Flightcase manufacturer 5 Star has supplied over 1,000 cases to West Midlands, UK-based AV rental specialists Central Presentations Ltd (CPL) in the last seven years, which have ranged from cases for audio equipment through cases for 19” racks, projector, plasma and LCDs to video production cases.
The latest CPL 5 Star case project has involved a custom designed set of road cases for CPL’s newest series of “fly away” portable video production units (PPUs).
This is a smaller PPU specifically designed to service the proliferation of projects where the larger full sized Grass Valley PPUs would be too large, and is based around a Panasonic AV-HS400 mixer. This is integrated with two Marshall 24 inch monitors, a Ross HD/SD matrix switcher and an RTS talkback system.
The case was required to incorporate all the PPU elements in one compact road trunk, which is waist high and an easy lift. 5 Star’s Steve Swann collaborated with CPL’s Matthew Boyse on evolving the design.
“We needed something smaller, highly portable and quick and easy to install and rig for small-to-medium corporate or live events and presentations in particular,” said Boyse “The system, complete with its flight case, fits the bill perfectly”.
The Tour Grade road case features a red laminate exterior finish to match the other 1,000 plus cases that 5 Star has manufactured for CPL.
The screen monitors are mounted on gas struts that lift up and glide into place – a feature that utilises an otherwise redundant case lid.
