Uni Upgrades With Green Hippo Hippotizer HD Media Server

A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd’s Video division has provided Green Hippo’s Hippotizer HD media server to the University of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, UK.
Specified by Huddersfield University’s Senior Technician and Manager of Resources for Drama, Theatre & Performance - David Wainwright, the new Hippotizer HD will be used by students on the BA Honours courses in Technical Theatre and Drama.
As an experienced provider of industry-standard technical facilities to leading educational institutions and markets, AC-ET were approached by the University when deciding to replace their original Hippotizer media servers with the very latest and most powerful HD video playback technology currently available on the market.
"Our research confirmed that the Hippotizer HD is arguably the most popular and appropriate media server for the theatrical and performance orientated environment in which we teach" explains David, adding that "There was never any other real competition - our previous Hippotizers worked extremely well, they were dynamic and reliable, so we stuck with a brand that we know and trust."
As one of the most powerful media servers available on the market today, Hippotizer HD can play multiple layers of media in sizes up to full 1080p resolution without compromising playback or output quality.
Producing around 40 shows a year, plus an end of year Drama Festival, the department and its students also work offsite producing shows in schools, community centres and a wide variety of venues in the locality.
Included in the package from AC-ET - which was co-ordinated by Alistair Smyth - was a comprehensive two-day on-site staff training course conducted by Green Hippo’s Simon Harris. This training enabled David and his team to learn in-depth how to utilise the many features available on the Hippotizer HD and ensured that they were able to maximise the full potential of their new investment.
Topics covered in the training included HippoNet - which allows for multiple components on a network to communicate seamlessly, making for a truly modular and scalable system; Timeline - which is a very powerful show controller built directly into the interface of the Hippotizer; and PixelMapper LED - which will convert pixel colour and intensity to DMX values and output them via Ethernet port to create stunning pixel mapping effects and patterns.
The Hippotizer HD will be "invaluable" for teaching various course modules, particularly the video-specific ones in Technical Theatre, where students get completely hands-on with the kit. They are also intending to use the new media server for presentations.
Recently revealed at PLASA 2012, Green Hippo announced some exciting, new V3 Hippotizer software features including 3D VideoMapper - which enables users to select an area of the source and map to an area of the output; Multi-Select - which allows users to select layers from multiple machines over Hipponet and control them together; and Mackie Protocol Support - which enables a Mackie MCU-Pro to act as a Hippotizer tactile interface.
David adds that the service and support from AC-ET has been "Really excellent… There is always someone on the end of the phone who is professional, knowledgeable and efficient."
As well as offering an extensive product range covering all video hardware and software system technologies, A.C. Video also offers 24-hour after-sales technical support for Green Hippo products.
www.ac-et.com