ORANGE COUNTY, Calif.—As a filmmaker and co-founder of Motion Clubhouse, I know firsthand the demands of high-paced production environments. Based in Southern California, our agency handles everything from postproduction to directing, photography, and full-scale video production. At Motion Clubhouse, we work on some of the biggest podcasts in the world, including Andrew Huberman’s and Andy Galpin’s.

While we don’t do live broadcasting, our work often requires rapid turnaround times that can feel just as urgent as a live event. We’re on the move constantly, working in unpredictable locations, and in those situations, power is everything. That’s why Anton/Bauer’s new EDEN power system has become an essential tool in our workflow.

Choosing Eden
In the fast-moving world of content creation, you can never take power for granted. We’re often shooting in remote locations, where access to outlets is non-existent, or in high-stakes environments where a power failure could set us back hours. With EDEN, we’ve found a portable, high-capacity solution that allows us to operate at full efficiency no matter where we are.

A real-world example? We were filming a major horse event, and just as we were working on a fast turnaround edit, the entire media tent—housing around 100 people—lost power. We were the only ones still running, thanks to the EDEN unit. While everyone else scrambled to figure out a solution, we kept working as if nothing had happened. That experience taught us that EDEN wasn’t just a backup plan—it was an essential part of our setup.

Instead of using EDEN only as a safety net, we made it our primary power source. For the rest of that event, we ran everything through the unit. It powered our entire edit station, keeping us operational while the venue’s main power grid was still struggling to recover.

We’ve also relied on EDEN in less extreme but equally critical situations.

Recently, we were working on a series of podcast episodes when wildfires in Southern California left our studio without power. Instead of delaying production, we set up EDEN to power our podcast mics, lighting rigs, and other essential equipment. The system held up flawlessly, delivering clean power with no audio interference—something we’ve had issues with when using other power solutions in the past. We were able to record for a full week, charging the unit overnight at our hotel.

For a mobile production team like ours, durability is a big deal. We’ve used other power solutions in the past, and they didn’t hold up. Some failed on us after minimal use, with buttons breaking off or power output failing unexpectedly. That’s not a risk we can afford to take on a professional shoot.

Portable Power
EDEN is built differently. I keep ours in the back of my truck, alongside my camera gear and skateboard, and it’s taken the beating of daily transport without any issues. It feels solid and well-built, which gives me confidence that it will last.

One of the lesser-known issues with portable power systems is how they interact with sensitive equipment like audio gear. Many brands claim to offer pure sine wave output, but in reality, we’ve seen units cause interference on set, especially when placed near talent. That’s a deal-breaker for us.

With EDEN, we’ve had zero issues. Whether powering studio lights, cameras, or podcast setups, the output is clean and reliable. We even had it placed directly next to talent during a podcast recording, running mics and lighting without any interference.

EDEN has saved us in high-pressure situations and proven its reliability time and again. Whether we’re filming on location, editing in a remote setting, or producing content in a powerless studio, this system delivers. For any production team that needs dependable, mobile power, Anton/Bauer’s EDEN is an absolute game-changer.

More information is available at www.antonbauer.com/en.

BOSTON, Mass.—At NAB Show New York EditShare will showcase its EFS scale-out intelligent shared storage solutions and Flow media asset management, which is now compatible with third-party storage.

The XStream EFS storage family of products allows collaboration with creative editing/compositing and grading solutions and features native drivers for Windows, Mac and Linux platforms, mitigating performance degradation compared to standard IT transactional hardware that leverages sharing protocols such as SMB or NFS.

New capabilities for XStream EFS storage solutions emphasize security and accountability. The company says the EFS XStream Auditing dashboard is the industry’s first purpose-built scale out storage solution with auditing designed for the media and entertainment market and to deter cybercriminals by providing system administrators with a digital footprint of all file interactions.

The new software-defined Flow, now available, has been re-engineered for non-EditShare storage environments such as Avid NEXIS, StorageDNA and Amazon S3. Bringing search, browse and retrieve capabilities as well as tools to assemble media to static media storage, the new software-defined MAM platform maximizes the value of customers’ existing storage infrastructure by adding an intelligent media management layer that the company says can manage millions of assets across multiple storage tiers in different locations.

EditShare will be on the show floor in booth N332.

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CINCINNATI — The South Carolina Educational Television Commission is turning to GateAir for nine UHF and one VHF transmitter to support the statewide repack of 10 of its TV stations to new channel assignments.

SCETV has selected Maxiva ULXTE liquid-cooled transmitters for its UHF stations and is working with GatesAir on choosing a high-power VHF transmitter that will allow its WNTV in Greenville, S.C., to maximize service.

[Read: Hearst TV, GatesAir Ink Deal On Maxiva TXs For 13 Repacked Stations]

The FCC has assigned the public broadcaster, which transmits PBS and NPR programming throughout South Carolina, to four repack phases. More than half of its stations are assigned to Phase 5. Transmitters are due to begin arriving at those stations in the coming weeks to meet the testing deadline in early September, GatesAir said.

GatesAir is working with SCETV to avoid disrupting the broadcaster’s eight FM radio stations as its TV stations are repacked, the company added. Each of the radio stations is collocated with the TV transmitters in common facilities.

“GatesAir’s service department has worked closely with us and our repack antenna supplier, Dielectric, to ensure that none of our TV or FM operations are interrupted as work progresses,” said Mark Jahnke, SCETV VP of Technology and chief information officer.

Jahnke added that the liquid-cooled GatesAir UHF transmitters will help SCETV achieve its goal of reducing its carbon footprint.

“Considering the higher power levels of our stations along with South Carolina’s year-round hot and humid climate, GatesAir’s liquid-cooled transmission systems will clearly deliver the highest possible cost-savings across cooling and electrical costs,” he said. “While we’re still working through the exact calculations, there is no question we’ll immediately downsize our air-conditioning systems by a significant margin.”

The transmitters are outfitted with GateAir ATSC 3.0-ready Maxiva XTE exciters to ensure the broadcaster is ready for Next Gen TV operations, he added.

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Major League Baseball fans can tweet all they want in the hope of catching the attention of their favorite baseball personalities. But only the Chatting Cage, a collaboration between the league and sponsor Edward Jones, gives baseball fans the opportunity to pose questions and speak directly via reliable, live video chat with the game’s biggest names.

“Video call-in is what makes the Chatting Cage a special opportunity for fans and players alike,” said Chris Lundberg, senior coordinating producer for MLB.com. “We get calls from all kinds of fans, from kids asking All-Star hitters for tips to break out of a slump to adults with thoughtful questions based on their lifelong passion for the game. The Chatting Cage brings MLB and its fans closer together.”

Stability of video chats had been a thorn in the side of producers. Last fall, the MLB.com team sat down with The Video Call Center to discuss a different approach — a complete live video call production solution built around VCC’s patented video caller management system, Caller Queue.

[Read: MLB Partners With The Video Call Center To Manage Live Video Caller Production]

The Video Call Center solution offered MLB numerous video call options. Callers use popular calling apps they already have on their devices such as FaceTime (native on iPhones), Web-RTC-based Gruveo (built into Android) which only requires a browser, or Skype. The VCC has patented reliability-enhancing technology to further stabilize and improve call quality, and according to the company it has achieved success with 99.3% of all calls the system has fielded for commercial customers.

NEW HOME, NEW TECH

As the 2018 season approached, the Chatting Cage team prepared to move from its original home within Manhattan’s Chelsea Market to the MLB Network studios in Secaucus, N.J. With the move came the opportunity to revisit the technology and workflows used to create the show’s unique fan interaction. 

“Changing technology and workflow for the show presents a variety of challenges at any time,” said Lundberg. “Having to make the shift while moving facilities probably could have been insurmountable. Along with the technical team at MLB Network, the VCC were great partners and, despite the tight timetable, we were able to successfully launch to air on time.”

With project management assistance from the VCC, system preparation began Feb 14 and by March 6, the Chatting Cage team was in rehearsal using the system. VCC’s interface system provides flexible connectivity for broadcast facilities, which helped smooth the transition. For example, VCC was readily configurable for embedded audio used in Secaucus instead of unbalanced AES3 needed in the Chelsea facility.

One of the challenges faced when bringing live video callers to air is the fact that there’s no crew at the caller’s end. While the video feed of players comes from MLB Network’s award-winning Ballpark Cam, a network of in-venue cameras, fans are using phones, tablets and laptops from wherever they happen to be.

The show’s call screener, Segment Producer Marissa Morris, serves as gatekeeper and the first person with whom every caller interacts. Morris trained with video call production experts from the VCC who went over different techniques to ensure calls are the best possible in terms of video and audio presentation. “They taught us that small changes can have a big impact,” said Morris. “Asking a person to move closer to a window or to use headphones in a public place makes a huge difference.”

CUSTOM-BRANDED

To join a show, callers first enter the online Caller Queue, the VCC’s cloud-based caller management platform which has been custom-branded for MLB. Callers provide basic identifying information, the question they wish to ask, as well as specify their preferences regarding video calling apps. The Caller Queue permits the call producers to see all the candidates for air, what devices they are on, what topic they would like to discuss, and select them for air.

After reviewing the information, Morris uses the VCC text chat feature to introduce herself and set expectations about when she will call the fan. Text chat is a new feature, integrated into the VCC platform at the request of MLB.

A few minutes before the fan joins the live show, Morris will call them via their preferred app. If the chosen app is problematic, Morris can quickly reconnect via another option. Crop marks on the laptop help her work directly with the fan for ideal framing.

“In the past, we had only one option for video chat,” Lundberg said. “If an issue popped up in making the caller’s camera work with the system, or the connectivity wasn’t great, our only choice was to move on to the next caller.”

VCC call computers are in racks alongside other MLB production equipment. Outputs are fed to a monitor in the control room so operators can QC visuals at air time. But, when it comes to running the show, all that is needed is a laptop.

ON THE FLY

Having four VCC call computers online makes it far less stressful for Morris to juggle large volumes of callers. “We have the option to have four different fans fully vetted and ready to go,” he said. “Having choices means we can bring in a caller who is relevant to what is happening at any moment in the show, rather than relying solely on chronological order. And while we have yet to experience an unresolvable technical issue with a caller, we always have a fallback option.”

When the show’s drivers bring a caller to air, the show visually shifts to a three-up screen that includes the host, guest, and the fan. VCC’s Call Manager Pro system automatically clears all the interface buttons and return video windows normally displayed by calling apps, so all viewers see is distraction-free video. After the question is posed, the show switches to a two-box for the response, with the option to revert to three-box if follow up is required. Morris explains to the fan what they will see on screen, so they aren’t surprised when their video feed vanishes.

“The Chatting Cage has been on MLB.com in various forms for several years, even prior to when I joined the show,” said Lundberg. “The VCC platform along with the helpfulness and experience of their call production team has made this the best iteration yet. The result is a completely unique opportunity to grow the connection between MLB, its teams, players and fans.”

Evan Sirof is president of Marcomm-on-Call.

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RAYMOND, Maine — Dielectric has announced the immediate availability of new low-band VHF systems, which include the company’s circularly polarized DCR-Q FM ring-style antennas with tunable filters and its durable rigid transmission line for Channels 4 and 5.

The systems are well-suited for UHF band broadcasters that opted out of the band as part of the FCC’s incentive auction and chose to relocate to Channels 4 and 5. The tunable filters, in particular, fill an industry void, the company said.

The DCR-Q is a more affordable alternative to panel antennas typically used on Channels 4 and 5, it said. They are also more compact, reducing the time needed for installation.

[Read: Dielectric Opens Lewiston Factory]

“The DCR-Q provides Channel 4 and 5 broadcasters with a much lighter option [than panel antennas] that vastly reduces loading and physical space,” said Cory Edwards, OEM sales, Dielectric. “The circular polarization of the DCR-Q brings additional value to Channels 4 and 5 broadcasters by improving indoor reception.”

A side-mounted broadband antenna, the DCR-Q was initially developed based on a customer request to support nine FM stations. Its wideband characteristics and high-power handling capability make it equally well-suited for low-band VHF television broadcasters.

The antenna also offers low weight and wind loading, which should benefit broadcasters looking to sidestep the cost and challenges of reinforcing towers to handle heavier panel antennas, the company said.

The systems’ tunable filters make use of the same efficient design characteristics available as part of Dielectric’s tunable waveguide filters introduced last year. When installed the design adapts to environmental changes like temperature and humidity to maintain channel tuning as signals move along the RF filtering process, it said.

The systems may also prove to be popular among low-power broadcasters moving to low-band VHF following the repack of Class A and full-power TV stations, added Edwards.

More information is available on the Dielectric website.

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SHELTON, CONN. — Anton Bauer has introduced its latest generation Dionic XT battery series for broadcast and 14.4 V cinema applications.

Available in V-Mount and Gold Mount camera mounts, the compact, lightweight Dionic XT 14V Li-ion battery delivers up to 12 amps of continuous power, and better onboard battery management, for applications that demand greater battery performance and reliability.

The Dionic Series, including the Dionic XT90 and Dionic XT150 models, features a durable ABS and rubber construction that cushions and protects the battery and ensures high performance, even in extreme conditions, such as heat, humidity or cold.

And, with its advanced cell technology, the company claims that Dionix XT batteries can be recharged many more times than other batteries for lower management overhead and a faster return on investment.

Certified for air travel, these batteries feature USB (5.0V 2A) and PTAP connectors for powering accessories, such as portable LED lighting, with an easy-to-read LCD display for tracking run time and capacity, and they’re cross-compatible with competing brands’ charging systems.

Anton Bauer will debut the Dionic XT90 and Dionic XT150 product line in Booth 15 at the Cine Gear Expo, taking place June 12, in Los Angeles.

Anton Bauer is a Vitec Group brand providing mobile power systems for broadcast, film/video, healthcare, and other video productions 

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Comrex debuted EarShot IFB at the NAB Show 2018.

Our camera crew caught up with Senior Sales Director Chris Crump for a walk-through of the product and its new, free Field Tap app.

He said EarShot IFB provides telephone-based live studio program and IFB audio to field-based remote broadcasts. Up to 30 users can listen to program or IFB feeds by calling into EarShot IFB with a mobile phone. EarShot IFB can handle up to four program feeds, or two IFB feeds.

For higher fidelity, smartphone apps can be used to pull the audio in studio quality.

Comrex says EarShot IFB can be connected to low-cost cloud-based VoIP service, or tied to a station's VoIP PBX.

It will be available for purchase by mid-2018.

CHICAGO—When it came to bringing my latest project—the thriller film “My Daughter Was Stolen,” which premiered on the Lifetime Movie Network March 9 after a run in select theaters—to life, I knew I could rely on Blackmagic Design for my production and post-production needs.

For this project, I relied on the DaVinci Resolve 14 Studio editing, color correction and audio post application and Fusion 9 Studio visual effects (VFX) software.

EDIT WHILE YOU WORK

As the post supervisor and colorist for the project, the team and I used DaVinci Resolve Studio for color grading, editing and sound design. In post, DaVinci Resolve Studio truly shined, allowing us to switch back and forth between editing and color grading via the collaboration mode.

We edited the film while it was still being shot, so this feature was a standout. For example, we would copy the previous day’s footage to the server via the clone tool and then our assistant editor would edit the metadata and label the clips by scene and take, all while our editor was editing the clips already finished. DaVinci Resolve Studio handles 4K RAW footage, so we never had to downgrade the quality. Saving time on things like this allowed the assembly edit to be completed in a day or two after filming wrapped and allowed me to color grade simultaneously.

I also relied on several of DaVinci Resolve Studio’s new features like the Match Move filter, which helped me replace pictures and videos on television screens and cellphones. The advanced trimming tool was also very intuitive, allowing me to be very precise and quick.

[Read: The Helm Creative Grades Budweiser’s ‘One Last Ride’ Spot With DaVinci Resolve 14 Studio]

Our dialogue editor, who was in charge of adding sound effects, music and creating the final mix, used a combination of DaVinci Resolve Studio’s edit page for audio editing, as well as moved to the Fairlight Audio Interface page for setting up sub groups, main outs, dynamic filtration and final delivery stems. The addition of Fairlight audio to DaVinci Resolve 14 has really made a difference, as we can deliver projects the way we want without having to use other programs. Not only do we have advanced color grading and editing in one program, but we also can set up subs and mains and route everything accordingly, output the master and separate left, center and right surround channels all in one step.

THAT SPECIAL VFX

The only thing not done in DaVinci Resolve Studio was specific VFX, which was done in Fusion 9 Studio (all the green screen compositing was still done in DaVinci Resolve Studio), as well as some sound effects and foley editing, but we brought that into the program later as stems. While working on VFX, our artist relied on Fusion Studio’s planar tracking options and superb roto tools to isolate tracking areas. Some scenes that stand out include enhancing smoke and fire inside a burning room, creating a bullet that impacted a subject’s body with blood coming out of the wound and a cigarette bursting into flames that was on the floor.

The ease of use and how each product works so seamlessly with each other makes any creative’s job a dream. Blackmagic Design is truly reliable and allows you to do what you do best—create.

Ari Golan is an award-winning director and cinematographer and president and CEO of Atomic Imaging, Inc., and Golan Studios/GPI. He can be contacted atari@atomicimaging.com.

For more information, visit www.blackmagicdesign.com or call 408-954-0500.

NEWARK, N.J.—Engaging with sports fans inside a stadium is all about taking advantage of opportunities. Ahead of the 2017-2018 NHL season, New Jersey’s Prudential Center, home of the New Jersey Devils, took the opportunity to invest in new technical facilities to take its video capabilities to the next level. We did so by installing what’s now the world’s biggest in-arena scoreboard from Trans-Lux and replacing our existing legacy video board with a new DYVI switcher from EVS.

The new DYVI switcher manages the stadium’s video content for all 41 of the Devils’ home games, as well as for the Seton Hall Pirates NCAA Division I basketball team. Additionally, it services music and cultural events held at Prudential Center annually.

CREATING ON THE FLY

There are plenty of opportunities to provide fans with engaging video content during an ice hockey, but they need to be taken advantage of in the right way. This is a fast game that’s full of energy so in-stadium video content must reflect that.

Having DYVI in place ultimately lets us create better content—faster than ever before—to engage with fans. Previously, someone would need to create graphics independently and have our switcher operator call them up from other systems. Now it’s a single-step process: One person can create assets, program and customize our graphic-centric shows ahead of a game—all entirely inside the switcher.

[Read: San Francisco Giants Bring EVS DYVI To The Ball Park]

Technology with which we interact with every day means anyone can be their own content creator so our operators can now much more creative. DYVI reflects this trend. Operators familiar with UX-friendly interfaces of today’s devices were quick to learn the DYVI interface. We started creating much more engaging video content almost immediately, even though DYVI is different to the traditional switchers available.

CUSTOMIZING THE LINE-UP

One of the big benefits of DYVI’s software-based infrastructure is how it lets us customize, saving themes and assets that can quickly be recalled. This is specifically useful when switching between programs for hockey, basketball or live music. In addition, DYVI allows us to easily create specific content for several themed nights during the season. Just last month, we retired Patrik Elias’ No. 26 jersey so our team created a lot of graphics and video content celebrating a seminal moment in Devils’ history.

Previously, we would have spent considerable time planning and creating content leading up to the event; now, we can turn content around incredibly quickly. Using DYVI, a member of our team can have an idea for a display element at 1 p.m. and have content ready for a rehearsal two hours later. This means we’re able to react to popular events and create specific graphics or video to better engage with fans.

One of the most important things for us is future-proofing our workflows. With just a few months between the end of one season and the start of the next, we want technology that we can build on without having to replace lots of equipment whenever we want to do something new. DYVI is perfect for this because it integrates so easily with other systems and lets us customize our workflow however we want. This means we can continue to improve the product we create to engage with fans, year after year.

Ben is in his fourth season as the director of game presentation and event production at the New Jersey Devils and Prudential Center. He can be contacted at BBroder@prucenter.com.

For more information, please visit www.evs.com or call973-575-7812.

LAS VEGAS— Omnitek will highlight the new audio and networking functionality added to its Ultra TQ broadcast waveform rasterizer at the 2018 NAB Show. Responding to industry demand, this network-connected test and measurement system now supports SDI up to 3G, as well as SMPTE 2110/2022-6 IP connections.

With this upgrade, the Ultra TQ now analyzes and decodes Dolby E and D audio for monitoring and quality checking, de-embeds SDI/2110/2022-6 audio content to AES/EBU audio outputs, and monitors AES/EBU audio on discrete audio connections. It also lets users connect to SDI and IP environments, with more latitude as to how they monitor audio content.

[Read: NAB Show Product Preview: Signal Processing & Analysis]

Omnitek will also display its Ultra XR 4K/UHD Waveform Rasterizer and Ultra 4K Tool Box 4K/UHD Analyzer/Generator/Converter, both running V3.4 software. The V3.4 release adds or improves the Lissajous display, AV delay measurement, propagation delay measurement and new status displays.

Also at the booth, Omnitek’s Design Services will be demonstrating its new OSP (Omnitek Standard Product) silicon chipset solutions for 4K AV over IP and 4K/HD warp, touting them as competitive alternatives to ASIC and ASSP devices.

Omnitek will be in booth C7412.

LAS VEGAS — Aperi Corp. will display native IP sports technology for live remote production at the 2018 NAB Show, along with a new SMPTE 2110 network security application.

With a focus on live IP Media Function Virtualization (MFV) solutions, the company will present case studies profiling how top U.S. sports leagues and others use its virtualized technology to link venues and production bases to form practical, live remote production workflows, as well as how it can also benefit complex distribution applications.

[Read: Aperi, Video Clarity to Test H.264 Compression at VidTrans 2018]

Aperi will also show a new SMPTE 2110 native firewall app (with up to five in a single RU) to support 128 bidirectional flows of content per microserver; a suite of 2022 gateway and standard codecs, including H.264 and J2K; and a new TICO 4K compression app. They will also show a new single-RU multiviewer app that monitors hundreds of IP inputs, while creating five independent outputs in IP, SDI or HDMI.

Visitors will also see the latest V-Stack, now with expanded functionality to support multiple processes, such as feed monitoring, content logging, license management, as well as third-party orchestration and control systems. Aperi’s A2101 real-time dense network-edge media processor and gateway server, applicable to mobile production facilities and local-loop networks, will also be featured.

Aperi Corp. will be in booth SU11710.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF.—Panasonic and TVU Networks have put their heads together and come up with a pair of new video solutions that integrate Panasonic cameras with TVU technology. With these integrations, Panasonic is now part of the TVU ecosystem and TVU Grid, featuring IP video switching, routing and distribution.

The Panasonic AJ-PX270 P2 handheld HD camcorder is the model that has been integrated with TVU transceivers, enabling streaming from a P2 camera directly to a TVU transceiver via cellular, Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection. The camera provides an IP video stream, thumbnail and status to TVU’s Transceiver or Command Center. In addition, a live stream from the P2 camera can be triggered, monitored and managed on the Transceiver or Command Center interface. P2 streams can then be distributed to other locations via TVU Grid.

P2 camera sources can also be utilized with a suite of functions available on the TVU Transceiver or the TVU Cloud service, including IP streaming output, TVU Producer Pro and TVU Booking Service.

The second integration between Panasonic and TVU is between Panasonic’s PTZ cameras and the TVU Vista. With Vista, a Panasonic PTZ camera can stream directly from the field back to the studio for decoding and processing using a TVU transceiver. Once received, the PTZ camera stream can be distributed via TVU Grid to other locations or streamed to the web using the camera’s IP streaming output or used as a source for Cloud production or social media using TVU Producer Pro.

Both companies will be highlighting these new integrations at their respective booths during the 2018 NAB Show—C3607 for Panasonic, C1707 for TVU.

DENVER—Wazee Digital won’t be needing to borrow a friend’s password to have access to HBO as the company is now working with the premium cable network to archive its sports content.

The Wazee Digital Core platform is being implemented to digitize and archive HBO sports content that is currently stored on videotape formats. The conversion will allow HBO to preserve this deteriorating content while also providing access to the archive for stakeholders that need the content.

Core is a software-as-a-service platform built for the cloud. Core can manage complex tasks of video acquisition, workflow, universal access, metadata management and automated delivery. In addition, Core provides cloud storage that can scale with the size of a digital library.

[Wazee Digital Finds Spot in College Football Playoff]

To ensure the digital preservation of HBO’s analog and digital videotape formats, Core is using AS-02 MXF versioning. HBO’s MXF-wrapped assets serve as master files that can accommodate input and output formats, while flexible metadata support aids in search and discovery.

Credentialed internal HBO users and other stakeholders now have access to Core to search, explore and download content from the archive.

MONTREAL—In The Weather Channel’s continuous mission to provide its viewers with high-quality, up-to-date live broadcasts and information, the network has recently acquires some Grass Valley products to provide assistance. GV’s Kayenne K-Frame Video Production Center switcher and Ignite Automated Production System with the Katalyst Programmable Automation Panel are now a part of The Weather Channel’s infrastructure.

The Kayenne K-Frame offers full multiformat support, including 4K and 1080p. The switcher is configurable up to 192 inputs, 96 outputs and up to 9 M/Es with six keyers in every full M/E.

The Ignite Katalyst is a fast-access hardware control system that can work harmoniously with the Ignite system, per GV.

SYDNEY—With the rise of HDR and 4K content, Sony is rolling out a new live production switcher designed specifically to handle those demands, the XVS-9000. The new unit can offer up to 80 inputs and 40 outputs in 4K and up to 160 inputs and 80 outputs in HD. It adopts the latest interfaces for both IP and 12G-SDI in 4K as well as hybrid system of both.

In the XVS-9000, Sony has included flexible workflows through its IP live production system and has reinforced IP Live interoperability to support SMPTE ST 2110 media transport over IP and AMWA NMOS Device Discovery.

To handle live 4K video sources, the XVS-9000 features a larger capacity processor with evolved signal processing technology. It also inherits the functionality and operability of the current XVS series, including operation through the ICP-X7000 Panel of a modular style design, with OLED displays. It will also have resource sharing functionality with other XVS series products to create a virtual environment with several switchers.

Additional features include the ability to install up to four 4K/HD DME boards to configure a maximum of four channels of 4K 3D DME for 4K live production. The new 4K/HD DME boards are compatible with the XVS series, allowing two channels of 4K DME to be configured in the current XVS-8000.

Sony plans to officially release the XVS-9000 in October.

PRINCETON, N.J.—Cox Media Group is preparing itself to make the transition to the Next Gen TV standard, as Triveni Digital has announced that it supplied the broadcaster with its StreamScope XM MT analyzer that supports both the ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 standards. StreamScope is an analyzer for dual-standards broadcasting and channel sharing and will help with the transition to ATSC 3.0 for 12 Cox Media Group stations.

The StreamScope XM MT platform acts as a full receiver and allows the stations to perform detailed analysis of ATSC 3.0 streams and data structures. The system can analyze every demarcation point from DASH, ROUTE/MMT and STLTP. It also has added support for advanced RF analysis in both ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0.

['Plugfest' Refines ATSC 3.0 Standard]

“Triveni Digital’s solution makes it practical for us to support early deployment of ATSC 3.0 by providing us with a unified service analysis solution that ensures quick detection, isolation and resolution of issues that may arise in either ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 infrastructures,” said Dave Siegler, vice president of technical operations at Cox Media Group in the press release.

For a comprehensive list of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see our ATSC3 silo.

BURBANK, CALIF.—Bexel is stocking up on fiber optic cables, announcing an investment in its fiber optic rental inventory via a press release. As part of the expansion, Bexel has added a quarter of a million feet of fiber optic cable from TAC-4 to TAC-72 strand cable, plus SMPTE camera cable; MultiDyne and Studio Technologies fiber transport solutions have also been added.

Specifically, the investment features MultiDyne SilverBullet fiber transport solutions for transmission of SD, HD and 3G & 12G SDI signals on single mode fiber. The VF9000 fiber transport system with 12 3G HD-SDI and one Ethernet path over two strands of fiber is also part of the expansion. There is also the MultiDyne Hut SMPTE to tactical fiber cable converter for conversion and re-conversion back to SMPTE that is now part of Bexel’s HDX Shed fiber inventory.

The Studio Technologies gear recently added includes the Model 400 SDI-Over-Fiber transport system, with 12 3G HD-SDI paths over four optic cables. Bexel also now has a Live-Link Jr. remote camera interface to support two paths of 3G HD-SDI, Line/IFB and two wire or four wire intercom on one or two strands of cable.

“Our latest investment ensures that our customers can utilize a wider variety of cable lengths and strand counts with the combination of signal paths they require, coupled with the high quality and flexibility they expect from Bexel,” said Tom Dickinson, vice president of Technology at Bexel.

SOUTHWICK, MASS.—Hitachi Kokusai Electric Comark today announced a partnership with ATEME Corp. to become an authorized reseller and service provider of Ateme ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 hardware and software encoding solutions.

“After careful evaluation of the encoding market and extensive product testing in our encoding systems lab at the Southwick, Mass., facility, we decided to work with Ateme.” said Dick Fiore, Comark president and CEO. “The Ateme Titan encoding solution offers best-of-breed encoding, flexibility of implementation and a future-proof upgrade path for next-gen broadcast television deployments.”

Under the agreement, Comark will focus on the North American broadcast DTV market. The company will also offer integration and system design services for stations.

[Putting Next Gen TV to the [Full] Test]

Comark has an extensive history in DTV encoding dating back to the formation of Comark Digital Services to offer MPEG-2 solutions to broadcasters during the early days of the analog-to-digital transition.

“We’re thrilled to extend our partnership with Comark to our Titan software encoding,” said Walid Hamri, Ateme vice president of business development. “It’s enabling Comark to provide an end-to-end, flexible solution for the DTV market, ready for next-gen TV broadcast.”

For a comprehensive list of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see our ATSC3 silo.

As I reflect on cameras I’ve owned, borrowed, rented or shot, close to the top of my list is the venerable Panasonic HVX-200. I even still have a couple of 8gb P2 cards somewhere in a box. Whether DSLR, mirrorless, larger digital cinema cameras or even a few high end digital cinema cameras, the HVX footage always just had a “certain look about it.” And it seems that for a few years, Panasonic just didn’t keep pace with other manufacturers, seeming to concentrate more in the broadcast and ENG areas.

All the while, Panasonic was gaining traction in the mirrorless market with its GH series, now even a more significant player with the video-centric GH5s. VariCam 35 came along followed by VariCam Pure and VaricamLT. But there was just a missing gap in the line between the VariCam LT and the mirrorless GH cameras. Panasonic knew it and in fact the company markets our topic of interest here, the EVA1, as the camera that fills the gap.

Panasonic packs a lot into this under $7,500 device and it hits both the right niche and the right price point. I had a couple of weeks with the camera in addition to attending Panasonic demos and will share some impressions. But my first comment probably summarizes my feelings toward the EVA1—it was one demo unit which deeply grieved me to return.

FEATURES

The first impression I had cradling this beauty was it was light and compact (body only 2.6 pounds) yet its buttons and controls did not feel cramped. I have worked with much larger cameras with controls that were too small or two closely packed together, which combined with my clumsy fingers produced some very undesirable results. Not so with the EVA1. Still, the compact size requires compromises. The lower-left WB-User-ISO/db toggle creates extra steps, but there are workarounds such as assigning custom buttons or utilizing the VF menu simulating the LCD panel on a larger camera allow for easy adjustments. Or simply download Panasonic’s EVA app and control the camera via the app. That was actually my preferred way of changing settings and avoiding both buttons and menus. In short, there are a number of ways to perform the same operation.

[Panasonic Rolls Out AU-EVA1 5.7K Camera]

The removable top grip makes the camera even more compact and creates a perfect size for gimbal use.

Viewfinder is remarkably sharp. I was unable to evaluate the native loop and mounting rods since the demo unit came equipped with Zacuto’s superb viewfinder and mounting assembly. And by the way, Zacuto and other third party accessories manufacturers such as Shape, Arri, Vocas and Wooden Camera are developing camera add-ons—another vote of confidence for the anticipated wide adoption of the EVA1.

EVA1 is based around a native 5.7K sensor that with Bayer pattern mathematics calculates to a true 4K imager. Future firmware updates will enable 5.7K RAW via SDI to a third party recorder, but for the moment users can revel in 4:2:2 10 bit video up to 400 Mbps up to 4K resolutions internally to SD cards. It is worth noting at this point that SD card nomenclature is changing. For 4K, the EVA1 requires at least a V60 card with V90 cards supplied in my demo unit. That statistic refers to the write-rate of the card. Codecs, electronics and storage technology have come a long way and SDXC cards can now handle 4K.

Like the VariCam models, EVA1 has a dual sensitivity sensor rating ISO 800 and ISO 2500. I was somewhat disappointed that the EVA1 was unable to gain the ISO 5000 top rating of the VariCams but understand that lower price demands concessions. But like the three VariCam models, properly exposed footage in the ISO 2500 rating looks good. Underexposed footage can be a little noisy so it is worth the effort to try to expose the camera properly.

Panasonic introduced a focus-assist feature with EVA1, which I must say took some acclimation on my part. I personally like to focus using peaking. EVA1 uses “focus blocks,” which I finally decided is ingenious because the size of the blocks are in inverse proportion to the areas of the image most sharply in focus. In other words, using the focus blocks assists tremendously in shallow depth of field framing of shots.

Ultimately, though, it is “the look” that sells cameras and EVA1 has that Panasonic color science that wowed me even in the days of the HVX200. V-log/V-Gamut are virtually identical to the gamma curve and gamut in the VariCam’s implementation of Vlog meaning not only can the cameras be cut together easily but Panasonic’s downloadable V-log to Rec709 LUT works as effectively on the EVA1 as it does on VariCam Vlog footage. I look forward to shooting the camera again when the RAW update is released.

Panasonic advertises 14 stops of dynamic range. My unscientific impression is that it may not quite be 14 stops but nonetheless there is more than enough dynamic range to intercut VariCam footage.

The choice of EF mount is a wise one. EF glass is widely available from consumer to professional still lenses to now the whole new range of cinema glass in the say $3,500- $15,000 range. There is full electronic communication between camera and EF lens. That means that lenses with built-in electronic stabilization will work and iris can be controlled manually or automatically. EVA1 falls down a bit on autofocus and I would relegate that to communication between camera and lens. Autofocus may be the bane of cinematic purists (count me as one of them), yet for run and gun and particularly gimbal or drone uses it comes in handy.

Wooden camera is selling a $500 modification to enable PL mount glass. That expands the use of the camera and is particularly significant if used as a B or C camera to a larger VariCam shooting PL lenses. With the ability to interchange lenses with the big kids, the look is consistent.

EVA1 has SDI as well as HDMI features and a single time-code in/out BNC connector. Note that this is not genlocked so quite possibly the cameras could drift over time. For serious multicamera work that is timecode critical, I would definitely recommend an external box such as an Ambient Lock-It. This is really only going to affect a handful of users yet it still must be noted.

Build quality is superb. The handgrip attaches via a metal bayonet mount and is easily adjustable. I must note that the handgrip on my demo camera wobbled. It was a known issue with the first few week’s production run. Panasonic noted that on its web site, replaced all of the wobbly handles with a new part, and all production models now are stable. It is only worth mentioning just to give additional kudos to Panasonic. An issue was discovered early on. Panasonic responded immediately and publically on the web site and resolved the issue quickly. That’s the way it is supposed to be in the professional world but with few companies reacting so quickly, Panasonic needs to be singled out for its response.

EVA1 also includes HDR recording in the HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) variant. HLG is a joint development of Sony and Panasonic and provides an “instant HDR.” It really isn’t designed for heavy grading but basically for viewing on compatible TV’s and mobile devices. HDR footage brought into PremierePro or Final Cut Pro X 10.4 can indeed be output as HLG for viewing on Vimeo or YouTube with compatible mobile devices. Playing out HLG via HDMI to a consumer HDR set is a problem, though. The signal does not seem to have the HLG flag and the TV does not interpret it as HDR.

HDR editing and delivery in the higher end though are possible since the camera itself has that dynamic range and using a LUT to transform to the standard being edited (HDR10 or Dolby, for example) and to a BT-2020 color space means that the camera can truly be used in high-end HDR work.

Panasonic has given filmmakers an affordable, feature-packed, durable camera that shoots gorgeous images with warm nuanced colors. Third party manufacturers as usual fill in the gaps with enhanced viewfinders and mounts, rigging, larger batteries, external monitor/recorders and mounting points. Even PL is possible reasonably. It is a camera well-deserving of filmmaker’s attention.

Panasonic has announced firmware version 2.0, a major free upgrade which will be available the end of March. In addition to enabling 5.7K RAW video via SDI to compatible external recorders, it adds 4K RAW output up to 60fps and 2K RAW up to 240fps. Additionally, all I-Frame codecs for HD/2K/UHD/4K in 10-bit 4:2:2 will be added. In 2K/HD modes internally, frame rates up to 120fps will be supported. For the broadcast market, there will also be interlaced codecs. Canon compact cine-zooms can be controlled via third-party hardware and there will be new home screen controls.

It’s good to have Panasonic back in this market segment.

FAST FACTS

Summary: A long-awaited entry from Panasonic that does not disappoint. Super35 sensor resolving 5.7K for true 4K; dual 800/2500 ISO. Records 4:2:2 up to DCI 4K on SD cards, convenient EF mount, versatile control options; advertised 14 stops dynamic range; HLG HDR recording. Compact form factor using EF mount lenses with a PL option via third-party modification. A reported 14 stops of dynamic range places it as a device ready for HDR editing and delivery. This camera should be seriously considered by buyers in this price range.

Application: Shorts, indie film, documentary, interviews and as a worthy B Cam to Panasonic’s VariCam and VariCam LT cameras.

Key Features: Dual 800/2500 ISO. EF native mount. Versatile and easy to understand menu structure. Panasonic’s legendary “look”

Price: $7495

Contact:www.business.panasonic.com

BRACKNELL, ENGLAND—NEP UK has deployed its new Super-Slow live camera for ITV's coverage of the Cheltenham Festival.

NEP has combined Grass Valley's RT camera and Vislink HCAM wireless transmitters as well as some "NEP imagination" to capture Super-Slow images, while recording live images at 1080p150.

The Vislink transmitters can be attached directly to the camera back and send multiple streams of 4K images. The high frame rate allows the system to transmit live images at 1080p150—which can be cut live (at 1080p50) and also fed directly to an EVS for Super-Slowmotion playback.

The OB team at Cheltenham Festival are using a GV LDX 86XS handheld wireless camera, which offers return video and full camera control.

“Super-Slow or tri-motion images have become increasingly popular, particularly for sports coverage, but we’ve never been able to capture them live with an RF camera before,” said William Norris, senior RF engineer, NEP UK.

This story first appeared on TVT's sister publication TVB Europe.

DIETZENBACH, GERMANY—Software developer Dimetis GmbH is ready to roll-out its latest media workflow automation and orchestration platform, the mX Media Exchange. This new workflow is designed to provide management, automation and transfer of large files with enhanced metadata handling for video and audio files through a web interface.

The mX platform is capable of managing complex file-based workflows and can connect with third party systems like transcoders, file checkers, workflow systems, storage and resource scheduling tools. Specific features for the mX include advanced metadata editor and management, with the system automatically collecting technical metadata and the ability to aggregate editorial metadata from multiple sources; a GUI workflow builder with drag-and-drop functionality, defined rule-sets based on file information, can store files in a library and address third-party systems; and it provides 24x7 monitoring as are customized reports based on completed transfers, alarm events, transferred volumes, number of transfers and reporting time.

Dimetis designed the mX system for broadcasters, content providers and production companies.

MONTREAL—Puerto Rico’s WAPA TV’s latest production upgrade had the stated goal of simplifying production and one part of that was to install the latest Ignite Konnect platform from Grass Valley. The Ignite system, which GV says delivers more streamlined operations, is fully integrated with WAPA TV’s other new additions, the Karrera K-Frame S-Series video production center system and RS-LDX C80 robotic cameras from GV.

Ignite Konnect, with full integration of Karrera switchers with Ignite Production Automation, enables an operator to manage control room devices used to produce live newscasts and event programming. The Karrera K-Frame series offers multiformat support, including 1080p and 4K UHD and a full range of features in a compact 6 RU video frame, with 3 M/Es or 2 M/Es and up to 80 inputs and 48 outputs. When combined with Ignite, the system serves as a link between the control room and the newsroom. The production automation platform can also give operators the ability to filter changes during live productions and condense and simplify the event library.

WAPA TV has also acquired GV’s Korona K-Frame S-Series video production center, a combination of mid-range switcher performance with workflows for simplified control of complex productions. The system is available in 1, 2 and 3 M/Es and provides a choice between three control surfaces with a built-in touchscreen menu system, touchscreens in transition areas and a K-Frame S-Series video processing engine.

In addition, the RS-LDX cameras purchased by WAPA TV support BT.2020 wide color gamut and optional native HDR support using SMPTE ST 2084 and HLG.

BOSTON—Talamas, a Boston-based sales and rental house, has purchased a Fujinon Cabrio 25-300mm cine lens, adding to its existing lens inventory, a Fujinon press release said today. The lens is likely to be used in broadcasting and cinema applications, including a cooking show, concerts and multi-cam scenarios in the former instance and for commercials, indie films and TV productions in the latter, the release said.

“The beauty of the Fujinon 25-300mm is that it offers a generous focal range and a lot of control for use in both studio and cine-style configurations,” said Dave Talamas, CEO of Talamas. For live broadcast productions, the lens’s detachable digital servo control is attractive, he added.

The Fujinon 25-300mm is a PL-mount lens with a high zoom ratio offering the versatility to cover a wide range of shooting environments, the release said. It covers the 31.5mm sensor size of digital cinema cameras and has an optional detachable servo drive for electric zooming, focusing and iris.

More information is available on the Fujinon website.

MOUNT MARION, N.Y.—Laird wants to untangle the cabling process for consumers with its latest offerings, pre-loaded reels of 12G-SDI Single Link BNC camera cables.

The reels are military-grade with a spool brake and a 4K/8K chassis mount BNC connector. SMPTE compliant Belden and Canare low-loss coax cables terminate with BNC connectors and deliver 12G-SDI signal transmission up to 328 feet, depending on model, as well as 3G up to 686 feet.

Laird is offering these new cable reels in six models and a variety lengths. Available models include LCR-4855-B-B, LCR-4505-B-B, LCR-4694-B-B, LCR-4794-B-B, LCR-RT4855 and LCR-12G-B-B.

NEW DELHI—A new partnership between Prime Focus Technologies and Microsoft has come to be in the attempt to strengthen PFT’s Clear hybrid cloud-enable Media ERP suite. Clear, which PFT reports handles up to 1.5 million hours of content, will now be combined with Microsoft’s Azure Cloud Services to be implemented across global regions covered by Azure.

This deal will begin with the immediate migration of all consolidated data storage to Azure before the migration of core Clear Media ERP to Azure couple with Microsoft’s Cognitive Services. The companies plan to work together on the go-to-market approach, which will seek to help clients migrate to the cloud.

Clear will now be available through Azure’s 42 regions, allowing M&E organizations to manage workflow orchestrations across the entire content supply chain of one system, including processes like acquisition, review and approval, cataloging, QC, mastering, distribution, promos and localization.

WAYNE, N.J.—The BBC reopened BBC Studioworks’ three studios and post production facility at the U.K.’s Television Centre in September 2017 with a batch of new equipment and technology , including 4K HDR TV lenses from Fujinon.

In total, Fujinon reports that it supplied BBC Studioworks with 22 of its UA-Series 4K HDR TV lenses, in addition to new 4K camera, screens and switchers that will help enable productions to be shot in 4K and HDR.

Productions that have been shot at the new facilities include “The Jonathan Ross Show” and “It Take Two.”

NEVADA CITY, CALIF.—Tasked with processing and managing 1,000-5,000 HD media files per week, Syncro Services Digital Media recently installed a Telestream Vantage Media Processing platform in an effort to automate its workflow.

The main duty of the Vantage platform at Syncro is assist with the processing of 15-, 30 and 60-second commercials, including the creation of multiple versions to meet all required technical specifications. These versions can require different standards, formats, frame rates, codecs and wrappers; slate and/or non-slated; closed captioned or non-captioned; watermarked and/or non-watermarked; and CALM compliant audio tracks. Syncro has automated its 24/7 workflow with Vantage to handle these tasks.

Syncro’s Vantage workflow is comprised of the Vantage Media Processing platform, Lightspeed Server, Post Producer Automated Content Assembly, MacCaption and Telestream Switch. The Vantage system now helps determine what versions need to be generated for each media file; recognizing source files; directing the media along the appropriate workflow for processing; identifying and fixing technical issues; and flagging files with technical issues or anomalies.

Syncro also points out that it will be able to update the Vantage software as broadcast technology continues to evolve.

STOCKHOLM—The media industry is undergoing a period of unprecedented change and viewers continue to flock to the cash-rich facilitators of the ‘new age of content,’ be it Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google or Apple (FANGA). In the past, this mostly applied to on-demand content, but it is now becoming increasingly crucial for high quality live events. Consumers want it all with high quality picture: UHD, HDR, HFR, multiscreen, VR, 360… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

While end-users have a tendency to focus on what FANGA and the major traditional broadcasters are bringing to the table, what they’re often unaware of is the strain their new demands put on content production and distribution. Demands met with changing workflows and new technologies such as cloud-based production, remote production, distributed production and file-based workflows.

All of these workflow changes are enabled by the technology shift to IP in production, and more specifically to the adoption of 2110 standards for IP based production.

One company that is determined to help address these end-user demands, new production workflows and technology shifts is Net Insight. With all this in mind, they are releasing a next generation terabit platform, Nimbra 1060, to provide flexibility and agility with assured service quality for terabit IP needs. This new product is unique in that it brings IP-based media services across national and global media networks easily, without the complex traffic engineering typically associated with high-quality media transport. It reportedly also provides the industry’s highest capacity density.

Net Insight’s Nimbra 1060 provides “a hassle free solution” to increasing workflow demands to keep up with demand of live content.

“We are very largely driven by the end user demands for more interesting and higher quality content, especially from live events. Content which also has a very high intrinsic value for both content owners and broadcasters,” said Alexander Sandström, strategic product manager at Net Insight.

End-users are now watching on various different sized screens and have much higher demands with regards to resolution, picture quality, pixels, which inevitably causes bandwidth issues.

“Production has changed and will continue to do so to handle this large number of different viewing methods and expectations, something that of course affects our position in the marketplace," said Sandström.

Capacity demands are increasing at an alarming rate. Net Insight expects the core capacity of wide area media networks to triple in the next three years, while the capacity demand on remote production sites could increase tenfold in the same period.

Clearly, these new demands mean future media networks will need to provide more capacity on each site, on each link and throughout the entire wide area network core.

One challenge with the shift to IP is retaining the high quality that live production has delivered in the past. What complicates matters more is that networks will also have to be agile enough to adapt to changing workflows and traffic patterns. All this must be achieved while supporting the shift to IP, and more specifically, to the 2110 standards.

Net Insight's Nimbra 1060 is designed to retain all the characteristics from its existing Nimbra MSRs in an all-IP world. Service providers and network operators get a carrier grade platform, with assured service quality and service agility guaranteed at any level of network utilization. With this combination of assurance and agility, users are able to use all available network capacity without sacrificing quality.

“What we see is that production is expanding out from single OB vans and locations and things like remote production is becoming much more prevalent,” Sandström continued.

“There’s also an increasing pressure on companies to use their resources more efficiently. We see the launch of our next generation media transport solution as a large step in aiding these changes, where resources may be distributed over large distances.”

“With remote and distributed workflows the network is becoming the most crucial common production resource, and that’s what we want to provide a simple and future proof solution for," concluded Sandström.

This story first appeared on TVT's sister publication TVB Europe.

BEAVERTON, ORE.—Tektronix has added support for the SMPTE ST 2110 suite of standards for professional media over IP networks to its PRISM media analysis solution, the company announced today. It also has added new field-upgradable signal generation capabilities to the analysis tool for use in testing IP and 12G-SDI for hybrid/SDI networks.

As facility infrastructure evolves from SDI to IP, broadcast engineers and IT professional must manage hybrid SDI and IP environments. The addition of SMPTE ST 2110 signal generation to PRISM, which can be connected to any broadcast signal in a facility, means users now have a comprehensive measurement, network analysis and troubleshooting tool, the company said.

The new MP-GEN option module for PRISM can inject known good signals into the network to check signal paths and system redundancy, thus allowing users to identify where connectivity errors and other problems originate, Tektronix said. It does so by providing ST 2110-20, -30 and ST 2022-7 test patterns that can be used on IP networks and on 12G-SDI for hybrid/SDI networks.

PRISM’s new ST 2110 support provides generation, connectivity and analysis for: ST 2110-10, system timing; -20, uncompressed active video; -30, uncompressed PCM audio; -40, ancillary data; and -21, traffic shaping uncompressed video.

More information is available on the Tektronix website.

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ST. LOUIS—Antennas Direct is enabling its customers to go wireless with the release of a pair of new products. The ClearStream Flex wireless TV antenna and ClearStream Eclipse wireless TV antenna will enable users to watch local, network programs on their smartphone, tablet and streaming media player, per Antennas Direct’s official announcement.

The company is billing these products as the start of a new product category for the TV antenna market, providing wireless broadcast TV viewing. In addition to assisting with wireless broadcasts on mobile devices, the new antennas feature software upgrades that include Recording and Set-A-Reminder features, the latter of which alerts viewers in advance of TV shows when connected to the internet or not. The free ClearStream TV app and program guide, as well as Wi-Fi setup, are also part of the package.

The ClearStream Flex and Eclipse antennas connect through a home Wi-Fi network to combine live, local broadcast TV with a smartphone, tablet or streaming media player. The antennas are compatible with Roku, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Stick, Kindle and iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.

Antennas Direct is selling the ClearStream Flex for $119.99 and the ClearStream Eclipse for $99.99.

BRUSSELS—Eyeing to repurpose its television content for republishing online, India news network Aajtak has brought in Actus Digital to provide a clip creation workflow. The tool provided by Actus Digital was its Actus Clip Factory platform, which records all Aajtak IP transport streams and publish clips from the TV broadcast to the Aajtak website quickly after airing.

The Actus Clip Factory is designed for broadcast linear recording and live clips creation for social media and OTT. The workflow includes record, extract, edit, transcode and delivering capabilities. In addition to its promise of quick delivery, Clip Factory can add any metadata, overlays, graphics, pre/post roll, transcode the clips to any format and distribute the clips to any destination. Clip creation workflow can be done manually or automatically.

According to Actus CTO Raphael Renous, Aajtak is using the Actus Clip Factory to create more than 10,000 clips per month.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—Dome Productions is doing graphics on the go with the addition of new ChyronHego equipment in its fleet of 17 mobile production vehicles.

Dome already utilized ChyronHego’s LyricX graphics creation and playout environment, but with the addition of 13 Mosaic XL2 graphics platforms it can bring the trucks into its overall LyricX graphic workflows. The 1080p capable Mosaic XL2 will help with Dome Productions reported ventures into 4K.

“A common character-generation format across our entire fleet will give us a boost in both speed and capability and help accelerate productions of all sizes,” said Mike Johnson, director of engineering for Dome Productions.

WAYNE, N.J.—The government access channel in Riverside, Calif., has a new slate of JVC Professional Video cameras according to a press release from the company. RiversideTV has purchased 10 JVC KY-PZ100 PTZ network video production cameras over the last year for multi-camera coverage of government meetings and local programming.

In addition to coverage of government meetings, RiversideTV is using its JVC KY-PZ100 PTZ production cameras for multi-camera local programming.

The original purchase in February 2017 was for three PTZ cameras and a RM-LP100 remote camera control to cover meetings outside the city council chambers and other multi-camera productions. RiversideTV then purchased two more PTZ cameras and remote control in September 2017 for studio use. The remaining five PTZs were purchased this past January and will be permanently installed in a conference room in City Hall.

In addition, RiversideTV has purchased additional JVC gear for other projects. This includes two GY-HM200SP sports production cameras with integrated graphics for producing sports coverage without a production truck; the cameras are also being used for press conferences. The station has also acquired two GY-LS300 4KCAM Super 35 cameras housed in Zacuto rigs for ENG shoots and other projects.

NEWARK, N.J.—There’s a new addition to Panasonic’s system camera line with the introduction of the AK-UC4000 studio camera. The AK-UC4000 is part of the same family of products as the AK-UC3000 4K HDR capable camera and the AK-HC5000 1080p 4x high-speed HDR system. The new 4K HDR capable camera includes many of the same features from the other models while also offering a future-proof infrastructure.

AK-UC4000

The UC4000 utilizes Large Single Sensor Internal Expansion Lens optics with Panasonic’s new super 35mm imager, capturing 4.4K native resolution that offers an improvement in UHD resolution, dynamic range and S/N ratio over the UC3000. The UC4000 maintains the same broadcast lens compatibility and operation, and keeps the same camera form factor as the other cameras. In addition, the UC4000 will be compatible with the same accessories as the UC3000 and HC5000 cameras, including the AK-HVF100 studio viewfinder; the AK-HRP1000, AK-HRP1005 and AK-MSU1000 camera controllers; the AK-HBU500 studio build-up kit; SHAN-HC5000 shipping case and all cabling.

In addition, Panasonic has announced that it will also offer the new AK-UCU600 camera control unit, which provides power up to 6,600 feet over hybrid fiber and comes with the same features as the AK-UCU500. These features include simultaneous multiple format output with simultaneous 4K, 1080p and HD outputs possible; simultaneous HDR and SDR output with HDR/SDR offset adjustment for SDR shading of HDR content; multiple data and video trunk lines and IP control; and a compact 2U design. Additional features for the UCU600 will include selectable 12G-SDI/quad SDI for 4K outputs; accommodation for future SMPTE 2110 MoIP connectivity option board; TICO compression capable output for 4K transport over 3G HD-SDI; and future 2x, 3x or 4x output capability for slow motion shooting when the UC4000 is in HD or 1080p mode.

Panasonic plans to release both the AK-UC4000 and the AK-UCU600 in March 2018. The AK-UC4000 will be listed at $40,000, while the AK-UCU600 will be listed at $20,000.

ALAMEDA, CALIF.—Clear-Com is now a part of the broadcast infrastructure for Elevation Church, serving as the intercom solution at the church’s broadcast production facility and campus in Charlotte, N.C. The facility produces multiple online video streams to broadcast live to Elevation’s 15 locations across the U.S. and Canada, and houses a 1,850-seat auditorium.

The Clear-Com gear that was implemented at the church—by SES Integration—includes the Eclipse HX-Delta digital matrix intercom with built-in slots for expanding the system. The Eclipse HX system is loaded with an IVC-32 IP interface card to connect local and remote production crews through the V-Series user keypanels, Agent-IC mobile app and LQ IP interfaces with local partyline systems over secure IP networks.

In addition, an E-Que-HX wireless cell controller card with Eclipse HX integrates with FreeSpeak II wireless beltpacks in the 1.9 GHz range to the overall intercom system. Two FreeSpeak II transceiver antenna modules were strategically placed to provide wireless coverage throughout the facility.

With its production set-up, Elevation Church produces and distributes weekly sermons and can integrate live feeds from other campuses.

SAN JOSE, CALIF.—Com Hem is feeling the need for speed when it comes to the delivery of broadband services and as a result the Swedish broadcaster has recently installed Harmonic’s CableOS virtualized CCAP platform. A software-based Cable Modem Termination System, CableOS enables flexible delivery of high-speed broadband services.

Com Hem has deployed CableOS across its network to bring high-speed broadband to connected devices. The installation reportedly has made Com Hem able to meet its current demands for broadband and be ready for increasing service and speed demands in the future. CableOS also powers Com Hem’s symmetrical 1.2 Gbit/s service test being conducted in Stockholm.

Harmonic is a provider of video delivery technology and cable access virtualization.

LEICESTER, ENGLAND—Easter weekend will see the premiere of CNN’s six-part, six-hour miniseries “Pope: The Most Powerful Man in History.” For recreations of different historical eras, cinematographer Dane Lawing, SOC, made the call to go with Cooke S4/i prime lenses to give each era a distinct look.

Lawing utilized a Cooke S4/i kit that came with eight prime lenses: 18/25/32/40/50/75/100/135mm. The 25mm and 40mm were the most prominently used, per Cooke’s press release, for the two-camera shoot, with 138mm +1 and +2 diopters added for close-up work. The cameras used for the production were the Arri Alexa SXT and Amira.

The historical era reproductions were shot in 32 fps and for certain time eras candles were combined with LED lighting to create a natural look.

“Pope: The Most Powerful Man in History” will air Easter weekend, March 31-April 1.

NEW YORK—Vimeo today announced a pair of new tools—Simulcast and Publish to Social—to help producers more easily blanket social media with their content.

Simulcast

Simulcast makes it possible for live events from the Vimeo platform to be simultaneously streamed on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and Periscope. Publish to Social enables producers to publish their content natively to Facebook and YouTube with a single click. Both are available to members of specific paid Vimeo plans, the company said.

“Our new social distribution tools will give Vimeo creators a wider audience, deeper engagement and a fundamentally simplified distribution process,” said Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud in a press release.

Simulcast eliminates the need for producers to send separate streams to each desired social media platform, reducing overall bandwidth use and associated costs. Live streams distributed via Simulcast are archived automatically, the company said.

[Vimeo Acquires Livestream, Launches Vimeo Live] 

Publish to Social does away with the need to upload videos separately to different social platforms. It also increases the reach of a producer’s content because social platforms like Facebook favor native uploads and give them greater visibility, Vimeo said. The new tool also offers producers a way to track plays, likes and other stats on a side-by-side basis across platforms.

More information is available in a blog from Vimeo.

CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND—Pixel Power’s StreamMaster integrated playout platform is now offering support for NewTek’s NDI technology. NDI can be implemented across an IP infrastructure and is supported by a range of vendors.

StreamMaster will use the NDI technology to generate and monitor low latency proxies, allowing operators to view multiple output buses from different locations, either within the Pixel Power Gallium Automation user interface or through a third-party multiviewer that supports NDI. StreamMaster can also use NDI as a delivery format, as part of a wider NDI architecture and can be integrated within production environments for graphics and clip playback.

Pixel Power CEO James Gilbert says that the addition of NDI gives the StreamMaster platform a latency of less than a frame.

CORONA, CALIF.—Lucas Oil Production Studios, a division of Lucas Oil, produces and edits original, HD motorsports programming for major networks and for the MAVTV television network and Lucas Oil Racing TV, both of which are owned and operated by Lucas Oil Products.

Cobalt video distribution amplifiers and audio embedders were installed in Lucas Oil Production Studios’ newest Alpha truck.

With the growth of its racing series and related production work, Lucas Oil Production Studios has built its fleet to four productions trucks, all equipped with Cobalt Digital gear. With the creation of the newest truck, Lucas Oil Alpha, the company wanted to ensure that all the truck’s equipment met exacting specifications for the rugged world of motorsports video production.

THE PERFECT FIT

To do so, the Alpha truck has installed a series of Cobalt Digital products. Lucas Oil Alpha is a 53-foot-truck with a 40-foot-expando section, and it’s wired for eight cameras and eight channels of replay. Cobalt equipment in the truck includes the 9910DA-AV analog video distribution amplifier, 9003 3G HD-SDI video distribution amplifier, and 9253 AES distribution amplifier and 9323 HDSDI audio embedder. All of the units are installed in openGear frames.

Cobalt just fit seamlessly into our openGear environment. We were interested in incorporating Dolby E in our new truck, as well as our uplink truck, and Cobalt was the only solution I found that was able to integrate the metadata easily. 

ROUGH AND TOUGH

The reliability and durability of equipment are primary concerns, as Lucas Oil Production Studios takes its production trucks into harsh environments. Gear must be able to withstand 120-degree temperatures out in the desert for off-road truck racing or a chilly 16 degrees for a midget sprint car race in Oklahoma. The studios’ engineers consider infrastructure such as distribution amplifiers, audio embedders, and other signal processing gear to be the “backbone” of their production trucks. Despite travel over rough roads and use in extreme environments, the cards must work the first time every time the team arrives on site and gets to work.

So far, we’ve abused it, taking it down some of the roughest roads you can imagine and put it into some of the toughest conditions we’ve ever seen—and the Cobalt gear has worked flawlessly. Durability was the main reason we selected Cobalt cards in the first place, and reliability was a close second. We know that once we plug them in, they’ll work. 

Although Cobalt is known for offering a five-year warranty on its products, Lucas Oil Productions has never had the chance to take advantage of it. In 12 years, not a single Cobalt product has broken or failed for the company. Installation has been easy too, with Cobalt walking the studios’ engineers through any issues or questions.

Lucas Oil Alpha hit the road in March 2017 for its first shoot, and the Cobalt cards have performed without a hitch ever since. Alpha soon will be joined by Lucas Oil Bravo, a new sister truck that features the very same DA infrastructure. We had such success with the first one, why not just copy it and repeat? We’re not joking. Cobalt builds a quality product—cards that get the job done—and they’ve truly been the backbone of our fleet over the past few years.

Justin Conenna is an audio engineer for Lucas Oil Production Studios. He can be contacted at jconenna@lucasoil.com. 

For more information, please visit www.cobaltdigital.com or call 217-344-1243.

BEAVERTON, ORE.—Tektronix has announced its video quality assurance solutions are interoperable with Amazon Web Services (AWS) Elemental MediaLive, AWS Elemental MediaConvert and AWS Elemental MediaPackage. When used with the AWS services, the Tektronix solutions provide pay TV operators, broadcasters and OTT providers with a scalable way to convert and package video content into various formats while ensuring quality throughout the video workflow.

Tektronix Sentry now can provide AWS customers with live streaming video monitoring across their workflow—from AWS cloud ingest to content delivery network. The company’s Aurora file-based QC can be used to ensure compliance of media files with quality, regulatory and workflow requirements on Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). 

The Tektronix Sentry monitoring and diagnostics solution for the AWS Elements MediaLive video encoding service, MediaPackage origination, packaging and encryption solution and Amazon CloudFront CDN provides end-to-end measurement and reporting on issues with live streams that most affect the viewing experience. The software-based product also provides video quality of experience and picture quality analysis on encrypted networks.

Tektronix’ Aurora file-based quality control automates file QC on Amazon S3 for video providers using MediaConvert, a file-to-file video transcoding service. OTT service providers can rely on Aurora’s perceptual video quality and TekMOS picture scoring to unearth any encoding and alignment issues.

More information is available on the Tektronix website. 

LEXINGTON, KY.—WLEX–TV is part of the Cordillera Communications Group and the NBC affiliate for Lexington. As a local station with a broadcast area that covers 40 counties across central Kentucky we have a big commitment to news, broadcasting more than seven hours of live programming a day.

Sam Gordon stands in WLEX-TV’s production truck, which was installed with the CellSat system for backup reporting.

Five years ago, we looked at bonded cellular links to support our field reporters doing weather and live sports. We knew it would enable our teams to get to a story quicker and accelerate our live-to-air production in the field. 

The quality and user interface of Dejero’s blended IP network connectivity technology beat all other manufacturers. We purchased several kits and now use Dejero’s EnGo and GoBox mobile transmitters in the field and receivers at the station. The systems have worked brilliantly but there were occasions when we reported outside the metro area or where there were large crowds where cellular networks became congested and unreliable. So we needed a transmitter solution that would provide instant connectivity.

Just before NAB 2017, Dejero showed us a new concept it had worked on with Intelsat: the ability to blend Ku-band satellite with bonded cellular connectivity. We installed the Dejero CellSat system into our new truck in October 2017.

With CellSat on board there’s no need to bring in specialist operators or pre-arrange a satellite slot. You simply deploy the dish and it connects on demand—but only when the cellular signal isn’t strong enough. Blended CellSat data charges are managed and billed as on demand alongside the regular cellular charges by Dejero for a single, clear operational bill. 

Just before the new year we deployed CellSat to cover college football’s “Music City Bowl” in Nashville, Tenn. We wanted to enhance NBC’s coverage with a 90-minute special wrap-around post-game, added live. We used two cameras, one connected to the in-vehicle encoder/transmitter using CellSat and the other connected to a Dejero GoBox and using cell.

Nissan Stadium, where the game was played, usually has solid connectivity, but with nearly 70,000 fans turning up for the game we figured the cells could get overloaded, so we needed a backup. CellSat gave us extra confidence that we wouldn’t lose connectivity. It worked perfectly for our operator. Back at the station, we couldn’t tell whether the video was coming in via satellite or cell; the picture quality was that good. The latency was also just like any other cellular shot we’ve done.

We’ve also taken CellSat out for storm tracking and so far the satellite backup hasn’t been needed for this. That’s the great thing about the CellSat system, you don’t have to use the satellite if you don’t need it.

Now we can confidently broadcast live from virtually anywhere, safe in the knowledge that if the available cellular bandwidth deteriorates, CellSat will automatically blend in Ku-band IP satellite connectivity to boost bandwidth so we can get high-quality live shots to air while saving time and money.

Sam Gordon is a 27-year veteran at WLEX-TV. Contact Sam at sgordon@wlex.tv.

For more information, please visit www.dejero.com or call 519-772-4824.

RASTATT, GERMANY—Chinese state broadcaster CCTV is making a move toward mobile IP-based audio for electronic field production and chose Lawo to help get it there. CCTV will rely on Lawo’s mc2 mixing console, as well as Ravenna real-time audio transport, for the setup.

CCTV’s setup consists of two 32-fader Lawo mc256 consoles, each of which provide 288 DSP channels and a routing capacity of 8192x8192 mono channels, and two 16-fader mc236 consoles with 192 internal DSP channels and 512x512 crosspoints. With SoundGrid integration, the system have MADI and Ravenna/AES67 compatible interfaces, with dual router cards.

The IP audio mobile system will operate together with another IP video mobile system designed for 4K broadcasting. This includes twp Lawo Dallis I/Os and three remote stageboxes configured with six A_mic8 plus one A_mic8 and three A_digital8 interfaces, as well as one A_madi4 at the local end.

CCTV installed the new system so that it would be ready for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, which are currently underway.

SOUTH HADLEY, MASS.—South Hadley Community Television provides the town’s PEG content on local Comcast cable channels. The studio facilitates the production and broadcasting of programming for local residents, focusing primarily on the coverage of municipal meetings. Because we have an older infrastructure, we have no direct control over the switching of our signal when we go to live locations. The switching occurs at Comcast’s headend a couple towns over. This has really limited us.

Dan Pease, Studio Associate, adjusts settings on his LiveShot Portable.

We wanted to start streaming, but because the live stream never passes through my headend—which houses our Tightrope playback system—we couldn’t do so. I wanted a solution that would let us do away with a modulator, put the live signal back in our hands and produce live programming on our own.

That was when I came across Comrex. I was attracted to the company’s history—Comrex hasn’t been in video very long, but has been building equipment for radio since 1965.

I was impressed by how easy it was to get a demo unit. I was able to test LiveShot for two weeks through Comrex’s loaner program. I had the chance to use it for a town meeting during the trial and found that it was very easy to set up. Comrex support was very solid and helped me solve the problem.

Right now, we primarily use LiveShot to originate programming from our town hall. The only available connection is public Wi-Fi—everyone in the meeting is usually using it—and we’re often cramped for bandwidth. But even when you have 120 people using cellphones, LiveShot is able to push out decent video.

Being in western Massachusetts, our cell signals are erratic and spotty. LiveShot’s ability to handle cellular networks was another factor that appealed to us. I consulted with Comrex to determine how we can negotiate coverage and data plans with providers, so when we begin broadcasting over data networks more regularly, I feel confident that we’ll be supported.

LiveShot has opened our channel up to 24/7 streaming. Our signal now goes through our own system; I have control over it. I can switch out to it when I want to and can feed it into my streamer. Now, I can truly go live with anything. 

Even though our users don’t have an engineering background, it’s still easy to understand how LiveShot works. It’s empowering to think, “Hey, this is a solution that bigger stations use, but it’s still accessible to people on a local level.”

Bob Smith can be contacted at rsmith@southhadleyma.gov.

For more information, please visit www.comrex.com or call 978-784-1776.

SAN FRANCISCO—Think of it as a vital game of give and take.

On the one hand, M&E companies are demanding more efficient ways of capturing, managing and manipulating video from within their facility. And on the other, the industry has narrowed its focus on a key distribution technology—all in the name of allowing media companies to get video more efficiently to air.

Jim Robinson, sets up the Newtek NDI webserver. Note the multiple camera sources on the rear monitor.

Where is this game of expansion and contraction taking place? Most notably, within today’s modern integrated production systems (IPS). These control technologies have been modernized and streamlined in recent years so they can be customized quickly, operate more efficiently and more deftly control a greater number of third-party systems.

At the same time, the behind-the-scenes workhorse processing these machines—here enters IP networking—continues to bound forward as a key piece of tomorrow’s networking future.

Customers talking about automated production control, whether it be for studio production or live news, have a few demands. They want flexibility. They want to know that switcher they’re buying today supports IP. And they want to be able to scale their operations in ways that weren’t possible even a half dozen years ago.

And let’s not forget moving around the furniture.

SAVING SPACE

With IP, “because everything is interconnected, we don’t have the physical [confines] of space,” said Will Walters, director of product marketing for NewTek.

With IP networks, a broadcaster has the capability to dismantle parts of the traditional physical layout of a facility. Traditionally, control rooms were built close to where content is produced since video traditionally arrives in a router or cross point switch housed in the same rack.

IPS technologies with IP-backbone solutions allow a facility to string together elements in a single chain, or break them up as needed for a smaller crew. “It basically gives a station the ability to scale your production as necessary,” he said, such as when an integrated production system is being set up with three cameras for a talk show or as a larger multicamera shoot for a live sporting event.

Putting its integrated production system on the IP path was a priority for companies like The Weather Company. The group built new digital studios as part of the company’s new offices in Brookhaven, Ga. With a huge bevy of protocols and formats, depending on where the source was coming from, the firm was looking for a flexible technology that could handle micro reporting from individual sites, such as from cell phones or small kits in the field using cellular production. Weather is a changeable thing, and the company needed its acquisition process to keep pace. That’s when they turned to Newtek’s NDI protocol.

The facility now brings in a signal—from origination to delivery—that is nearly completely IP. They only use of SDI within the plant is for redundancy recording, Waters said.

IP-based integrated production systems offer flexibility and agility not found in other networking protocols, he said. 

CONTROL ANYWHERE

That notion of improved flexibility is also being adopted by Broadcast Pix within its BPswitch integrated production switchers. Using the Broadcast Pix Commander interface, users can control the BPswitch switcher via a tablet, phone or laptop that’s operating as part of the BPNet IP ecosystem. This flexibility means users can create live productions from inside or out of a traditional facility.

“We’ve been behind IP since day one; now it’s moving us on to bigger things,” said Tony Mastantuono, product manager for the Chelmsford, Mass.-based company.

Broadcast Pix BPSwitch

“We’ve taken the idea of control anywhere in the world to the next level,” he said, as the technologies allow for command interfaces to be user-customizable for different types of workflows. For example, if an operator only needs a few cameras and a simple clip store for a live event, the system’s interface can be customized and controlled based on the type of production at hand.

“Traditionally you’d have cameras on a local system and the operator is local,” Mastantuono said. While that is still the norm, you now have these three parts—the engine, the cameras and the operator—that can be controlled in new ways. “The cameras can be in a government meeting location, while the actual engine can be in the studio, and through IP streaming, all those streams could be [distributed .]”

SIMPLIFYING PRODUCTION

For Grass Valley, one major focus is reducing complexities within IPS control. Another goal not far behind: ensuring that Grass Valley solutions are taking advantage of the efficiencies that IP connectivity has to offer.

“The hallmark for this year… is the notion of complexity,” said Chuck Garfield, director of news product management at Grass Valley.

While vendors have been known (once or twice) to say, “it’s so easy to use our system,” the reality can be different. It’s not always simple to effectively train and maintain staff knowledge of a system, particularly over the long term.

Reversing that notion is a priority for the company.

“Reducing complexity means we are creating a new set of tools for the Ignite [automated production control solution] and allow us to control our event library—to allow a nontechnical person to change the library, change cameras being used in each shot, etc.,” he said.

“That reduces the amount of training time [before] deploying a system; it reduces the amount of time it takes to handle last-minute changes that come in,” he said.

Improving complexity in the face of a fast-paced news environment is a key issue with customers, he said. “There is a big refresh happening in the industry with… automated production control room systems,” Garfield said. “And in most cases, it’s a complete forklift upgrade. They’re taking a fresh new upgrade [because] this notion of making an operator’s day-to-day life easier is one that’s really compelling.”

At the upcoming NAB show, the company plans to showcase a new IP workflow within the Ignite and K-Frame production systems, as “[customers] want to know that the switcher they’re buying today supports IP,” Garfield said. “Customers want flexibility where IP is concerned.”

Grass Valley also plans to announce third-party switcher support across some product lines. “More and more, we’ve got customers who like a [different] switcher workflow and they’ve asked us to integrate that.” 

THE PROFESSIONAL LOOK

The industry is at the point in its evolution that media firms want to create and push out more content in an easier, more streamlined fashion.

“They want to cover more meetings and create more local programming, no matter what the market is,” Broadcast Pix’s Mastantuono said. “And more importantly, they don’t want to sacrifice the production aspect. That production value has to be there within an integrated production system. It has to integrate clips, graphics, automation and repackage for different audiences.”

Customers are also looking for single-operator simplicity.

“In a rapidly evolving marketplace where there is a plethora of ‘technology for technology’s sake,’ integrated systems can quickly overwhelm people with little television production experience,” said Rush Beesley, founder of RUSHWORKS. 

ARMONK, N.Y.—IBM has announced the launch of Watson Captioning, a new AI-driven subtitling service. The standalone service uses AI to learn over time and allows companies to add their own glossaries of words and phrases.

IBM said Watson Captioning has been developed for media companies, in order to allow them to create and edit captions in streamlined workflows, reducing the costs of doing the work by hand, while meeting regulatory requirements. However, IBM says it also sees uses for it in the education and enterprise IT markets.

"As we’ve seen a major shift across industries towards video content, companies are faced with new challenges towards meeting costly compliance and production needs," said David Kulczar, senior product manager of Watson Video Analytics at IBM Watson Media.

"Watson Captioning taps IBM’s machine learning technology to meet these needs. It enables media and entertainment companies to produce content that is accessible to all audiences, while empowering production teams and streamlining workflows."

IBM said it could look to AI to take content and translate it into multiple languages in the future.

This story first appeared on TVT's sister publication TVB Europe. 

AYLESBURY, ENGLAND—TMD and Mediaproxy have put their heads together to come up with a new integrated content management workflow system. As a result of this collaboration, content captured by Mediaproxy’s LogServer can now be automatically added to the TMD Mediaflex-UMS database.

The collaboration results in Mediaflex-UMS driven software-defined workflows that will utilize Mediaproxy recorded content and metadata. Mediaflex users will be able to locate Mediaproxy assets by searching Mediaflex.

The content typically available as part of this integration, according to TMD and Mediaproxy, is off air program recordings and metadata.

DENVER—The Heartland Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences covers a large section of the western U.S.—Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wyoming. When it comes time to honor the chapter with the annual Heartland Emmy Award presentations, galas are held simultaneously from venues in Denver and Oklahoma City. For the past five years Denver Media Center has produced live coverage of the presentations,

including pre-show edits and live direction.

DMC managed streams from the Heartland Emmy Awards in Denver and Oklahoma City with the help of TVU’s One IP transmitter.

To give attendees at both locations a look at what is happening at the other, we’ve been using a TVU transmitter in Denver and TVU Networks’ receive in Oklahoma City. This set-up allowed Oklahoma City attendees to see what was happening live in Denver, but it didn’t allow Denver attendees to see any of the red carpet action or award winners in Oklahoma City.

Last year, we decided to make our coverage more dynamic and more effectively reflect the dual-location of the gala with real-time live feeds from each location. To do this, we updated our TVU equipment to the TVU One Live mobile IP transmitter with integrated HEVC compression.

The new TVU One units feature TVU’s patented Inverse Statmux Plus (IS+) transmission algorithm, allowing it to deliver HD quality video with half-second latency over multiple mediums, including cellular, microwave, satellite, BGAN, Wi-Fi and Ethernet.

Using one TVU One in Denver and another in Oklahoma City, with a TVU Receiver in each location, we could switch coverage of the 2017 galas live between the two venues to air on the chapter’s Facebook page via Facebook Live. 

The receiver in Oklahoma City took in the master feed from Denver. Using the TVU One transmitters, feeds from both locations were distributed to create the live master feed, which was switched and streamed to Facebook Live out of Denver. Adding a receiver in both locations and transmitter in Oklahoma City really opened up the back and forth creating a more exciting main show, including speeches from award winners and red carpet coverage from Oklahoma City.

The last couple of years had seen a dip in participation in the awards gala in part because of the challenges with simultaneous coverage. But this past year’s efforts helped flip the script and the amount of views on the Heartland Emmy Facebook page for this year’s gala back that up. We’ve received over 1,000 views on Facebook, which includes a growing number from areas that were not previously engaged with the event.

Since the Facebook Live stream from both locales this year, we’ve seen participation rise dramatically from the Oklahoma City chapter. The number of new members submitting work for award consideration has gone from very little to where they’re now a huge part of our membership. I strongly believe the use of the updated TV One IP transmitters was key for that growth.

Nick Arnold is co-owner of the Denver Media Center. He can be contacted at narnold@yghdtv.com. 

For more information, please visit www.tvunetworks.com or call 650-969-6732.

OTTAWA—Nuvyyo is covering all the bases of the smart TV market now, as the company has announced the release of a native Tablo app for Samsung Smart TVs, meaning Tablo OTA DVRs now support all major smart TV operating systems, including Roku, Amazon Fire, Android TV, LG webOS and Samsung Tizen.

The Tablo Samsung Tizen smart TV app is optimized for lean-back viewing and enables users to discover, schedule, record and stream both live and recorded broadcast television programs using their TV remotes. The app provides access to Tablo’s content discovery, live playback and DVR functions, including pause, rewind, fast forward and series recording.

Consumers with Samsung smart TVs 2015 and later, and running the Tizen operating system, will be able to utilize the Tablo app. The app is available for download from the Samsung Tizen app store and www.TabloTV.com/apps.

ITHACA, N.Y.—Cornell University is part of the Ivy League group of schools, famous not only for academic excellence, but sports rivalries as well. The school has 36 varsity intercollegiate teams, so there is no shortage of sports action to follow.

Cornell uses the Wirecast system to live stream sports like football, basketball, hockey and volleyball.

The Athletics Department is tasked with live streaming 16 NCAA Division I sports, which amounts to hundreds of games annually. Using Telestream Wirecast live streaming production software, the athletics department is able to meet the challenge, delivering HD-quality live streams of Big Red home games to the Ivy League Network, through the League-branded mobile app or through ESPN3, and Facebook Live.

MULTISPORT PRODUCTION

On busy game days, we often send multiple video crews across the campus to cover six or seven simultaneous events, including football, basketball, ice hockey, soccer, volleyball, wresting and field hockey. Our broadcast operation runs on a tight budget and relies largely on crews comprised of about 30 student volunteers. Despite these limitations, we’re able to use Wirecast to deliver 720/60p HD video, encoded using H.264 compression, with production standards that meet or exceed our fans’ expectations.

In addition to using Wirecast software on our laptops, we also use Wirecast Gear, a preconfigured, turnkey, self-contained device that includes what our crews need to set up and start streaming quickly. To move to the soccer, hockey and wrestling venues, Wirecast Gear is packed into its specially designed travel case, which has room to store a 19-inch monitor and two or three cameras.

Once on-site, it can be set up in minutes since it’s fully configured for live streaming. A second travel case is used to transport the audio equipment, including a PV6 six-input audio mixer, microphones, announcers’ headsets and more. This audio equipment feeds the six-input audio mixer via XLR connections, while the mixer itself interfaces with Wirecast Gear via USB.

In many cases, instant replay footage is ISO-recorded by one of the production cameras and put onto the Wirecast timeline where it’s ready to go into the live show. In addition to the four camera inputs on Wirecast Gear, additional media assets, such as live graphics from our specially designed branding library, can be brought into the live production over network device interface (NDI) standard.

Our reliance on Wirecast Gear is only going to grow, especially as we migrate to remote video over IP production. It’s very important to us that Wirecast Gear support our future NDI-based roadmap. Its all-in-one design streamlines our training, set-up and operations, saving us a tremendous amount of time.

With the ability to bring in four cameras, and enhance the video with real-time graphics, text, effects and other

professional touches, Wirecast Gear has dramatically elevated our production standards, making our Big Red live

games that much more appealing to our valued fans.

John Lukach oversees Cornell’s presence on the Ivy League Network (ILN), guides the athletic department’s multimedia initiatives. He can be contacted at jlukach@cornell.edu.

For more information, please visit www.telestream.net or call 530-470-1300.