Alliance Digital

    7751 Kingspointe Parkway Ste 117-118 Orlando FL 32819 P:888-255-2843 www.alliancedigitalrentals.com

Specializing in nonlinear postproduction equipment rentals Worldwide, Alliance Digital delivers cutting-edge workflow solutions for broadcasters, post production and entertainment houses, as well as independent and boutique facilities.

Alliance provides best of breed technology, integrating the latest hardware and software packages for nonlinear editing, ingest and logging, slo-mo, instant replay, streaming, encoding, media storage, digital asset management, and delivery, along with a full complement of VTRs, terminal gear and test equipment. Alliance is also the only rental solutions provider to support Global Beehive services for digital content management and delivery. 

“We just don’t believe in a one size fits all approach. Flexibility is absolutely key. We pride ourselves on our ability to deliver the most efficient rental solutions for the unique needs of each individual client,” says Vice President Tim Okon, “all from a single point of contact for more efficient budgeting, turnaround, and oversight of a project.

“Alliance Digital is the industry leader in providing and supporting custom workflow packages for live broadcast events,” says Okon. “In the live production realm, the pressure is really on. There is just no margin for error, and frankly, this is where we really shine. We believe in the ‘belt and suspenders’ approach, and build in redundancy simply as a matter of course. It has to be bulletproof.”

The organization maintains the largest group of certified technical and engineering staff in the industry, providing both on-site engineering and support. Alliance sets the standard for Managed Services and major event postproduction rentals, live event broadcasting, episodic TV, and corporate communications, delivering custom turnkey solutions, engineering support and services worldwide.

It’s no wonder that Alliance Digital clients include the likes of Disney/ABC, HBO, Viacom, Comcast, The Ultimate Fighting Championships, NASCAR, The PGA Tour, and a host of others too numerous to list, on projects such as The Olympics, The FIFA World Cup, The Super Bowl, NBA All Star Playoffs and Finals, Tour De France, The MTV Video Music Awards, The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness, The Breeders Cup, Video Gaming Championships, Major League Baseball Playoffs, The US Open, Wimbledon, The Miss Universe Pageant, and the list goes on.

“The very foundation of our business is an absolutely unwavering commitment to client support by the best tech and engineering staff in the business, and ultimately a level of ‘family pride’ in the organization that each and every one of us takes into the marketplace – we live it,” Okon reports. “Whether it’s a single edit station, or an end-to-end post to deliverable TV compound operating on the arena floor as the action happens, we treat every client as if they were our only client. We’re dedicated to keeping them………….as our motto says, Cutting on the Edge of Technology.”

HB Group Inc

    60 Dodge Ave North Haven CT 06473 P:800-331-1804 www.hbgroupinc.com

Connecticut-based HB Group, Inc has been providing professional video, audio, and audio-visual equipment and services for over two over decades. HB Group’s services include broadcast and professional video, live and on-demand streaming solutions, large presentation video displays, native High Definition projection, lighting, and large venue sound reinforcement. The equipment is backed by a staff of highly trained service professionals, which affords HB’s clients to make a single call to obtain everything needed for a complete production.

New to HB Group’s equipment inventory for 2009 includes the Sony PMW-EX3 XDCAM camcorder, the Sony HVR-S270 HDV camcorder, the Panasonic AV-HS400A multi-standard production switcher, the latest Panasonic High Definition LCD monitors and displays, the Teranex VC-100 dual-channel multi-standard format converter, and the AJA-FS1 multi-standard format converter. “HD is here to stay. HD has become a big part of the television industry, and HB Group continues to invest in new HD equipment and technology. We are here to provide quality equipment and support for our clients,” notes Mitul Patel, director of engineering.

In addition to the wide variety of High Definition equipment and services provided, HB Group also specializes in live event webcasting. HB Group utilizes a variety of encoding systems ranging from a single briefcase-sized encoder to a fully redundant, enterprise class streaming flypack. A typical live event can include a single video window or a more advanced player window incorporating synchronized Power Point slides and moderated Q&A, just to name a few features. Live events can also be made available for on-demand viewing. Between HB Group’s robust inventory of video, audio and encoding equipment, HB Group has all the tools necessary to produce a professional, flawless live event.

“In challenging economic times, these technologies are being embraced as solutions for corporations looking for new and creative ways to conduct their business, without breaking their tightening budgets,” explains by HB Group Account Executive Evan Bernstein. “Webcasting applications can offer companies more affordable means of conducting meetings, mass marketing, and exposure to the public. Along with webcasting comes the utilization of some of the latest video production equipment. Both webcasting and video production are rising together under the same tide of necessity.”

General Electric Company, United Technologies Corporation, Pepsi Cola Company, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., and Pfizer, Inc. are just a few notable corporations that call upon HB Group for the latest production solutions.

High End TV

    1451 Elmhill Pike Ste 251 Nashville TN 37210 P:615-346-9545 www.highendtv.com

Offering a wide array of single and multi-camera packages, Nashville’s High End TV provides solutions for everyone looking to maximize their budget and maintain high-quality production – and today that’s everybody.

“Some rental houses charge a la carte, but we give customers what they need to make a picture: Our cameras come with a lens and P2 or SxS cards, for example,” notes Senior Engineer Adam Mills. “Our Panasonic VariCam with lens and battery rents for less than other vendors charge for the camera only.”

High End TV’s clients not only realize a cost savings on gear, they get the added value of dealing with a staff who “are TV engineers first” and “very strong on the tech side. We have a background in video systems, not film. I think this complements the knowledge base of our clients who are artists. Gear aside, at the end of the day they just want the best picture they can get.”

The company just launched a new web site that builds on its technical expertise. Customers are encouraged to visit www.pickadamsbrain.com before coming in for equipment so they can discover “what’s not in the instruction book.” On the new web site Mills, a self-confessed “gear junkie,” shares what he’s learned about specific pieces of gear over hundreds of hours of testing. That’s especially useful for High End TV’s big roster of cameras; customers can benefit from Mills’s “bottom-line opinion from somebody who’s taken the cameras in the field and tested them.”

Among High End TV’s camera inventory the workhorse Sony F900R CineAlta and Panasonic HDC27H VariCam remain predominant. “They remain popular because for a long time they were Sony and Panasonic’s only full-size HD cameras,” says Mills. Gaining in popularity is RED Digital Cinema’s much talked about RED ONE camera.

The “most underappreciated” cameras in the company’s roster are Panasonic’s HPX3000 and 3700 DVCPRO HD cameras with 3 CCDs and AVC Intra codecs for easy editing in 1080p. “In our shootout these cameras were at the top in color accuracy and pleasing images,” Mills reports. 

And in the category of “best value you don’t know about” is the Sony EX3 camera. “It has blown us away for value, in money-per-pixel terms,” Mills declares. “The 3-CMOS sensors have extremely low noise. Add Digi Primes and it becomes a whole new beast.”

High End TV maintains a full stock of 32-gigabyte P2 cards and 16-gig SxS cards. Support systems, monitors, and lighting and grip packages can also be custom bundled with cameras for even further savings.

“Customers appreciate our more-for-less approach and our broad knowledge base,” says Mills. “Our goal is to help them keep production quality high as budgets continue to tighten during the recession.”

Hollywood Rentals

    Los Angeles • Charlotte Orlando • Baton Rogue P:818-407-7800 F: 818-407-7868 www.hollywoodrentals.com

Regarded as a production partner by the film and television community for over 30 years, Hollywood Rentals offers lighting, grip, transportation and distribution equipment. Hollywood Rentals forms a true, one-stop shop with its Olesen theatrical division and ESS (Expendables Supply Store) division. Its headquarters are conveniently located in Los Angeles and has full East Coast support from its Orlando and Charlotte locations. Hollywood Rentals also has a branch at the new Celtic Media Centre in Baton Rouge, with its sister company, Raleigh Studios which will open new stages in Detroit soon.

Hollywood Rentals provides lighting gear from LEDs to HMIs to fluorescents, grip equipment from rigging to camera dollies, preloaded grip trucks from 1- to 10-tons, tractor-trailers which serve as production vans, and generators. But its real strength is identifying and stocking innovative new gear and using the company’s intellectual know-how to help develop the equipment.

“We’re always trying to find new products,” says Hollywood Rentals President Kelly Koskella. “We know what end users need and desire and use our expertise to further enhance these products.”

While Hollywood Rentals carried a small number of LEDs for the last few years, recent big advances in the technology found the company seeking LEDs it could market worldwide. It discovered the US-made line of LEDz® products which it now distributes exclusively via ESS (for sales) and Hollywood Rentals.

LEDz® launched with three perfected LED products. The LEDz Brute16® is one of the most powerful LED fixtures in the world to date; it creates a horizontal beam spread far wider than traditional lighting fixtures. The LEDz Brute16® and LEDz Brute 9® have become proven practical units with a variety of applications. The Mini Par® makes a great eye light with its three interchangeable lenses. All feature onboard dimmers.

The LEDz® line has met with overwhelming success, Koskella reports. “What we budgeted for the year, in terms of sales, we matched in the first quarter,” he says. Hollywood Rentals has already teamed with Chimera to design a chimera that works with the products and enhances their usage. More LEDz® fixtures are expected to be released within the next three to six months.

ESS is also the exclusive US distributor of Lite Board, a shapeable bounce board which delivers greater bounce than foam core or bead board. “It’s starting to take flight now,” says Koskella.

The Hollywood Rentals companies kicked off 2009 with a move to their new building which almost doubled their warehouse space – a real need for a growing inventory. “It was specifically built out to meet company and clients’ needs, and the response from our customers has been overwhelming,” Koskella observes.

Midtown Video

    4824 SW 74th Ct Miami FL 33155 P:305-669-1117 F: 305-662-2860 www.midtownvideo.com

Producers are increasingly beating a path to Miami’s Midtown Video seeking custom multi-camera HD production solutions for their live shows and events.

“We tailor two popular solutions to meet their needs,” notes Rental Manager Jesse Miller. “We use the Panasonic AVHS400 switcher for smaller productions and our HD truck for bigger productions. Both systems are camera agnostic: You can hook up any HD cameras to them. We have done up to 10-camera shoots.” 

Customers most often choose Panasonic HDX900 DVCPRO HD cameras or Sony PMW-EX3 XDCAM-EX format cameras from Midtown’s inventory, he reports. The Panasonic cameras are paired with DVCPRO HD decks that record live to the switcher; the Sony cameras use an ExpressCard deck to record the live switch in the same format as the cameras.

Midtown sent the Panasonic switcher with EX cameras to the Caribbean for live music festivals from Steady Image Productions; the company’s HD truck supported an infomercial shot at WXEL/West Palm Beach and the recent Summit Conversations healthcare reform event at the University of Miami’s Bank United Center.

The Sony PMW-EX3 is proving to be a hot rental item on its own. “Its image quality is so stunning that it really blows away any camera in its class,” says Miller. In addition, “Fujinon makes a special adapter for the 2/3-inch style lens so the camera is increasingly usable in multi-camera jobs: You can put a 40x or larger telephoto lens on it – the door is open to very serious lenses.” The PMW-EX3’s workflow is also very convenient. “You can fit a lot of data on the ExpressCard without compressing away image quality, and Final Cut Pro and Avid accept the XDCAM codec as native.”

Teleprompters are in demand, too, for music videos, TV news and infomercials, he notes. Midtown carries Listec teleprompters including a new 17-inch unit.

The company is also making available a bigger selection of cine-style lenses for video cameras “whether 35mm primes or cine-style ENG mount,” as required by clients.

In March Midtown launched a series of monthly instructional seminars on its premises to provide customers with information on topics of interest. “The first session focused on combining HD with Internet video,” says Miller. “The Seminar Series expands on our popular web videos, offering a more in-depth look at some of the topics we cover briefly on our web site and YouTube.”