Grass Valley to Debut 'Director' Switcher at NAB

SAN FRANCISCO—Grass Valley has announced a new product offering—the GV Director Integrated Nonlinear Live Production Center—which is designed to considerable simplify the video production process. Although it includes traditional switcher buttons, fader bars and touchscreen interfaces, the switcher is software-based and operates in a manner familiar to both experienced operators and neophytes. The company will debut Director at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, April 8-11.

“GV Director is a new approach to live production; by simplifying the processes--from set-up, to building a show and driving the live production, we have abstracted the complex technology layer, enabling operators to have control of all the components and become more creative,” said Graham Sharp, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Grass Valley. “GV Director is a game changer and will get Grass Valley back into the low and mid markets with a paradigm shifting product.”

The new product operates with the most commonly used PC or Mac hardware components and, according to the company, can provide “virtually unlimited M/E buses, keyers, 2D/3D graphics, localized clip storage and the ability to handle baseband and file-based sources.”

The Director Integrated Nonlinear Live Production Center also includes basic audio mixing capabilities, working with both embedded and discrete audio sources. Units are expected to begin shipping at the end of June 2013, with pricing beginning at $35,000 for units with eight input/four output capability.

Grass Valley will be in Booth SL206