Maybe you are a little like me and have a deep appreciation for free stuff –especially when you find it to have special value.

For instance, I still remember as a boy checking out a classified ad from NASA at the back of Boy’s Life magazine. It promised treasures like a poster of the U.S. rockets used for the launches of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions, an impressive book on the space program (a quick search of eBay just revealed it was called “Space: The New Frontier,” which was published in 1967 –used edition $17.77) and a picture of the crew of Apollo 11 –Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins—all of which I wrote in for and received.

I know that poster was prominently displayed on my bedroom wall for several years and the photo arranged as the backdrop on a shelf used as a homespun trophy case. And imagine; it was all free.

Well, free stuff isn’t just for kids. Autocue is offering a free version of its QStart prompter software for the PC. With support for NewTek’s NDI and TriCaster, Autocue, QStart for PC allows users to type in scripts, format them as they wish and automatically play them out as an NDI stream by hitting the Tab key. The software is available as a free download from the Autocue web site.

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“There are more fully featured versions, but what we wanted to do is support the NDI ecosystem by providing a full workflow [for prompting],” says Aaron Brady, technical sales, Autocue. “We didn’t want to restrict people who are looking to adopt NDI by requiring them to purchase additional functionality.”

If greater capability and more sophistication is desired, users of the QStart for PC prompter software can add accessories, such as a foot controller to vary the scrolling speed of captions and add-on camera units, he says.

Autocue was an early NDI adopter and made its free prompter software with support for the IP protocol in summer 2015. The experience Autocue has gained with NDI since then will make it easier to implement in more sophisticated workflows and packages, says Brady.

Since launching QStart for PC with NDI support, Autocue has had many downloads from elementary schools as well as junior highs and high schools, public broadcasters and public access stations as well as “tons and tons of online content generators,” he says.

“That’s the target market for QStart,” explains Brady. “We developed it before NDI, and we anticipated there would be demand for it at those production levels. We were right.”

A major appeal of using an IP protocol like NDI to support prompting, especially in greenfield installations, is the ease with which network cabling can be run, especially when compared to using conventional cabling and converters, he says.

QStart Windows also supports NewTek’s TriCaster series of production switcher systems. For TriCaster, the prompting software is a good fit to support its multiviewer functionality, Brady adds.

It may not be a rocket poster or a photo of the men who made the first moon landing, but that doesn’t mean the free Autocue Windows prompting software with NDI support can’t help you make your productions out of this world.

NORTHFIELD, ILL.—Golf’s Western Amateur Championship, which took place July 30-August 4 at the Sunset Ridge Country Club, in Northfield, Ill., near Chicago, has been an annual event since 1899. Despite the importance of the event, traditional broadcasters have passed it by, primarily because they couldn’t justify the cost of producing live HD telecasts for a niche audience.

For Lowell Thaler, president of Thaler Media in North Palm Beach, Fla., however, it provided a great opportunity to cover the event live in HD—the first time in the event’s history. Working closely with his client, the Western Golf Association (WGA), the Thaler team streamed 12 hours of live coverage to Golf Channel’s digital platforms, including golfchannel.com and its mobile app. The feed was also carried on the WGA’s Facebook page and website, thewesternamateur.com.

“We were able to produce this event very affordably—at perhaps a tenth the cost—compared to the overhead typically associated with a live broadcast-quality HDTV show by leaning heavily on NewTek gear, NDI networking, and LiveU’s transmission system,” said Thaler. “We managed to shave costs without compromising high-end production standards, such as expert shot composition, picture and sound quality."

Thaler was able to produce the entire show from a studio a time zone away, in his hometown of North Palm Beach using what can best be described as a remote IP streaming production approach.

“It’s been logistically and financially challenging to send large crews, HD trucks, and/or elaborate fly packs to remote production sites,” said Thaler, “But this IP streaming production strategy is now a robust, viable alternative.”

WORKING SMART

Empowered with the IP-focused technology, the production crew sent to the Chicago-area golf course was designed with efficiency in mind. The team was made up of just one producer, an editor, four camera operators and a sound mixer. Three of the camera operators moved freely around the golf course, following the players from hole to hole to get the perfect shot.

Since there was no production control facility or mobile video unit on-site to switch and output the program feed, each of the camera operators wore a backpack containing a LiveU LU600 HEVC and LU500 IP-based transmission system. These modems with HEVC HD video relayed their respective camera video and audio signals via an IP pathway to a LiveU LU2000 multi-output server situated at a master control facility 1,300 miles away in South Florida.

Much of the golf action was covered by multiple cameras, and occasionally, camera operators could be seen in the live shot trying to capture it from a different angle, which gave the production a fresh, dynamic look. This was state-of-the-art photography; not the shaky-cams or webcams all too common on streaming platforms. All of the camera work was done in remarkably steady handheld mode, with excellent shot composition, using high-end Sony F55 cinema-grade cameras.

A small remote talk show set was set-up inside the Sunset Ridge clubhouse. The program’s co-anchors sat at a desk to deliver color commentary and game analysis.

A virtual set filled the green screens behind them and in front of their desk, making it appear as if they were enmeshed within a virtual studio far larger than the actual physical space. This was one of the virtual sets Thaler selected from the NewTek virtual set collection that came with the TC1.

OUT OF THE BOX CONTROL

The master control facility, which consisted of a two-room suite, can be described as a completely nontraditional, ad hoc broadcast setting. This South Florida site was crewed by nine people, including the producer, director, TD, audio mixer, live graphics and replay teams.

One of the master control rooms served as a main studio where a third anchor sat in front of a green screen to provide additional commentary. A different but complementary NewTek virtual set was keyed into the background to distinguish it from the first. After commentary, the South Florida anchor would toss the program back to the anchor team at the Chicago clubhouse.

The other room at master control housed a NewTek TriCaster TC1 IP production switcher. As a frame-accurate 4K UHD/60p-capable switcher with an all IP architecture, the TC1 is a 16 input, 4-M/E switcher with multi-bus mix/effects, animated titles and transitions, chromakey, built-in video servers, clip players, graphics channels, a virtual set system, and more. The TC1’s virtual set generation and editing capabilities were maximized on this production.

The production control workflow also included a NewTek 3Play 3P1 replay system, which allowed a replay operator and replay producer to provide SLOMO replays, and playback of aerial footage captured by the camera on a drone flying over the golf course throughout the broadcasts.

A NewTek Live Text CG system running on a laptop provided lower third supers and other on-screen graphics. And a NewTek Live Panel audio mixing control panel was used to combine all of the audio sources—including camera audio and natural/ambient sound—into the final program audio mix.

SKYPE CHANNEL BROADCAST

“Using a simple, streamlined, get-it-done approach, we were able to cover an event that was never covered live before,” said Thaler. “The key was the way we were moving signals between the two sites in real-time, so that the Chicago and Florida production teams could work together seamlessly as if they were both at the same site.”

This included the use of the four Skype channels on the NewTek Talk Show to send the TC1’s program output as a “return” feed to provide essential reference monitoring to the Chicago team. This mix-minus audio feed was then split to each of the anchor’s headsets, essentially serving as an IFB. TalkShow also enabled Skype interviews with guests to be fed back to the TC1 in master control.

The end-to-end LiveU transmission system was critical to tying the two remote groups together because this was the method for relaying the camera ISOs and audio back to special LiveU LU2000 server in the control room.

This Linux server relayed the camera signals via NDI for video over IP networking to the TC1 switcher where the TriCaster operator could mix these live camera inputs with all the other production elements, including features, such as historical vignettes and player profile clips.

PARTNERING FOR INNOVATION

Thaler worked with Miami-based equipment supplier and systems integrator Midtown Video, who provided a range of video and audio production equipment as well as NewTek/LiveU-savvy technicians to help ensure the live production ran smoothly.

“Golf tournaments present logistical challenges to traditional broadcasts because there are essentially miles of wiring and cabling that have to be run to support acquisition,” said Fernando Iglesias, Midtown Video’s vice president of operations. “It wouldn’t be feasible or cost-effective to do these cable runs, or to deploy a high-end HD production truck, for an event like this.”

Midtown Video also provided technical support needed to turn one of the LU600 HEVC units into a “data bridge” so the Chicago crew would have a solid Wi-Fi hot spot on the golf course. This enabled them to have dedicated bandwidth to ensure they could reliably send a Skype program return feed to the Chicago team—a critical transmission connection—and not rely on the venue’s existing Internet bandwidth.

“But with the LiveU transmission system, the broadcast cameras connect directly to backpacks so that the cameramen can move freely around the golf course without any need for long-distance, labor-intensive fiber runs,” Iglesias explained. “Combined with the NewTek production and NDI networking systems, this IP-based approach is extremely cost-effective compared to traditional HD-SDI broadcast.”

Many of the products and technologies powering the live streaming production were either not yet available just a few years ago. Today, by using innovative technologies in the IP live production space, Thaler Media produced a broadcast-quality product as if they were on-site with a full production unit and crew, all while considerably reducing the costs and streamlining the workflow.

“Our 2018 Western Amateur live stream has proven to skeptics that live shows and events that have never been broadcast before can now be produced and streamed, with high-end broadcast quality, very affordably, reliably, and successfully, and for video producers like me, that opens many doors of opportunity.”

NANJING, CHINA—Magewell has introduced the Pro Convert SDI 4K Plus, a low-latency encoder that converts up to 4K Ultra HD signals into full-bandwidth NDI streams.

"Many video professionals would like to take advantage of the flexibility and efficiency of IP-based production but have significant investments in SDI equipment such as cameras,” said company CEO and CTO Nick Ma. “Pro Convert SDI 4K Plus helps them maximize these investments by providing an easy-to-deploy and reliable bridge between their existing products and the thriving NDI ecosystem."

The new converter supports video up to 4K at 30 frames per second with embedded audio over a 6Gb/s SDI interface, the company said.

The Pro Convert SDI 4K Plus automatically detects input format and performs DHCP-based network configuration, making manual setup unnecessary, Magewell said. Once a video source is connected to the encoder, its signal is converted automatically at its native resolution and frame rate.

SDI loop-through enables the input signal to be sent to additional equipment simultaneously without the need for splitters or routers, thereby enabling users to establish an IP workflow without disrupting their existing traditional video infrastructures, the company said.

The new product has an intuitive browser-based interface, which provides access to status monitoring and advanced settings, giving users greater control over the conversion process.

Up/down/cross-conversion, de-interlacing and image adjustments are performed directly within the hardware.

The Pro Convert SDI 4K Plus offers a ¼-inch, 20 thread for use with standard camera-mounting accessories and preview and program tally lights to indicate when the NDI output stream is being use by another application.

Power can be supplied via Power over Ethernet (PoE) or the included power adapter.

More information is available on the Magewell website.

SAN ANTONIO—NewTek has announced the availability of LiveGraphics as part of its Premium Access monthly subscription service. LiveGraphics allows users to go directly to air with 10 channels of real-time animated graphics authored in Adobe Photoshop CC and Adobe After Effects CC for live output from TriCaster TC1 and NewTek IP Series.

In addition to LiveGraphics, Premium Access gives subscribers five additional applications including LivePanel, NDI KVM, Advanced Audio I/O, Virtual PTZ, and NewTek’s entire Virtual Set Library. Premium Access is the gateway to new advanced software features; subscribers will receive automatic updates as new capabilities are implemented.

First demonstrated at NAB 2018, LiveGraphics allows users to replace text, images, and create links to live data, and then play those graphics back in real time. LiveGraphics does not require a proprietary hardware graphics engine and delivers on the promise of Adobe Creative Cloud in real-time.

“Our software-centric approach to innovating tools for live video production allows us to develop at a fast and relentless pace,” said Dr. Andrew Cross, president and CTO of NewTek. “Premium Access is an affordable and highly convenient way to make our current and future software innovations accessible and available to customers. We are proud to initiate this service with truly revolutionary features like LiveGraphics and a robust selection of other ground breaking advancements.”

Premium Access requires the latest version of TriCaster TC1 and NewTek IP Series software now available to all users. This free software upgrade includes more than 20 new features. Premium Access initially includes LiveGraphics along with these additional advanced software applications:

LivePanel allows users to create custom controls from a compatible desktop or mobile device anywhere on a network. Easily accessible through any Web browser or operating system, LivePanel includes production-ready control panels for remote video mixing, media playback, audio mixing, and macro automation. The LivePanel Builder tool enables custom panels geared toward automating and simplifying unique productions and workflows.

Advanced Audio I/O provides comprehensive support for 64+ channels of Dante and AES67 audio while extracting all incoming and outgoing audio channels, including embedded SDI and NDI audio channels, to allow for more sophisticated configuration and complex handling. Interface seamlessly with external routing, networking, and mixing workflows, incorporating compatible audio boards, consoles, and USB sound devices and more. 

Virtual PTZ expands shot selection and storytelling opportunities without increasing source count by creating and accessing multiple shots from any individual video signal. Virtual PTZ starts with a full-resolution camera angle or video source, allows user-defined distinct areas of interest, then stores as full-frame presets that can be switched to or transitioned from seamlessly. Virtual PTZ includes live virtual zoom and real-time pan and scan effects.

Virtual Set Library: Full access to the premium library of NewTek LiveSet virtual sets is included with Premium Access. Choose from an extended variety of simulated environments to suit any style or brand, while providing an instant professional touch that enhances the look and feel of any production.

NewTek Premium Access is available now for the limited time special introductory subscription price of $99USD per month, or $1,149USD per year. International pricing will vary. For more information about NewTek Premium Access, visit https://www.newtek.com/npa/

LOS ANGELES--About a year ago I wrote about REMI (REMote Integration) sports production (also known as “At Home”), which is a trend for covering live sports that requires less equipment and personnel on-site and shifts much of the live production activities to the broadcaster’s central production center/network center.

Enabled by robust and affordable telecommunications capabilities from the stadium/arena, the camera (and microphone) signals are sent back to the central production center, integrated with graphics, replays, effects and b-roll materials. Usually a small utility truck is sent to the remote site, with cameras and microphones as well as video encoders.

Local camera operators and utility crew roll out the cameras and microphones while an A2 is usually on-site (and may have driven the truck) to set up coms and in some cases provide a sub-mix of the natural sound (crowd). Examples of this type of production are used extensively in college sports (except football and men’s basketball) as well as some professional sports. In smaller productions (1-5 cameras) the truck is replaced by a portable field pack.

BEYOND THE CENTRAL PRODUCTION CENTER

However in many cases REMI still uses first-class professional cameras and production gear. These require operators who are well trained in the use of this equipment. For some sports, this is still a high bar in terms of cost, especially the huge capital cost to build such facilities.

In response to REMI, a new type of live sports production has evolved, one that does not need a central production facility and therefore can be produced anywhere there is a solid internet (IP) connection. Further, instead of hard-wired cameras and microphones, this new production called “Virtual Production” by Sony uses wireless connectivity from camera (and microphone) to a cloud-based production service. No heavy production equipment, no wires!

The sports event can be produced via an app on a tablet, laptop PC or even a smartphone. The “control point” can be augmented with multiple video monitors and audio speakers/headsets. The solution even includes return channels for communications (IFB) and video returns. Further, there can be multiple productions simultaneously using the same camera and mic feeds but outputting specialized line cuts. Finally, this may not be limited to just a professional producer, the same cameras and audio can be available to fans to generate a personalized feed that can be shared via social media.

Taking advantage of this freedom of wires and professional gear, even professional productions can cover parts of an event that are near impossible to cover using conventional TV coverage techniques. For instance, at the Red Bull Alpenbrevet alpine motorcycle race where there isn’t space or room for a production vehicle, a roving camera operator--connected via 4G wireless modem--can cover any part of the event that is accessible.

REQUIREMENTS

Is this Virtual Production (VP) the future of live sports coverage? What are the challenges and downsides of going virtual in the cloud? Some necessary technologies that enable Virtual Production are large wireless bandwidth on site with low latency, connectivity to the internet that is reliable and high bandwidth, and a VP service available and affordable in a data center relatively close to the event (to minimize delays). Finally, what is also needed is a production client app that can enable all the features needed by a production, with low latency of both signals and commands, that can run on typical laptops/tablets/smartphones with online support during the production in case of problems as well as help in setting up the VP service.

For now the offering from Sony is somewhat limited to switching up to six camera feeds, graphics insertion, limited effects (picture in picture, transitions) and audio mixing. Camera synchronization--and to some extent error recovery--requires around 2 seconds of delay, which is deemed to be acceptable for some productions. The other unique advantages that VP provides is a “pay as you go” approach to cost, thanks to implementing VP on the Amazon AWS cloud. For those interested in delivering via the internet using social media live features, this approach has a clear advantage of already being in the cloud. In addition, new features and functions can be rolled out without bringing the truck back to base and wait for the retrofit. Once upgraded on the hosted servers, the new features are immediately available.

[Read: HPA 2016: Remote Live Production]

The costs associated with VP are based on a monthly subscription for a certain number of hours of production. Included are up to six camera feeds, two playout servers, two logo keyers as well as the VPS production user interface. Additional costs may occur due to the wireless camera feeds that use wireless carrier 3G/4G (and in the near future 5G) data services. Finally, there is the cost to distribute the live feed over the internet, which could be free for some social media services (i.e. YouTube Live) or if using a commercial grade CDN such as Akamai, the cost is typically based on the number of concurrent streams. In addition, if the show is archived there will be costs to store the content and cost to retrieve it later.

OTHER VARIATIONS ON THE VP MEME

While the Sony VPS is a full IP/cloud-based approach using wireless cameras, there are other applications that take advantage of the new video technologies. NEP in their facility outside Amsterdam, offers a production facility for REMI production using their own data center, connected via fiber to major stadiums and arenas. The production facilities are rented (much like a remote truck) but only charged for the time used by the production. NEP has also used wireless IP cameras using point-to-point links (Ubiquiti Wireless) at the Coachella music festival to enhance coverage of the event. The use of IP connectivity allowed the production to remote control the cameras (Panasonic PTZ type). This obviated the need to run fiber optic cables to each camera in order to cover the sprawling event.

Teradek has a live production solution called Live: Air Action. Using their bonded wireless encoder/modems(VidiU or CUBE), connecting cameras (including iPhones/Android Smartphones) via a cloud server (Teradek CORE Integration) the Live:Air Action application lets a producer switch cameras, with limited effects, add graphics, record and playback, and has an audio mixer. Stream live over social media sites or via CORE.

Globo TV, the biggest TV network in Brazil, wanted to cover The World Surf League 2017 finals from Honolulu. Using three Sony FS5 cameras with VidiU Pro encoders with 4G LTE modems, Globo integrated with Live: Air Action to switch the cameras and stream using a Bond 4G/LTE modem to connect to Facebook live. Live:Air Action enabled the producers to add graphics including stats as well as integrate commentary and interviews with the third camera feed. Using the iPad app for Live:Air Action meant the producers could be close to the beach and the live event.

Newtek Tricaster has been used for years to provide alternative coverage, usually for social media or OTT streaming. They have developed an IP video networking environment, NDI, which allows for the use of IP cameras as well as interconnecting third-party equipment.

Recently Thaler Media used Tricaster and NDI along with LiveU wireless camera systems to cover the 2018 Western Amateur Championship in Northridge Illinois (near Chicago) while producing the live feeds at their facilities located in North Palm Beach Fla. The streams were sent to the Golf Channel’s digital platform.

On site at the Sunset Ridge Country Club were a producer, editor, four camera operators and sound mixer. Three of the cameras were mobile and used LiveU’s LU600 HEVC and LU500 IP-based transmission system to send the camera signals back to a LU2000 server located at the master control facility in Palm Beach.

The camera of choice was a Sony F55, which provided first class imagery. They set up a talk show set in the Sunset Ridge clubhouse and had the program’s co-anchors provided commentary and analysis, while a virtual set (greenscreen) provided the set background. An additional third anchor position was set up at the master control room in Florida, where the local program anchors could throw to the anchor at the main control studio. Tying it all together was a NewTek TriCaster TC1 IP production switcher with 16 inputs and 4 M/E decks, chromakey, graphics/titles, transitions, video server and virtual set support. NewTek 3Play replay systems provided SLOMO replays as well as aerial footage captured by camera flying on a drone over the course. Four Skype channels were used to provide return feeds to the Chicago on-air announcers including mix-minus and IFB.

While not up to the level of a major PGA event broadcast coverage, for the first time the Western Amateur Championship was covered live in HD, an event that in the past drew future golf greats including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson and Ben Crenshaw.

HOW WILL SPORTS BROADCAST PRODUCTION EVOLVE?

Clearly today there are many choices to capture live events in video, from big broadcast TV trucks to REMI to REMI in the cloud and finally, smartphone cameras and live video apps. For large events, with commensurate rights fees and audience sizes, professional broadcast OB vans, connected via satellite and/or fiber-optic telecom, will be the choice of live production for the foreseeable future.

On the other end, with all the available tech available in our hands (smartphones) coupled with social media sites providing distribution for live video, your child’s AYSO soccer match can be covered with multiple cameras, graphics and replays (and sound) to be seen by your friends and family on YouTube or any of the other social websites. In between big time pro sports productions events and Little League games, productions are using lower-cost solutions that use mobile wireless networks or WiFi networks, along with cloud-based apps to produce a video program that has many of the aspects of the big pro productions as well as providing professional level tools such as graphics and stats, IFB, and replays. Ingenious production teams, motivated to cover events that in the past were not economically viable for live coverage, are leveraging these new tools and providing to modest sized audience, content that in the past would have been just highlight clips in the evenings sportscast.

The keys to success is finding the right balance between cost and coverage, having robust wireless connectivity, reliable and deterministic Internet bandwidth, and a team able to adapt and learn this new way of producing live content. 

Jim DeFilippis is CEO of TMS Consulting, Inc., in Los Angeles. He can be reached atJimD@TechnologyMadeSimple.pro. See more at hisauthor archive.

LONDON—Celebro was founded on the basis that we wanted to be a world-class provider of pioneering and cost-effective live broadcasting solutions. Since opening the doors of our global facilities in Central London, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, we’ve welcomed clients such as BBC World Service, MTV, Discovery Channel, Reuters and TRT World. The flexible 4K studio locations offer the ideal space for both live and prerecorded programmes: we also can deliver outside broadcasting capabilities for breaking news events.

In 2016, TRT World needed immediate support to help them continue reporting live during the 2016 Turkish coup attempt and the only way to do so was through a NewTek TriCaster Advanced Edition. The TriCaster allowed us to produce and stream live news reports from London-based journalists via Facebook Live within a very short span of time, and later to stream on YouTube and the TRT World website. As events progressed in Turkey, we were able to receive additional video reports and incorporate them into the live stream. This emergency transmission stream rolled for approximately 15 hours, until the channel was able to get back on air in Istanbul.

SOFTWARE-DRIVEN

After great success with the TriCaster Advanced Edition, we turned to NewTek and its IP Series to help us significantly increase studio scalability and accommodate our rapid global expansion plans. NewTek’s software-driven live production technology ushered a new model of production workflows. In fact, as part of our global operations, the IP Series’ modular approach has delivered virtually limitless access to video sources and video mixing possibilities.

The IP Series is a hybrid platform that is fully backwards-compatible with traditional SDI equipment. Video, audio, control signals, metadata and tally signals are all transported digitally using NewTek’s NDI technology that creates a fully customisable IP workflow solution with endless scalability. Furthermore, the IP Series’ modular approach to production systems delivers virtually limitless access to video sources and video mixing possibilities.

Offering more configurations and complete set of capabilities, we’ve found no other solution that would enable a complete unified production workflow to the scale and scope of the NewTek IP Series. Since embracing this software-based production solution, we can provide uncompromised 4K UHD services and handle the most demanding production needs. We can also offer global broadcasters the chance to link to other studios to create more diverse content and when using NDI’s inputs, outputs and media assets that are readily available and accessible by all users in any location on the network.

LINKING GLOBAL STUDIOS

To further enhance our offering, we invested in several NewTek TalkShow VS 4000 systems, which offer professional, multichannel video calling for both SDI and IP workflows. This means we can now conduct multiple live, production-ready Skype video calls simultaneously during a broadcast. We can cost-effectively offer our clients the opportunity for presenters to facilitate compelling conversations or in-depth discussions between multiple remote guests in real-time regardless of location. Celebro is currently using TalkShow to link up our global TV studios in different parts of the world to provide multiviews from one studio location to another.

At Celebro we believe that IP is changing the way journalists can get a story on air and NewTek’s NDI solutions are a huge part of this. For most broadcasters, using IP is much faster, easier and cheaper, but it also creates a more immersive and interactive viewer experience. With the IP and NewTek solutions that we have in place, our team can build a complete gallery in one day.

As Celebro Media continues to grow worldwide, so will our investment in NewTek NDI solutions.

Wesley Dodd has 25 years of industry experience as a director, output editor, presenter, and systems integrator. As CEO, he ensures technical, operational and professional excellence across Celebro and runs its global operations. He can be reached atwesley@celebromedia.co.uk.

For more information, visitwww.newtek.comor call 800-368-5441.

As one of the four major sports leagues in the United States, the National Hockey League ranks fourth in popularity through the eyes of the sporting public. While it’s obviously the major deal north of the border, Canada has roughly one-tenth of the population of its neighbor to the south.

Those facts don’t usually produce the highest TV ratings.

NBC carries the NHL in the United States while Rogers Communications holds the rights in Canada (along with TVA Sports for French language broadcasts), with sports nets for each franchise. At the lower levels — including the minor leagues, college and juniors — hockey isn’t a huge draw like college football or basketball, for instance.

So, how do the millions of enthusiastic fans in North America get their fix? By buying packages from streaming companies as they support the game at its roots, in a way that the economics of a major league broadcast wouldn’t allow.

STREAM SWITCH

In the American Hockey League (AHL), the Hershey Bears have played before a rabid fan base since 1938. The franchise has always drawn well at home, since 2002 in the 10,500-seat Giant Center; and via its web stream, which will be taken over for the 2018–19 season by HockeyTV.

Aaron Henry, who contracts with the Bears through Great Save Productions, said the move from the sport’s other main streaming provider, NeuLion (which works with a wide swath of industries, sports included), for the 2018–19 season was the team’s next move after an upgrade at the rink three years ago to HD bolstered the fan experience.

The team worked with Diversified Systems Inc., of Kenilworth, N.J., on the HD upgrades to the four-sided center ice board, as well as cable boxes, including channel insertion from Radiant Communications Corp., based in South Plainfield, N.J.

Diversified installed a Ross Carbonite switcher, “which led to the creation of an auxiliary bus with different channels: one for feeds in Giant Center, the other for streaming,” Henry said. At the time of installation, the NeuLion feed was encoded at 720p.

“Today, it’s a new 1080i setup with HockeyTV,” which is designing its install to include an encoder that will take in audio-video signals, as well as content from HockeyTV’s smaller cameras, which operate on algorithms and direct the signal to its hub.

Everything the team bought for the HD upgrade is in use, including five Hitachi cameras that are hardwired with triax cabling, plus one wireless. Camera positions include two spots in Section 120 atop the lower level; one in Section 110, behind the goal; one above Section 117 at the Zamboni tunnel; and one above Section 113, for power play setup.

A sixth handheld camera is stationed next to the Zamboni tunnel, where the referees enter the ice at Section 116; there are also two Marshall lipstick cameras mounted behind the goals, with a third at the Bears’ bench.

The Bears took an economical approach to content capture with the ZPlay system from Tightrope Media Systems, which Henry called “a hybrid of EVS and the NewTek 3Play,” which is Windows-based and has similar functions.

ON THE JOB LEARNING

John Mitchell, owner of Digital Multimedia Solutions in Belmont, Mass., is working in a new facility at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass., which opened its new 2,000-seat arena earlier this year. The arena features a Nevco video board and a user-friendly broadcast facility, with its game stream provided via Stretch Internet.

“The control room is run by students,” said Mitchell, who also works for the NHL’s Boston Bruins (and the NBA’s Boston Celtics) at TD Garden. “The kids can learn to run replays in 5–10 minutes, which is great, because the challenge in this part of the business is getting the students involved in a learning environment and communicating as a team, with professionals,” he said.

[Read: Marshall POV Cameras Give New Look to Harvard Sports]

The game presentation uses up to 10 cameras, with four Panasonic AW-HE130s and 40S, including two over both goals and two at each blue line; and six Panasonic P-2HD robotic cameras for shoulder or tripod mounts, with Fujinon HA Premier series lenses.

Fiber is built out to five camera locations, with the setup featuring a Blackmagic 72x72 universal router and two switchers: the NewTek TriCaster TC-1 for the broadcast and TriCaster 8000 for inside the in-house show. The two replay machines are also NewTek designs, the 3Play 4800 and the 3Play 440.

Bentley, a member of the Atlantic Hockey collegiate conference, employs “the higher end of the more affordable equipment,” said Mitchell, noting his company has done similar installs at various arenas in the northeast, that don’t require more experienced crews to operate.

“We used to need racks and racks of equipment to make this all work,” Mitchell said. “The NewTek NDI is the largest router in the world ― without having a router.

“This,” he added, “is all about the future and IP video.”

“THE STANDARD”

In the hockey hotbed of Regina, Saskatchewan, Ryan Borowko and his crew bring junior hockey action to the locals in a broadcast facility he said is “great, and we’re making it better.” The technical producer of the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) Regina Pats said setup at the 6,400-seat Brandt Centre is already “the standard of the league for what a video operation should be.”

The Pats’ 10-camera show includes three hardwired and one wireless Sony PMW 320 cameras, plus one robocam under the score clock for on-ice shots, another in the arena’s northwest corner for wide-angle shots during camera switches, and two in-board cameras in the northwest and southwest bottom corners, straight back from the face-off circles that are about six inches off the ice. There are also overhead cameras above both goals, which are replay-only.

Borowko and company switch the show with a Blackmagic A-10, with the NewTek 3Play 4800 for replays. But what sets this setup apart from other WHL teams is the MotionRocket LaunchPad, an all-in-one automatic clip server and playback source for all graphics and videos, including the scorebar atop the scoreboard.

“It’s one of the most unique and versatile platforms available,” he said. “If you can’t afford a Chyron, MotionRocket is your only other option, because you can control up to five surfaces from each machine, as well as handle data ingest from any source, be it Daktronics, OES [which is used by most WHL arenas] or Nevco.”

STREAMING RIGHT ALONG

While these three arenas feature some of the finer facilities in organized hockey, they are somewhat the exceptions, as teams have varying equipment rosters, according to John Fiore, director of HockeyTV in Waterloo, Ontario, which streams the games from teams in about two dozen leagues.

“Some teams do multicamera shoots with as many as five cameras,” Fiore said, “and others just have the one camera at center ice. Some teams offer elaborate broadcasts with pre- and post-game shows, and various bonus content. That all depends on what each team can pay or how many volunteers they have available.”

The job of HockeyTV is “to provide the teams with necessary hardware, which is proprietary, for them to be able to stream from their buildings,” he said.

“No two venues are the same,” Fiore said, “so whatever they are allowed to do and can do varies from team to team, venue to venue.”

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SOUTHFIELD, MI—ENCO has announced that its enCaption4 automated captioning solution now supports the NDI protocol for to provide turnkey closed or open captions on live video.

enCaption4 is an on-premise or cloud-based solution featuring a real-time speech to text engine for generating accurate live captioning that live TV and online video require. Now, broadcasters, content producers and commercial AV facilities with an NDI infrastructure can add an automated captioning solution into their workflows. Once connected, enCaption4 can automatically generate captions through its NDI input stream, and output an NDI signal with captions keyed directly on top of the video stream. This capability eliminates the need for specialized encoding hardware.

[Read: Closed-Captioning Technology Evolves]

At the NAB Show, ENCO will demonstrate enCaption4 with this new NDI capability alongside the software-defined solution’s breakthrough accuracy, accelerated speed, extremely low latency, and expanded foreign language support.

“With the growing popularity of NDI, we added NDI support based on customer demand,” said Ken Frommert, President of ENCO. “With NDI support, we’re making it easier for TV networks, local stations and non-traditional broadcasters such as corporations, schools and universities, houses of worship, and webcasters to use our automated captioning solutions within their real-time NDI productions.” 

FREMONT, CALIF.—Lumens Integration is rolling out its new VC-A50PN Full HD PTZ IP camera, which comes with support for NewTek’s NDI | HX High Efficiency Mode technology built-in.

VC-A50PN, with the built-in NDI, provides video, audio, PTZ control, tally and power over a single Ethernet cable and can be recognized as a source by other NDI-enabled applications, products or devices. The camera also provides a full HD 1080p, 60 fps resolution and 20x optical zoom. HDMI and 3G-SDI inputs are also part of the camera.

Customers who have previously purchased the VC-A50P can upgrade and enable NDI capabilities through the NewTek website.

Lumens is offering the VC-A50PN for $2,799. It will be available during Q1 2018.

LAS VEGAS—Attendees at the Pronology booth on the NAB Show floor will get the chance to see the company’s mRes encoder using NewTek NDI technology. Pronology has integrated NDI into the mRes to have it be recognized as a source by other NDI-enabled applications and devices connected to a standard Ethernet local area network.

NewTek NDI workflow

The mRes encoder converts information from one format to another for the purposes of standardization, speed or compressions. It can record multiple tiers of video per SDI or IP input channel and can create a high-resolution media file, an edit proxy and a live web-streamable proxy. With the integration of NewTek NDI there is now an entry point into supporting IP technology.

Pronology will showcase the mRes encoder and its NDI integration at its booth, SL11807. The 2017 NAB Show will take place from April 24-27 in Las Vegas.

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS--Just prior to the IBC Show in September, NewTek, a San Antonio, Texas-based provider of live TV production systems announced the introduction of NewTek NDI, a new open standard for live production IP workflows over Ethernet networks. Broadcast Engineering Extra recently spoke with NewTek CEO Dr. Andrew Cross to discuss the current state of video over IP, the standards involved and how NewTek NDI could impact the future of live video production.

BROADCAST ENGINEERING EXTRA:What are the biggest challenges currently for using IP for live production?
CROSS: First of all, there's so many pieces to an IP production, it's a bit hard to answer this with a one line answer. Obviously, you've got the file-based part of it. You've always got B-roll, you've always got titles, you've always got graphics, things like this. Those are probably using IP today, using centralized storage systems already. That part is probably fine.

It's the live video feeds part which is a challenge because I think this is something where there are no good standards. People are using SDI, they're using HDMI and maybe a few people are still using analog video of some kind. That is just something that's remarkably hard to do in IP today.

There are some solutions. You can buy boxes that convert in and out of IP, but you're going to fight those really hard because if you've got two different parts, you aren't guaranteed they're going to have the same latency; it's a mess. If you have some sources coming in in IP and some are not, how do you make sure they're in sync with each other? That's really a difficult problem at the moment.

BEE: Newtek NDI is an open source protocol for using IP and live production. Can you explain the genesis of this standard and why did you pursue this path?
CROSS: If you look at the standards that are out there, like SMPTE 2022-6 and the new TR03 standard, in large part what they are trying to do is take a traditional SDI feed and now put it pretty much one for one over IP. And the other real place where they differ [from NDI] is that you kind of run out of bandwidth on IP pretty quickly because it's not as high bandwidth as SDI. They are looking at three to one compression and there's no standard in either of these things in regards to what kind of compression should be used, although, I think that's the direction everything's going.

Read through the standards and you’ll see what I mean. Imagine if you want to start a company and you’re thinking "OK, IP video's big. So we can do cool things with it. We can make computer applications, we can make cool pieces of technology that talk IP and put video over IP." And now read through one of these standards and try to imagine that without a million bucks behind you how you could possibly implement that in software. Because the problem is these protocols have really, really tight timing requirements.

For instance, in TR03, they need 10 microsecond timing accuracy for each scan line of video. There's just no way that a computer system without customized hardware is ever going to be able to achieve that.

The big benefit of IP is that every computer system in the world can talk with it. You can pipe it around, you can write applications and do things that were never thought of before. If you look at almost any other industry it's going to be the small companies with cool ideas; they're going to revolutionize this industry. Yet, the existing standards are really only taking SDI and putting it over IP and that just doesn't seem where the future of IP video can be. But there is a place for that. So, in many ways I don't see what we're doing is counter in any way to the existing standards.

NewTek comes from the computer end of the spectrum. We've been building real-time computer-based processing systems for 10-15 years, and we've been doing video over IP for 10 of them. Over those 10 years we've worked out how to get IP video in and out in ways that our products can work with and what we actually did with NDI is take that and open it up to everybody and with that, we can bring in a huge number of vendors that already support this.

BEE: Was NDI already available with NewTek products and now it’s just the case that you’re opening it up to everybody?
CROSS: Yes, it has gone by a variety of names. For years, we’ve had the ability to take video from a Vizrt virtual set system, for example, and send it over IP into a NewTek Tricaster. We've done the receiving, they've done the sending. We've been relatively open about giving anybody the ability to send us video. And we've had the SDK for a long time. What we've done now is opening up all parts of this—the sending part is open, but now the receiving part is open. Even those vendors making competitive products.

People making TV monitors or video monitors now can all receive the feeds from this. Right along with this is the ability to find sources on the network, so If you have a laptop running Power Point, you can run the NDI mirroring application on that PC. There are sources available for anybody doing live production work on that local network to see. So our APIs make it very easy to find sources on that network to then bring the video in or to send video out to them.

BEE:There has been a lot of talk about the fact that video switching is hampering the move to IP. Can you comment on how NewTek handles IP within the switching environment?
CROSS:  Absolutely. We were actually showing this at our IBC Show booth. We had Tricasters with 12-plus inputs all coming in over IP. And because we've been doing this for some time and we're not starting now, we've got compression and it's all standardized, built into our system. We can work with what is basically baseband compression; it's similar quality to say, ProRes or DNXHD. At IBC, this meant that we had lots of streams over a relatively low bandwidth connection with very low latency on a standard 1 Gbps connection. This is something that we're actually going to have in the market here very, very soon. Think a few weeks, not a few months.

BEE:How will the introduction of New Tech NDI affect the company's future product development?
CROSS:  A question I get asked a lot—and is directly related to this—is “why on earth would you take all this effort you've put into IP—working with lots of other companies—and just open that up for everybody else to use?” Ultimately, the reason for that is I think that NewTek believes very strongly that the future of live production is going to move towards IP and quite frankly, we make products that have done this for a long time, and are particularly well suited to this. The faster we can help get IP adoption in the market, the better—the better for us, our customers and really the better for everybody. We see the future of video transport being over IP. It just makes sense for so many reasons. Clearly, you're going to see more and more products where IP is increasingly important in them.

BEE: This is an industry that has been built on standards. Do you think that the standards-making bodies are moving too slow and is that one of the reasons why you introduced NewTek NDI?
CROSS: That's a great question. First of all, I should say our attempt with NDI is not to circumvent standards bodies. I have reached out to everybody who has worked on each one of these different standards and said "Look, we've got this huge installed base. We're making it very easy for people to build products that work over IP. We have probably about a 100,000-plus systems in the market today that can already talk these protocols. Why don't we work together on making this something that's more broadly accepted?" We're not looking to own or control this. We would be very happy to work alongside somebody else to merge what we're doing with them. We're very open to that. Our intent is not to try to lock off part of the market or anything like that. Otherwise, we never would have just opened this up. We want to enable IP video.

Clearly the standards bodies are slowly getting there, but, at least from a NewTek perspective, we tend to come from a different end of the market.

If you were a high end broadcaster and you're looking at an SDI cable and you're saying "How on earth do you get this into IP?" you're going to build an IP solution that looks very much like an SDI cable. Quite frankly, because the people driving the standards bodies have tended to be people who have been driven by the top ends of broadcast, the standards look like that. Now, I'm not being critical of them, in fact that's why I'm saying that I think there's a great opportunity for somebody like us who tend to come from the other end of the spectrum to work with somebody to make these things coexist.

I actually see that NDI, in many ways is not competitive with SMPTE 2022-6 or the new TR03 or any of the others. I think they're trying to achieve a slightly different goal. If you look at almost any area of technology— such as computing—the things that become software-based ultimately tend to win out in almost every area of technology. Custom hardware tends to not be on the winning end of that spectrum over any sustained period of time. So, what we're trying to do with NDI is make something that's very compatible with that.

BEE:When will we start seeing products or technology from other vendors that are compatible with NDI?
CROSS:  They already exist. We're going to be releasing tools within a few weeks that take NDI and attach it to any of the commodity capture cards out there. For instance, if you have a Blackmagic card that can access a network input source, if you have an AJA output card somewhere else in the building you can just send these from one place to another over IP. We have more than 100 companies that support this.

NEW YORK—The technology to stream video over Internet Protocol has been around for more than 20 years, but it has really only been in the past decade that great strides have been made in its use in video production.

Video-over-IP also comes in many form factors.

Consumers know it mainly as a method for pushing video signals over the Internet directly to the consumer as an alternative to cable or broadcast as an over-the-top streaming service, but it is also a way to transfer file-based media on network-based computers. However, in the world of production, video-over-IP is a method for pushing signals over Ethernet, and is widely being seen as a replacement for SDI.

Video over IP offers numerous advantages, because video can be processed on a computer, while on the production side there are now countless software-enabled solutions. There are multiple options for utilizing video over IP, and one that is increasingly used among content producers and vendors is SMPTE 2022-6, which was ratified in 2012.

SMPTE 2022 AND INTEROPERABILITY
In the latter configuration the SMPTE 2022-6 standard is getting widespread support, and several vendors have announced new products and showed off the interoperability that it offers to broadcasters. SMPTE 2022 was first introduced in 2007 and has expanded to cover more types of IP video transport—positioning video-over-IP as a replacement for SDI.

Wes Simpson “SMPTE 2022-6 offers a number of advantages as it was designed for long-haul contribution style networks,” said Wes Simpson, an industry consultant and author of TV Technology’s Video Networking column. “It was specifically designed to handle up to 1080p video, where you don’t need the bells and whistles.”

What makes SMPTE 2022-6 so attractive, however, is that it offers the ability to use a single standard for high-bitrate, uncompressed signals.

“It is basically the only game in town as it allows the customer to buy equipment from two different manufacturers and send uncompressed signals between them,” Simpson said. “There are no other standards that can offer that today.”

The ability to utilize this interoperability was demonstrated at the 2015 IBC Show, where EVS and Imagine Communications showcased how the 2022-6 standard could handle a video-over-IP stream between the two companies’ respective products. Imagine further demonstrated how the stream could be delivered through routers from four different hardware vendors including Cisco, Arista, Brocade and HP.

“It was exciting to see the interoperability across four switch vendors,” said Brick Eksten, vice president of strategy at Imagine Communications. “This was very much a vendor-to-vendor proof point as it can back haul video and allow for interaction with different equipment.”

Eksten told TV Technology that the company has fully embraced the standard, and has worked closely with its industry partners to ensure that there is a “choreograph between equipment from the different manufacturers.”

LIVE FROM IBC
Video-over-IP could be a real game changer for live production, something EVS was quick to point out at IBC.

“For us, the next frontier is using IP as the infrastructure to execute live production,” said James Stellpflug, vice president of product marketing for the French-based provider of live video production gear. “We’ve been using IP for a long time in the industry in various different levels, whether it be for contribution or inside our broadcast centers for moving files around.”

Video-over-IP will likely replace SDI, and that would also mean a savings in weight, a factor that isn’t often addressed but remains an issue for production teams in the field.

“IP is gaining traction because cabling is expensive and cables are heavy,” said Aaron Behman, who oversees the video and visions strategy at Xilinx, a San Jose, Calif. Provider of semiconductors. “The DOT [Department of Transportation] has restrictions on how heavy vehicles can be. At the same time, video-over-IP offers more and more channels of video with multiple cameras at locations.”

Given that fans of live events—notably sports events such as NASCAR races—want to see as much of the action as possible, this provides that added support.

“There is no doubt that people want to see it all, and you want to be able to provide more immersive video, but also not be concerned that you’re running into weight restrictions,” Behman said. “2022-6 is a building block and it allows video to be sent over Ethernet.”

The TICO Alliance is a group of broadcast equipment manufacturers and media companies that advocates the creation of a lightweight compression technology that will be used in IP-based live production ecosystems to allow users to seamlessly leverage the existing SDI-based workflows to 4K/UHD.WHAT ABOUT UHD?
The main downside to SMPTE 2022-6 is that it isn’t exactly future proof. While it could be seen as a building block that allows video to be sent over Ethernet, the standard is considered to be a transition and can’t handle 4K/UHD raw uncompressed video easily—as SMPTE 2022-6’s pipe supports 10 GB while UHD is about 12 GB.

Compression solutions are already in the works however, and one option touted by some in the industry is TICO, a patent-pending, visually lossless, light-weight compression that specifically has been designed for the industry to move 4K content over active 3G-SDI and IP networks.

“TICO, which essentially means ‘tiny codec’ is gaining traction with big names in the industry,” Behman said. “The industry sees this as a way for 2022 to support 4K/UHD, as it is used to give the video a ‘little haircut,’ and compress it enough to get it down the pipe.”

TICO is just one of several codecs, but these are still essentially stop-gap measures as the industry determines how to best handle UHD video-over-IP.

“TICO is still in its early stages,” said David Ross, CEO of Ross Video, whose company is a member of the TICO Alliance. “You also have to pay a TICO royalty, so it isn’t a perfect solution.”

David Ross Given that the industry is moving to UHD, Ross questioned why IP is being so widely embraced—especially with 2022-6 as the standard.

“2022-6 is industry’s first attempt, but I think it is D2 all over again,” Ross added, referring to the short-lived Ampex videocassette format introduced in the late ’80s. “It is a standard, but it isn’t where the industry will end up. If all we want to do is replace an SDI cable [with Ethernet cable] that is one thing, but this isn't going to be a long-lasting standard.”

ALTERNATIVES TO SMPTE
For those reasons noted above, SMPTE 2022-6 is far from the only game in town. Other vendors have introduced their own respective solutions. At IBC, NewTek introduced its own royalty-free network device interface—NDI open protocol for IP production—with an SDK that will hit the market in Q4.

“Our new NDI protocol SDK will be available to any developer that wants to use it starting in Q4,” said Scott Carroll, spokesperson for the San Antonio-based provider of live production systems. “It will allow any NDI-enabled device to be recognized and share resources with other NDI-enabled resources connected to a LAN on standard Ethernet, allowing producers to maintain their investments in SDI cameras and current network infrastructure. NDI will be included in an update to TriCaster Advanced Edition in Q4 that will add four more inputs to any current TriCaster model.”

Newtek NDI is an IP-based protocol that will allow any NDI-enabled device to be recognized and share resources with other NDI-enabled resources connected to a LAN on standard Ethernet.
NDI is bidirectional, allowing devices to communicate with one another, but more importantly it makes it easy for a production facility to move into video-over-IP without having to make a large capital investment in a high bandwidth network or having to replace SDI devices, according to the company.

Evertz introduced its ASPEN platform for encapsulating uncompressed video-over-IP at the NAB Show, and at IBC, the Burlington, Ont.-based provider of video distribution technology announced a partnership with Ross to add 10GE IP interfaces with ASPEN support for Ross Video’s flagship Acuity series of production switchers. This collaborative effort will allow the use of another alternative to SMPTE 2022-6 in IP-based broadcast production facilities. The Acuity production switchers can be directly connected to Evertz’ Software Defined Video Networking (SDVN) high-capacity switching cores, and allow broadcasters to combine traditional SDI infrastructure with IT-centric hardware and software.

“This can be deployed in a facility and provide individual flows for audio, video and data, all over a single wire,” said Mo Goyal, product marketing manager at Evertz.

Although Goyal admits that “2022-6 is a good method for transporting video-over-IP,” the downside is that it requires auxiliary equipment if you need to re-embed audio into the mix. This is where he noted that ASPEN could help users on the production side break away from the rigid structure of SDI.

With ASPEN, “audio can come from one site and video from another and that offers greater flexibility in the production environment,” Goyal said. “It also reduces the need for all that extra gear, so our package switch is independent. We see ASPEN as the format that completes the puzzle.”