Fly pack systems
A fully operational control room in flight cases. Assembled and powered on site. Perfect for smaller events or for venues no trailer will ever get into.
Live Media | TNDV · Nashville, TN · Columbus, OH
What is a fly pack?
A fly pack is a complete live production system built into flight cases and racks so it can be shipped, flown or driven to a venue and assembled on site — a control room that arrives in pieces instead of on wheels.
Most everything a production truck holds, a fly pack holds too: switcher, router, camera chains, replay and record, audio, intercom, monitoring. The difference is that a truck arrives finished and ready for action and a fly pack must be assembled. While it takes longer on the front end of an event, it buys you the ability to work in places a production vehicle will never reach.
You will also see the spellings “flypack” and “fly-pack”, and the term “portable production system”. They mean the same thing.
When do you use a fly pack instead of a truck?
When the venue cannot accommodate a trailer, when the show is inside a building with no truck dock, when the production has to fly to another country, or when the system needs to remain at a site for a run of dates rather than roll in and out each day.
Arenas, ballrooms, theatres, houses of worship, convention centers, corporate campuses and international venues are all common territories for a fly-pack territory. So are residencies and multi-day events, where building once and leaving the system up beats parking a truck for a week.
Plain and simple, a broadcast truck is faster to deploy and is self-contained. A fly pack goes places a truck cannot, and it can be configured to the show rather than the show configured to the truck.
What is in a fly pack?
A typical fly pack consists of four rack groups, plus the switcher and control surface: a camera rack for the camera chains, a record rack for program and ISO recording, an audio and comms rack, and a monitoring rack — sized to the show rather than fixed.
The modularity is the point. A fly pack is specified per production, not pulled off a shelf. Live Media Group’s systems are built around three switcher platforms, and the choice between them is a real decision rather than a preference. As experts in fly pack deployment and operations, we work with our clients to set up a fly pack that is appropriate for each event.
Live Media Group offers three different fly packs – Ross, Grass Valley, and Panasonic.
Ross fly packs
Ref: TNDV Ross fly pack spec snapshot, 2024
Switchers — Ross Carbonite Ultra — 2 M/E, 24 in / 12 out (18×10 in 12G) · Ross Ultrix Carbonite — 2 M/E, 22 in/out · Ross Carbonite Multimedia — 24 in / 10 out
Routing — AJA Kumo 32×32
Cameras — Up to 24 across three racks of eight — Sony HDC-4300, Hitachi SK-HD1200, Hitachi Z-HD5000, Panasonic robotics
Record — Up to 30 paths — three racks of ten — AJA Ki Pro 12G and HDD
Audio — Behringer X32, Mackie, or Soundcraft Vi3000
Playback & graphics — Ross XPression, ProPresenter, Mitti, Ross Mira 8-channel
Intercom — RTS PS-31 two-wire with (2) PL channels, (10) BP-325 beltpacks, Sennheiser headsets. Options: RTS Zeus III matrix, KP32, FreeSpeak to 25 users, Unity to 30.
Monitoring — Four 32″ monitors per rack
Grass Valley fly packs
The large-format option
Switcher — Grass Valley V-Series K-Frame — 2 M/E, 32 in / 16 out, Double Take, FlexiKey
Processing — (16) integrated frame syncs, (24) integrated format converters, two multiviewers
Routing — Ross Ultrix 2RU 72×72 with MADI audio embedding
Cameras — Up to 24, three racks of eight
Record — Up to 30 paths, three racks of ten, AJA Ki Pro
Playback — Ross XPression, Apple-based playback, Ross Mira 8-channel
Options — Soundcraft Vi3000, 25-user wireless intercom, HD-LED and OLED monitoring, Nashville-based streaming
Panasonic fly packs
The compact option
Switchers — Panasonic HS-450 — 1 M/E, 16 in / 4 out · HS-400 — 1 M/E, 8 in / 4 out · HS-50 — 1 M/E, 5 in / 2 out
Routing — AJA or Blackmagic
Cameras — Up to 24, three racks of eight
Record — Up to 30 paths, three racks of ten, AJA Ki Pro 12G SSD and HDD
Audio — Behringer X32 with remote rack, Mackie, optional Soundcraft Vi3000
Power — Base system runs on two 20-amp circuits
Power is the line that matters most. A base Panasonic system runs on two 20-amp circuits — ordinary building power. No shore power, no generator, no three-phase. That is the practical reason fly packs get into buildings where a truck cannot park and could not be powered if it did.
Which fly pack does a show need?
Match the switcher to the show’s layering, not its source count. A single-M/E Panasonic system handles a straightforward multi-camera show; the Ross platforms add a second M/E and larger routing; the Grass Valley K-Frame is the choice when the show needs 32 inputs, heavy keying and format conversion across mixed sources. We work closely with our clients to choose the right customized fly pack for their event.
| Panasonic | Ross | Grass Valley | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switcher M/Es | 1 | 2 | 2, with Double Take and FlexiKey |
| Inputs | 5 to 16 | 22 to 24 | 32 |
| Routing | AJA or Blackmagic | AJA Kumo 32×32 | Ross Ultrix 72×72 with MADI |
| Format conversion | — | — | (16) frame syncs, (24) converters |
| Cameras | Up to 24 on all three platforms, in three racks of eight | ||
| Record | Up to 30 paths on all three, in three racks of ten | ||
| Best for | Compact shows, tight power, fast builds | Most multi-camera work — the general-purpose choice | Large or mixed-format shows, heavy keying |
What about audio and recording?
Fly pack audio records up to 96 channels, with MADI and Pro Tools multitrack plus backup recorders. For larger music work the audio moves off the fly pack entirely and onto a dedicated truck.
Up to 96 channels covers most multi-camera broadcast and a great deal of live music. Above that — a festival with hundreds of inputs, a record-quality multitrack capture — the right tool is TNDV’s Vibration, a 45-foot audio production and multitrack support unit built around a Studer Vista 9 with 62 faders and 344 DSP inputs, 256×256 MADI, two 128-channel Pro Tools rigs and four 64-channel JoeCo recorders. Vibration works with both fly packs and with broadcast vehicles to support events requiring sophisticated audio production.
See audio recording for Vibration’s full capabilities.
Fly pack FAQ
What is a fly pack?
A complete live production system built into flight cases and racks so it can be shipped, flown or driven to a venue and assembled on site. It holds the same equipment as a production truck — switcher, router, camera chains, record, audio, intercom and monitoring — but arrives in pieces and is assembled onsite rather than a broadcast production vehicle that is driven to the site.
Why is it called a fly pack?
Because it is packed to fly. The system is cased so it can go as air freight, which is what makes it the answer for venues and countries a trailer cannot reach.
What is the difference between a fly pack and a production truck?
A truck arrives finished and self-contained; a fly pack gets built on site. The truck is faster to deploy; the fly pack goes places a trailer cannot and can be configured to the show rather than the show configured to the truck.
How many cameras can a fly pack support?
Up to 24 on Live Media Group’s Ross, Grass Valley and Panasonic systems, carried in three racks of eight.
How much power does a fly pack need?
Far less than a truck. A base Panasonic system runs on two 20-amp circuits — ordinary building power, no generator and no three-phase service. Larger configurations need more, but power is rarely the constraint that stops a fly pack getting into a venue.
Can a fly pack record ISOs?
Yes. Up to 30 record paths across three racks of ten, using AJA Ki Pro recorders, covering program and isolated camera feeds.
How much audio can a fly pack handle?
Up to 96 channels, with MADI and Pro Tools multitrack plus backup recorders. Larger music productions move to a dedicated audio truck instead.
What venues suit a fly pack?
Arenas, theatres, ballrooms, houses of worship, convention centers, corporate campuses and international venues — anywhere without truck access or a dock, and anywhere a system needs to stay built for a run of dates.
How long does a fly pack take to set up?
Longer than parking a truck and shorter than people expect. It depends on configuration, venue access and cable runs, which is why the venue survey matters more for a fly pack than for a truck.
Configure a fly pack
Tell us the venue, the camera count, the audio plot and what power you can get. We will spec a system that fits through the door and runs on what the building has. Email us at solutions@livemediagroup.com
or phone 833-933-5483.