Timeline Television has invested in Custom Consoles Module-R desks for a video production gallery, MPX suite and audio control studio at its newly opened Ealing Broadcast Centre. The facility was commissioned in time for the remote production coverage of a large-scale sports event held in Japan from late August through early September.

System integrator Elevate Broadcast has chosen Custom Consoles control room and studio desks as part of a large-scale project for an APAC free-to-air television and radio network.

AE Live has selected Custom Consoles M-Desk-Technical control room furniture for integration into new graphics suites at premises in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. Six suites in total have been equipped, two with seven-bay and four with five-bay units.

Custom Consoles announces the completion of Module-R studio control desks and MediaWalls for the Studio 1 production control gallery at the Pacific Quay headquarters of STV. The project, which is currently in progress, includes front and rear production control, audio control and traffic-area control desks plus two MediaWall multiscreen monitor support frames.

Custom Consoles (www.customconsoles.co.uk) commemorates its 25th anniversary this year as an internationally active producer of broadcast control room desks and studio furniture. Founded in 1996 by Neil Reed and  Graham Buchanan, the company operates as an independent business with full development and manufacturing facilities at its Leighton Buzzard headquarters.

JNE Productions, an Indiana-based specialist in audio, video, lighting and stage systems design and integration, has chosen Custom Consoles (www.customconsoles.co.uk) furniture for a new church installation. The project includes two 3 metre wide rectangular control-room desks based on the Module-R series. Both desks are constructed from high-grade birch ply with graphite-grey Marmoleum worktops, black PVC edging and grey side panels.

Custom Consoles announces an ergonomic upgrade and new colour style for its EditOne workstation. Formerly configured with a curved front edge for use by a single operator, the enhanced design now features a straight front edge to allow easy use by two people. The desk and its optional auxiliary equipment pedestal are now available with powder coated RAL 7043 traffic grey vertical panels plus a choice of Marmoleum or laminate work desktop and shelf surfaces.

The accompanying photo shows the new Custom Consoles MediaWall in the George Lucas Stage production control gallery at BBC Studioworks, Elstree.

Custom Consoles announces the completion of a 5 metres wide by 3 metres high MediaWall for BBC Studioworks in Elstree, Hertfordshire. The new structure is installed in the production control gallery used for the supervision of programmes from the George Lucas Stage.

Custom Consoles reports accelerating demand for Operator Safety Screens. Designed to help technical control room and media facility staff maintain social spacing against coronavirus infection, the screens commenced shipment in early May.

Custom Consoles reports strong demand for the Operator Safety Screen since its first shipment in early May. Customers to date include Al Jazeera, Amazon Prime, BBC Studioworks, BETV, CJP, Dega, Farnborough College, Gravity Media, IMG, Input Media, ITN, ITV, One Ten Productions, QVC, Racing UK, Solenis, STV, STV North and TimeLine. With over 300 sales in three months it is one of the fastest selling new products in Custom Consoles' history.

“Broadcast media studios are gradually returning to a degree of normality following the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Gary Fuller, Sales Manager, Custom Consoles. “The Operator Safety Screen is proving a key part of the strategy introduced by facility managers to reduce the risk of airborne infection or direct physical contact between control room personnel. BBC Studioworks for example has introduced a suite of key Covid-19 safety measures across its three facilities. These include mandatory temperature checks, screen dividers in all galleries, UVC cleaning, one-way pedestrian routes and dedicated operating protocol documents specific to each site.”

Custom Consoles announces a new addition to its range of technical control furniture. Developed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Operator Safety Screen reduces the risk of airborne infection or direct physical contact between control room personnel without restricting their forward or side view of video monitor displays.

Custom Consoles announces the completion of control room desks and multiscreen monitor display mounts for the London studios of one of the world's largest news agencies. The desks were provided in partnership with broadcast system integrator ATG Danmon.

"Control room furniture is an important part of every major contract," comments ATG Danmon Managing Director Russell Peirson-Hagger. "Bespoke designs tend to be expensive and require very detailed specification. We commissioned all four desks by selecting optimal elements from Custom Consoles' established Module-R series. Our clients appreciate the robust build quality, excellent ergonomics and timeless styling of Module-R. The Module-R range is also well thought out in terms of cable ducting, equipment access and ventilation."

Custom Consoles announces the completion of two studio control desks and MediaWall monitor displays for a new UHD production facility at the London headquarters of Fidelity International. Supervised by systems integration specialist ATG Danmon, the project formed part of Fidelity's relocation to new premises in the centre of the city's financial district. The studios will be used for a range of applications including participation in finance-related broadcasts.

"We recommended Module-R and MediaWall on the basis of long experience with both product ranges," comments ATG Danmon Managing Director Russell Peirson-Hagger. "Their inherent modularity allowed us to specify exactly the required parameters in the full knowledge that the results would be robustly built, ergonomically sound, attractively styled, accurately sized and easy to install."

Largest of the two desks is a six metre wide in-line unit positioned along the main wall of the Studio 1 production gallery. This is configured for use by up to six operators including camera shading, robotic camera control, lighting control, graphic effects, vision mixing and control room to studio talkback. Sloping 3U high equipment pods run almost the entire width of this desk. All equipment above and below the main worktop remains easily accessible.

Custom Consoles has completed a twin-desk project for the Geneva offices of a globally active service organisation. Designed and supplied in partnership with Swiss broadcast systems integrator Visuals, the desks comprise an L-shaped Module-R for use by up to five production gallery operators and a rectangular Module-R Lite configured for two operators.

"The desks form a core part of a new television studio," says Peter Sullivan, Visuals' Broadcast Systems Project Manager. "These will be used for a wide range of productions which can be live streamed or recorded for later viewing."

"Custom Consoles' Module-R and Module-R Lite series have proved a successful choice in earlier projects we have completed for major broadcasters such as RTS and more recently for Switzerland's National Equestrian Institute, allowing robust and operator-friendly desks to be produced from our initial draft designs."

"The L-shaped Module-R desk is a seven-bay straight section combined with a four-bay and twin-bay corner unit situated alongside a soundproofed window into the studio. A camera control unit embedded in the corner desk surface is used to control multiple robotic cameras."

"To the CCU operator's left is a ColourSource console which controls the studio's LED-illuminated cyclorama.

Custom Consoles announces the completion and installation of eight control desks and a large MediaWall monitor display support system for NEP Media Solutions BV. Located in the master control room at the company's studios in Hilversum's Media Park, the desks are configured in front and rear rows for use by up to six and four operators respectively.

"The desks are similar in style and colour scheme to a suite we produced in early 2018 for another NEP television studio facility," says Custom Consoles' Sales Manager Gary Fuller. "The forward desk centres on a dual-operator bridge with a total of eight forward-sloping 4U equipment pods. This is constructed as a rectangular unit with space for two operators. Left and right of the bridge are two units of identical design to the bridge but angled to match the curve of the 13.9 metre wide six-frame MediaWall."

"The MediaWall itself is one of the largest we have produced to date, each of the six frames accommodating four 55 inch UHD displays to create an 11-wide by two-high screen array with two additional pairs of 32 inch screens positioned to form vertical columns immediately left and right of the front-centre bridge desk. The result is a very elegant solution which can justifiably be termed state-of-the-art."