DiGiCo chosen for 2011 Rugby World Cup
Published: ASIA
NEW ZEALAND: Two DiGiCo SD8 consoles were selected as part of the A/V system for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. ‘As the requirements for these projects continue to grow and the rehearsal time reduces, the advantages of DiGiCo’s SD range are very clear,’ said Scott Willsallen, principal of Sydney-based technical production consultancy Auditoria.
As the RWC is broadcast in numerous formats across several countries, organisers stated that a ‘world class’ A/V system was required. Mr Willsallen was engaged by David Atkins Enterprises (DAE) as the audio designer. Oceania supplied the audio, which was distributed by Group Technologies.
Mr Willsallen stated that there were many factors that led him to opt for the DiGiCo consoles, including: ‘madi interconnectivity, channel count, reliability, direct line to DiGiCo and Group Technologies for support, as well as sound quality’. Continuing, he said that he has had some ‘excellent experiences with the SD range of consoles both on fixed installations and on annual event projects, most of which I have re-designed to suit greater use of the DiGiCo consoles’.
Two SD8 surfaces were used in a dual redundant (mirrored) configuration; the primary SD8 was connected to the Optocore network via Madi through an Optocore DD4ME, and the secondary SD8 was connected to the analogue network via standard DiGiCo DiGiRacks. The amplifiers received an AES signal from the Optocore network and an analogue signal from the analogue network. All switching between primary and secondary signal paths was done in the amplifiers.
‘Each of the two SD8’s were performing both FOH and monitor mixing duties and we were using every available input and output to make it work on a single console, explained Mr Willsallen. ‘The systems performed flawlessly and I have designed DiGiCo consoles into another major event project later this year in Doha where the two SD8’s will be used for FOH mixing in a dual redundant configuration, and a single SD7 will be used for monitors using the dual engines for redundancy.’
The 2011 RWC’s FOH operator was Ian Shapcott, and the FOH system technician was Justin Arthur.