Camp Digital’s Journey HD Truck Rolls On With Soundcraft Vi4™

The Soundcraft Vi4 has already shown its versatility and power for Camp Digital remote recording projects including the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards, Gospel Dream and the Country Music Association’s Fan Fest.

What sets Camp Digital’s new Journey HD truck apart from other high-definition video/multichannel audio remote vehicles is its emphasis on sound quality and functionality. With a target client base of music and entertainment productions, audio is a high priority in the Nashville, Tennessee-based truck’s technology complement. And at the heart of that is the Soundcraft Vi4 digital live sound mixing console, the latest addition to Soundcraft’s highly successful Vi Series of digital live sound consoles.

“There was a niche we saw developing in the entertainment market: the need for HD video coupled with high-resolution, multichannel audio recording in a single package at a price that was affordable,” explains Tom Gregory, Vice President of Business Development for Camp Digital. "A lot of companies are loading up their HD trucks so they can do any kind of work, and obviously you pay for that whether or not you use it -- when you're in one of those trucks you see a lot of equipment that’s not even turned on. The vast majority of the work we do is music and entertainment, so we wanted to build a truck that was more in the budget range of a flight pack and that would fill a gap in the marketplace between a $30,000-a-day 53-foot HD production truck and a flight pack."

That’s precisely what they accomplished with the 36-foot Journey HD truck, which was commissioned last December. Its video technology menu is formidable, including Sony HDC1500L cameras, Fujinon lenses, Sony HVR1500a VTRs and an Echolab Overture 2MD multi-definition switcher. But its audio capabilities are just as impressive – the Soundcraft Vi4 digital audio console is coupled with a 64-track Pro Tools HD system and a Harris Panacea 8x8 digital AV router. “The Soundcraft Vi4 is the keystone to the Journey HD’s audio design,” Gregory explains. “It has a small footprint, which lets us put a lot of power into a smaller space.” In just under 1.5m/5 feet of length, that power includes access to 72 inputs on 24 faders, with a total of 35 output busses available for use as masters, groups, auxes or matrices. And the features of the larger Soundcraft Vi6, such as the highly acclaimed Vistonics™ II touch-screen user interface, Soundcraft FaderGlow™ fader function display and the unequalled audio quality, are all present on the Vi4.

Gregory says that the Vi4 performed flawlessly at all of the major events that the Journey HD truck has been used for, including the Dove Awards show and the Gospel Dream event, as well as the show at Fuel nightclub that kicked off the CMA Fan Fest and featured country music stars Kelly Pickler, Jason Aldean and Brad Paisley that will be broadcast on the ABC network on August 31. “These are all major broadcast events, and the engineers who recorded them are all A-game audio guys, and all of them have loved working with this console, praising its sound and its ergonomics,” says Gregory. “They like the way it integrates with the stage box at shows, which makes connections solid and simple, and we had one engineer download the software so he could pre-assign all of his groups ahead of time and he saved tons of time on location. In fact, every time someone sits down at this console, they find something new and useful. I’d say this truck and this console have both found their niche with each other.”

The Soundcraft Vi4 offers all the functionality and facilities of the Soundcraft Vi6, but in a smaller, more compact footprint more suited for space-conscious applications such as theatres, OB vehicles, Houses of Worship and venues or clubs with space-limited mix positions.