Apollo by Convergent Design
Apollo is the latest ratchet up the ongoing rollercoaster ride known as video production. It has been a screaming, dipping, exciting ride as long as we have been on it.
DP Mark Schulze videotapes the Jerry Lewis Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy, photo by Patty Mooney, video producer at Crystal Pyramid Productionsscular Dystrophy starring popular hypnotist Dr. Michael Dean aka Sanford Berman
We first “boarded” it back in 1981 when Director of Photography Mark Schulze started Crystal Pyramid Productions. Video production was in its infancy. In those days we worked with the equipment available to us. A spindly tripod, a camcorder that shot VHS tapes, gargantuan editing machines. Over the years, video equipment has exponentially improved so the pieces are now smaller yet more robust.
As a small production house, we have always been careful about our broadcast video equipment selection. Each piece has to justify its existence and pay for itself quickly. The Easyrig 2, the Sachtler carbon fiber fluid head tripod, the Sony FS7 HD/4K camera, the Convergent Design Odyssey 7Q+ monitor/recorder… All pieces “play well” together and add up to crystal clear imagery. When you work with exacting clients, you need exacting equipment.
Convergent Design’s Odyssey 7Q+ monitor/recorder and Apollo live switcher
The latest, most revolutionary piece in our equipment arsenal is Convergent Design’s Apollo which operates in tandem with the Odyssey 7Q+ monitor. “A production studio in the palm of your hand” is how its makers describe it. Sounds good, but can it really pull its weight, we wondered?
Live Cooking Show
We took it out for a spin on a shoot for the Manchester Grand Hyatt. We recorded a cooking demonstration by Executive Chef “Sutti” Sripolpa. Convergent Design’s equipment worked very well.
We had three cameras, two in the front and one overhead. The Apollo could have handled one more camera source. Our crew, Steven Bennett, live-switched the show as Chef Sutti created the scallop dish popular with VIPs aboard luxury jets.
I later edited the cooking show using four timelines – footage from all three cameras along with the live-switched piece. (seen above)
I’ve had the good fortune to see how the work flow of a video production has changed over more than three decades. And what a thrilling ride it has been!
DP Mark Schulze at Carlsbad beach with his Sony FS7 camera and Convergent Designs Odyssey 7Q+ monitor/recorder
The video production industry has exploded and equipment manufacturers have kept up, providing tools that deliver the goods. So now everything is bigger, badder, better.
Convergent Design, manned by its founder, Mike Schell, an electrical engineer, has quietly revolutionized EFP and ENG shoots with a live switching monitor/recorder that you really can hold in the palm of your hand.
