Some Kit and
Caboodle
Explained
Some of the kit and kaboodle explained!
Switchers
These are needed when you have more than one piece of video equipment
from which you are outputting content to a projector or a plasma etc. EG If
you have content on both a laptop and a dvd player, you will need a
switcher to change between the two seamlessly.
On larger events you would use a more intelligent switcher and an operator
to create large scale projections (blends) or to have an array of PIPs (picture
in picture) or to output various content to multiple screens at the same time.
Data / video amps
Data amps (DA) are needed when you want one source (i.e. a laptop) on
several screens. For instance if a setup has a laptop and projector, but also
has two relay plasmas that need to have the same image on them, you will
need a DA. In this case, 3 things need the same image, so a 4 way DA
would be required.
A 2 way DA takes one source and can split it to up to 2 screens
A 4 way DA takes one source and can split it to up to 4 screens
Video amps are the same, but for sending a video source to multiple pieces
of kit.
Video source = dvd / camera. Data source = PC / switcher.
So if you have a camera man filming and wanted to relay it to 5 cameras,
you would have his one video source – the camera – and use a 5 way video
amp to amp it 5 times to the plasmas.
Aspect Ratio + Resolution
These are not as complicated as you may think. The aspect ratio of an
image describes the proportional relationship between its width and its
height. For example, in a group of images that all have an aspect ratio of
16:9, one image might be 16 inches wide and 9 inches high, another would
be 16 centimeters wide and 9 centimeters high.
It is commonly expressed as two numbers separated by a colon, as in 16:9.
A screen ratio (the most common being 4:3 or 16:9) refers to what ratio the
screen or VT is. Most modern televisions output 16:9 and most PowerPoints
from the 90’s are 4:3.
In a cinema setting the aspect ratio is generally 21:9, so the first number (21)
refers to how wide it is and the second number (9) refers to its vertical
height.
If a screen was built 30 foot wide and 10 foot high, the aspect ratio would
be 3:1
Resolution refers to the amount of pixels that make up your image. On a full
HD TV at home the resolution is 1920x1080, this literally means you have 1920
pixels horizontally and 1080 pixels vertically to make up your image (that’s
over 2 million pixels to make your picture!)
Now, the aspect ratio of those two numbers make 16:9 – 1920 divided by 16,
times 9 is 1080. See, easy right? 
Lower resolution means far less picture quality. As electronic consumers,
we are spoilt day to day with resolution because it always tends to be HD
(above a 1280x720 pixel count). Not too long ago, our computer monitors
ran at 800x600 resolution (4:3 aspect ratio) and that was fine for years.
But the smart phone in your pocket will more than likely have over 900
pixels vertically in that small screen, which shows important resolution has
become these days.
Most Projectors and VT’s you create and the plasmas you hire, will very
likely be HD (1920x1080) if given the right HD input. Should the picture
quality seem low, ask your technician what resolution its running at .
Projectors
Projectors take your image from the laptop or switcher and output it to a
much larger scale. There is huge variance in projection and it all boils
down to what you are trying to achieve, 20-30 people in a boardroom will
only require a 3000 lumen projector, whereas putting on a show for a 1000
people will more than likely require 2 or even 8 20000 lumen projectors.
Projectors are measured in lumens. This refers to the brightness of the
machine, so you may see or hear 10k (lumens) or 7k banded about when
discussing projectors. Projectors are being used far more than projecting
onto standard 16:9 screens these days. Using multiple projectors and
custom scaling, you can create huge widescreens or custom shaped
projection. It’s possible to get extremely creative given the space and
budget.
Projection mapping is an example of this. 2d content is cleverly projected
onto a building to give the illusion the building is well and truly animated defiantly worth checking out online!
PC Sound
This is needed when sound is coming from a PC and needs to go through
the PA system – it has a mini jack (a PC output) to a box which turns it into
an XLR output (this is one of the most common types of connectors used on
sound desks).
A DI box works the same as a PC sound box, but is mainly used for
instruments such as guitars / keyboards. If being used as a PC sound box, it
will need to include another lead for it to work stereo jack to stereo mini
jack becasue the DI box only has jack inputs and PC laptops have mini jack
outputs.
Microphone’s
Radio microphones work in 2 parts, transmitters (the microphone itself) and
receiver (the box with aerials). The receivers plug into our desk via XLR.
2/4/8 way racks can be used. The racks are the receivers just grouped up so
if a conference has 6 radio mics; a 4 way and a 2 way can be used in order
to have all the receivers needed.
If handheld mics are being used for performing, they may need mic stands.
Wired mics go directly back to the sound desk via XLR – which includes all
lectern / table mics.
Some radio mic kits need external aerial kits. These are the 4 way rack and
8 way rack. This is so we can get the RF signal from your microphone to the
receiver nice and clear.
Truss
An often overlooked bit of technical kit when putting together a quote for
your event. These are long metal trusses that we use for hanging technical
kit. They can support anything from PA to lighting to drapes and even pyro
techniques.
In a large event these are a staple addition to the kit list and if you’re ever at
a large event, take a look at all the pieces of equipment above your head,
these are safely hung using truss.
Motors
These are used once you’ve built your truss framework. We attach the
relevant weight rated motor to a rigging point in the ceiling and using an
internal motor, will raise it on a chain, once attached to the truss using slings
and safeties we can raise the motor using a special controller thus raising all
the truss work to a working height.
This is when we hang all the lighting, sound and projection and then cable it
all in. We follow a pre drawn CAD plan drawn by our Production Manager.
This so all the technicians know where all the technical kit is going. Using
the motors we then raise it to the desired height, usually as close to the
celling as possible!
Moving/intelligent lights
These are the large lighting fixtures you see at most events. They contain a
bright lamp which goes through various gobos/filters for colours and
patterns and can be controlled from a lighting desk including movement
with pan and tilt. Most intelligent fixtures have a huge array of presets and
controls allowing a creative operator to give a live event a very polished
look. You can control almost as many fixtures as you like using one lighting
desk. It can be very time consuming programming and operating these
affectively so if you’re ever wowed at the lighting at an event, please take
note that it’s taken anything from hours to weeks to achieve that look!