NEWS
Systems Solutions Scores at Soccer City
System Solutions, part of the Gearhouse South Africa Group of Companies, has been awarded a 39 million South African Rand contract by the City of Johannesburg to supply and install a High Definition IPTV, digital signage video distribution system as well as two large format, high resolution outdoor LED screens at the brand new flagship Soccer City Stadium venue.
Offering a 95,000 capacity, Soccer City is located near Soweto, and will see a major part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup action, including the Final and the tournament's Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
System Solutions won a competitive tender for the installation, pitching against the leading companies in the industry.
Outdoor LED Screens
The two 86m² Lighthouse R16i/o-II screens will be comprised of 224 lightweight LED panels, fed by a Vista Spyder video control system, running in conjunction with Christie Digital’s newly released Vista Universal Routing Switcher (URS-1608). The control system has been designed for maximum flexibility, with all common formats accommodated at the input and output stages.
Control System
AV Stumpfl ISEO will be the main control platform, pulling all the elements of the installation into one master control system. This has the ability to operate and communicate with all other systems, devices and applications plus monitoring devices, providing detailed fault reporting and analysis to the stadium's property and building management systems. The Venue Operations Manager can override all elements of the AV system for emergency purposes as required.
ISEO will also control the video mixing and switching and all playback devices involved, and will allow a single input to control the entire video flow to the main LED Screens, Digital Signage and IPTV systems.
HD Digital Signage/IPTV System
he high definition video control system, digital signage and IPTV signal distribution systems will put the stadium at the cutting edge of modern technology. System Solutions will supply approximately 160 AV Stumpfl ISEO digital signage systems in all public areas of the stadium for general information and commercial advertising purposes. This will display constantly updated information and pre-recorded media content playback. This together with multiple broadcast mixes can be streamed live to any layer on any display.
System Solutions will also provide a multi channel high definition and standard definition IPTV distribution system comprising high definition hardware encoders, DVB Gateways at the head end and high definition receivers and display screens to all the back of house, VIP and hospitality suites.
The Team
System Solutions has amassed a specialist team to design, engineer and integrate all elements involved in this prestigious contract, headed by UK-based project manager Sally Penney.
Stephen Woodroffe is head of technical, chief systems designer and digital signage specialist on the project. Joe Hayes is the on-site works manager and IT network specialist. Mike Tempest, a highly skilled video technician is in charge of the video control and IPTV Systems. Charles Naidoo is the senior installations Technician, co-ordinating the specialised equipment installation and systems integration.
Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
Following the success of its work at Soccer City, System Solutions has just won another 20 million ZAR contract to supply similar technology and services to the 70,000 capacity Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. Sean Stewart comments, "It is a privilege for us to be working in the two biggest stadia for 2010. Moses Mabhida is being built as an Olympic Stadium, and with its impressive arches has become an iconic landmark in the area. Its footprint is by far the biggest of all the stadiums in the country. This installation will be a lot easier for SS because all the research and development has been done for the previous stadium, and implementation should go very smoothly."
Audiovisual makeover for uShaka's Dolphin Stadium
What do you do if your daily live shows form an important part of your venue's attraction, and you want to spice up your show without increasing your staff component?
The answer is very simple: you call System Solutions for expert, custom designed advice!
That is exactly what uShaka Marine World in Durban recently did when they wanted to create an exciting new show package for the live shows in the Dolphin Stadium. 
The brief from uShaka specified a system that could capture and broadcast all the dynamics of the live dolphin show, as well as enable the existing staff-component to easily add special inserts and educational footage, as the stadium plays a big role in educating as well as entertaining visitors to Marine World.
Sean Stewart, MD of System Solutions, explains that the challenge at uShaka was to supply a show control system allowing one user to control all the technology and media equipment. "They wanted to incorporate video playback and live camera inserts without employing extra staff members to operate cameras and the control panel."
"We at System Solutions designed a simple, easy-to-use interface that controls the entire audio-visual system, literally at the press of a few buttons. It had to be a very dynamic, interactive system, but at the same time had to allow for and accommodate the AV "animal's" behaviour and unpredictability."
Every aspect of the show's programming and scheduling is controlled via a single touch control panel. System Solutions also supplied and installed the state-of-the-art 25m², 16mm Lighthouse LED-screen, video media server, two PTZ cameras with remote controls and a video cam-mixer.
The Dolphin Stadium also got a makeover sound-wise, with an audio media server, audio mixer and a PA-system specifically designed for the stadium's acoustics by acoustic consultant Bruce Gessner. 
"The weatherised Renkus-Heinz loudspeaker system covers the whole stadium, and has excellent intelligibility levels," Stewart explains.
Judy Mann, director of Seaworld, says "Sea World has wanted to have a big screen to complement the dolphin presentations for many years. We told System Solutions that we wanted a screen to augment the show and that the screen needed to be able to operate in full sunlight, it needed to operate in the harsh conditions of the Durban beachfront and that it needed to be able to operate with limited daily maintenance requirements and inputs. On top of all that, it needed to look aesthetically appealing and be easy to operate."
"We are happy with the final product. It fulfils the brief provided to SS. Sea World has worked closely with Systems Solutions / Gearhouse for many years. We have found them to be reliable, competent and easy to work with. They worked hard under tough time constraints in order to deliver the screen on time for the December 2007 season."
" Their service has been excellent on this particular project and they have gone beyond the call of duty to assist us to present the best possible dolphin shows. We enjoy working with Systems Solutions and hope to continue a mutually beneficial relationship into the future."
Systems Solutions: from integrating to importing
After six successful years as system integrators, Systems Solutions (Pty) Ltd recently changed direction to become importers and distributors of various ranges of top quality entertainment technology systems.
Says Sean Stewart, MD of System Solutions: "We have formed strong relationships with international suppliers enabling us to import and re-sell technology at very competitive prices. We are proud to represent some of the top overseas manufacturers here in South Africa."
Stewart is confident that his company is well-positioned to supply clients with exactly what they need. "We have a range of products that service the entertainment technology sector in both the staging industry and contractor markets."
They plan to service a big segment of the South African market and have brought distribution veteran Derek Marsden on board to help drive this new development.
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"Some of our systems are for installation in a corporate boardroom situation, some are ideally suited for use in museums, theme parks or shopping malls, while others are better suited for installations such as the planned soccer stadiums for 2010," he explains. "We carry systems suited to a variety of client needs, from something as small as a top-of-the-range home theatre system, to equipment that can cover huge stadia events."
Apart from commitment to quality, reasonable prices and a wide range of technology, System Solutions also brings something else with them: expertise and extensive product knowledge.
"Most of us came from theatre and staging backgrounds and have in-depth knowledge about the needs of these sectors in addition to our comprehensive systems integration experience. Some of the projects we were involved with as system integrators include the automated sound and lightshow and musical fountain at Gateway Shopping Mall in KZN and the multimedia experience at the Didima San Art Interpretation Centre. We have also completed many other corporate and casino installations in SA and neighbouring territories."
System Solutions is currently working on the upgrading of uShaka Marine World's Dolphin Stadium. This project includes a 25m² Lighthouse - 16mm LED screen, a state-of-the-art PA System and a "first of its kind in South Africa" show control system much like those used in theme parks like Disneyworld and Universal Studios." Stewart explains.
What products can they supply the industry with? "We can provide everything from the latest audio and video technology to large indoor and outdoor LED display screens, architectural and theatre lighting fixtures, point of sale and digital signage systems, both room control and highly sophisticated interactive, automated show control systems as well as specialist theatre fabrics and mechanical tab track systems"
"In other words, whether you are looking for a small audiovisual system or equipment for large building projections or electronic display boards with content distribution and delivery across vast distances - call us for advice and the best priced, very latest technology."
System Solutions will also be able to recommend approved and qualified dealers to prospective clients. "The client can rest assured that we will back the dealer up with after sales service and technical support," says Stewart.
Makeover for Mmabatho stadium
System Solutions, part of the Gearhouse group of companies, not only has a proven track record as system integrators, but has also established itself as leading importers and distributors of various ranges of top quality entertainment equipment and technology. This made the company the ideal choice for the recent upgrade of the audiovisual system in the Mmabatho Convention Center.
According to Derek Marsden, Distribution Manager at System Solutions, the project was outsourced to the company by the Mmabatho Provincial Government.
Marsden explains that the brief was simple enough, but that the venue posed a few unique problems. "Our brief was to provide a loudspeaker system capable of pristine vocal clarity, as well as the ability to provide for music playback. Vocal clarity was at the top of the list of requirements, as the venue is used quite regularly for high profile government events with important dignitaries such as the South African President as keynote speakers. Another requirement was to provide for audiovisual projection and video processing."
One of the major problems was the lack of coverage offered by the existing system that was only semi-functional after more than ten years of use. The shape of the venue posed another challenge. "It has a hexagonal design measuring 60m across with a floor-to-roof-height of approximately 15m and an approximate 7 seconds reverb time creating a poor environment for speech intelligibility. "
The System Solutions-team decided to recruit the help of Bruce Gesner of Gesner Designs. "Bruce is a tremendously experienced acoustician from Durban. Using TEF audio analysis equipment he was able to map the acoustic response of the venue across all critical frequencies. He then proceeded to input the data into Renkus-Heinz EASE acoustic modelling software."
Gesner decided on Renkus-Heinz 13 CFX151 to deal with the high and mid- frequency duties and 2 CFX181 to take care of the low frequencies, Marsden explains. "Solid toroidal power supply Work SPMax 3600's were employed to deal with the amplification, allowing for sufficient headroom to handle the dynamics. The Yamaha DME24 seamlessly deals with the complex delay configuration and room equalization. FOH mixing provided for by Yamaha, microphones were provided by Sennheiser, with an ASL ring-com system taking care of communications between front of house and stage."
The portable projection requirement was taken care of by Christie LX650's with Extron IN1508's. This enables switching to multiple video sources.
According to Marsden the client was more than happy with the final product. "We provided a user friendly yet powerful audiovisual solution. With the installation, we managed to exceed all expectations, achieving the kind of clarity not to be expected in a room with a seven second reverb-time."
System Solutions was also responsible for the 2008-upgrading of the uShaka Marine World's Dolphin Stadium. The company offers a wide range of world class brands ideally suited to public venues, exhibitions and displays, property development and architectural design applications. It also offers product lines for home and office use.
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