As of late I’ve been playing the role of video engineer. I
entered the industry as an audio engineer, but ended up doing just about
everything else. I think that’s the beauty of the live production community,
especially when doing corporate AV. Through working the convention center, and
the resorts around Disney became everything but what I set out to accomplish.
With that being said I still mix audio at gigs when I’m off of work, and I
still educate myself in that vein of the industry.
Working as a video engineer for Technomedia Solutions has been a
challenging experience. We work primarily
with large vendors like Abercrombie & Fitch, Hard Rock, and Universal
Studios year round. Earlier this year I was a part of the AV installation at
the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa. This was a basic AV installation of the
poolside private huts, and the floor. Over the last 8 months I’ve been a Video
Engineer/Technician installing storefront video walls for Abercrombie &
Fitch’s, Hollister Co. Our systems as
complex as they are, are fed by two sources.
A hub of Green
Hippo Grasshoppers, typically four in a system are what run the HD video
feeds to our storefront walls and interior walls. Our interior walls are run off of a live
video feed, which is provided through satellite. That is what we feed into our
rack after it runs its course throughout the building, across amps, and pads to
tune the signals strength to our needs. The storefront walls output resolution
is typically 3840x1080, and displayed on anywhere from 35 to 170 monitors. To
get from the Grasshopper’s to the video walls, they run the gauntlet of
scalers, switchers, and transmitters. Once they leave the transmitters they
output across our pulled CAT6 cable to the receivers in the field, from there it’s
to the displays. Aside from the technical aspect of it there is an astronomical
amount of video and control programming.
As much as I’d like to talk about the ins and outs of the programming,
that’s the little secret to my job.
Our clients are worldwide and the new developing projects
are immense. My role at the company is currently a sub contractor but this
allows me to conduct my business as I please. Being a private business, without
the commitment of a full time position, I can network and build a reputation in
the industry so that I can help my career grow.
Rex- excellent post. I've always loved music and music videos and have recently made a video compilation of my own! I find the music industry and its facets to be quite fluid-with one always flowing into another. Where do you see your participation with engineering and technological services leading you? What are the primary differences you've noticed between audio engineering and video editing? I reckon those two fields coupled with a background in business would serve us well if we were to ever sell our services. I love the idea of music trailers as a form of promotion-Im actually anticipating a real need for it in the future. Perhaps we could collaborate? Best wishes-
ReplyDeleteNatalie