Inercia designs and carries out the audiovisual installation of the Solo CSV center

The new contemporary art space of 4.500 m2 of Madrid has an audiovisual infrastructure, carried out by Inertia with the aid of Brunels, based on SDI signals and IP video and audio technologies.

Solo CSV is the new contemporary art space dedicated to hosting artistic and creative projects promoted by Solo, e Inertia Audiovisual Technology has been the company in charge of carrying out the design, supply, integration and commissioning of the AV installation of the entire space.

This is a project initiated by businessmen Ana Gervas y David Cantolla, that seeks to allow not only the exhibition, but also, carrying out collaborations, artistic research initiatives, facilities site-specific, and interdisciplinary artistic meetings.

Designed by the architecture studio blacksmiths, The architectural and functional concept of Solo CSV was based from the beginning on the versatility of the space and its dynamism..

Starting from this premise, Inertia designed and, after, full, with the help of Brunelar, different audiovisual technologies, an AV realization system based on SDI signals, IP video and audio technologies, to distribute and receive signals from any point in space.

The aesthetics of the building of industrial origin from the beginning of the 20th century were adapted to convert what was initially the printing press of important newspapers., in a contemporary art space, and in a place for holding events at all levels.

One of the main complications of the project was hiding the equipment and audiovisual installation so that the aesthetics remained intact..

Integration design

To make it possible to distribute video and audio signals between any point in space, maintaining the highest quality, Inercia worked from the beginning of the project together with the architectural studio and the construction company to define the conduit needs for the audiovisual cabling., and the design of the different rooms for housing equipment and signal connection points.

A star structure was chosen, centralized in one sala de racks/CPD which connects with four other rooms, through multiple tie-lines and network connections. From these five rack rooms all signals are distributed to the connection boxes in the space., including video cabling, audio, data and fiber optic network, in addition to the speakers that serve the different areas.

Thus, Maximum capillarity has been reached to have audiovisual service at any point.

To guarantee IP video and audio services throughout the space, Inercia has installed three data networks, star structured, with central switches that connect with the rest through 10GbE optical fiber. One for video and audio over IP, video over a network Creston in NVX and audio over a network Dante; a second Dante backup to continue keeping the sound operational and not depend only on the main network; y, a third network, designed for technical control of equipment.

This last, in addition to the control system, It is also used for KVM communications (keyboard, video and mouse), which is based on XDIP devices of the brand Adder, and that allows having keyboard control stations, mouse and monitor at any point in space for all types of computers included in this network. The control network is complemented by the complete coverage of a red WiFi de UniFi, Exclusive for AV control uses, that allows access to the control of technical devices from any point in space wirelessly.

From each of the rack rooms, The wiring is also distributed to more than 90 space junction boxes, which, given the complexity of the architectural project, has posed an integration challenge.

To solve it, we turned to the brand Financed, who actively participated in the designs of both functional and aesthetic solutions, to overcome integration difficulties.

Due to the technical characteristics, In most cases, boxes with a minimum depth were required, both on floors, walls and ceilings, and with a need to fully adapt to the aesthetics of the project. Specific boxes were designed together with Pinanson for each case that met all the requirements., placing connectors on the sides of the boxes to minimize depth, customizing the painting or screen printing of the fronts of the boxes, that open and close using magnets to avoid protrusions or anchors, and always maintaining the maximum technical guarantees in signal connection.

In this way it has been possible to reach every corner of the space, with minimal visual impact, with 4K SDI video signals, analog or digital audio, 10GbE data network using Cat6A cabling and OM4 fiber optics.

Technologies used

One of the client's main requirements when designing the space was the capacity for musical ambiance in the different areas., with the highest sound quality, visually integrating into the architectural design.

The solution chosen for this was the brand's equipment Bose, which has several DSP processors, power stages, and an endowment of more than 120 DesignMax range speakers, highlighting the pendant models, which are the most used in space. For these, a custom anchor system which allows them to be installed very close to the ceilings and without leaving any cables or anchors visible.

The sound system includes 37 independent zones, all of them with stereo audio, managed through two EX-1280 DSP processors, that receive audio signals from multiple music players from the Dante network, the different audiovisual reproduction devices, computers for presentations or videoconferencing, or the audio signals of the performance control.

These processors manage all the signals and distribute them to the power stages of the gama PowerShare, which also receive audio from the Dante network, which simplifies installation.

These stages allow the total power to be distributed variably between the different output channels., characteristic that was key in a design of these dimensions, by allowing different numbers of speakers to be connected to the output channels without the need to perform complex calculations, provided that the total power of the stage is not exceeded.

The main bulk of space video and audio signal management is carried out through IP networks. For the video the Crestron NVX technology, that allows video signals to be distributed up to 4Kp60 4:4:4 via 1GbE networks, including AES67 embedded audio, and USB and KVM routing.

The audio network is integrated with the Dante network, so that sound from NVX equipment can be routed to any device in the space and vice versa, providing high versatility for system signal routing.

Various SDI signal routing matrices are also available., that are interconnected to the IP video network through dedicated encoders and decoders, which allows the IP video network to be integrated with the video production system for events.

The space has complete production control, that can serve events, recordings or any audiovisual format that you want to produce at any point in space.

As main systems, The control has a mixer Blackmagic ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K, cameras Panasonic AW-UE150, grabHyperdeck fans and players and a production system based on software VMIX, in addition to a audio console Yamaha TF3 complemented by a Yamaha TiO1608 i/o signal box, and a system of digital microphone of Sennheiser, of the serie EW-DX, with radio frequency coverage throughout the space.

Besides, auxiliary equipment is available for audiovisual production outside of its own control, as a second Yamaha TF1 console with another TiO1608 chest, lighting systems, or audio signal converters, video and IP, inter alia.

To complete full signal integration, The video mixer of the realization is integrated into the Dante audio network, through a MADI-Dante converter, which allows the audio content associated with all the mixer's video signals to be available on any mixing or sound processing device, without the need to use more equipment such as audio embedders or de-embedders.

The execution control has several computer equipment for the streaming broadcast, and a team dedicated to videoconferencing, to enable both the broadcasting of events to the outside, such as collaboration from remote points.

This complete integration capacity allows space users to exploit it through multiple means., since the project contemplates the possibility of carrying out simpler events, dispensing with implementation control through the use of custom-designed control interfaces, based on a Crestron control system. For this, Complete programming tailored to the user has been carried out, both visually and functionally, that allows the operation of the space's audiovisual systems, and is intended for use by non-technically specialized personnel.

First of all, musical ambience control is available, which allows the selection of different sound sources for each of the zones, with individual volume controls by zone and grouped if desired. You can also control the routing of video signals on the IP network in a simple way, to define the contents to be displayed on each screen or projection, and detailed video and audio control is available for each area likely to host events in the space.

The system allows you to store and recall space status presets, that allow immediate and easy loading of different use scenarios.

All this has contributed to the final result, a versatile and dynamic space that allows, in addition to the exhibition of work, carrying out any type of event, collaboration, installation or interdisciplinary artistic meeting.