Out in the Field with Blackmagic Design at the Ryder Cup

By Ben Holmes, FCP Editor and Systems Consultant/Owner, Edit Out Ltd

When I set up my own company in early 2008, I needed all my systems to be SD and HD, broadcast quality and above all, reliable. I was impressed with the build quality and connections between the Multibridge Pro and my Mac Pro, so the Multibridge Pro was my first choice of equipment. The single PCI express cable allows me to site the interface wherever I need it to be in an OB (Outdoor Broadcast) truck, and the extensive choice of connections allows me to interface with a lot of different environments. I often work in SD and HD simultaneously and monitor on composite, component, HD-SDI or HDMI enabled monitors. Audio might be AES to the truck and analogue to the monitor speakers or headphone mixer. Above all, what I need is flexibility.

Each of my edit kits consists of two flight cases containing the Multibridge Pro, Mac Pro tower, 23” Cinema Display, wireless keyboard and mouse, and an internal array of 3 x 500 GB drives. I capture and edit HD in ProRes HQ. I carry a spare system drive as well as a G-Tech G-Raid 2 as back-up storage. Back at base, I use a much larger SATA array, supporting uncompressed HD.

Recently, Sky Sports took me to Kentucky for my fifth Ryder Cup where I got embedded audio with my input and fed the audio back analogue. I was provided with an HD flat screen monitor that was connected via HDMI from the Multibridge Pro – and it looked great.

My job was to add score graphics to game highlights as they finished, and to 'treat' the sequences of great shots and moments which were being compiled, all in real time during the day. Many of my pieces are used within a minute of completion. As soon as the final shot is rendered, I play the sequence straight off the timeline into an EVS LSM XT2 HD system, so I can immediately cue it for transmission. To make this happen, you have to have a reliable system.

We completed over 32 hours of live coverage in almost three days. My Multibridge Pro did not fail once, nor did I suffer a single dropped frame or video glitch. I'm much happier now turning up in unknown environments, because the flexibility my equipment gives me allows me to work anywhere in the world. I don't think I could ever completely walk away from the 'buzz' of live television, and the chance to witness a bit more sporting history first hand.

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