WUPPERTAL, Germany—Riedel Communications has announced that Liberty University, which serves over 135,000 students, has deployed Riedel's Artist ecosystem to enable clear, reliable communications across the campus. 

The robust system supports a diverse range of productions at Liberty University, totaling around 180 sports broadcasts, 180 entertainment broadcasts, and approximately 1,700 campus events.

The university worked with systems integrator Digital Video Group (DVG) to deploy the solutions across its expansive 7,000-plus acre campus with over 7.5 million square feet of building space in Lynchburg, Virginia.

The deployment of the Artist ecosysem included Artist digital intercom matrix, Bolero wireless intercom, and SmartPanels with multiple applications, such as the Audio Monitoring App (AMA). 

"In the past, intercom was merely a functional necessity in our industry; however, Riedel has managed to make intercom an exciting, innovative, and essential component of Liberty University's workflow," said Alex Martin, CEO of Digital Video Group (DVG). "We are genuinely impressed by the company's commitment to consistent technology research, design innovation, responsiveness, and collaboration."

The comprehensive installation encompasses the Artist-1024 decentralized, scalable digital intercom network and a substantial number of 1200 Series SmartPanels (including 71 RSP-1232HL panels and nine RSP-1216HL panels). Additional components such as the Audio Monitoring App (AMA), 90 Emmy® Award-winning Bolero beltpacks, 20 charger bays, and 30 Bolero antennas have contributed to a state-of-the-art communication network, Riedel reported. 

This extensive IP-based deployment not only enables the team to support scheduled events across campus with ease while reducing maintenance time and costs but also to cover more areas of the campus and to support ad hoc events as they pop up. For instance, the use of IP transport enables the team to essentially plug and play beltpacks and SmartPanels, which can feature multiple applications, anywhere on the campus network. In addition, the SmartPanel Intercom App, Riedel's Audio Monitoring App (AMA) enables operators to listen to multiple audio feeds simultaneously on the panel to quickly identify any issues, Riedel said. 

All venue communications depend on Bolero beltpacks, which have greatly enhanced the clarity of communications among sports and events staff, including timeout coordinators, A2, tech managers, stage managers, wireless camera operators, and engineers. 

"The audio quality is definitely crystal clear like you're standing next to somebody," stated Louis James, senior remote support engineer at Liberty University. 

"My favorite thing about the AMA function is the ability to dim or duck channels in either direction, making audio monitoring more flexible and dynamic, and contributing to a more sophisticated and efficient workflow," said Mike Gerringer, chief technologist at Liberty University. "Riedel's integration of this function is elegant and impressive."

"Users, both in and outside the broadcast team, are delighted with the SmartPanels and Bolero units," continued James. "The build quality, especially on the Bolero end, and the audio quality improvements, particularly in speaker mode on the key panels, are remarkable. Riedel's innovative design, such as placing speaker ports on each side, ensures clarity and avoids the muffled sound experienced with other manufacturers. Bolero's durability is evident, as we haven't encountered any issues despite widespread use and varying levels of user experience."

Liberty University's decision to adopt Riedel's solutions stems from the institution's desire for a reliable and efficient communication system to support the wide array of events on its large campus. Having switched from another supplier just a year and a half ago, the university opted for Riedel due to the superior quality of the product and the outstanding service they received at NAB almost two years ago.

"We are thrilled to collaborate with DVG and contribute to the success of the production and broadcasts at Liberty University," said Dover Mundt, Regional Sales Manager, Mid-Atlantic, at Riedel. "The partnership with DVG has been exceptional, and we are excited to witness the positive impact our technology is having on Liberty University's events."

Further information about Riedel and the company's products is available at www.riedel.net. 

WUPPERTAL, Germany & MONTREAL—CBC/Radio Canada’s planned state-of-the-art Montreal headquarters, Maison de Radio-Canada, will have a touch of German in it upon completion, as Riedel Communications will supply its Artist and Bolero wired and wireless intercom systems as part of the broadcast center’s communications backbone.

The MRC, which will open in 2020, will be entirely IP-based, utilizing SMPTE ST 2110-30/31 and NMOS IS-04/05/07 standards. Riedel will assist with this by providing the Artist-1024. The latest software-defined node in the Artist series offers 1024 nonblocking ports in a 2RU frame and uses software-definable Universal Interface Cards that combine networking, mixing and management on a single card. A card can be configured to act as a SMPTE ST 2110-30/31 or MADI subscriber card, or as an Artist fiber/router/processor card. There is also the Director configuration software that allows for the changing of connectivity type and scaling up of port count.

Bolero, an AES67-based wireless intercom system that integrates with Artist for a unified wireless communications environment, will handle all wireless communications in the MRC. Bolero is a six-channel, 1.9 gigahertz system that incorporates Riedel’s Advanced DECT Receiver technology for RF environments that can create multipath reflections.

In addition, more than 250 Riedel 1200 Series SmartPanels are set to be installed at MRC. The SmartPanels are ST 2110-30/31 native and provide an app-based user interface for intercom, high-quality audio monitoring and integration of third-party control systems via the SmartPanel Control Panel app.

Riedel says that this installation will be one of the largest for Artist in North America upon completion.

BURLINGTON, MASS.—There’s a new member of Avid’s I/O family of hardware interfaces with the introduction of the Avid Artist | DNxIP, a portable interface that enables broadcasters and post-production facilities to connect studios over IP.

The Artist | DNxIP system, which was built in partnership with AJA, is powered by MediaCentral and is a Thunderbolt 3-equipped I/O device that can handle the transfer of SMPTE standard HD video over 10 GigE IP networks, with local monitoring over 3G-SDI and HDMI 2.0. It also helps eliminate the challenge of managing physical resources associated with legacy video routing over SDI and offers flexibility in how video is routed within a facility.

Avid will make the Artist | DNxIP available to consumers in the first quarter of 2018.