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Volume 6, Issue 4 — April 18, 2012
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Learning to Crawl
By Joel Rollins
rAVe Columnist A lot of my last 25 years in the industry have been spent on training rental and staging techs. I still don’t claim to be an expert on the subject, but I have noticed a few things that have seemed to ring true through the years, and I thought I’d discuss them this month, because many of you that I correspond with seem to be going through a long-awaited increase in business for the spring season, and have written to me about how you find and acquire field personnel.
First, for this month, let’s talk about the three systems that have traditionally been used in our industry to train new people.
The first is the most common:
Sink or Swim:
When I got started in the ‘80s, we were dealing with a lot of new technology bursting on the scene at once, such as computer and video projection. As a result, many of these manufacturers were startled to even hear that their products were being rented, so very few had any kind of decent information available. So training went like this:
“Hi, New Person. This is a portable projection system. It hooks up like this. Sorry, but I have to run. Here are the keys to a van, and a customer order. Go there and set this up. Remember to have them sign the invoice when you are done, then get back here, because I need you to set up a sound system this afternoon.”
Sink or swim, besides being dangerous to the sanity of you, New Person, and the client, DID have an advantage. It was extremely Darwinian in nature. If New Person survived, they were a keeper. If they screwed it up, you apologized to the client by firing them.
The second major system of training, and the one which is, in my experience, the most used in the industry, is:
Old Person, New Person:
It goes something like this “Old Person, this is New Person. I want you to take New Person out on the road with you for the next three days (we usually say a week, but it almost never lasts that long) and teach him everything you know.”
There are some advantages to this, since New Person won’t be alone with your clients. But there are some real gotchas involved in it, too.
First of all, does Old Person really know as much as you think they do? In my experience, Old Person can be the source of as much “mythology” about how things work as they can real data. To give an example, I once worked at a firm where all of my new technicians were taught that all microphones in a multi-mic system needed to be rubbed with a Bounce towellette before the show to prevent static buildup. Seriously. Instead of proper electrical grounding, (or maybe in addition to it) we were teaching laundry products. I only found out about it when I found them repeatedly on expense reports.
The second gotcha: Does Old Person really WANT to teach New Person? Or does Old Person, getting older, potentially see New Person as a threat? I’ve seen the results of this where for a week New Person seems to have only learned to push road cases and lift heavy objects for Old Person.
But the third, and biggest, gotcha is this: Can Old Person teach? Teaching somebody from the ground up is usually not the job for Old Person. He or she has been through the slings and arrows, coming up from the ranks, and really is very good at the job. But they didn’t learn it in a systematic manner, and are not prepared with a systematic manner of teaching it to somebody else. The result, more often than not, is a confused and discouraged New Person, and shortly Old Person sidles up to you and says, “Hey, boss, I don’t think this kid’s going to make it.”
The third (and least used method) is to have a real training course for new people. This is INCREDIBLY hard for most busy rental and staging companies to do. As an employee, it was the thing I groused about the most: “We need a real training course. Nobody should go out on the road until they’ve had the equivalent of a Master’s degree in classroom time.” Then, as I moved up the ranks, I both saw how difficult that would be, and then was put in charge of training at several places. Even as the president of an AV company, my first love has always been training.
But it CAN be done. With a good outline, the help of an employee or two who DO enjoy teaching (which is really the first requirement) and the assistance of your manufacturers, distributors, and industry associations, it can be done. But that’s not to say that all of what is available to you is either good, or appropriate. So, next month, we’ll talk about how to evaluate manufacturer training courses for inclusion in your new employees training.
In the meantime, make sure the road cases New Person is moving for Old Person meet safety requirements…
rAVe Rental [and Staging] contributor Joel R. Rollins, CTS-R, is General Manager of Everett Hall Associates, Inc. and is well known throughout the professional AV industry for his contributions to industry training and his extensive background in AV rental, staging and installation. Joel can be reached at joelrollins@mac.com
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Panasonic's Newest Projector is Compact, Offers 20,000 Lumens Yesterday Panasonic announced the PT-DZ21K Series, a compact, 20,000-lumen, 3-chip DLP projector for applications that require extremely high brightness. The series includes the PT-DZ21KU with WUXGA (1920×1200) resolution and 20,000 lumens of brightness; the PT-DS20KU with SXGA+ (1400×1050) resolution and 20,000 lumens of brightness; and the PT-DW17KU with WXGA (1366×768) resolution and 16,500 lumens of brightness. All three use a 2,000-hour lamp, have built-in 3D compatibility and installation flexibility with all sorts of lens options. The PT-DZ21KU Series is built to maximize savings with a maintenance-free Eco Filter with a lifespan of up to 12,000 hours, and low-power consumption of under 2,500 watts.
The combination of four new 465-watt UHM lamps and what the company is calling "Dynamic Iris" allow the projectors to deliver a 10,000:1 contrast ratio. They each include an active shutter system in which the projector can be equipped with an external emitter via the 3D timing signal IN/OUT terminal. For a passive polarized 3D system, frame sequential, side by side and top and bottom formats are supported (as well as a DICOM Simulation mode enabling end-users to view X-ray images).
Basic installation flexibility is provided by a comprehensive optional lens selection that supports a wide range of throw distances. 360-degree installation capability enables projections onto floors and ceilings. The projectors claim high durability with an operating temperature between 32° and 113° Fahrenheit. Flexibility and reliability are further enhanced by the projectors’ capability to handle more than 100 input signals. Several available input terminals include SDIx2, HDMI, DVI-D, LAN (RJ45) and 3D timing signal IN/OUT.
Full specs on all three projectors are here: http://panasonic.net/avc/projector/products/d12000/
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Delta Debuts New Video Wall Delta Products, known for its pre-configured video wall line, has just announced the company's new WX series of video wall displays using ultra short throw front projection with embedded edge blending. A complete turnkey system, according to Delta, the WX series video walls can be assembled in under an hour, with free-standing options available in two projector high configurations and wall-supported options for one projector high configurations. Once installed, the WX can display ultra-high resolution content on a seamless canvas, whether the display is used to show a single detailed mapping image, or multiple video conferencing windows.
The WX Series comes in four configurations: the WX21 provides two edge-blended projectors with a total screen viewing area of 139”, the WX31 provides three edge-blended projectors with a total screen viewing area of 202”, the WX22 provides a total viewing area of 146” with four edge-blended projectors in a two-wide by two-high array and the WX32 provides six edge-blended projectors in a three-wide by two-high array with a total viewing area of 183”.
Get all the specs here: http://www.deltadisplays.com |
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Share Article Back to Top NEC Display Adds Ultra-Narrow Bezel LCD NEC Display just announced what it is calling its "next-generation" ultra-narrow bezel display in the form of the X463UN, which is part of the company's high-end X Series of displays designed for 24/7 operation.
The X463UN is a direct LED-backlit LCD display, which has reduced power consumption and is completely mercury-free. The X463UN offers a 5.7-mm distance between active screen areas of two neighboring displays. The model supports Intel’s Open Pluggable Specification (OPS), which is the first industry-wide standardization in option slots to simplify digital signage. The OPS option slot allows for easier installation, use and maintenance of digital signage.
Features of the native 1080p display include a brightness spec of 500 cd/m2 and a 3500:1 contrast ratio, plus digital connectivity with DisplayPort In/Out, DVI-D In/Out and HDMI. It also only uses 120 watts max power, can be tiled with up to 100 displays and is Energy Star 5.1 qualified. It lists for $5,149.
Complete specs are here: http://www.necdisplay.com/p/x463un |
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Telecast Fiber Intros Six-Output DA Telecast Fiber Systems today announced the launch of the Terrapin FTR-D6, a 3-Gbps fiber optic video transceiver that also incorporates a six-output distribution amplifier.
The new Terrapin FTR-D6 features both a fiber optic (ST) input and a copper (BNC) input, as well as a fiber optic output (ST) and six copper (BNC) outputs. A single push-button operation makes it easy to switch among four modes but it is also RS232- and network-controllable as well. The four modes include:
- Enabling the Terrapin to act as an HD/SDI distribution amplifier with six BNC outputs and an ST output.
- Enabling a typical "tap and drop" installation in which the Terrapin is used as a receiver and re-transmitter to feed six different monitor locations.
- In Mode 3, the Terrapin acts as a transceiver to receive a signal from a distant location and then transmit it via the six BNC outputs.
- Or, you can use the Terrapin as a pure SDI distribution amplifier and fiber booster, enabling the Terrapin to provide multiple outputs from a single BNC signal.
To get complete specs, go here: http://www.telecast-fiber.com/
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Share Article Back to Top Calibre Intros Newest Image Warper The new HQView530 is a stand-alone signal processor that will switch, scale, scan-convert and can edge-blend for multiple projector images over large surfaces for staging applications. It uses a unique jog wheel with an LCD front panel menu display designed to simplify and quicken set-up for rental and staging and on-site usage.
The 530 includes 3G-SDI input and output capability, as well as backwards compatibility with HD-SDI and SD-SDI formats. The processor will accept a wide range of HD, SD and computer inputs including DVI, HDMI, YPbPr/RGBS, VGA/RGBHV, S-Video, plus Composite PAL, NTSC and SECAM. For in-camera use, a Genlock input is provided for compatible with bi or tri-level sync or black and burst, which vertically locks the output to the genlock reference signal.
Complete specs are here: http://www.calibreuk.com/pvp.htm
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L-ACOUSTICS Launches ARCS WIDE and ARCS FOCUS L-ACOUSTICS' new ARCS WIDE and ARCS FOCUS speaker systems are based on two constant curvature enclosures holding distinct directivity pattern and SPL capabilities. They are intended for medium-throw applications in rental productions and fixed installs.
The main systems components consist of the following:
- ARCS WIDE (H x V: 30 x 90 degrees) element, wide coverage
- ARCS FOCUS (H x V: 15 x 90 degrees) element, focused energy
- SB18m low frequency extension, operating down to 32 Hz
- LA4 or LA8 amplified controllers
The ARCS WIDE or ARCS FOCUS line sources provide high SPL. Both systems can be deployed as either a horizontal or vertical array.
For all the specs, go here: http://www.l-acoustics.com/products-line-source-products-26.html
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Share Article Back to Top Extron Now Shipping HDCP-Compliant Scaler with Seamless Switching Extron has started shipping the DVS 605, a video scaler that includes three HDMI inputs, two universal analog video inputs with auto-format detection, plus simultaneous HDMI and analog high resolution outputs. The DVS 605 accepts a wide variety of video formats including HDMI with HDCP, HDTV, RGB and standard definition video. It features Extron video signal processing with 1080i deinterlacing, Deep Color processing and seamless switching. It also has SpeedSwitch Technology that delivers ultra-fast switching speed for HDCP-encrypted content. It is available in models with audio switching plus HDMI audio embedding/de-embedding and also 3G-SDI/HD-SDI output with genlock.
The DVS 605 features a flexible PIP (picture-in-picture) mode that allows any two video sources connected to inputs one to four to be shown on one display. Several PIP presets are available, including side-by-side windows, and the PIP window can be dynamically sized and positioned anywhere in the image. The DVS 605 also easily integrates analog video sources, with two universal inputs that automatically detect incoming signal formats without user intervention.
All DVS 605 models provide lip sync delay and level adjustments for embedded HDMI audio. The DVS 605 A and DVS 605 AD add five input audio switching to accompany incoming video sources, as well as audio breakaway.
Here are all the details: http://www.extron.com/company/article.aspx?id=dvs605ad
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Wohler Extends DVM Line of MPEG Video Monitors Wohler Technologies has just expanded the company's DVM line with three new MPEG video monitors: the new DVM-5210, a five-RU system with two 10-inch screens; the DVM-4290, a four-RU unit with two 9-inch screens; and the DVM-3270, a three-RU system with two 7-inch screens. All of the DVM MPEG monitors provide advanced test and measurement features for convenient at-a-glance monitoring of program content from 3G/HD/SD-SDI inputs and MPEG-2/4 ASI streams.
Wohler says the DVM series offers broadcast-quality, decoding and displaying MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 signals via BNC input while giving users the ability to browse the PAT, PMT and PID tables for each selected stream. In addition to MPEG ASI and dual-input 3G/HD/SD-SDI with loop-thru, the DVM monitors also accommodate DVI, component and composite video with audio level meters, GPI and tally. Each monitor is capable of displaying in-picture audio level metering, video waveform and vectorscope with classic CRT-style image calibration controls.
All the specs are here: http://www.wohler.com/default.aspx
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Share Article Back to Top Grund Audio Announces New Floor Monitors Grund Audio Design has debuted two new floor monitors in the form of the GT-1220M and GT-1520M, which feature two-way, bass reflex and dual angle enclosure designs for both portable and fixed sound reinforcement applications.
According to Grund, the company designed the new GT-1220M and GT-1520M for near field applications. Both are capable of high output for a full stage mix of vocals, drums, keyboards, guitars and bass, but are still well-suited for side-fill or delay monitoring applications. They also ship with pole cups integrated into the enclosures—making them usable for ‘speaker on a stick’ general purpose PA system applications.
The Grund Audio Design GT-1220M floor monitor’s components include a 12-inch, high-excursion, low-frequency transducer mated with a 2-inch compression driver coupled to a controlled pattern horn. The GT-1520M floor monitor provides a 15-inch high excursion, low frequency transducer mated with a 2-inch compression driver/horn combination. Both the GT-1220M and GT-1520M floor monitors feature 40-degree horizontal and 80-degree vertical dispersion patterns.
The new GT-1220M and GT-1520M floor monitors have a 450-watt power handling capability with a nominal impedance of 8-ohms. The frequency response for both models is rated at 50 Hz to 18 kHz and each enclosure provides two Neutrik NL4 Speakon connectors plus a biamp switch. The Grund GT-1220M and GT-1520M floor monitors carry list prices of $1,139.00 and $1,149.00, respectively.
For full specs, click here: http://www.grundorf.com/index.php?Type=SOUN&Application=GTM
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Share Article Back to Top Lectrosonics Announces Watertight Transmitter Lectrosonics has introduced what the company is calling the WM, which is a watertight transmitter. An extension of Lectrosonics’ SM series Super Miniature transmitter family, the new WM Watertight Transmitter is housed in an aluminum alloy case with sealed battery doors, antenna port and microphone connector. This fully watertight transmitter, offering a feature set similar to Lectrosonics’ SMQV beltpack unit, runs on two AA batteries and can take remote commands from the company’s RM remote control unit — enabling one to remotely lock/unlock the transmitter’s controls, plus adjust audio input gain, RF operating frequency, and Sleep mode on/off status.
The WM Watertight Transmitter features a backlit LCD and large membrane buttons. The RF power is menu-selectable at 50, 100, and 250 mW for the U.S. version and 25 and 50 mW for the EU version. It includes a belt clip and an omni-lavaliere microphone with a watertight connector and lists for $1,998.
Complete details are here: http://www.lectrosonics.com/Transmitters/wm.html?qh=YToxOntpOjA7czoyOiJ3bSI7fQ%3D%3D
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Share Article Back to Top Delta Displays Launches Distributive Control System Delta Products today launched what it's calling the Distributive Vision Control System (DVCS) product line, which is designed to capture, distribute, control and display signals in large control room applications. Delta says DVCS can support over 10,000 sources and displays, with the content distributed and controlled using industry-standard protocols through standard CAT5 cables. The Delta DVCS includes input processors, which capture RGB and video signals from a range of input sources including computers and video cameras. It then transmits the source material over the IP network via a 100/1000M Ethernet switch using standard CAT5 cabling and displays them via DVCS output display processors. All RGB and video signals are captured, processed, transmitted and displayed in digital format — thus everything input is converted to a digital signal. Supporting resolutions up to 102,400×7,680 (no, that's not a misprint), Delta’s SRIS (Super Resolution Image Software) is a user application software solution that helps to create a dynamic image based on the MS Windows Server 2008 (64-bit) platform. Delta’s Multichannel IP Streams Software (IPSS) is compatible with various IP camera models and coding formats, including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, MJPEG and Wavelet. Other features include: - IP video streaming
- Support for up to 16-CH QCIF decoding of IP streams per client
- Support for resolutions ranging from QCIF to HD
- Compatibility with various IP camera models and coding formats
- High compression for superior image quality and maximum bandwidth efficiency
- 1000M Base-T network
For more information, click here [PDF].
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Share Article Back to Top RSN Adds New Members The Rental and Staging Network (RSN), a network of geographically-diverse rental and staging companies with event capabilities, announced the addition of three new companies to the organization: Video West in Tempe, Ariz.; Audio Visuál Frischkorn in Montreal, Quebec; and CMI Communications in Rochester, N.Y.
This brings the total membership of RSN to 19 rental and staging companies located throughout North America. The addition of these three new affiliates helps advance RSN’s strategic objective to expand their network’s reach and increase members’ ability to provide expert, personalized service on a nationwide scale.
The RSN Board of Directors continues to identify the best qualified rental and staging companies throughout North America to join the network. Since its inception in 2007, RSN says it has aimed to bring the industry’s best audio/visual rental and staging companies together to share best practices and provide nationwide service with the benefit of local contacts, eliminating the need for clients to spend time verifying the competence and capabilities of multiple companies.
To view a map of RSN affiliates, visit http://www.rentalandstaging.net
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Share Article Back to Top For all you REGULAR readers of rAVe Rental [and Staging] out there, hopefully you enjoyed another opinion-packed issue!
For those of you NEW to rAVe, you just read how we are — we are 100% opinionated. We not only report the news and new product stories of the rental and staging industry, but we stuff the articles full of our opinions — in this case, it’s industry-veteran Joel Rollins' opinions. That may include (but is not limited to) whether or not the product is even worth looking at, challenging the manufacturers on their specifications, calling a marketing-spec bluff and suggesting ways integrators market their products better. But, one thing is for sure, we are NOT a trade publication that gets paid for running editorial or product stories. Traditional trade publications get paid to run product stories — that’s why you see what you see in most of the pubs out there. We are different: we run what we want to run and NO ONE is going to pay us to write anything good (or bad).
Don’t like us, then go away — unsubscribe! Just use the link below.
To send me feedback, don't reply to this newsletter — instead, write directly to me at gary@ravepubs.com or for editorial ideas: Editor-in-Chief Sara Abrons at sara@ravepubs.com
rAVe [Publications] has been around since 2003, when we launched our original newsletter, rAVe ProAV Edition. rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-published with CEDIA, launched in February, 2004. rAVe Rental [and Staging] launched in November 2007. rAVe Ed [Education] launched in May 2008. rAVe DS [Digital Signage] was launched in January of 2009.
To read more about my background, our team, and what we do, go to https://www.ravepubs.com Back to Top Copyright 2012 – rAVe [Publications] – All rights reserved – All rights reserved. For reprint policies, contact rAVe [Publications], 210 Old Barn Ln., Chapel Hill, NC 27517 – (919) 969-7501. Email: sara@ravepubs.com
rAVe Rental [and Staging] contains the opinions of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors.
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