High Resolution Systems and Stimulated, Inc. Team on Work Flow for 2011 MTV Movie Awards

High Resolution Systems LLC partnered with Robb Wagner, of Burbank's Stimulated, Inc., which offers producing, directing, and consulting services for media-driven productions, on a new way to feed content to the big screens at the recent 2011 MTV Movie Awards telecast live from Los Angeles.

Wagner had previously teamed with High Resolution, providing display control on live telecasts of the Emmy and ESPY Awards. For the 2011 MTV Movie Awards, Wagner and High Resolution teamed up to provide a display control solution featuring the Vista Spyder X20 and High Resolution's UDC (Universal Device Controller) software.

"For the last several years, people have been trying to figure out the right formula for feeding screens at major broadcast events," says Wagner. "In the past, shows like the Movie Awards had to utilize cumbersome and expensive methods. Hardware and control surfaces were too big to fit inside any video truck. Most shows had whole separate trailers or front of house set ups for screens. These external set ups required time, labor, expense, and, in most cases, duplicated existing truck resources."

By comparison, the new X20P workflow crafted by Wagner and High Resolution has a small footprint. "X20P can fit within almost any truck environment -- our controller is no bigger than an iPad," Wagner reveals. "It's easy to have redundancy because the system is small, easy to handle and easy to transport. We can finally put multi-screen control in the truck when productions want it."

Wagner used High Resolution's UDC software to preprogram the entire awards show. "Our screen's technical director (TD) was able to have full functionality on the Spyder without having to learn how to program it," he explains. "We made the Screens TD position more powerful: He had the full functionality of the truck on his left hand and the simple, user-friendly control of the Spyder X20 on his right hand. It enabled the production to take full advantage of the video truck and its resources, which they were already paying for."

He says the most interesting aspect of this new approach to screen feeds for the MTV Movie Awards was "how easily it all came together. We had the UDC pre-programmed before we arrived on-site. On set-up day we came in at 8am, and, by 10:30, we were ready to rehearse the show."

The glitzy, high-profile MTV Movie Awards were an ideal proving ground for the new display control solution. "Having done this project, we have full confidence in the workflow as we take the same team and system to the live ESPY Awards," Wagner says. "We combined the skills and knowledge of Stimulated and High Resolution with a great system to create a really viable solution. Many productions can benefit from it."