Riedel Communications today announced that live event production company FOH Productions has built a portable camera switching and control flypack that uses Riedel’s MediorNet real-time media network for distributed video routing, with Artist digital matrix and Bolero wireless intercom systems for communications. In service since January and deployed at events across the United States, the system supports large corporate productions in ballrooms, convention centers, and arenas where production trailers cannot go.
FOH specializes in providing equipment systems for indoor corporate events of 1,000 to 12,000 attendees at hotels and convention centers throughout the U.S. and Canada. Clients are production companies that value efficient, precise delivery of corporate messaging to internal and external audiences. To support these demanding environments, FOH sought to reduce cabling and extend its production infrastructure into spaces a truck cannot reach. MediorNet’s distributed architecture, interoperability with other equipment, and proven reliability made it a key part of the system design.
“It’s our largest portable system to date, capable of 288×288 video routing at the switcher. MediorNet provides distributed routing and signal transport throughout the entire venue, so it’s quick to deploy the infrastructure and incredibly flexible for adding sources and destinations where we need them,” said Aaron Raymond, Director of Engineering, FOH Productions. “We’re using MediorNet in parallel with our data networks in a fiber-optic mesh topology, which gives us fully redundant paths.”
FOH designed the system in 2025 and spent approximately two and a half months building and wiring it. Twenty-seven cases make up the complete package, including racks, switchers, control panels, video and audio monitoring equipment, cable trunks, and work boxes. The whole system travels in less than half a trailer.
The main rack holds central engineering equipment and a camera engineering station with a grading monitor, six camera RCPs, routing controls, and intercom for the camera engineer. Smaller racks with MediorNet MicroN UHD nodes and network equipment sit at the presentation stage and performance areas, providing local I/O for downstage monitors, spy cameras, PTZ cameras, timers and cueing equipment, demo computers, and other connections. That local I/O avoids running 30 to 40 cables back to a central router. Similar racks move audio, video, and control signals to and from the control risers, the production suite, and green rooms.
This architecture is what makes the system fast to deploy. Seven racks placed around the job site connect with 12 to 14 tactical fiber cables, and all other signals travel through the MediorNet network. By preconfiguring the system at their facility in Phoenix, Arizona, FOH crews minimize setup time at the venue and can start rehearsals much sooner. When the show is done, the system packs up in a couple of hours. The approach suits productions with limited venue time, helps control on-site labor costs, and eases the load on crews moving from one event to the next.
“The hardest part is running the fiber cables,” Raymond said. “Each rack has two redundant cables, with all our other signals running through the system. That saves a massive amount of time compared with running hundreds of cables between racks and needing a new cable every time a monitor or source is added to the plan, and that’s why we built the system the way we did.”
Video routing runs through the MediorNet Control App on 2300 Series SmartPanels, while 1200 Series SmartPanels handle intercom, keeping the two functions on visually distinct hardware. During setup, the team relies on MediorNet’s topology tools to verify every link and confirm redundancy and failover plans. Beyond routing and transport, MediorNet also provides a full-featured multiviewer platform and audio embedding throughout the distributed routing system.
FOH already knew Bolero and Artist before adding MediorNet. The company owns multiple five-pack and 20-pack Bolero kits that deploy easily as standalone systems or integrate with its Artist matrix systems.
“I’ve worked with Riedel intercom systems for a long time and have always preferred them to the other options,” Raymond said. “The sound quality is great, and the network functionality is very straightforward and reliable.”
FOH builds its custom cases through sister company Roadcase.com, located in the same building, which lets the team commission enclosures other production companies would be unlikely to build. The arrangement allows a greater focus on efficient deployment and operator ergonomics.
“MediorNet is a versatile, modular, and scalable routing solution, and its small form factor makes it straightforward to place a full node in a compact custom road case,” said Joshua Harrison, Regional Sales Manager, South Central, Riedel Communications. “Together with Artist and Bolero, the result is a deployable, dependable Riedel ecosystem for high-profile live events.”