Sydney’s Fox Sports Studio now proudly own three new MA Lighting onPC + command wings. The facility features three studios; a large one that hosts predominately Rugby League shows, a smaller studio for a variety of other sports shows and a news studio that is on air from 6am to 11pm. The news studio is a standalone affair with no lighting operator in a manner similar to many news studios these days.
Dale Martin, Senior Lighting Director at Fox Sports required lighting control that was very reliable and robust, something that you could leave running 24/7 without any stress.
“I really like the MA platform but I had to keep within a budget whilst also taking in the needs of the studio,” commented Dale. “Our studios are fairly small in regards to the demands placed on the consoles. The onPC + command wing gives me enough power and functionality to do everything I need to do. Also, with this purchase we’re looking into the future. For example, when we first started up we didn’t have moving lights, we have since added these to our inventory and having an onPC + command wing allowed me to easily implement the moving lights into the system.”
Dale further commented on the usability of the onPC + command wing “Anyone can set it up the way they like, no two brains are the same. Every user that comes through my studios is free to set up the windows to look the way they want, to place things where they want and it lets them operate more efficiently. They use less brain power so they can concentrate on the important stuff.”
Dale also has a MA Lighting onPC + command wing on the floor of studio A and Studio B, and these are networked so he can run the system from down on the studio floor and as it is networked via a 4 port and 2 port Node, he also uses these as his backup. The facility can now boast five onPC’s and four command wings, as one stays on the studio floor following the moving lights wherever they go.
As well as this Dale also runs the MA software on a laptop which gives an extra layer of back-up or spare console as well as a fully functional console when paired with the extra command wing that can travel for any outside broadcasts.
“Using that piece of hardware for programming ease is really important,” remarked Dale. “I can programme on the studio floor and don’t have to tie up the cameras to lock in a wide shot which all saves time during set up. It all saves to the same computer and also the backup.”
