Blog Posts

A Lambda Christmas Letter

1/12/2022

As lead Lamb around here, (Duh the Lamb writing this year), I take it upon myself each year to regal you with the accomplishments and tales of the crew at Lambda throughout the year. Originally, there was a board meeting discussion of removing me as your narrator and doing something light and fluffy and Dr. Seusy for the children, but I can’t have anyone ruin Christmas traditions, so we’ll call this letter the Lamb who stole the Christmas letter: Coffee Edition.

Every year as we look back, we ask the same old questions: did Lambda accomplish anything? Did Ryan actually work? Did we drink enough coffee? What? What? What?

Sleek New Lighting

1/12/2022

Good lighting will make all the difference, whether you are building a studio or a stage look. We’ve talked before about how lighting can really make your space and set the mood you want to convey for your audience. So, how do you get that perfect lighting look? Let’s check out some products that we love to use!

Hive Lighting builds quality lasing lights that offer a range of use and application. We recently used several of their products in a video production studio; one of them was the Hornet 200-CX.

The Hornet only weighs 2.2lb’s and draws 150W and is designed to work with a variety of applicators including softboxes, Fresnel’s, beauty dishes, reflectors, and more. Billions of color combinations combined with 12,000 lumens of sharp ultra-bright output make the Hornet 200-CX one of the most versatile lights ever built. Along with lots of customizable options, you can also use Bluetooth control from your phone to choose from hundreds of presets or create your own unique light colors, animated lighting effects, and controls right from your pocket!

At a glance, the Hornet is built from durable aircraft-grade aluminum, with a high, Omni-color LED output at 12,000 lumens. It’s light, portable, and easily controlled or changed up in a few minutes making it the perfect, versatile light for any occasion.

Hear the Difference!

1/12/2022

With more and more emphasis on broadcast in today’s world, a good pair of headphones is critical to monitoring program output, along with a variety of other things. One of our favorites for this is the Audio Technica ATH-M70X’s. These have proprietary 45mm large-aperture drivers and do an excellent job to reproduce extreme low and high frequencies while maintaining perfect balance. They are ideal for studio mixing and tracking, FOH, mastering, post-production, and personal listening. As they are a closed-back headphone design, the studio headphones provide excellent sound isolation and are equipped with 90° swiveling earcups for easy, one-ear monitoring.

Need a New Com Solution?

1/12/2022

If you need a Com system for a small to mid-sized production team, we’ve got something new for you! The Solidcom M1 from Hollyland is the perfect solution! This wireless intercom setup supports up to 8 team members, providing them each with a wireless belt pack and a professional wired single-ear headset. This affordable com system provides clear, conversational communication without interference. The built-in panel antenna on the M1 base station can provide one-way transmission to belt packs up 1312' away fronting the panel, and an extra 164' at the back (line-of-sight). Not only that, but if you need to expand your coverage and team support, you can utilize the cascade connection feature to join this system to a second Solidcom M1 intercom system, linking both base stations together. We’ve had fun doing demo’s of this com set and trust us when we say, you will not be disappointed!

Gear Highlight - Quasar

1/12/2022

We love our Quasar lights! Quasar produces a neat LED light bar that is lightweight, versatile, and great for a variety of applications. Their Linear Lamps offer a low profile yet broad lighting source that is capable of providing everything from traditional three-point subject lighting to architectural accents and general area lighting. So, whether you are planning to light actors or environments, Quasar has it covered!

Quasar’s Crossfade Linear Lamps can be used as a single bar or stacked together to create a light panel for lighting backgrounds with energy efficiency. The crossfade can create an effect from ‘Overcast to Daylight’ and is compatible with most dimming systems. As a single linear unit these are a great low-profile option when you do not have lots of space. The lights are easily mounted on the wall or ceiling without compromising framing. They have a single end power input, making it easy to plug in and go without a complicated wiring web or tangled mess at the end of the day. It also makes them easy to move in a hurry or when you need to change up your set.

With color, fade, and dimmable options, Quasar is a great choice for creating your next lighting project or stage design! If you are interested in a demo, or have any questions about Quasar, you can email support@lambdaav.io anytime!

Adding Dynamic to Your Shots

12/20/2021

Camera placement and creating dynamic shots in your studio, especially if it’s small, can be difficult. There are a few things to consider when looking into your camera setup.

First, making sure your camera is in a good spot is an important part of creating a studio. You need to make sure you have enough room to be placed away from your talent so you can not only fit everything you want into the shot but also make sure there is room to take more creative shots. Allowing more room between your camera and your subject not only allows for the needed spacing to capture a shot but allows you more creativity if you want to do any pulls or pushes.

Second, we all know that talking head interviews are not always the most exciting thing; it's undoubtedly true. But interviews and talking heads are a large portion of filming. So, whatever you can do to add a little spice and interest to your interview shots is always a good idea. A great way to do this is by adding movement to your shot through a dolly or slider. The motion provides visual interest and helps keep the attention of your audience.

Using a slider will elevate your production value, improving your shoot's overall look by adding a three-dimensional feel. Thankfully, there are plenty of great options out there for sliders and dollies that can fit any number of budgets and use cases.

For one of our recent corporate studio installs, we used the Dev Dolly from Gide Gear. It's a modular system that runs on 1-inch or 2-inch metal rails. One of the benefits of this is that you can easily swap rails to a shorter setup if you are working in a limited space or swap out to a much longer setup if required. Its sled/carriage rolls on a four quad wheel configuration providing silky-smooth, consistent movement. The stands used were Matthews rolling low boys, enabling the dolly to be easily moved and adjusted.

If you're looking for that little extra touch to elevate your production, a slider or dolly can knock that goal out of the park. Are you looking to move to the next level in your video production, but aren’t sure where you want to start? We’re always happy to answer any questions you have! Email info@lambdaav.io and you get a response from our qualified experts in whatever field you need information on!

Lighting Solution for Small Studios

10/21/2021

We recently completed a small in-house studio for a client and thought it would be useful to talk about some of the infrastructure pieces involved. With this studio one of the primary goals was to maximize a small space. Many times, clients contact us thinking they have a giant newfound space to build a studio in. When empty, these spaces generally seem huge, but in reality, a 25ft x 25ft room is not huge in the world of video. First, this is because gear like cameras and operators take space, and second, because lensing, set pieces, and lighting all needs to be spread out to work properly. A green screen when lit will reflect green causing issues with any talent standing in front of it. (Read all about Green Screens HERE) Camera lensing requires space to get people into the frame. A room with small dimensions turns into a cramped space very quickly, leaving barely enough room to work and tons of tripping hazards.

In order to maximize space for this business one of the things we could do was lean to a professional studio design and create a lighting grid. A lighting grid is a system of suspended steel pipes in a crisscross design for hanging lights and other devices from the ceiling. A typical grid has pipes spaced with 4ft gaps proving lots of spaces for mounting anything you would need in a studio. Before trying to rig up a grid in your space make sure to first consult a professional as these need to be set up safely and up to building code. A typical grid for a small space can weigh as much as 800lbs and needs to be anchored correctly to be able to handle even more load than you plan to attach. For this grid, we used special concrete anchors to hold one direction of the grid and another custom grid clamp to join everything together from our favorite people at The Light Source.

Getting Better Results from a Green Screen

10/21/2021

Green screens can offer a lot of versatility and open new doors of opportunity to create more content in your studio or gain more experience with your production skills. So, let’s take a look at some of the challenges and benefits of working with a green screen in your space! We recently were able to install a green screen for a corporate studio. Their needs presented a unique set of challenges and benefits to having a green screen in their studio.

So, let’s set the stage: The corporation had set aside a space for a video studio and had the goal to create quality video content to present to the rest of their organization and their network. What they didn’t have was a very large space and being a corporation, they also knew they needed to be able to produce content quickly for more immediate use. Knowing this, using a green screen sounded like a desirable way to get what they needed out of their studio!

Do I really need to do a site visit?

9/30/2021

So, you are considering looking into more AV equipment. You don’t have any real plans, it’s just something you need to start thinking about. Maybe you’ve googled some gear here and there. Or maybe you’ve had your eye on something you really want to add to your setup.

At this point, you may have heard about Lambda and how great they are, so you casually reach out to see what general pricing might be on that new audio gear. If this is you, you might be surprised when we answer back asking to schedule a site visit. It might sound inconvenient or more serious than you are ready to commit to. So, why do we schedule a site visit or a phone call before giving you a quote?

We offer a lot of different services at Lambda, but the heart of our company is to provide excellence in service and support through our knowledge of Audio-Visual technology. We want to meet, as well as exceed, the needs and solutions we provide to our customers. Lambda is built on giving you the personal experience you won’t get from other companies. This includes making sure we see and understand your specific system so we can offer you the best solution. Anyone can buy some type of equipment online, but when Lambda offers you a solution, you can rest assured we’ve taken your current situation and future goals into account. Not only that, but that we have tested and are confident in the equipment we offer.

So, what does a Site Spec look like? Lambda offers free, no obligation Site Specs whenever you have time. They may take anywhere from 30min to a few hours depending on size of the system and to give you time for any questions you might have for us! Often, by scheduling a Site Spec we can offer you tips or suggestions about your system to help it improve or to help you plan for what needs to be done in the future. And if on-site is too much, you can always schedule a phone call!

Our favorite thing at Lambda is to put tools into your hands. This means we do less box sales, such as purchasing online, and more offering you a custom solution just for you! So, next time you feel hesitant on doing a site visit with Lambda, remember it the easiest, quickest way to get a quick professional opinion before anything else happens.

Curious to know what we would suggest to make your system better? Schedule a Site Spec anytime by visiting the scheduling tab on our website! Or email for an appointment.

Three Elements for Successful AV

9/30/2021

Understanding the end goal and use case for any system is crucial to its design and success. Starting with a clear vision allows for figuring out what pathway and components are needed to create a solution that meets the end goal.

Three things that factor into that plan are feasibility, viability, and desirability. Feasibility relates to the tech involved. Does it exist as one component? How does it integrate? How is the ease of use? What about reliability? Viability relates to how the tech integrates with the client. Does it fit within the limitations of the location? Is it within budget? How many people will be needed to run it? Desirability, of course, relates to if it meets the end goals of a client. If the end system is a struggle to use, is not ideal and, in general, just a pain, it lacks desirability. You want whoever will be operating the system to be pleased with both the result and the running of the system. Finding a balance between these three elements is the hard part.

A local business, World Challenge, was looking for a multi-camera video podcast studio with high-quality video and audio, as well as a high level of soundproofing. These were a few of their goals and needs. Regarding soundproofing, they went with an enclosed modular soundproof pod that was 13’ by 13’ 7’. While this solved the soundproofing issue, the space restriction it created would have to be considered when designing the video setup.

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