Archive for the ‘Audio and Video’ Category
Thursday, May 9th, 2013
Although I spend most of my days designing software for our products, I get to take a few days each year creating video content for our trade show booths. InfoComm2013 is just a few weeks away, so this is an ideal time to talk about producing 4K videos. The most important thing I have learned over the past few days developing the content for our booth is:
It is surprisingly easy to create and display 4K video!
The four things you need are:
- resources
- playback device
- editing / encoding software
- a display device
There are already lots of choices out there to cover these requirements, so I’ll just talk about what I used. Read more...
Posted in Alcorn McBride Products, Audio and Video, Technology Notes, Tips from our Engineers | Comments Off
Wednesday, August 1st, 2012
There are two sides to every story, as the tag line for the Mob Museum in Las Vegas reminds us, and Alcorn McBride is helping the city’s newest attraction tell the tales of both organized crime and law enforcement. The Mob Museum is utilizing a full inventory of Alcorn McBride equipment for audio, video and show control throughout its historic 1930’s location, a former federal courthouse and post office.
The museum, which opened in February, showcases the notorious battle between organized crime and law enforcement with high-tech theater presentations, iconic artifacts – including the actual brick wall from the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre – and interactive exhibits and environments, including FBI wiretap surveillance and weapons training. The project was designed by Ray Kent, Westlake Reed Leskosky. AVI-SPL was the primary AV integrator, with programming support by Kevin Ruud. Ryan Markus and Nester Ramos, Mob Museum’s AV/IT staff, handle ongoing maintenance and system programming. Read more...
Posted in Alcorn McBride Products, Audio and Video, Lighting, Museums, Show Control | Comments Off
Monday, June 11th, 2012
Alcorn McBride Inc. will be making headlines at InfoComm 2012 by introducing three important products, announcing a product upgrade and hosting a Manufacturer’s training session and cutting-edge technology seminar. The company’s booth, C9225, will be located in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
In product news, TourTraXX, RideTraxx and AMI/O will make their debut at InfoComm and ShowTouch for Apple iPad will get an update.
A GPS-triggered multi-channel vehicle audio player designed for up to 16 audio tracks, TourTraXX is ideal for pre-recorded bus tours, trolleys, shuttles and trams. It stores clips in MP3 format on CompactFlash for a rugged, reliable and maintenance-free solution to playback needs. It is lightweight (4 lbs.), sized to fit almost anywhere and, with no moving parts, works in high-vibration environments. Once programmed with the free and easy to use GPS Builder, TourTraXX steps through cues automatically as it moves through defined geographical zones.
Read more...
Tags: Alcorn McBride, GPS Triggered Audio, InfoComm 2012
Posted in Alcorn McBride Products, Audio and Video, GPS, Show Control, Trade Show Buzz | Comments Off
Friday, June 8th, 2012
The TourTraXX is a 16 channel MP3 audio player designed for installation in vehicles. The TourTraXX can use its GPS location to trigger any number of commands such as Play, Stop, Set Volume, Write to an External LCD Display, and more. These commands are entered into a GPS playlist using the GPS Builder software available as a free download from our support software website.
In the past, it was necessary to enter coordinates manually or connect an additional GPS antenna directly to your laptop to retrieve the current location for a GPS trigger. It is now possible to use the GPS antenna connected to the TourTraXX to retrieve GPS coordinates. This greatly simplifies the process of creating and changing GPS triggers because there is no need for an additional GPS antenna. Read more...
Posted in Audio and Video, GPS, Tips from our Engineers | Comments Off
Monday, February 6th, 2012
Larry and I just got back from ISE 2012 in Amsterdam. Despite the frigid temperatures, it was a great show. It’s a big show extending through multiple exhibit halls that are all fairly disconnected but people found us without a problem. I guess it helps to be next to a pizza stand!
We showed off ProTraXX, V16 Pro, Touch, DMX OverRide, the Digital Binloop HD, the Digital Video Machine HD and our MediaFlow workflow solution. Read more...
Posted in Alcorn McBride Products, Audio and Video, Lighting, People, Show Control, Trade Show Buzz | No Comments »
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
I am desperately awaiting the introduction of the iPhone 5…or the iPhone 4G…or maybe we will just skip right to the iPhone 9. But one of the most exciting parts of the new iPhone (whenever it may arrive) isn’t related to the hardware at all. It is the support in iOS5 for what Apple is calling “iCloud”.
“Cloud Computing” is tossed around a lot. The idea of having our data stored in some magical cloud seems like it solves all problems. I am excited about iCloud because it potentially allows me to sync my files (music, pictures, apps) without having to rely on a computer. Even if I backup my data religiously, there is always the concern that the backup device may fail. Relying on others who hopefully have a more robust backup mechanism than I do seems like a great option…for my phone. Read more...
Posted in Alcorn McBride Products, Applications, Audio and Video, Museums, Technology Notes, Theme Parks | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
Our industry has a long history of creating some incredible experiences. But when you are hearing-impaired, it is easy to miss one of the most important parts of that experience – the sound. And without that sound, you may be missing the story. There are a variety of different solutions to try to bring hearing-impaired guests into the experience. Solutions like reflective captioning post LED signs (with reversed) type in the rear of the theatre offering a transcription of the dialogue as well as descriptions of any other sounds that may be occurring in the show. By holding up a reflective piece of glass in front of their view of the screen, the guest can read what is going on. However, these signs are often distracting for other guests as they are visible throughout the theatre. Read more...
Posted in Alcorn McBride Products, Audio and Video, Live Shows, Museums, Technology Notes, Theme Parks | No Comments »
Thursday, August 25th, 2011
Image courtesy of www.fastcompany.com
An article on PSFK today discusses Facebook integration with Coke’s “Freestyle” vending machine. I bring it up not just because I think the Freestyle machine is really cool (we tried it out at IAAPA last year and it is very cool) or because one of our former Alcorn McBride engineers – Chris Harden – worked on the user interface. I bring it up because it is a great example of both mass personalization as well as social media interaction with a practical outcome (instead of developing clothing for your avatar, you actually end up with a frosty beverage – how cool is that?!?) Read more...
Posted in Alcorn McBride Products, Applications, Audio and Video, Lighting, Museums, Show Control, Technology Notes, Theme Parks | Comments Off
Wednesday, August 24th, 2011
Much has been made recently about the convergence of audio, video and information technology (AVIT). While there is certainly ample evidence that these worlds are merging, it is not necessarily a bad thing. It just means that there are new tools and skills to learn. It also means a change in the way we distribute media. In many cases, a centralized control room has given way to distributed media, linked by an Ethernet network for content control and signal distribution.
However, much of the discussion of AVIT centers around PC platforms with the belief that there is some overwhelming benefit to using “non-proprietary hardware” to build a control system. I strongly disagree with this statement for two reasons: Read more...
Tags: Alcorn McBride, embedded systems, show controller, V16Pro
Posted in Alcorn McBride Products, Applications, Audio and Video, Lighting, Live Shows, Museums, Show Control, Technology Notes, Theme Parks | Comments Off
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
Brand Experience, Inter-tain Productions, and the Todd W. Hall Co created this unique AV sculpture for Lockheed Martin. Alcorn McBride’s Digital Binloop HD and a V16Pro show controller were selected for control and playback. What a creative idea! Dan Daley features this install in the latest edition of ProAV. Click here to read it: This Wall is Round
Tags: Alcorn McBride
Posted in Alcorn McBride Products, Audio and Video, Show Control | Comments Off
