The Slam company is recognized for representing Phantom cameras, today it promotes the correct use of energy in the industry.
Slam Solutions is a multinational company that began operations in 2006 and has a presence in the United States, Mexico and Colombia, as well as partners in Brazil, Chile and Argentina. Its CEO and founder, Jorge Villanueva, spoke with TVyVideo+Radio about the current state of the market in Mexico and the countries where it has a presence.
One of the brands it represents for the broadcast industry are the Phantom high-speed cameras, which are mainly used in live sports, commercial production and film. In the series that are recorded in Latin America particularly they are less and less used because working a shot at a thousand frames per second generates a high cost in post-production and editing, while they usually work at 30 frames per second.
For the Tokyo Olympic Games, which were going to be held in mid-2020 but due to the contingency of Covid-19 had to be postponed, 10 Phantom cameras were acquired in order to make a better coverage of sports competitions.
Jorge Villanueva stressed that these cameras are being used by other industries. Among them research and development of materials in laboratories, the automotive in crash tests, for factories and production lines in productivity issues.
Right energy for technology
Another of the brands that Slam Solutions represents is LEX, electrical distribution equipment, which includes everything electrical after the generator, both physical and portable installation. They are solutions for when it is necessary to install luminaires, audio, equipment for an outdoor production or studio.
The founder of Slam assured that this is a topic that will begin to develop strongly in Latin America. "Many companies in the sector do not follow international codes in electricity matters and there is also a lack of regulation in the region, which generates high risk for people. A lot of growth is expected in this sector although it costs a lot of work because companies say that if they have worked the same in the last 20 or 30 years, why change and incur an additional cost. "
He recalled that in the United States a production can stop because the right electrical conditions are not there and they are decisions of the technicians supported by the unions. But in Latin America things are not fulfilled. And it is an issue of safety of people, beyond equipment.
But the main problem in this regard in Latin America is the lack of clear regulation. In Chile, 2 years ago they began to analyze a new regulation for the electricity issue. In Mexico there are some general rules but they are not complied with.
"Meeting these standards requires new legislation, because for many it is an investment for which they will not charge more and productions have pressure to lower costs. And there are many bad habits in electrical issues that exist in the middle of a production. They do not use the right connectors, they do not follow the standards for the cables, they connect equipment with more or less amperage than required, they even work in ways that affect the integrity of people and the safety of the equipment, "said Jorge Villanueva.
To those problems is added that now with mobile devices, all people want to charge where they see a free place. And in a production this can be serious, because there are times when they connect in improper places, such as in the installation of microphones and end up generating interference.
Factors to consider
Finally, Jorge Villanueva highlighted some points to take into account for a correct installation of energy within a production:
- Proper handling and identification of voltage 110 – 220
- Grounding equipment with ground cable
- Use the set color code
- Have constant of how they wire from the generator to the connection with the equipment
- Comply with the electrical code
- Train technicians who have empirical knowledge on norms and standards
- Read the equipment manual
