PARIS—EVS has announced that the Canal+ Group has deployed an IP-based infrastructure built on EVS end-to-end solutions in its new Canal+ ONE headquarters, in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris.
The installation concentrates Canal+ Group’s master control room (MCR), playout and production workflows into one building as part of an effort to streamline its operations, reduce redundancies and increase automation.
“Our relocation into the new HQ gave us the opportunity to rethink the way we work and completely transform our workflows,” said Pierre Maillat, head of technical studies & architecture at Canal+ Group. “The idea was to accelerate our SDI to IP transition, limit as much as possible the use of hardware and move towards more software-defined and cloud-based solutions, which offer the scalability and flexibility needed to optimize our operations while benefitting from future-ready workflows.”
To deliver on this vision, EVS teamed up with global media services company Red Bee Media to build a new IP-enabled production infrastructure based on EVS’ LiveCeption, MediaCeption and MediaInfra solutions.
The setup consists of several XT-VIA servers for multi-source ingesting and delivering fast turn-around productions in any format and resolution. Supporting a high-speed, 100GbE live IP fabric connectivity, the servers work in 1080p with the ability to easily switch to UHD in the future if needed, EVS reported.
This LiveCeption workflow also integrates the IP-based LSM-VIA replay system, giving operators direct access to all the content on the network and allowing them to focus on delivering compelling live replays and highlights much faster.
The conversion and processing of the signals are performed by EVS’ Neuron Network Attached Processor, which also acts as the main tool for SDI/IP bridging and a firewall. Being able to activate a wide-ranging number of different functionalities from the same hardware, will contribute to helping Canal+ Group reduce rack occupancy and power consumption, the companies said.
Interfacing with the entire infrastructure of Canal+ Group, the EVS Cerebrum broadcast control and monitoring system offers advanced visual control for production and flexible orchestration of all devices for the engineering teams.
Finally, on the MediaCeption asset management side, users can access remotely a fully virtualized, multi-site IPDirector system to browse, control, edit and playout content from easy-to-use interfaces. With its open, modular architecture, IPDirector can be adapted to any production environment and allows for easy integration and media exchange with any third-party system, EVS said.
“EVS has worked as a transforming partner with the Canal+ Group for over 25 years, helping them to adapt to new live production realities while supporting their ambitions in terms of program quality,” Nicolas Bourdon, CMO at EVS. “This project combines all layers of EVS’ live video creation frontends, central production platform and resources management based on a highly reliable recording and processing infrastructure. It is a clear example of our EVS Balanced Computing vision that optimally integrates on premises equipment with software-defined and cloud-based solutions.”
“EVS has helped us migrate to new technologies many times in the past and has done it again for our transition into the world of IP,” added Ralph Atlan, CTO, operations and executive production at Canal+ Group. “In a very short amount of time, both EVS and Red Bee have managed to implement a comprehensive IP-based workflow that will allow us to significantly optimize our live operations, transform our workflow capabilities and deliver compelling media experiences our audience expects.”
For more information on EVS and its complete range of live video technology for broadcast and new media productions, visit EVS.com.
