Pushing the Limits in Live Event Production: Innovations by AJA Gear

Rock on, live event gurus! Meet Christian Heinzel, the mastermind behind Fifty Frames (GmbH), a company that thrives on embracing challenges and innovations in live event production. While they might not shy away from a good fight, one constant companion in their arsenal is AJA gear. From Ki Pro Ultra 12G recorders to KUMO 3232-12G SDI routers, they've found a reliable partner in AJA's gear that provides a comforting sense of certainty in high-pressure environments.

Let's dive into one of their not-so-ordinary projects: an UltraHD HDR concert for a German punk band. It was all hush-hush to avoid any performance anxiety the band might've felt when they knew concert recordings were happening. The event unfolded over three days on a former airfield in Berlin, attracting an audience of over 150,000 fans.

The sheer scale of the event left Heinzel in awe. Knowing the nontraditional nature of the concept and the use of UltraHD screens, he decided to produce the event in UltraHD and tap into HDR to ensure more striking visuals. With the lighting situation being complex and prone to drastic shifts from bright to dark, SDR just wouldn't do. The dynamic range offered by HDR was the perfect solution—it allowed the team to capture all the light without it appearing overexposed.

To avoid the band noticing the cameras, they were strategically placed out of sightlines. Throughout the three-day production, the team collectively captured 75 terabytes of footage, using 14 AJA Ki Pro Ultra 12Gs. For Heinzel, the versatile, reliable, and affordable nature of the Ki Pro Ultra 12G made it an easy choice. Smaller productions haven't escaped their innovative touch either.

Remember that HDR live event project for a major car brand? The media servers only had HDMI and display port outputs, making it impossible to transport the HDR signal. Heinzel and his colleague, Oliver Derynck, came up with a clever solution: converting the signals from the media server to 12G-SDI and running it through an FS-HDR, thus enabling the signal to retain its HDR metadata. FS-HDR offered a simple solution to a complex challenge.

When it comes to augmented reality (AR) projects, Heinzel's team has built custom real-time rendering machines with integrated AJA Corvid 44 12G cards for I/O. They've also explored moving these systems to SMPTE ST 2110, aiming to simplify the transport of uncompressed media. Streamlining the setup, reducing equipment, and introducing performance gains are what he sees as the major benefits of SMPTE ST 2110.

Yet, Heinzel still relies on KUMO 3232-12G SDI routers to support signal routing needs across projects. "KUMO 3232-12G does what it's supposed to do well, and it's reliable," Heinzel concluded. "It's also easy to use, which is crucial because my team doesn't have time to tinker with equipment."

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[Pro AV 2025: What's Trendy?][ST 2110: An Introduction]

Pro AV 2025 and ST 2110 sections were omitted due to their promotional nature and irrelevance to the main content.

Key Takeaways:

Ki Pro Ultra 12G offers versatility, reliability, and affordability for live event production.
FS-HDR ensures broadcasts meet modern HDR standards for superior visual quality.
KUMO 3232-12G provides high-density signal routing essential for complex live event installations and offers ultra-low latency and robust signal integrity.
AJA products, such as Ki Pro Ultra 12G, FS-HDR, and KUMO 3232-12G, provide a combination of high-quality video processing (HDR and 4K), flexible and reliable signal routing, and streamlined cabling, benefiting live event production by improving workflow efficiency, maintaining broadcast-grade image quality, and enabling complex multi-camera and multi-format setups with ease.

In the realm of live event production, the versatile and reliable Ki Pro Ultra 12G from AJA has proven its worth, providing an affordable solution for projects both large and small.
In the unique challenge of broadcasting a major car brand's HDR live event, the team led by Christian Heinzel utilized the FS-HDR from AJA to convert signals from the media server, enabling it to retain its HDR metadata and meeting the demands of contemporary visual quality.
Essential for complex live event installations, the KUMO 3232-12G SDI routers from AJA offer high-density signal routing, delivering ultra-low latency and robust signal integrity, making them indispensable to Heinzel's team.