MELBOURNE, Australia—NEP Australia, part of NEP Group, has launched a new OB facility that targets the broadcast industry’s shift towards hybrid workflows combining new software solutions with traditional hardware.

NEP Australia’s newest OB introduces an intelligent technical design for major event productions across leagues including the NRL, AFL and NBL—and is a significant departure from traditional OB infrastructure, according to the company. Named “HG 31” within NEP’s global fleet, the truck houses just three racks of IT and networking equipment, handling all video and audio processing, routing and monitoring.

Rather than relying on conventional onboard production infrastructure, all production operations are managed remotely through NEP’s connected hub ecosystem, including the NEP Andrews Hubs in Melbourne and Sydney, and NEP’s Production Hub in Auckland.

HG 31 supplements traditional hardware control surfaces with software-driven touchscreens, enabling agile workflows onsite synchronised with a full hardware-based mixing board or audio console in remote production control rooms. Production and engineering teams can move seamlessly between software and physical interfaces as workflows evolve, making it one of the most flexible OB units ever designed, NEP says.

This combination of a compact, lightweight, software-driven OB unit working in tandem with an offsite production facility marks an industry first for top-tier live productions. The approach further advances NEP’s strategy of delivering flexible, scalable, and software-defined media solutions that adapt to the evolving needs of broadcasters and rightsholders.

“This marks another milestone for NEP in the global development of our software solutions, giving broadcasters the flexibility to scale production processes and configurations up or down as needed, all within a single, easy-to-use platform,” said Dan Murphy, vice president of NEP Platform, who is leading NEP Group’s software platform development globally.

"NEP has a proud tradition of combining the best-in-class technology available to deliver the right solutions for our customers. The evolving world of software processing expands this capability, and we’re excited to give customers more freedom to choose the right tools for each production and adapt even more quickly as requirements change."

NEP’s development of software-led broadcast solutions began nearly a decade ago with the creation of TFC, NEP’s all-in-one broadcast control, orchestration, and infrastructure platform. Designed to manage the complexity of IP workflows, TFC brings hardware and software systems together into a single, intuitive control environment for live production teams.

Today, TFC powers live productions across more than 120 NEP facilities and OBs worldwide and is available industrywide for rightsholders, leagues, federations, news organizations, and streamers to deploy within their own operations.

SYDNEY—NEP Group has acquired 10 new Sony MLS-X1 Live Switchers, bringing the video production facilities company’s total to 31, Sony said today.

“NEP initially purchased 21 MLS-X1 units to upgrade and expand our current Sydney facility and deploy them in time for last year’s large international sporting competition held across Australia and New Zealand,” said Marc Segar, NEP senior vice president of technology.

The MLS-X1 is part of the Sony Networked Live ecosystem through connected hybrid on-premises and cloud capabilities. 

“The new MLS-X1 Live Switchers are currently being used in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland on a variety of projects, productions and events. This really highlights the versatility and efficiency of the MLS-X1 Live Switchers within NEP's production ecosystem,” said Segar.

“By being able to allocate switcher resources between virtual configurations and seamlessly integrate additional hardware as needed, the MLS-X1 enhances NEP's ability to handle a diverse range of projects and events across multiple locations. Moreover, the native ST-2110 support ensures easy integration into NEP's existing facilities, further streamlining our production workflows. 

NEP is among the leaders producing events that increasingly require additional resources as the use of 4K increases and larger switcher configurations are needed, said Sony.

“The MLS-X1 is easily expanded and allows for efficient use of resources. It can be configured for large global 4K productions or divided into smaller HD productions as required. NEP typically uses an MLS-X1 or multiple MLS-X1s in our Andrews production hubs to manage all the major sports coverage that we produce on a weekly basis,” said Segar.

The MLS-X1 offered several benefits that attracted NEP to the switcher, including its modular approach and scalability, said Sony.

“We love the way we can share resources efficiently across various projects, whether it's a large-scale international sporting event or a smaller, localized production,” said Segar. “The scalability and flexibility of the MLS-X1 Live Switcher align perfectly with NEP's needs, allowing us to adapt to the demands of different projects seamlessly.”

More information from Sony Australia and Sony New Zealand is available online.

OTTAWA—NEP Australia is making the switch to an all IP-enabled production infrastructure based on the SMPTE ST-2110 standard for video over IP, and it has turned to Ross Video to help provided the necessary equipment. Among the products that NEP Australia is bringing in is the AIMS-compliant Newt family of point-of-use IP signal converters.

NEP Australia is transitioning from an SDI to an all-IP infrastructure for outside broadcast and live production from two IP-centralized production hubs in Sydney and Melbourne that allow for remote Software Defined Production.

The Newt from Ross features open control and can work in a wide range of environments with Ross DashBoard, NMOS IS-04/IS-05, EmBER+/Ravenna and a published JSON API for custom integrations.

The choice to go with Newt was a collaboration between NEP Australia and Ross Video to have a system to drive NEP’s video monitors, according to Marc Segar, director of technology for NEP Australia.

SYDNEY—In an effort to support its IP-enabled production Hubs located in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, NEP Australia is partnering with Lawo to provide its technology services.

NEP Australia's Director of Technology Marc Segar and Philipp Lawo, Lawo CEO, at the 2017 NAB Show.

NEP’s broadcast production Hubs feature an IP-based core for remote, distributed production. The hubs are designed for multi-camera sports broadcasts, including the country’s Rugby League (NRL), Australian Rules Football (AFL) and A-League soccer.

To assist the Hubs, Lawo is providing its V_matrix platform for all IP-routing, processing and multi-viewer functionality based around software-defined virtual modules of the V_matrix ecosystem. Lawo’s Virtual Studio Manager and “The Wall” multi-viewer control are also a part of the system for over-arching orchestration and control, as well as a common user interface for operators.

The deal will also include audio and IP processing equipment for four new OB trucks, as well as an upgrade of seven existing NEP trucks.

The NEP Hubs are currently under construction and are expected to be ready by March 2018.