that far...), Baltimore, and more...

In addition to the gigs, we also did quite a bit of work in the shop. Part of that involved two of our plexiglass podiums. Not long after getting the podiums, the tops of both podiums broke! one wasn't too serious, and we were able to mend it. The other was almost destroyed and was irreparable. During this past week, we built two new tops for the podiums out of 1/4" plywood. In actuality, this will work better for these podiums. It will allow for us to up-light the podiums without getting the light into the presenters' eyes. I'll post a picture from the next time that we use them.

A Crazy Couple of Days.

Saturday was a relatively quiet day - and that was a good thing, because it has been crazy since then and will still be crazy for the days to come!

Sunday, we spent a few hours in Danbury at the Crowne Plaza to set up for today's event - not truly crazy, but busy for a Sunday. Today, back in Danbury early to kick off the event and again later in the day to strike it. Additionally, we were at the Simsbury Inn to set up for the event that runs tomorrow through Thursday and spent some time in the workshop to further clean/organize it.

Tomorrow, we have an event at Hawthorne Inn bright and early to kick off the day followed by day 1 of the previously mentioned event in Simsbury...

...bored yet? Well, it sure isn't terribly exciting to write/read about, but it sure is exciting to experience.

For the Simsbury event, we are using 2 of our Sanyo projectors, 2 screens, QSC speakers, 4 wireless Shure mics - 2 lav and 2 handheld mics, a Mackie mixer, and 2 laptops feeding through a seamless switcher. At the Hawthorne Inn, the actual equipment being used is yet to be fully determined as this is the first event that we are doing at this site though not the first with the client. Apparently, 4AVNow is  the new AV source for the Hawthorne Inn! Tomorrow morning, we will find out whether we will be feeding the audio through the house sound system or using one of our sound systems. As such, we are using a Mackie mixer, Shure mics - 2 lavs and 2 HHs, and TASCAM recorders to record the presenters. If we don't use the house sound, we will be using Behringer speakers to broadcast the audio.

Shop-a-holic

So, 'shop-a-holic' usually applies to somebody that goes shopping a lot. In this case, however, I am using it to describe the last couple of days spent organizing the workshop...

We started by building a rack to hold all of our VGA and XLR cables - sorted by type and size. As it turns out, the newly built rack accommodates a lot more cable than we currently have, so we also started to sort and rack our extension cords on it. In addition to that rack, we cleaned out a closet and built a rack to support almost all of our projection screens. This closet is a lot closer to our loading area than the area we had been using to store the screens - making it a lot easier to load up for events needing projection. What the closet doesn't accommodate, however, are our 10' cradle screens (hence, the 'almost'). As such, we need to clean out the area just outside of the closet and build a rack to hold the cradle screens. At least they will all be in the same, general vicinity. Currently in that area, we have some salvaged equipment from a closed expo center. We really need to figure out if there is anything there worth keeping...

Along with the cleaning, building, and racking, we did quite a bit of organization. 4AVNow has been in this shop just a little over one year. In all of this time, this is the best condition that the shop has been in - and we still have quite a bit of work ahead of us.

Yesterday, after we had an event to set at Millwrights Restaurant in Simsbury. For this, we used an InFocus projector, Duet accordion screen, and a Targus Presenter. This particular InFocus projector is great because it has a 'short throw' lens - meaning, it sits a lot closer to the screen than a projector with a standard lens. After striking that event this morning, we headed to Morton's Steakhouse in Hartford to set an event. Conveniently, we used the same projector that we recovered from Millwrights. While we have worked many events at Morton's previously, this is the first one that we have done as their official A/V technicians! Additionally today, we set an event at Zinc in New Haven (this event also only required a projector) and two events at the Crowne Plaza Danbury.

Meet and Greet

Well, this is certainly an experience... I am composing this post on my phone while I await the arrival of a client at a venue. It isn't the 'when,' it is the 'how' that is odd. I mean, typing a text message or Twitter post is one thing... Typing a whole comprehensive blog post is another animal.

At any rate, I am at Morton's Steakhouse after setting up the equipment - a screen, an InFocus LCD projector, a Shure lavaliere mic, and a QSC speaker - and waiting for the meet & greet. Meanwhile, in a land not TOO far away... another event is being setup.

 In Woodstock, at the Mansion at Bald Hill, another event is being set as I type...

- Intermission -

...and we're back. Although you didn't notice, my client arrived and we proceeded with the meet & greet...

So, also during that intermission, I received confirmation via text that the Woodstock event has been successfully setup. There, we are simply using a screen, projector, and remote. I won't bore you with the details. Besides, as my meet & greet is complete, I am going close this post to depart the venue.