Featured Project: Carnival Cruise Lines' "Liberty Seaside Theatre"

Carnival Cruise Lines' Liberty was the first ship to install the "Seaside Theatre." All systems and specifications were designed by NED. Located on the top deck of the ship, the 12-foot-high by 22-foot-wide screen utilizes the same technology featured in large stadiums and New York’s Times Square with the benefit of being viewable at night and in the glare of a sunny day. In addition to the state-of-the-art screen, NED also designed a 70,000-watt sound system, providing concert quality sound.

Since the Liberty installation, NED has served as primary system designers as well as project managers for all similar installations for Carnival and Costa Cruise Lines.  In total, NED has overseen five system installations on brand new vessels (three for Carnival and two for Costa) as well as the retrofit of similar systems on an additional five Carnival ships already in service.  During 2009 and 2010, NED is working on another 5 installations on new ships for Canival, Costa, Holland America, and P&O, as well as another retrofit for Carnival.

General System Specifications

• 12 ft high x 20 ft wide (260 sq. ft.)
• LED video wall with supporting structural frame
• 70,000 watt directionally controllable audio system
• Video head-end system controlled from the ship's central Broadcast Center capable of playing DVD, MPEG, live video, or off-air content.
• Integrated control system for simplified user control from either the Broadcast Center or locally on the Pool Deck.
• Also includes full scheduling system for timed automated playback.

NED's Scope:

• Design of all audio, video, and control systems as well as the design of the structure.
  
• Project management of the Seaside Theatre system design and installation including coordination of all trades relating to the Seaside Theatre system (AV Integrator, Structural Design and Integrator, LED supplier and Electrical Contractor.)
• Budget management
• Installation supervision during the actual installation.
• Commissioning of the system.

Multimedia Facilities List of Credits:

NED served as the design consultant for all audio, video, surveillance and security systems for the new Cruise Terminal at Long Beach, CA. Located within the world's largest geodesic dome, formerly the home of the Spruce Goose and adjacent to the historic Queen Mary, this project offered several unique design challenges. The inherent acoustical qualities of the large dome had to be addressed head-on in order to provide an audio system which was both intelligible for general paging throughout the facility and appropriate for general background music. The security and surveillance systems needed to meet the requirements of the local Port Security Services as well as the strict, post-911 government requirements for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services and U.S. Customs Services. The video systems were designed with entertainment and advertisement capabilities, in addition to providing important information to assist passengers during the embarkation and debarkation processes. The project culminated with the successful opening in April 2003.

H.J. Heinz Company requested two animated ketchup bottles to sit atop the scoreboard in the new Heinz Field stadium. NED was contracted to design the structures and project manage the construction and installation. NED became involved very early in the design process, developing a number of different options at the request of Heinz. Our 3D drafting and rendering capabilities allowed us to rapidly generate images of the various possibilities and provide views from different locations around the stadium. The NED office in New York provided the project management, while the research, design and drawing packages were created at NED's home office in La Jolla, California.

NED provided facility design consultation for a proposed retrofit of the Executive Briefing Center at Hewlett-Packard. The existing facility served the HP requirements for internal webcasts, but could not be used for larger press conferences and presentations without the addition of supplementary lighting, audio and video equipment. The goal was to design an infrastructure that could support the use of supplemental equipment in an unobtrusive manner. NED consulted with HP personnel and subcontractors to determine their requirements. NED then developed specifications and detailed layout and mounting drawings for modifications to the existing lighting, audio and video systems.

In 1995, NED provided lighting facility design for the 1200 square foot studio production facility, including grid design and specification for all lighting fixtures, control and distribution.

In 1993 and 1994, Jim Tetlow served as a consultant to the government-operated Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (now privatized as MediaCorp). Services included the design of new studios, upgrading of existing facilities and lighting training.