HUDSON, N.H.—My role at Game Creek Video focuses on the design, maintenance, and long-term evolution of our mobile production trucks. In live production, especially at the scale we operate, broadcast technology must be flexible, dense and, above all, reliable. Over the last several years, MultiDyne has become a core technology partner for us, with several of their products playing distinct and critical roles in our workflows.
We heavily rely on three MultiDyne product lines: the VF9000 fiber-transport platform, the HUT camera acquisition system and SilverBullet miniature fiber-transport devices. Each one serves a different purpose, but together they allow us to move large amounts of video efficiently, both inside the truck and across stadiums.
All-in-One Design
The VF-9000 has become the backbone of our inter-truck fiber transport. Over the past several years, we transitioned to this platform after using other solutions, and it’s now installed across six of our mobile units, with multiple frames per truck. What drew us to the VF-9000 was its compact footprint and all-in-one design. Previously, we needed separate products for fiber transport and copper video conversion. The VF-9000 consolidates that into a single, dense and extremely stable platform.
From a production standpoint, we use the VF-9000 to move large volumes of SDI video between trucks. In a typical configuration, we’ll take up to 32 video signals from one truck, transport them over just a few strands of fiber and break them back out in another unit. That level of density allows us to share signals efficiently without running excessive fiber, which is especially valuable on large, complex shows. We primarily use the VF-9000 for video transport with embedded audio, and its CWDM (coarse-wavelength division multiplexing) capabilities allow us to maximize bandwidth while keeping our infrastructure clean and manageable.
Monitoring and troubleshooting are also major strengths of the VF-9000. The platform exposes SNMP (Simple Network Monitoring Protocol) data, which allows us to integrate it directly into our broader monitoring environment. Instead of walking into racks or checking front-panel indicators, our engineers can see real-time status, alerts and performance metrics through dashboards and web-based tools. We can even monitor the far end of a fiber link from another truck, which saves time and reduces on-site coordination during live events.
Out in the field, camera acquisition is handled primarily by the MultiDyne HUT system. HUT has proven to be one of the most universally compatible camera-transport solutions we’ve used—we haven’t encountered a camera platform in our fleet that it doesn’t support. Using SMPTE connections at the camera and single-mode fiber back to the truck, HUT allows us to leverage a venue’s existing fiber infrastructure while maintaining signal integrity and flexibility.
Alongside HUT, the SilverBullet plays an equally important role. While HUT focuses on camera transport, the Silver Bullet is our go-to solution for moving individual video feeds long distances throughout a venue. We frequently deploy them to carry monitoring feeds, auxiliary signals, or other video paths that need to travel alongside camera signals. Many venues are moving away from copper entirely, and the Silver Bullet allows us to run tactical fiber everywhere and convert back to SDI exactly where we need it.
NBA Cup Coverage
This gear was recently deployed together on high-profile broadcasts, including Prime Video’s NBA Cup coverage in Las Vegas, and it’s also in regular use on major productions like “Monday Night Football,” “Thursday Night Football” and Fox primetime football. These are demanding shows with zero tolerance for
failure. The HUT and SilverBullet are rugged, field-ready devices that just work. The VF-9000, despite its density, is modular enough that we can replace individual components without taking an entire system offline.
Our goal is to build trucks that are flexible today and ready for tomorrow as we support a variety of live productions for sports and live events. MultiDyne’s technology has helped us achieve this through reliable transport, smart monitoring, and the confidence to deliver world-class live broadcasts.
More information is available on MultiDyne’s website.
