Vis-A-Vis Video designs workflow based on Blackmagic Design solutions for Hella Mega Tour

The massive Hella Mega Tour stadium tour, starring Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Weezer, was produced locally with a suite of Design Blackmagic solutions.

Production company Vis-A-Vis Video was in charge of designing the workflow, in which different Design Blackmagic tools were used for the capture, control and delivery of material. Captured footage was broadcast live on the stadium screens but was also stored for possible release.

Stuart Merser, director and owner of Vis-A-Vis Video, was in charge of designing the multi-camera workflow, which included three BlackCam-based tracking systems. The first was the B60 model with a Transmissão URSA unit and a Cânone CJ15ex4.3B lens on an 18-meter rail. The 90-degree curved rail was in front of the stage right and continued about 9 meters into the audience. The second B60 system, also with a URSA Broadcast, covered the left side. Finally, a smaller B20 stabilizer carried a Micro Studio Camera 4K unit on a circular guide around Tré Cool, Green Day’s drummer.

The contents of those sources, along with those of another Transmissão URSA and three more Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4Ks, were sent via SMPTE fiber optic cable to the production booth set up with a Smart Videohub 40 x 40 switching matrix.

Mixing with ATEM

The material for the two screens, stage left and right, and for the center AV surface, was mixed on an ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K device connected to an ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Panel.

Stuart Merser particularly appreciates the flexibility of this workflow: “Designed and built to be tour friendly, the system allows us to get in and out of places fast. It has all the flexibility needed to allow our engineers to get in, plug in, test, go live and get out again quickly.”

“After the past 18 months, it is fantastic to get music shows back on the road, and I hope fans appreciate the effort, care and attention it takes from a lot of people behind the scenes,” concludes the Vis-A-Vis Video director.