When New World Symphony, a unique post-graduate orchestral academy under the artistic direction of 11-time Grammy award-winning conductor and co-founder Michael Tilson Thomas, was preparing for its first international livestreamed WALLCAST concert, the academy’s video production team realized that in order to capture more dynamic point-of-view (POV) video, their infrastructure needed an upgrade to compliment the Performance Hall’s high-caliber video production system.
Although New World Symphony’s Performance Hall was already equipped with AV technology, the professional POV “lipstick” cameras NWS experimented with lacked modern features, flexibility, and most importantly, 4K video quality and color shading. As a result, the camera operators’ ability to broadcast dynamic 4K video was restricted.
Related: Panasonic PTZ Cameras Help UK Cathedral Live Stream Mass
“The challenge we faced was twofold, as we needed to find a solution to replace our existing lipstick point-of-view cameras with remote control capabilities that integrated smoothly into our Telemetrics environment,” said Clyde Scott, director of video production and resident projection designer at New World Symphony.
Seeking flexible solutions, New World Symphony added seven Panasonic robotic AW-UE150 4K60 PTZ cameras and an AW-RP150 touchscreen remote camera controller into their infrastructure. The AW-UE150’s video quality, wide 75.1-degree viewing angle, and quiet pan and tilt performance made the camera well suited to meet the academy’s goals and objectives. Furthermore, the AW-RP150’s one-hand operation joystick and large touchpanel LCD screen for monitoring and menu settings complimented the Symphony’s production infrastructure.
“For the longest time, we were seeking quiet, robotic cameras that could mirror what was being captured on our 4K studio and broadcast cameras,” Scott said. “In the case of our first international webcast, we needed high-quality, small robotic cameras to showcase the different musical elements involved in Thomas’ composition without distracting or disturbing the musicians or our in-house audience.”
New World Symphony’s’ Performance Hall can be characterized as nothing short of magical. Numerous luminaries from John Williams to Katie Perry have carried out captivating performances in the hall, and over the years, the academy has been eager to broadcast and share those intimate experiences with its audiences.
After deploying Panasonic’s UE150 PTZ cameras, New World Symphony enhanced its overall video production capabilities for its beloved Performance Hall, enabling its video engineers to fully embrace a true 4K broadcast environment. In addition to seamlessly capturing the performance of Thomas’ piece in 4K, NWS’ updated production capabilities will foster unique musical performances and experiences for its guests—regardless of their location—now and in the future.
