NATIONAL HARBOR, MD and ORLANDO, FL – Freelance Technical Services used the Vista Spyder X20-1608 to manage video processing for Capa Productions, producing the DaVita national meeting in National Harbor, Md., and Elite Business Productions, producing the Siemens Healthcare Leadership & Sales Conference in Orlando. The Spyder X20 is a hardware-based video processor that also works as a universal routing switcher. It's designed to allow users to blend, window, mix and scale any content format for multi-window presentations.
"We chose the Spyder X20 for its versatility, powerful feature set and small footprint," said Timothy J. Durr of Freelance Technical Services. "We used the Spyder X20 at both shows and were impressed with its ease of operation, flexibility in live editing situations, instant adjustments and ability to handle every signal type."
DaVita, a leading provider of kidney care in the United States, used the Spyder X20 to run a six camera, multi-screen performance featuring two 32-by-18-foot screens on either side of the stage, flanking an onstage backdrop. Two 16-by-9-foot screens could be seen above the audience, providing those farther back in the room with unobstructed viewing.
"The Spyder X20 was the only piece of equipment capable of handling all the destinations – four screens, four 42-inch plasma displays on the edge of the stage for front audience views, as well as the onstage confidence monitors for the presenters," noted Durr. "The Spyder X20 also allowed us to run PIPs (Picture-in-Picture) of the presenter and his content on the outboard screens, PIPs of the content itself, the speaker's notes and a clock on the confidence displays. Before using the Spyder X20, we had to specify additional equipment to manage the confidence displays."
Elite Business Productions also used the Spyder X20 for the Siemens event. Using three cameras, the conference featured a 60-by-20-foot rear projected wide screen onstage flanked by four scenic columns. Similar to the DaVita Inc. gathering, two 16-by-9-foot screens could be seen above the audience while six 50-inch LCD "confidence displays" were available for speakers.
"The Spyder X20 displayed two PIPs on the wide screen and blended images from two stacks of three projectors," Durr added. "It also provided image processing for the two delay screens, which were fed by stacked 10,000 lumen HD projectors. Due to the small footprint of the Spyder X20, everything fit on an 8-foot table adjacent to the stage. The Spyder X20 doesn't require much space, but it offers full performance. And, it doesn't have a complicated setup; we were done in less than a day.
"The Spyder X20 is my tool of choice for image processing at corporate shows like these," Durr concluded. "It was a big asset to each production."
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