Twin Cities Optical Studio

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BROADCAST

TWIN CITIES OPTICAL STUDIO

Minnesota, USA

Images: Dak Dillon

aving outgrown its training facility and

H offices where they had been located since 1980, Minnesota Vikings has recently opened the spectacular Twin Cities Optical (TCO) Performance Center. Located on the former Northwest Airlines Headquarters site, the 194-acre site includes four outdoor practice fields, an indoor practice facility, stateof-the-art health and fitness amenities and a 6,000-seater stadium. However, one of the unexpected crown jewels at the incredible site is the TCO Studios - a space designed to take the team’s video content to another level entirely. Featuring four distinct video-shooting areas, the studio, designed by Peter Provost of Provost Studio, is illuminated by a colourful lighting system created by Mike Grabowski of the Lighting Design Group that features close to 100 CHAUVET Professional Ovation and COLORdash fixtures. Beyond its breathtaking appearance, the studio offers maximum flexibility for broadcasting during the football season and throughout the year. An example of this can be seen in its main section, which has a cutting-edge acoustic wall that rises to open to an impressive 170-seat theatre for live audience programmes. The Lighting Design Group’s system, with its ability to create an array of realistic colours that can be changed quickly, supports the TCO Studio’s combination of beautiful aesthetics and responsive versatility. “This was a really neat project to be a part of, not just for its great looks, but also for its functionality,” said Mike. “It’s the first fully fleshed-out studio that the Vikings have had - and one of only a handful of such facilities in the entire league. “From an aesthetic standpoint, this studio is sleek, cutting edge and powerfully branded without being over the top. Bryan Harper, the Viking’s Vice President of Content and Production, Jordan Struck, VEN Producer, and the Production Designer, Peter Provost, deserve a lot of credit for making something very special happen. I think this sets a gold standard for the league.” The primary area at the TCO Studio is devoted to the anchor desk for potential sportscasts, game-day halftime reports and post-game programming. A second area, complete with comfortable leather chairs, is used for indepth

sit-down interviews. The third area is much more edgier-looking and hosts social media podcast, while the fourth section serves as the space for stand-up reports. Mike positioned 75 Chauvet Professional Ovation E-910FC LED ellipsoidal fixtures with a mixture of 19°, 26°, 36° and 50° lenses throughout the studio. The RGBA-Lime fixtures serve as key lights as well as colour washes in the four shooting areas, where they are hung from centre-set positions. In addition to this use, the Ovation units also work as front stage lights when the acoustic wall opens and the main studio is used for live broadcasts. “Being able to flip the colour from the Ovations to anything we need is hugely helpful, especially given the emphasis on versatility at this studio,” added Mike. “Another invaluable feature was the ability of the Ovation fixtures to project very crisp gobos. This is a sports studio, so we needed to project team logos - and, of course, they had to be flawless. “Aside from delivering this level of perfection, the Ovations allow our clients to preview gobos before they purchase anything. On several occasions, we printed the gobos on acetate so we could get the sizing and art exactly right, and then we sent it off to be built in glass after we knew we had exactly what everyone loved. That was a real client-pleaser.” Mike has positioned 20 Chauvet Professional COLORdash Accent Quad fixtures throughout the four shooting areas for added colour accents, too. As well as offering extra colour, these fixtures are used as eye candy in some backdrops - always with an emphasis on displaying accurate colours. “Along with the quality and evenness of the light, colour rendition is of the utmost importance here,” explained Mike. “The Minnesota Vikings logo colours are instantly identifiable, and they must be accurate. We even built two versions of a lot of the colours - one for the naked eye, when tours are being given, and another for the broadcast. It’s all part of the versatility that’s been designed into this studio.”

Left: The TCO Studios have been kitted out with almost 100 CHAUVET Professional fixtures, thanks to a design by Mike Grabowski of the Lighting Design Group.

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