Lyon’s Newest Truck Features Audio Embedding/De-Embedding

Committed to staying ahead of the curve, Columbus, OH-based Lyon Video serves a growing trend in the mobile-production–unit industry with its latest truck, Lyon-12: embedding and de-embedding of audio.

“One thing that we found that a lot of the clients are already using is those 16 channels of audio,” says Account Coordinator Chad Snyder, adding that many clients are using the embedding to add surround-sound mixes for international feeds. “That’s the real reason for adding the embedding and de-embedding going into and out of the EVS [servers], so you can have a dual-transmission feed.”

The new truck, which hit the road in late July for the ESPN RISE Games, features a 64-fader Calrec Audio Artemis console, which relies on Calrec’s Bluefin2 high-density signal processing for power and on integrated Hydra2 networking to unify inputs and outputs regardless of a source’s location. The images are conducted to an Evertz 3G routing and processing package, a system that provides 64 embedding destinations and 48 de-embedding sources, each with 16 channels of audio.

“The way we see it, the core of the truck is really the audio console,” says Snyder. “It’s the anchor that helps us earn long-term commitments from top-tier clients like ESPN, Fox Sports, and Speed. This will be a hardworking production truck for us, supporting diverse shows for diverse clients. Not only is Calrec’s Artemis the right size with the right features; it’s operator-friendly: a freelance A1 can just sit down and get to work.”

Integrated by Bennett Systems, Lyon-12 is a 53-ft. trailer with a 49-ft. expansion that can work on its own or with a B unit. It is the second in the generation of the Lyon fleet with a 3G-transmission package and is the third to feature a Grass Valley Kayenne switcher and LDK Series cameras on board. The truck, which is wired for 16 cameras, comes with 11 Grass Valley LDK 8000 Elite 3G cameras.

“We’re one of the few guys on the road to be able to do a show optically and through triax,” Snyder points out. “12 was our first truck to do that. It’s a big deal for us, because this is the first truck where we can do 1080p/60 on triax or on fiber.”

Lyon Video also selected 101X lenses from FUJINON as an integral component in Lyon-12. The truck offers the wide-angle capabilities and zoom range of FUJINON XA101x8.9BESM Super telephoto lens. In addition, Lyon has also recently added three FUJINON XA88x8.8BESM telephoto HD field lenses. Rounding out Lyon’s FUJINON lineup are five XA72.9×9.3BESM telephoto HD field lenses, two ZA22x7.6BERM telephoto ENG/handheld HD lenses with 2X extenders, two ZA12x4.5BERM Super wide-angle ENG/EFP HD lenses with 2X extenders, and two XA17x7.6BERM HD ENG lenses with 2X extenders, each paired with a Grass Valley LDK 8000 Elite camera.

Says Snyder, “ESPN has really latched onto the unit.” It is booked through the remainder of the college football season for ABC before tackling a lineup of bowl games and shifting to ESPN college basketball in the winter.