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Welcome to the New Nine Sydney... page 04.

REGULARS 02 EDITOR’S WELCOME 31 INDUSTRY FOCUS

FEATURES

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04 COVER STORY The New Channel 9 08 ACQUISITION Cutting Edge Launches LED

19 POST-PRODUCTION Unreal Engine Fosters

11 SPORTSCASTING Tennis Australia and Infosys

22 AUDIO Wohler Adds Atmos 3D Room

14 NEWS OPERATIONS Channel 9’s New

26 RADIO SCA Gets Personal with LiSTNR App;

Lab for Virtual Production; Frame.io Unveils ‘Camera to Cloud’; Blackmagic Unveils Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro; Sony and IMAGO Partner to Control Sharpness; FUJINON’s Premista 19-45mm Lens.

Deliver Virtual Experience for Australian Open; Streaming Deals for Swimming and Cricket; Up EnGo for SEN with Dejero and Digistor; Grass Valley Switches in the Cloud.

14

Newsroom; Coalition to Develop Authenticity Tracing for Online Content.

16 MEDIA IN THE CLOUD Cutting Edge Creates

Secure Self-Serve Video Archive for Clients; Discovery’s Three NZ Moves Content Archive to the Cloud; EditShare Partners with HP.

Local Talent; Animal Logic for Animated Toto Musical; SIGGRAPH Asia Heading to Sydney; New Chapter for Bifrost in Maya; Epic Games Unreal Engine 4.26; Boris FX Silhouette Joins Netflix Alliance; intoPIX JPEG XS Plugin for Premiere; Magic Bullet Upgrade.

Visualiser; Audinate Announces SDK for Embedded Dante; Evertz Buys Studer’s Strategic Assets; Remote Audio Production with DirectOut; SSL UF8 Studio DAW Controller; and more.

Listening Up via Mobile Phones, Smart Speakers; Tieline Announces New Gateway-4 IP Codec; On-Hertz Cloud-Based Radio Studio; StreamGuys Simplifies Podcasting.

29 CONTENT DELIVERY Producing UK Australia

Day Celebrations via Sweden; Encoding. com Brings “Chunk” Change to Cloud Media Processing; NewTek Enables 12G-SDI Over Ethernet; Tria Express Duet Production Server from Ross; LYNX Technik yellobrik Rack Controller; TAG Video Adds Dolby Atmos; Densitron Expands Control Surfaces.

28 CONTENT+TECHNOLOGY ISSN 1448-9554 PP:255003/06831 Broadcastpapers Pty Ltd (ABN 34 095 653 277) PO Box 165 Surry Hills, NSW 2010, Australia www.broadcastpapers.com PUBLISHER: Phil Sandberg Tel +61 (0)2 4368 4569 Mob +61 (0)414 671 811 papers@broadcastpapers.com

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EDITOR’S WELCOME

Face News Media

By Phil Sandberg

Following a huge public outcry, and Federal Government introductions of amendments to Code, Facebook reinstated news content in the feeds of its Australian users – and even announced content deals with the likes of Seven West Media.

03:00

Easton claimed that last year Facebook generated “approximately 5.1 billion free referrals to Australian publishers worth an estimated AUD$407 million”, but how many of those “referrals” saw users dip in and out of news sites without contributing to the revenue of those journalism businesses? One should also probably ask what constitutes a “referral”?

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However, things did not get off to a good start with a large number of non-news accounts becoming caught up in the Facebook blockade, including Amber Technology, Queensland Health, South Australia Health, ACT Health, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, retailer (and presumed advertiser) Harvey Norman, Motorola, the AFL Women’s League, the Women’s Legal Service of Tasmania, World Wildlife Fund Australia, Women in Media, the Sacred Heart Mission charity, the Burnet Institute medical research centre, UNICEF Australia, and, ironically, Facebook itself (see picture).

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Under the amended code, a decision to designate a platform must take into account whether it has made a “significant contribution to the sustainability of the Australian news industry” through reaching commercial agreements with news media businesses. In addition, a digital platform will be notified of the Government’s intention to designate prior to any final decision.

Non-differentiation provisions will not be triggered because commercial agreements resulted in different remuneration amounts or commercial outcomes that arose in the course of usual business practices, and final offer arbitration will be a last resort where commercial deals cannot be reached.

All very dramatic, but also halfcorrect. Years ago, Facebook was more than happy to petition media organisations to share their content on the platform as news would help increase “stickiness”. And, that is what Facebook gets out of the relationship, metrics from the behaviours of its users consuming the content.

01:00

For its part, Google had been signing agreements with various Australian news organisations to provide news content to its Google Showcase product which launched in Australia in early February. These include Seven West Media, Junkee Media, NewsCorp, Australian Community Media, Schwartz Media, and The Conversation Media Group.

The News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code is designed to “address the bargaining power imbalance identified by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) between digital platforms and news media businesses in order to support a diverse and sustainable Australian news media sector, including Australia’s public broadcasters.”

ersburg

According to William Easton, Managing Director, Facebook Australia & New Zealand, the initial version of the law misunderstood “… the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content”. He added that it left Facebook “… facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia”.

00:00

SOCIAL MEDIA GIANT Facebook’s recent bungling of what was supposed to be a pre-emptive strike in response to the Australian Federal Government’s new Media Bargaining law saw a backlash generated as it restricted publishers and Australian users from sharing or viewing local and international news content.

Easton went on to say, “For Facebook, the business gain from news is minimal. News makes up less than 4% of the content people see in their News Feed.”

That might be so, but it raises the question, if the “business gain from news” is so minimal, is it going to hurt so much to contribute towards its production?

The truth is Facebook and the news media are in a symbiotic relationship.

According to some reports, the ban resulted in traffic from Facebook to Australian news sites falling by 13% from within Australia and 30% from overseas. But, what was the effect on Facebook?

While on vacation in January, I left the device which hosts my personal Facebook account at home. Upon my return, my feed was cluttered with utterly irrelevant posts. After a day or so of interaction, the feed returned to “normal”, leaving me to surmise that the “cache” devoted to tracking my behaviour must be a shallow one indeed.

It makes you wonder if the interruption to the pages of non-news organisations during Facebook’s block wasn’t part of an orchestrated “shock and awe” campaign, should advertisers be questioning the accuracy of the platform’s ad targeting technology?

Thanks for reading Phil Sandberg – Editor/Publisher papers@broadcastpapers.com +61(0)414671811

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The

Revolution

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COVER STORY

IP-enabled, SMPTE 2110-powered master control at Nine’s new North Sydney headquarters.

A Network’s Network – Nine Connects with SMPTE 2110 Nine Entertainment’s new North Sydney HQ is remarkable, not just for what’s on display as you traverse its nine floors – the TV and print media work areas (with radio in the future), the studios, control rooms, energy-efficient rack-rooms, and ‘spoke and hub’ news centre (see p14) – but also for what you can’t see – its extensive IP network and adoption of the SMPTE 2110 standard.

ACCORDING TO NINE’S “sponsor” of the project, Network Director of Broadcast Operations, Geoff Sparke, those looking at implementing 2110 should be pragmatic about their approach.

“If you’re doing it to save money, don’t, because you won’t,” he says. “To get an output, you need to have an understanding of exactly what you’re doing.

“We had a lab set up and we kept adding to that. So, whenever we were going into that environment, buying from a new vendor or buying new kit, we’ve put it into that lab environment to see if it played with everyone else. We understand everybody’s version of 2110 is slightly different. So, whilst it talks to itself, it may not talk to another supplier. You can’t just buy something and plug it and think because it’s 2110 compliant it’s going to work.

COVER STORY

“We’ve done this ostensibly around our news.

We’ve built this video broadcast facility around our day-to-day news requirements. Most other [2110] facilities, they’ve sort of broken it up into little bits of playout, a little bit for sport and a little bit of news over there.

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“It’s pretty big. I’m not going to say we’re the biggest, but we’re the newest 2110 installation.

We virtually doubled our output two weeks before we went on air. It’s all working well and how we designed it.”

Nine’s Network Director of Broadcast Operations, Geoff Sparke.

Despite being forced to adapt to pandemic restrictions on numbers of people and international travel, the Nine team worked/ Zoomed closely with Germany-based system integrator Qvest Media.

“Qvest was very helpful in that whole communication piece of understanding workflows,” says Sparke, “documenting it, understanding how to speak with the vendor,

e.g., Avid, and get it nailed down so that it could be delivered within a timeline.

“They were terrific with user acceptance training, all of those bits and pieces that can cause an enormous amount of stress to the wrong people. Engineers are very good at engineering things, but when it comes to communication, trying to get transformative workflows in place, as well as acceptance from

a technology perspective, it’s very difficult as well. We really came out of it very well.”

DOWN TO THE WIRE Nine’s Sydney HQ is wired vertically with fibre optics. At each floor, data is handed off via copper or, in the case of high-usage devices such as monitor walls, another fibre run.

When it comes to network traffic, things get colourful with network designations corresponding to their level of security.

“We have the traditional red/blue network for redundancies,” says Nine Chief Technology Officer David Bowers, “but we found it a lot easier to start colour coding everything for communicating it to people. We also have a purple network, which is red and blue blended.

By nature, some devices are single network and that’s just the way they always are. So, behind that purple network, the single network, it’s protected by red and blue. And then we have the black network. You always have to have tools to get out to social media, FaceTime, Zoom, etc., and if you lock them down too hard, you can’t get your general public in to do some of these two-ways using Skype, etc.

“Being such a big network now with newspaper, radio and print, it was potentially vulnerable to cyber-attacks. So, you have to appreciate the security guys have played a big role in our roll-out.”

“We don’t allow anything from the outside to get in without scrutiny,” adds Geoff Sparke.

“Inside our environment, it’s not too bad, but externally it’s very difficult to do. You need to be allowed in and there’s quite a few different steps in that process to actually make it through.

“We have a good security group who analyse and look at all those systems and understand them exactly. It’s not like the old days where you’d find a sneaky hole somewhere and plug it in.”

STITCHING UP THE FABRIC The IP media chain at No.1 Denison extends from the studio floor to delivery to the National Playout Centre in Frenchs Forest.

Varying models of Sony cameras have been employed with Nine standardising on HDCU 3500 base stations.

“That’s their IP version that still has a traditional HD-SDI presence on the back of it,” says David Bowers. “Automation is driven by Mosart from Vizrt. So, we have the ability to overlay all the control rooms to be automated or manual.

“Being such a

“The robotics that we chose for the floor are Vinten robotic peds. They were the only ones that we could find that were true manual-release.

So, you can actually take them back into manual mode then stick a camera operator behind them to do a traditional manual studio.

vulnerable to

big network now with newspaper, radio and print, it was potentially cyber-attacks.

So, you have to appreciate the security guys have played a big role in

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“All the cameras, even though they’re residing in their studios, they’re all centrally controlled in the one technical area, and they can be assigned that around different studios.

our roll-out.”

“The classic would be the stand-up position we have in news. That is actually a Sony high-end PTZ camera. So, as soon as that hits the lens, it leaves the head in IP. It has HD-SDI available, genlock, traditional HD, but we originate in IP and bring it back through the network.”

A recent example of the IP network’s flexibility came in the form of Rugby commentary on Nine’s streaming service Stan Sport.

With COVID-19 lockdowns preventing commentators travelling to Perth, Western Australia, a vacant office in the Sydney HQ was converted into a five-person commentary booth.

With a single fibre connection to Nine’s switches, the commentary team was able to use the room’s video conferencing desk for audio while feeds were put up on a multi-viewer, all routed from master control.

Continues on page 6 >>

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NEWS +STORY COVER PEOPLE + PEOPLE >> Continued from page 5

“I don’t want to dumb it down, but a lot goes behind that,” says Bowers. “The fact that we already have a routable network in 2110, anything that lands here, we can hand to you almost immediately in video, audio or file format.

“We do have to convert to hit a domestic monitor or a domestic PC. So, that hits the back of that area in true 2110 and then we use a device like [Riedel’s] Embrionix to pull it off and hand it to the end device in the flavour that it needs. Those devices, I call them our digital glue because they have the ability to bring a 2110 signal back to traditional HD-SDI or HDMI.” At the top of the “food chain” is the Grass Valley Kahuna switcher which is located in Nine’s data centre. Each control room can access its functions either physically or remotely. Reidel Talkback keeps production staff in contact with each other while all underlying routing, switching connectivity, traditional video, audio, breakaway, is accessed via LAWO’s VSM IP control and workflow platform. All traffic is managed with LAWO C100 gateways.

“They pretty much manipulate all the signals that co-exist in the network,” says David Bowers.

“And we process them and manage them purely here as 2110, and then hand them off or hand them back into flavours that each of Nine’s outer networks (at other centres) require.

“We’ve put some digital gateways at NPC (National Playout Centre), too, which are managed inside of our network because we have our own closed fibre ring now with hundred gig trunks. We can hit that gateway at true 2110 and then hand them off 2022-6 for some of the older services. We have the ability to do both from the point of origin here, we can hand them direct 2110 or 2022, but all managed by the C100 gateway.

“I won’t say we’re the early adopters, but being probably the larger adopter, and still having to manage still three quarters of our network in traditional HD-SDI, we had to build that bridge.

We can handle anything coming across.”

Meanwhile, for third party providers such as NEP or Gravity Media, Nine is able to bring in feeds via multiple routes.

“For most of those biggest service providers,” says Bowers, “they’re Telstra DVN customers. So, we have the ability to bring in the DVN (Digital Video Network) circuits in the DPN (Digital

Nine Chief Technology Officer, David Bowers.

Production Network) circuit. With our own fibre network, one of our landing points is at TBS (Telstra Broadcast Services). We have our own cross-connect layers. So, if you can land a signal at Telstra, we can bring it in ourselves, and then we just have traditional file-based delivery.

Everyone’s different. Everyone has different contracts with different telcos. NPC can also gateway out to customers for us.”

Nine’s connectivity with Telstra Broadcast Services also proved central to moving the company’s news archive from the old site at Willoughby to the new North Sydney facility.

According to Geoff Sparke, “We spent the last three years trying to digitise all of our news library or what was left of our news library. In 2009, we actually went file-based when we went to Harris. However, we had a legacy of about 20,000 tapes that we were really just picking out as we needed to. And when you picked it out, you ingested into our robot. We had to go to a new LTO drive backbone for our move to LTO-8. We decided to build and get it transferred over onto LTO-8 over at Willoughby. We then replicated it at TBS (Telstra Broadcast Services). So, when we did the transition, our archive was there, we pulled it back down, put it here, everything came into that and replicated across that. In the meantime, we digitised the remainder of our news library.”

ACROSS THE NATION With a beach-head of IP-based production established in Sydney, Nine’s future moves will be built on the lessons learnt at No.1 Denison.

“The gun turret hasn’t pointed at any other direction as yet,” says Geoff Sparke, “but it will.

We’ve built this to expand into and to be able to absorb things like a backbone for radio. There’s a lot of cloud-based things we can do now. We have a pretty strong data centre where we can start doing our own virtualisation for the regions. As we do move out to the other cap cities, we won’t be building it again, we’ll be leveraging as much as we can.”

Despite streaming and BVOD on the rise, free-toair, terrestrial transmission remains a mainstay of delivery for Nine. With the tower at the Willoughby site being pulled down, Nine will be seeking to bolster its main tower at Hampden Road, Artarmon (operated by TX Australia).

“From our perspective, nowadays, we’re content producers,” says Geoff Sparke. “So yes, that’s a really important element but so is everything else.

Everything’s as important as anything else from a content creation perspective. We’re just trying to make ourselves more flexible, do more with less.

“It’s not going anywhere. No-one’s going to be switching off terrestrial transmission anytime soon, television will still be there.”

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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

-----------------------------------------------KORDIA GROUP has announced the appointment of Shaun Rendell as Group CEO. Previously, Shaun served as the Group CFO at Kordia.

More recently, he stepped into the role of acting CEO while the previous CEO Scott Bartlett took prolonged sick leave due to cancer.

Mr Bartlett passed away in December 2020.

Prior to joining Kordia, Shaun previously held various senior leadership positions, including CEO of Renaissance Group.

He worked at both British Telecom and O2 in the UK before immigrating to New Zealand.

-----------------------------------------------NINE HAS ANNOUNCED the appointment of Chris Perera as Head of Nine Plus, Perth.

Perera will lead Nine’s growing direct client team focused on providing marketing solutions to Perth’s small-to-medium business owners using Nine’s TV, radio, digital and publishing assets.

He brings a strong background to the role having led sales for APN Outdoor in both Perth and Brisbane and also JCDeaux in Queensland.

-----------------------------------------------COMMUNICATIONS infrastructure provider BAI Communications has appointed Brendan O’Reilly to the global position of Chief Technology Officer. He joins from Telefónica where he was the CTO for O2’s UK operation for the past six years.

-----------------------------------------------BEN CHESTERMAN has taken on the position of Quality Assurance Lead at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) where heads up a new team working on a key mass digitisation project of the ABC’s extensive audio-visual collection. He has previously worked as a freelance AV producer and consultant for media organisations, and served as Client Services Manager DMS with Technicolor.

-----------------------------------------------CHRIS WELCH has been appointed Senior Communications Engineer/ MSC SPO IWP Lead with Australian defence engineering services company Nova Systems.

He was previously National Engineering Manager with TX Australia Pty Ltd, and had recently managed a project to roll out FM and TV broadcast transmission sites in southern Peru.

-----------------------------------------------IAN ANDERSON has been named as General Manager at Melbourne Screen Hub. He previously held the roles of General Manager with DDP Studios and Deluxe Melbourne.

-----------------------------------------------NICK PARKER has taken on the position of Head of Technology with Endemol Shine Australia. His previous roles and Endemol include Head of Technical Operations - Production & Post and Technical Manager Production & Post.

-----------------------------------------------STEVE BAIRD has been appointed Senior Account Manager - Education and Design Visualisation at STORM FX. He was previously Channel and Strategic Alliances Manager with Intraware Australia.

-----------------------------------------------DAVE ILLMAN has been named Regional Territory Manager – ANZ with storage provider Qumulo. He comes to the position following roles with CloudBlue and Cisco.

-----------------------------------------------CRAIG MANSER has been appointed Managing Director Oceania with cinema solutions company Cinionic, a joint venture between Barco, Appotronics and China Film Group. He previously held positions with Barco Australia, including Account Manager and Regional Technical Manager – APAC. -----------------------------------------------BEN JONES has taken on the position of General Manager (Australia) at AE Live. He previously served as General Manager with Fox Sports Australia.

-----------------------------------------------KARTHICK VENKATASUBRAMANIAN has been appointed Technologist with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). He was previously in the roles of Services and Support Engineer with Grass Valley and Customer Advocate with Vizrt. He also served as a Broadcast Engineer with the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Australia.

-----------------------------------------------BAI COMMUNICATIONS Australia has announced Lorene Hunt as its Chief Financial Officer, joining BAI’s Australian leadership team and reporting directly to Chief Executive Officer Peter Lambourne.

Ms Hunt comes to BAI with significant financial experience across various industries.

Before joining BAI, she served as Commercial Director at Optus. In that role, Lorene was heavily involved in setting the strategic direction of the Networks team as well as providing a lead role in driving commercial best practice.

Prior to Optus, Lorene undertook senior finance roles in a number of organisations in New Zealand, including Head of Finance at GlaxoSmithKline, where she was responsible for building the finance organisation and its business systems, functions, and processes.

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Ms Hunt also worked for TelstraClear as Group Manager Risk Management, Compliance, and Financial Services.

-----------------------------------------------NATIONAL INDIGENOUS TELEVISION (NITV) has appointed Jack Latimore as Managing Editor for its digital offering. Latimore, a Birpai man with ties to Thungutti and Gumbaynggirr/ Bundjalung nations, has been acting in the position since December and previously was a Digital Editor at NITV. His promotion will see his remit expand to lead the editorial agenda across NITV’s digital platforms, as well as continuing to work with NITV’s Indigenous News and Current Affairs (INACA) team.

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DELUXE HAS APPOINTED Teresa Hobbs General Manager, APAC. She previously held the role of Head of Client Services, Asia Pacific, with the company.

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ACQUISITION & LIGHTING www.content-technology.com/acquisition

Cutting Edge Launches Lab for LED Virtual Production Australia’s Cutting Edge has announced a new venture in Virtual Production – Edge Lab – a Brisbane-based R&D hub for production industry professionals.

FEATURING AN UNREAL ENGINE-POWERED virtual production stage with high-resolution LED screen and moveable LED side panels, Edge Lab was built in partnership with Big Picture, part of NEP, and supplied by Logemas and HP. According to Cutting Edge CEO Michael Burton, ““The LED technology is reasonably new. It’s been used on very high-end productions, The Mandalorian, probably being the highest profile.

But, as a production technique, it is very new and, unlike a lot of other developments in production or post production. So, we’ve taken the initiative, along with Big Picture and Logemas of setting up an R&D space for industry professionals to come and get hands-on with the technology.

C+T: It’s more than just slapping up some LED walls with a virtual landscape and shoving some actors in front of it?

Michael Burton: “It definitely is. We’ve been experimenting with the Unreal Engine side of it for probably the better part of nine months from just after the lockdown last year, and we’d always wanted to put together a demo system.

“We finally got that done in January. We built high, a main goal of 12m x 4m in 3mm LED very highquality LED, and then four side screens, which are mobile so that we can use those to like the environment in a normal setup. You usually have a ceiling as well, but we haven’t installed that. We’re using a set of Ian Scott panels to help fill in the light there only because it’s an R&D space and we don’t have the load rating to do that. But, it really does show what can be done with the LED wall in concert with the Unreal Engine virtual rendering as well.”

What sort of tests have you put it through?

Michael Burton: “We’ve been testing in a variety of environments. Interior controlled environments are much easier to get very good results out of. The slightly more challenging ones, and the ones that we’re finding a lot more interesting, are exterior scenes. In other words, recreating, for instance, a beach somewhere and a known environment, not just a made-up environment.

ACQUISITION

“Getting results for exterior spaces is a little bit harder because of the brightness that you need to achieve to give a realistic exterior environment, but we’re finding that it is actually quite easily achievable. When you get your camera lens and lighting combination right, it is quite amazing what you can achieve putting together an interior scene as well that look much bigger on camera than the physical space that they’re occupying.”

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Are there particular cameras, technologies that are more suited to this style of production?

Michael Burton: “We’ve experimented with a few different cameras, and DOPs always have their

favorite type of camera.

Originally, we were shooting with a Canon C300 with some Zeiss prime lenses and the set up looked good. We then changed to a higher-end Sony camera and the pictures are even better.

ARRI then brought us in an ALEXA Mini and, instantly, it was so much easier to control the lighting just because of the way those very high-end cameras handle the contrast between the natural lighting and the LED wall.

“The results are more easily achieved, and much, much more realistic. The ALEXAs are a good highend camera of choice for either drama or feature film. We figure we’re better off looking at the environments with those high-end cameras mind.”

What lighting issues come up?

Michael Burton: I wouldn’t say lighting issues so much as the style of lighting that you’re trying to achieve. When you’re lighting with the LED, it is volumetric lighting. It’s natural, soft lighting as if you were outside. If you wanting to introduce hard lighting or particular spot lighting, you do need to bring in your specialty lights to do that, and they’ll need to sit at a particular height location where they’re not reflecting on the wall. Finding out for the DOPs in particular to find the limitations, this is exactly the reason we built this space. We want people to come in, look at the particular scenarios they’re trying to shoot it and work out how it would work for them.”

of them is looking at elements that might previously have been done in post. So, where you might shoot a lot of green screen and then go through a VFX or a post process to comp in backgrounds, windows, all of those sorts of things that traditionally are harder to shoot in a set environment.

“The second one is actually being able to achieve in-camera things that you couldn’t do before. If a scene called for standing on a corner in Paris, outside a cafe having a conversation, looking down the Champs-Élysées, for certain productions, that’s very difficult because you’ve got to get to a location or you’ve got to do that in visual effects.

“We can load that street scene and you can shoot in a realistic environment. If you do wide shots or establishing shots, they may still be visual effects, but we can use a lot of the camera tracking data to be able to provide the height and the environment into the VFX pipeline so they can then create those shots that you can’t shoot through the lens.”

How do the cameras interact with the virtual environment?

Is this a plus or a minus for traditional post workflows?

Michael Burton: “We have a set-up where you can essentially swap the type of camera out if you want to shoot it with a different type of camera.

We’re using the Vicon camera tracking supplied to us by Logemas. So, we’ve got six cameras that are tracking. It’s basically configured into a marker wand that sits on top of the camera.

Michael Burton: “I actually see it as a positive because to create the environments that we would use in Unreal, you might only have created those in post when you’re doing your visual effects. You might’ve done some pre-vis to make sure you’re getting your angles right and capturing camera data, you’re then creating those environments. With this process, you’re creating the environments in pre and using them for the shot and then pulling it through into post to finish off. So, I think we’re just moving where the work happens to pre rather than post. It also means that from an effects point of view, we’re probably involved a bit earlier in helping plan what can be shot.

“They’re tracking that in 3D space. So, we have a volume here of about 12m x 9m, and anywhere inside that volume, when you move the camera height or X, Y position, it’s being tracked by Unreal.

And the Unreal Engine is basically set to the lens type that is on the camera.

“So, if you’re shooting with a 24mm wide-angle, that is the field of view that Unreal is rendering in the background in high resolution. And then, as you move in 3D space, all of that perspective change happens in real time.”

How much of a rethink is required during shooting?

Michael Burton: “There’s probably two areas where I see it making more of an impact. One

“So, I see it all up as a positive. The technology itself is amazing. And the way that it integrates between screen and camera is incredibly convincing. And the more people that use it and more and develop and the better it’ll get. So, I see it as a positive.”

Visit http://www.cuttingedge.com.au

ACQUISITION & LIGHTING

Frame.io Unveils ‘Camera to Cloud’ LEADING CLOUD-BASED video review and approval platform, Frame.io, has announced Frame.io Camera to Cloud (C2C), a secure camera-to-cloud workflow that lets customers instantly upload and stream images from on-set cameras to creative post-production teams anywhere in the world. According to the company, “Frame.io C2C represents the largest change in film, television, news and commercial production workflows since the advent of digital filmmaking.”

The camera-to-cloud workflow requires a Frame.io C2C-certified device connected to compatible cameras from Arri, RED and Sony.

Once authenticated, certified devices such as the Teradek CUBE 655 and Sound Devices 888 or Scorpio recorders will record, encode, and send timecode-accurate H.264 proxy files with matching filename metadata directly to Frame. io via an encrypted and secure connection using LTE, 5G or WiFi. This allows for near real-time delivery of editable proxy files to a producer, dailies facility, or editor anywhere in the world.

“Frame.io C2C is disruptive technology that changes the traditionally linear filmmaking process, allowing both on-set production and remote post-production teams to work together at the same time,” said Michael Cioni, Global SVP of Innovation at Frame.io. “This level of collaboration brings creative teams together and allows them to work faster and more collaboratively than ever before.”

In addition, Frame.io users with proper authentication credentials can view a live stream of footage while it’s being shot from the comfort of their computer, iPhone, or iPad— whether they are on set or halfway around the world. This lets collaborators instantly share ideas to help bring their creative vision to life, while everyone who needs to track production progress can stay informed.

“In today’s socially distanced world - where remote work has become the norm and the number of people on-set is limited - Frame. io C2C is a game changer,” said Emery Wells, CEO of Frame.io. “Camera to Cloud gives film, television, and commercial productions a seamless new way for creative teams to do their best work, no matter where they are.”

Frame.io C2C features best-in-class security with full TPN and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance.

Created by the MPAA and CDSA, TPN is the global, industry-wide initiative that defines requirements and best practices for protecting content. Combined with rigorous access controls, Frame.io C2C is an incredibly safe way to share media with authorized viewers and collaborators.

Frame.io has also introduced the new Frame.io Cloud Devices API and C2C certification program enables hardware and software manufacturers to create their own C2C compatible products.

Frame.io C2C is launching with three partner integrations from Teradek, Sound Devices, and Colorfront, making it compatible with more than a dozen professional camera systems from RED, Arri, and Sony.

Teradek designs and manufactures highperformance video solutions for broadcast and cinema. A Frame.io authenticated CUBE 655 encoder delivers live streams and camera proxy files directly into Frame.io.

Your media

infrastructure specialists

The transition from traditional baseband video infrastructure to an all IP media infrastructure brings many challenges to media companies. It’s important to partner with a company that prides itself on representing the best-of-breed media entertainment technology manufacturers and thoroughly understands the workflow requirements for the efficient creation and distribution of rich content.

Sound Devices designs and manufactures the world’s leading production sound field recorders.

The latest 888 and Scorpio recorders capture and transmit original audio files directly into Frame.io.

Colorfront has developed the world’s first fully cloud dailies platform. Its Express Dailies integration with Frame.io allows labs to instantly access the video and audio assets to create dailies.

Manufacturers interested in building Frame.io C2C Certified software and hardware can find details at developer.frame.io.

C2C features are included at no additional charge for customers with a paid Frame.io account. Flexible, new monthly enterprise plans let customers and studios purchase the service they need for the duration of their production.

Frame.io C2C is currently in beta and will ship in Q2 2021. Customers can apply to participate in a beta program at the Frame.io website. Live streaming features will be available later in 2021.

Module, a Wing Grip, Link Adaptor, RED CFast 2.0 Card Reader, and RED PRO CFast 512GB, among other ancillary components.

Visit http://frame.io

secure innovation

ACQUISITION

Frame.io C2C provides two services. First, C2C enables instant proxy uploads the moment cameras stop rolling so editorial can begin within seconds of calling “cut.” In addition, Frame.io C2C can live stream footage to an authorised user’s device on or off set, allowing customers to watch production as it’s happening. This is ideal for productions working during COVID, as it greatly reduces the number of people needed on set. Frame.io C2C lets editorial and other traditionally linear parts of the creative process happen in parallel while footage is still being shot.

sales@magnasys.tv www.magnasys.tv

Australia | Hong Kong | Indonesia | New Zealand | Singapore

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ACQUISITION & LIGHTING

Blackmagic Unveils Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro BLACKMAGIC DESIGN has announced the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro which, the company says, is a more powerful model that includes features for high end digital film.

• Includes full DaVinci Resolve Studio for post-production.

• Designed from carbon fibre polycarbonate composite.

The camera’s multifunction handgrip comes with all controls for recording, ISO, WB and shutter angle.

• Compatible with a wide range of popular EF lenses.

• Built in motorized 2, 4 and 6 stop ND filters.

• Up to 25,600 ISO for low light performance.

• Standard open file formats compatible with popular software.

• Adjustable, HDR 1500 nit LCD screen.

• Includes Blackmagic Generation 5 Colour Science.

• Optional Blackmagic Pocket

Featuring a larger 6144 x 3456 Super 35 sensor and EF lens mount, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K lets operators use larger EF photographic lenses to create cinematic images with shallower depth of field, allowing creative defocussed backgrounds and gorgeous bokeh effects. The sensor is designed to reduce thermal noise allowing cleaner shadows and higher ISO. The large 5-inch LCD makes enables more accurate focusing at 4K and 6K resolutions.

Whether users are shooting in bright sunlight or in almost no light at all, the 13 stops of dynamic range

with dual native ISO up to 25,600 provide high quality, low noise images in all lighting conditions.

Plus the 6K models feature a larger Super 35 sensor that allows shooting with a shallow depth of field and anamorphic lenses. All models let customers shoot up to 60 fps in full resolution or 120 fps windowed.

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera records using standard open file formats so customers don’t have to waste time transcoding media.

Recording works in industry standard 10-bit Apple ProRes files in all formats up to 4K or 12-bit Blackmagic RAW in all formats up to 6K. Developers can download and use the free Blackmagic RAW SDK to add support into their applications.

Best of all media files work on all

operating systems plus customers can format media cards and disks in HFS+ for Mac and ExFAT for Windows.

“With the new Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro, we wanted to include all the high-end features from digital film cameras into a Pocket Cinema Camera design,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “This means you get an extremely portable digital film solution but with all the advanced features like the amazing ND filters, optional viewfinder and bright HDR touchscreen.”

Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com

Sony and IMAGO Partner to Control Sharpness

FUJINON Premista 19-45mm Lens

SONY AND THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE of IMAGO – the International Federation of Cinematographers, have announced that control of sharpness for X-OCN and RAW materials is now available in the new version 3.5 of the Sony RAW viewer.

FUJIFILM HAS LAUNCHED the FUIJINON Premista 19-45mm T2.9” (Premista 19-45mm), a wide-angle zoom covering focal lengths from 19mm to 45mm. The new lens is the third model to join the Premista Series of cinema zoom lenses. The Premista 19-45mm supports Large-Format sensors (that measure 43.246.3mm diagonally) and delivers high resolution, natural bokeh and rich tonality with HDR (high dynamic range).

RAW Viewer is application software that allows users to view RAW/XOCN/XAVC/SStP files recorded using the F65/PMW-F55/PMW-F5/NEXFS700/MPC-3610 (VENICE/CineAltaV) unit or a combination of the unit and the SR-R4/AXS-R5 /AXS-R7 portable memory recorder. Users can view and perform basic colour grading on files transferred to a computer using an SRPC-5/SR-PC4 data transfer unit or files stored on memory cards inserted into an SR-D1/AXS-CR1/SBAC-US30/ AXS-AR1 drive unit.

The new capabilities come after a “Request to Manufacturers” survey launched nearly two years ago by the Imago Technical Committee in which access to texture and especially sharpness parameters appeared to many professionals as a real need to master the artistic process.

ACQUISITION

• Larger NP-F570 battery, optional Blackmagic Pocket Camera Battery Pro Grip.

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro Features include:

• 6144 x 3456 sensor with 13 stops and dual native ISO up to 25,600.

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Cinema Camera Pro EVF. • Professional mini XLR inputs with 48-volt phantom power.

The sharpness range is -300 to 500, and the default value is 0. For all cinematographers who want to use the F65, F55, F5 and VENICE cameras with high contrast lenses, but avoiding a clinical or overly sharp

appearance, as well as for colorists or post-production supervisors, access to this setting is seen as a great improvement for dramaturgy and the ease of special effects.

The ITC also highlighted another new tool from Sony to enhance the creativity on set – the new .ART file system.

According to the ITC, “LUTs are important for displaying the creative intent but with a generally very limited quality used on set in today’s cameras.

The .ART (Advanced Rendering Transform) file system offers a serious optimisation to overcome these situations during on set monitoring.

“In general, the ITC wants to give cinematographers and all other artists/technicians every opportunity to control texture-related parameters.

“SDKs in post-production or sharpness parameters for internal codec recordings in the cameras as well as selected parameters of sharpness by RGB channels are the next steps in controlling the entire artistic process.”

Visit https://bit.ly/37ZnTSn and http://bit.ly/2NCSEFr

The Premista 19-45mm effectively controls distortion to deliver natural images with little distortion across the entire zoom range. It offers a constant T-stop of 2.9 across its focal lengths from 19mm to 45mm. Featuring large-diameter aspherical lens elements and a unique zooming system, the lens achieves an astonishing level of edge-to-edge sharpness. Additionally, distortion is effectively reduced even at the widest focal lengths, delivering natural footage with minimal distortion across the entire zoom range.

The use of proprietary optical simulation technology and mechanical design technology enables a compact, yet robust, lens body measuring 228mm and weighing 3.3kg. The new zoom lens can be used for handheld shooting using a Steadicam or high-angle shooting using a crane. Similar to the standard and telephoto zooms, the Premista 19-45mm supports “ZEISS eXtended Data”, which can record metadata when shooting, thereby reducing videoediting workload in post-production and facilitating efficient video production.

The new lens measures 27mm long and weighs 500g, more compact and lightweight than Premista Series’ standard and telephoto zooms. It is also very robust, enabling video recording with Steadicam Visit: https://www.FUJIFILM.com.au

SPORTSCASTING Sport coverage worldwide

www.content-technology.com/sportscasting

Tennis Australia and Infosys Deliver Virtual Experience for Australian Open DESPITE A FIVE-DAY lockdown taking place Victoria, the Australian Open tennis tournament continued. While players, officials and venue staff were classified as essential workers, spectators were banned.

year, the team has excelled, enabling us to continue delivering new and improved digital experiences for this year’s tournament.”

For those on-site and those unable to attend in person, digital services and consulting provider Infosys applied technology to bridge the physical gap.

• Immersion in analytics: 3D Court Vision allowed individuals to watch tournament matches in an animated form, with data overlay for each shot. From speed to spin to serve placement, every detail of the game was available at a click of a button.

Infosys used Hawk Eye data to animate each shot in near real-time and empowered fans to analyse the game from any vantage point in the stadium.

“The past year has accelerated the need for meaningful digital engagement between the Australian Open and its fans, players, coaches, partners and the media. Our focus this year is delivering new digital experiences and insights that are accessible for everyone involved, regardless of where they are currently located,” Ben Slack, Chief Revenue Officer, Tennis Australia said. “Having Infosys on board as our digital innovation partner for the third year running has allowed us to optimise engagement with all our stakeholders, not only our fans, players and coaches, but our broadcast partners and sponsors as well. Despite access restrictions this

ICC and IMG Sign Global Cricket Streaming Deal THE INTERNATIONAL CRICKET COUNCIL has announced that, for the first time ever, 541 pathway event matches across three ICC World Cups will be live-streamed globally in partnership with IMG. The live streaming deal, which runs until April 2023, will enable fans to watch all qualifying matches to three ICC World Cups: the Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 and the Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. Of the 541 matches that will be broadcast, 145 are women’s matches and 80 Associate Members will see fixtures from 41 qualifier events being produced and distributed, with more than 50 of those Members enjoying global coverage at an ICC event for the first time ever.

The coverage will capture several firsts for fans to enjoy including Hungary, Romania and Serbia

• A new AO Virtual Slam allowed fans to simulate the experience of playing in the AO at the Rod Laver Arena using 3D court views and data.

An enhanced AO Fan App also delivered rich content and personalised journeys based on fan interest areas, while guided navigation helped fans find their way within the new Melbourne Park zones set up due to COVID protocols.

• In the dedicated AO player and coach app, an AI Video Analysis feature brought new intelligence to the hands of all players and their teams, regardless of rank. The AI tool allowed precise player and opponent assessment. With many players’ full teams unable to attend the tournament, this feature allowed coaches to

competing for the first time ever in Men’s T20 World Cup qualification and Finland playing host to an ICC event for the very first time. In the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 pathway, eight teams: Bhutan, Botswana, Cameroon, France, Malawi, Myanmar, Philippines, and Turkey will be making their debuts in international ICC Women’s events.

The partnership will also deliver vital content for ICC digital channels providing the opportunity to deepen engagement with existing fans and attract new fans from around the world.

The package includes the following events: • ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 qualifying event matches in ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Challenge League.

• ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 qualifying events • ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 qualifying events Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Visit https://www.icc-cricket.com and http://www.img.com

provide guidance remotely from anywhere across the world by sharing live strategy notes in the app.

• For the AO media team: AI Shot of the Day used machine learning to rapidly identify match highlights, using multiple data points that are objective (such as fastest serve) and subjective (player emotion, crowd reaction and cruciality of the shot in context to the match).

• Reinventing the guest experience: A 3D AO Virtual Hub was developed to overcome physical restrictions for partners and sponsors.

Powered by Infosys Meridian, the Virtual Hub was a premium experience for partners to access exclusive events, behind the scenes tours, tennis clinics, legend interactions, master chef sessions, live performances, 360 match viewing and more.

Visit https://www.infosys.com

Amazon Prime Video and Swimming Oz in Live Streaming Deal AMAZON PRIME VIDEO and Swimming Australia recently announced an exclusive, two-year live broadcast streaming deal, to distribute the Australian Swimming championship events globally on Prime Video at no additional cost to Prime members. Live streaming highlights will include the 2021 Australian Swimming Trials in the lead up to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, and the qualifying events for the 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships and the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

“We’re excited to partner with Swimming Australia to bring live swimming events to Australian and global fans exclusively on Amazon Prime Video at no extra cost to Prime members,” said

Hushidar Kharas, Head of Prime Video Australia. “Sport is an intrinsic part of Australian’s lives, and Amazon Prime Video has already established itself as the home of captivating Australian sports docu-series including The Test and the upcoming AFL docu-series Making Their Mark.

The launch of live sports streaming on Prime Video in Australia is a natural progression for us, and we are proud to be partnering with Swimming Australia to bring the iconic and beloved sport to Prime Video customers.”

The first event available to stream on Amazon Prime Video will be the Australian Swimming Trials in Adelaide between 12-17 June.

Key events in the swimming event calendar before this will be available to stream on Swimming Australia’s digital platform SwimTV, and will be announced at a later date.

Visit https://www.swimming.org.au https://swimtv.com.au/ and https:// www.primevideo.com

SPORTSCASTING

Infosys and Tennis Australia are leveraged cloud, AI, 3D virtual experiences and mobility innovations which are envisioned to alter the sporting normal well beyond this year’s Grand Slam and represent a shift towards placing digital at the core of the tournament to elevate immersion and experience for those on court and across the globe.

Innovations enabled during the tournament included:

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SPORTSCASTING

It’s Up EnGo for SEN with Dejero WHEN MULTI-PLATFORM content and entertainment group Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) recently launched an OB arm for the business, the company to Digistor and the Dejero EnGo mobile transmitter.

As SEN’s head of production for its TV division, Peter Morris, explained, “We produce live and pre-recorded TV programs from our stateof-the-art studios in Southbank as well as end-to-end live sport coverage for broadcasters including Nine, Seven, SBS, Fox Sports and ESPN. To complement this offering, we decided to build an OB-type operation without all the usual major costs involved and for that we needed Digistor to supply us with multiple Dejero EnGo units, as they use a bonded cellular system to transmit high-quality live video with low latency.”

Morris and his team had used Dejero solutions before so they had an understanding of what they were capable of.

He continued, “We built a system aimed at second-tier sports – those with a broadcasting requirement, but not the budget for a fullblown OB with trucks and tens of people on the ground. We also created a hub-based system where there would be a small hub at the sporting event feeding into our larger Melbourne control room and hub in Southbank.”

Part of the new SEN system revolved around stacking all of its encoders side by side and then developing some very clever software solutions

that would work with the Dejero EnGo units to capture and lock together each signal in perfect sync as it returned to Melbourne.

The Dejero EnGo uses “Smart Blending Technology” to provide reliable connectivity for low latency live video. EnGo enables users to transmit high-quality live video with latency as low as 0.8 seconds while it intelligently combines multiple network connections in real-time for enhanced reliability, expanded coverage, and greater bandwidth capacity.

High-quality live video is available with HEVC compression and bitrates up to 20 Mb/s at 1080p 50/60 and hybrid hardware/software encoding dynamically adapts in real-time based on the complexity of the video scene being captured and the network throughput. There’s also reliable cellular reception in challenging network environments with a proprietary design that optimally separates antennas for enhanced reception.

Morris added, “We can now switch all the Dejero units on and they all feed into the SEN system perfectly synchronised. A great example of this working is the current 2020 WNBL basketball championships in Townsville. Here we have five cameras sending back feeds to Melbourne via the Dejero EnGo units. We also have a live switch of the game at the location and with our system, if there’s a failure, the game can also be switched remotely by a director in Melbourne.

In other words, all the heavy – and expensive – lifting including instant replays, editing live footage, graphics, operators and the machinery

that goes with those functions is all done back at the SEN Hub in Southbank. This makes the OB at the event incredibly efficient and incredibly cost effective.”

For SEN, its Djero EnGo-based system has meant they are now covering more sports than ever before.

Morris added, “Some sports, particularly those where budgets are very tight such as the recent Hockey Australia tournament, can now have a full broadcast presence. For Hockey Australia we armed individual camera operators with a Dejero EnGo and each sent a camera signal back to our Melbourne hub using our proprietary software for timing and synchronisation. It was a simple but very effective workflow.

“The Dejero EnGo has enabled SEN to get into and cover live sports where previously the OB costs were prohibitive. This is due to the genius of the Dejero EnGo, our proprietary synchronisation software and the fact that the heavy lifting is done in our Melbourne hub meaning that an entire layer of cost and expense has been removed from the equation. I must also thank and give credit to Digistor and Dejero who we worked alongside for some time to develop the system in order for it to perform as seamlessly as it does.”

Visit https://www.digistor.com.au https://www.dejero.com and https://www.sportsentertainmentnetwork.com.au

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SPORTSCASTING

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SPORTSCASTING

CHANGING THE RULES OF THE GAME GRASS VALLEY HAS ANNOUNCED the next step in its cloud-first production solutions with the introduction of GV K-Frame on AMPP, Grass Valley’s application suite for its Agile Media Processing Platform.

The solution delivers a SaaS version of the K-Frame switcher engine – running on AMPP. Kayenne, Karrera, Korona, and KSP control surfaces maintain their well-known performance regardless of whether they are tied to a physical frame or to GV K-Frame on AMPP. GV K-Frame on AMPP is the latest in a range of AMPP-connected solutions that provide a seamless transition to cloud-based video production while extending the flexibility of existing solutions.

According to Marco Lopez, Grass Valley’s general manager for live production, “For those operating our switcher technology, such as technical directors (TDs), much of the switching is done by muscle memory. They know the panel so well that it’s like playing an instrument for them; their conscious attention can focus on the incoming video sources and cues to build a show, and the physical actions simply flow. Now, with GV K-Frame on AMPP, users can immediately transfer that intuitive knowledge along with their existing show files to cloud-based video production.”

GV K-Frame on AMPP further expands the recently introduced GV Media Universe ecosystem, providing operators with the creative resources needed for professional media production in the cloud. With three M/Es and four keyers with 2D DPM per M/E, the solution uses the same UI and control surfaces as any other K-Frame solution. Stills and animations with fill/key including transparency also provide a polished production look that is easy to

create, store and recall at the touch of a button from the hundreds of E-MEMs and Macros available.

AMPP-connected solutions can scale to as many instances as required without upfront buildout and deliver flexible I/O with access to any source on the AMPP fabric.

Users also benefit from highly responsive and frame-accurate cloud-hosted performance – even when connected via typical residential Internet. With Grass Valley’s patented intelligent timing technology system operations are instantly responsive – even half a world away. The TD experience remains the same as users have come to expect from Grass Valley equipment.

INTRODUCING THE

The First Remote Transmission & Production Solution for Dynamic Sports & News Productions 5G | 4K | HEVC | Multi-Cam | 10-bit HDR

GV AMPP is the core technology powering GV Media Universe, a comprehensive ecosystem of cloud-based tools and services.

The open ecosystem of connected devices, services, media content and applications give creatives familiar interfaces to comprehensive cloudenabled solutions. The operator experience is also standardised, with application user interfaces all organized into common dashboards and controls.

The GV AMPP platform is cloud native and cloud-agnostic, while supporting the secure processing of video/audio in the public cloud on any of the major platforms, in a private, on-premise data centre, or in hybrid topologies. This flexibility and power will bring about a significant paradigm shift in live content production, allowing shows to be produced on any engine from any location.

GV AMPP offers pay-as-you-go pricing calculated on usage, rather than users, so resources can be shared among as many people as needed to accomplish the task.

Automatic monthly caps limit hourly billing to a monthly maximum regardless of how much the system is used.

Visit www.grassvalley.com

Go live from anywhere.

pa c i f i c

www.pacificlivemedia.com sales@pacificlivemedia.com +61 2 8458 0701

SPORTSCASTING

Grass Valley Switches in the Cloud

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NEWS OPERTAIONS OPERATIONS www.content-technology.com/newsoperations

Nine Headlines with New Sydney Newsroom ARGUABLY THE CENTREPIECE of Nine’s new North Sydney HQ, the newsroom is based on a hub and spoke model – as adopted by the BBC, MediaCorp and others.

According to Nine Network Director of Broadcast Operations, Geoff Sparke, “The hub and spoke definitely comes from a trip I did to the UK about three years ago when the BBC actually did that.

When we started looking at layouts, I shot a photo to Darren Wick [National Director of News & Current Affairs] who said, ‘Yep. That’s exactly what I want’.

“Each spoke is a show - 6:00 PM news, morning news, radio, etc. They get to stay together within a group, but the people up here [in the hub] see everything that’s going on.”

The screens within the hub are connected to an Exterity IPTV backbone.

“We spent a lot of time getting that right,” says Sparke. “Whatever you can think of, we can get it in here. We can put it into multi-view, we can have it as a single, you bring it down and listen to it if you want to. It’s on our own internal, closed-loop system on our IP backbone which is very flexible.”

9News’ Sydney Hub and Spoke newsroom.

Adjacent to the Hub are the news ingest area and news editing suites.

Throughout the building, Nine has around 36 dedicated craft editing suites and over 60 additional editors’ workstations equipped Avid Media Composer. Two production asset management systems (PAMs) are used for both, the news and postproduction departments. In order to deliver material from one system to the other and seamlessly use content from the other system and other departments, the PAM media is stored in an Avid NEXIS storage system. Cutters and editors can access the central media asset management system (MAM) from both the news and postproduction departments as it is integrated to both production environments.

NEWS OPERATIONS

For the new postproduction workflow, all nonsport content is ingested into the central MAM and subsequently forwarded on to the PAM in a second step. With the MAM as the central point of ingest, departmental production efficiencies improve: It saves storage and unnecessary media transfers between the systems.

14

EVS technology is at the heart of the live production ecosystem. News ingest and studio production use interconnected EVS server technology, directly integrated into the Avid production environment for fast and secure production and turnaround. Sport, because it’s mostly live, will be ingesting most media directly into the EVS live production servers. Other sport ingest, camera cards, drone chips, etc. go into the PAM via Woody Technologies’ media processing platform. Files from external sources such as agency files are processed automatically where possible. Manual ingest is implemented via Woody in2it, an intelligent multi-format ingest and indexing tool. The lightweight Woody tools enhance and simplify the user operations and add easy to use functionality directly integrated into

9News Sydney ingest area.

the Avid system environment.

The MAM is used for archiving purposes. A new newsroom concept is the HTML5-based Avid plugin for Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX, with which MediaCentral can directly communicate with ENPS or any other newsroom software that supports HTML5. It is essentially a minimised version of MediaCentral | Cloud UX that operates from within ENPS and lets journalists browse and edit clips.

A key functionality is the ability to create a placeholder in the ENPS rundown as a Media Object Server (MOS) item and send the sequence to the playout server. The Avid MediaCentral publisher app also enables fast and efficient publication to all of Channel Nine’s social media channels and to the VMS, allowing Nine Network to be online with breaking news in a very short time. As for content archiving, Nine Network is now able to store assets in two different ways: flattened assets saved into a single layer, or discrete assets. For sequences which may require

subsequent re-editing, video and audio tracks can be stored separately.

GTV Melbourne, QTQ Brisbane, STW Perth and NWS Adelaide will remain on their existing systems, but they will access material in Sydney via Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX. The new post-production and news workflows also improve Channel Nine’s collaboration capabilities. Channel Nine’s parliamentary office in Canberra, nearly 300km away, thus becomes a de facto part of the newsroom in Sydney. Editors in Canberra can now directly access and edit remotely all media content stored in Sydney via Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX. This is because the Canberra bureau needs to retain its editorial independence in order to produce their own on-air clips. These clips are also ingested directly to Sydney and also broadcast from that location, and all baseband signals needed in Canberra are played out in Sydney and redirected to Canberra.

NEWS OPERATIONS

Coalition to Develop Authenticity Tracing for Online Content THE BBC, ADOBE, ARM, INTEL, MICROSOFT AND TRUEPIC have established a coalition to develop an end-to-end, open standard for tracing the origin and evolution of digital content.

The Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) is a Joint Development Foundation project established to address the prevalence of disinformation, misinformation and online content fraud through developing technical standards for certifying the source and history or provenance of media content.

Deliver multi-cam live productions on-demand

C2PA member organisations will work together to develop content provenance specifications for common asset types and formats to enable publishers, creators and consumers to trace the origin and evolution of a piece of media, including images, videos, audio and documents. These technical specifications will include defining what information is associated with each type of asset, how that information is presented and stored, and how evidence of tampering can be identified.

The C2PA’s open standard will give platforms a method to preserve and read provenance-based digital content. Because an open standard can be adopted by any online platform, it is critical to scaling trust across the internet. In addition to the inclusion of varied media types at scale, C2PA is driving an end-to-end provenance experience from the capturing device to the information consumer. Collaboration with chipmakers, news organizations, and software and platform companies is also seen as critical to facilitate a comprehensive provenance standard and drive broad adoption across the content ecosystem.

The formation of the C2PA brings together founding members of the Adobe-led Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) and the Microsoft- and BBC-led Project Origin, unifying technical specifications under a single entity. The CAI is building a system to provide provenance and history for digital media, giving creators a tool to claim authorship and empowering consumers to evaluate whether what they are seeing is trustworthy.

Project Origin has its roots in the production and distribution of news. The effort has focused on tackling disinformation in the digital news ecosystem by attaching signals to a piece of content to demonstrate its integrity and making this information available to those using it. With the foundation of the C2PA, technical standards will be unified while these two entities continue to pursue adoption, prototyping and education within their respective communities.

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The C2PA announcement builds on several recent advances in content provenance, including Project Origin’s efforts to develop a pipeline for signalling, certification and tracking the history of news content; the CAI’s first-ever end-to-end demonstration of provenance for captured media online; and Truepic’s development of the first native integration of hardware-secured photo capture smartphone technology.

According to Jatin Aythora, Chief Architect, BBC, “It’s vital that news providers play a part in the battle against disinformation. We welcome the opportunity to participate in the C2PA provenance work, which has the potential to support audience confidence in news at a time when trusted sources of information are more important than ever.”

Companies interested in joining the C2PA can apply through membership@c2pa.org.

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Jeffrey McGregor, CEO of Truepic, adds, “Truepic was founded on the principle that provenance-based media authenticity is the only viable, scalable long-term solution to restoring trust in what we see online. We firmly believe that ecosystemwide adoption through an open standard is crucial to the long-term health of the internet. The C2PA will streamline the distribution of high-integrity digital content at scale, a vital step in restoring society’s shared sense of reality.”

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM Cutting Edge Creates Secure Self-Serve Video Archive for Clients ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST post houses has found a cure for one of the biggest headaches in production - keeping up with client requests.

Cutting Edge Post has 77 people working across three offices: Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sydney.

The facility supports feature and TV productions with services ranging from dailies, online editing, colour grading, and sound editing, to mixing, final mastering, and delivery. It also supports the unique requirements of leading commercial entities, including Queensland’s lead marketing body, destination and experience development agency, Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ).

A media powerhouse, TEQ is known for innovative media campaigns such as “Best Job in the World”, a competition that garnered more than 40,000 applications for the role of “caretaker” for the Islands of The Great Barrier Reef. And, more recently, the “ScUber” campaign which partnered with rideshare giant Uber to showcase the biodiversity of The Great Barrier Reef, via the world’s first rideshare submarine.

Both campaigns were produced using EditShare creative solutions and garnered global press attention with jaw-dropping footage that allowed viewers to experience the magic of the reef and its surrounding islands.

IMPROVING CUSTOMER SERVICE For the past decade, Cutting Edge has worked closely with TEQ on projects and manages the agency’s vast archives. With content spread across several storage pools, searching and retrieving TEQ assets from media archives was a manual and time intensive process. To streamline requests and support TEQ, Cutting Edge set up a web-based production and archive service to manage a vast array of assets stored at its facility while giving TEQ teams secure, remote access to annotate, download, and upload content.

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

“We’ve been managing TEQ assets in some form for several years,” said Matt Maguire, Workflow Architect at Cutting Edge. “They needed a revised media asset management tool so they could quickly go through their decades of footage and easily pick out exactly what they need for a project.”

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Using this workflow with EditShare EFS shared storage and FLOW media management, the Cutting Edge shared archive of assets is completely accessible to authorised TEQ users anywhere globally, increasing production efficiency for both organisations. Cutting Edge is also using FLOW to generate additional revenues through transcoding files, repurposing videos and creating new content from existing assets.

FLOW SELF-SERVE VIDEO ARCHIVE Cutting Edge began developing the self-serve video archive with the TEQ IT team in 2019.

Initially, this process required a massive consolidation of all the media Cutting Edge had stored in-house, as well as outside assets scattered across hard drives and other local

EditShare’s Flow Story.

devices. The next steps were to create a separate space to host the desired services with FLOW, as well as developing policies and procedures for content access and sharing.

Once that underlying foundation was in place, the team began leveraging AirFLOW for web-based and remote access search and retrieval and FLOW Story. They are able track and search when footage was shot as well as drag and drop the content directly into a timeline with associated metadata.

“It’s all done off lightweight streaming proxies,” Maguire said. “If we need to do an edit in house, TEQ can send us the clip from their browser as a web-based link. Our editors clearly know what shot they want, and they can launch that through FLOW.” Within FLOW, editors can mark clips with in and out points for viewing by TEQ remotely. “They simply mark the section of a segment they like and then send it to the editor to snip it and go.

The media then links cleanly to the original highresolution media for online” Cutting Edge is also using FLOW automation to populate standard metadata detail, freeing its staff from manually entering and logging information, while making clip identification more consistent and ultimately more searchable.

“FLOW makes it super easy for TEQ to quickly browse for what they want,” Maguire explains.

“They don’t have to give us vague instructions about which clip to pull. Instead, they can drill down using standard metadata tags such as location, region or time of day. We can allocate our resources more effectively instead of having people spend time on logging repetitive details and searching for content.”

Once the metadata is attached to content, it lives in the databases to avoid duplication of efforts. “If a clip is ingested twice, we won’t actually double up the entry within the database,” adds Maguire.

“The metadata lets us know immediately there’s

a conflict.”

Maguire adds, “FLOW has some really interesting features for automating work and taking stress off your teams. Its metadata and search functions are changing how we work.”

REAL BENEFITS With FLOW, there is no need for an expensive, custom web portal, all TEQ assets are accessible and searchable from anywhere in the world via the AirFLOW web-browser. Media is logged with detailed metadata, making it easy for staff to search and locate the right assets for creative collaboration, saving both time and money. The fine-grain control over assets lets TEQ better manage the life cycle of their archive. They can make their own archival decisions based on the relative value of each asset, controlling storage usage and ultimately, the cost.

Maguire explains, “With detailed oversight into the assets we manage, we have the ability to monitor the storage usage, make recommendations, and forecast with precision the expected storage expenses for our client.

FLOW transparency allows us to better serve our clients in terms of their experience and budgets.”

FUTURE PROOF Built into FLOW’s open architecture is a robust set of APIs that enable the teams to add new functionality as an organization’s needs change or evolve. One new feature Cutting Edge Post anticipates will further enhance workflow is Artificial Intelligence (AI).

“We envision AI algorithms helping with image-based capturing and tagging, as well as generating subtitles and transcripts,” Maguire said. “If a client handed us several days’ worth of a broadcast event or presentation, rather than having someone transcribe everything manually, it can happen on ingest. It’s already handled. It’s a game changing level of efficiency.”

Visit www.editshare.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

Discovery’s Three NZ Moves Content Archive to the Cloud

Masstech’s Kumulate solution was supplied to and will be supported at Three by its A/NZ technology partner Magna Systems and Engineering.

Commenting on Masstech, Kumulate and working with Magna, TV3’s Engineering Manager, Shane Lee, said, “While investigating an archive solution we decided to look at a cloud alternative. It’s something that we can see a lot of benefits over time both in terms of costs and flexibility. We decided to engage Masstech as we had a working relationship with them. Through Magna we were able to come up with a solution in line with Masstech and our vision. The process and support have been fantastic with the collaboration between all parties.”

Cloud storage offers broadcasters like Three considerable cost benefits when compared to the traditional capital expenditure required for onpremise hardware. Three’s existing library of news and entertainment content totals around 1.2 petabytes,

stored on LTO5 media, and migrating this to different levels of AWS storage will result in significant storage and operational costs savings.

Magna Systems group sales and marketing manager Paul Maroni added, “Three are a very forward-thinking Broadcast facility and Kumulate is a great fit for their current and future storage requirements. In addition to migrating their taped-based video archive to the cloud, Kumulate offers many workflow improvements for both news and programming. As Masstech’s technology partner our role is to ensure the process is as smooth and seamless as possible whilst offering local, on the ground support every step of the way, especially during the COVID travel restrictions with remote configurations and commissioning

by Kumulate engineers.”

In addition taking advantage of the latest innovations in storage technology, Discovery New Zealand is one of a growing number of major broadcasters to benefit from Kumulate’s software-as-aservice (SaaS) subscription model, which provides initial investment flexibility, scalability to grow as required, and the ability to quickly add functionality as business requirements change.

Visit www.magnasys.tv and http://www.masstech.com

EditShare Partners with HP EDITSHARE HAS JOINED forces with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to deliver best in class media management and storage solutions using HPE ProLiant servers.

“EditShare customers can look forward to an increased pace of innovation, while taking advantage of HPE’s forward-looking technology roadmap,” states Sunil Mudholkar, vice president of product, EditShare.

“HPE has a deserved reputation for building high performing, dependable and cutting-edge servers and storage solutions. Joining forces allows us to focus on our awardwinning open software solutions and push the flexibility, scalability, and performance of media-optimized software technology on standard IT hardware.”

“Digital media content is increasingly growing, requiring reliable and secure compute and storage solutions to efficiently store and manage data.

Leading providers such as EditShare are addressing this need for a range of media content production needs,” said Phillip Cutrone, vice president and general manager of Service Providers, OEM and Major Accounts at HPE. “Through our latest OEM collaboration, EditShare is providing customers with reliable, integrated solutions built on HPE ProLiant servers, which are the world’s most trusted compute platforms with industry-leading performance and scalability, to meet growing data demands.”

Visit https://editshare.com/hpe-form

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

DISCOVERY-OWNED nationwide channel Three in New Zealand has selected its video storage management platform - Kumulate to migrate the broadcaster’s entire video archive to the cloud. The introduction of Kumulate will also allow Three to automate archiving its daily run-downs via Kumulate’s integration into AVID iNews - the only purpose-built video archive solution for news.

17 17

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

Masstech Enhances Kumulate Video Storage Management MASSTECH HAS UNVEILED the latest generation of its Kumulate video storage management platform which comes with a new set of features and enhanced modules that make video storage and content management simpler, more intuitive and cost effective.

The next-gen Kumulate platform is underpinned with a new database and architectural structure, and features an enhanced REST API to improve communication between Kumulate modules, the Kumulate core platform and thhird-party services for seamless workflow creation. In addition, the containerised structure of Kumulate v2, along with microservices architecture will offer enhanced on-demand scalability, in whatever cloud or hybrid environment customers prefer, as their storage and content processing requirements dictate.

Kumulate’s modular design lets users start with the core storage management functionality and add modules at their own pace, adapting to new revenue streams as required. The latest Workflow Orchestrator module has a revamped interface, with new drag-and-drop templates for quick workflow creation, including dedicated migration templates for those looking to move video assets and archives to new cloud environments.

New analytics and modelling modules improve reporting and planning and the recently released Kumulate Gateway and Kumulate Gallery modules improve automation and monetisation opportunities.

In addition to improved storage & media management, Kumulate now supports hashing for cloud transfers, keeping content secure as it moves across storage tiers. Additional support is now included for transcode formats such as OpenEXR, as well as improved integrations with Avid MediaCentral and Adobe solutions. Kumulate v2 also features deeper integration with AI and Machine Learning solutions from cloud providers such as AWS and Azure, to allow integration of cognitive services including speech-to-text and facial recognition into standard workflows.

Kumulate users will also experience a refreshed next-generation interface, with intuitive details such as drag-and-drop functionality for easier platform configuration and storage location control.

Masstech is also offering Kumulate customers capex and opex agility. The Kumulate platform is now available via subscription and SaaS models, allowing customers to add modules and services to adapt to new revenue streams.

Visit www.masstech.com

Uptick in LTO-Tape Use Expected with New Recording Method DESPITE CHALLENGING MARKET conditions, the usage of FUJIFILM LTO has grown steadily over the past year as the technology behind magnetic tapes has continued to improve and become more efficient. According to Professor Shin-ichi Ohkoshi of the University of Tokyo, the latest development in magnetic tape technology will see magnetic tapes with 10 times the current capacities within five to 10 years.

Although they are slower to access than other storage devices, digital tapes have very high storage densities. More information can be kept on a tape than other devices of similar sizes, and they can also be more cost effective.

Professor Shin-ichi Ohkoshi from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tokyo and his team have developed a magnetic material which, together with a special process to access it, can offer greater storage densities than ever. The robust nature of the material means that the data would last for longer than with other mediums,

and the novel process operates at low power. The system would also be very cheap to run.

“Our new magnetic material is called epsilon iron oxide, it is particularly suitable for long-term digital storage,” said Ohkoshi. “When data is written to it, the magnetic states that represent bits become resistant to external stray magnetic fields that might otherwise interfere with the data. We say it has a strong magnetic anisotropy. Of course, this feature also means that it is harder to write the data in the first place; however, we have a novel approach to that part of the process too.”

The recording process relies on high-frequency millimetre waves in the region of 30-300 gigahertz, or billions of cycles per second. These high frequency waves are directed at strips of epsilon iron oxide, which is an excellent absorber of such waves. When an external magnetic field is applied, the epsilon iron oxide allows its magnetic direction, which represents either a binary 1 or 0, to flip in the presence of the high-frequency

waves. Once the tape has passed by the recording head where this takes place, the data is then locked into the tape until it is overwritten.

Epsilon iron oxide may also find uses beyond magnetic recording tape. The frequencies it absorbs well for recording purposes are also the frequencies that are intended for use in nextgeneration cellular communication technologies beyond 5G. “We knew early on that millimetre waves should theoretically be capable of flipping magnetic poles in epsilon iron oxide. But, since it’s a newly observed phenomenon, we had to try various methods before finding one that worked,” said Ohkoshi. “Although the experiments were very difficult and challenging, the sight of the first successful signals was incredibly moving. I anticipate we will see magnetic tapes based on our new technology with 10 times the current capacities within five to 10 years.”

Visit https://www.fujifilm.com.au

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

LWKS’ QScan with HDR Measurement

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LWKS Software Ltd has announced a new version of its QScan automated quality control software.

QScan 2021 introduces advanced High Dynamic Range (HDR) measurements for the first time into the media compliance process, and also features a new, easier to use web-based GUI. QScan’s new Advanced HDR Measurements software offers users a more sophisticated quality control process by providing access to a higher level of analytical detail from their output.

For the first time, users can now easily measure underlying video levels in HDR content, compare

different versions, and check IMF compliance or any user defined analysis parameters, all within the simplified QScan interface. The new intuitive GUI has been redesigned with ease of use, clarity and accessibility in mind. Technical and occasional users can access and move between QScan’s toolset and third-party applications in a faster and more streamlined fashion.

Additionally, LWKS is making QScan 2021 available via a new cost-effective pay-as-you-go pricing model which enables content creators to access leading-edge quality control features according to

their project-by-project requirements.

“This is the second major software release from LWKS within four months of our formation which proves our commitment to our rapidly growing community of creatives and content publishers,” said Peter Lambert, CEO, LWKS Software. “Following a similar pricing model to our Lightworks NLE, QScan is now available for free for entry level users, or via an attractively priced monthly, yearly or outright purchase plan.”

QScan 2021 is available now, as a download, from www.lwks.com

POST PRODUCTION www.content-technology.com/postproduction

Unreal Engine Fosters Local Talent with Short Film Challenge

Sixteen of the top pitches were selected and given AUD$20,000 to produce a short film in six weeks. The shortlisted teams also collaborated with visual effects facilities, production studios, and universities across Australia to leverage every tool in the virtual production playbook — from LED stage shoots, to real-time animation workflows, to performance capture, in-camera visual effects, and VR. Of the final shorts, “Cassini Logs” (pictured), submitted by NSW creatives Alexandru Popescu and Tim Ben Cole, was selected as the top film, receiving the AUD$50,000 grand prize.

“The level of production quality achieved in these shorts is remarkable considering the

tight six-week turnaround,” said Connie Kennedy, Head of Los Angeles Lab, Epic Games. “These incredibly talented filmmakers, many who were using Unreal Engine for the first time, produced a portfolio of sophisticated live action and animated films. We’re delighted that many of these filmmakers are pursuing efforts to develop their projects further into episodic series and fulllength features.”

All Australian state screen agencies: Film Victoria, Screen NSW, Screen Tasmania, Screen Queensland, Screen Canberra, Screenwest, South Australian Film Corporation and Screen Territory came together to put the call out for participants across the country. The sixteen selected filmmaking teams also collaborated with visual effects facilities, production studios,

Animal Logic for Animated Toto Musical

WE’RE NOT TALKING about the rains down in Africa here. Leading VFX

and digital design studio Animal Logic has confirmed that the feature musical adaptation of Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz will be the next project produced out of its animation studio in Vancouver.

Based on the book written by Michael Morpurgo and illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark, the family film will be told from the perspective of Dorothy’s beloved companion. The screenplay was written by John August, with two-time Tony nominee, Alex Timbers, attached to direct.

The film will be produced by Derek Frey, who previously headed-up Tim Burton Productions.

Pre-production has begun on the animated feature, with Timbers currently meeting key creatives and producers in Vancouver and recruitment of artists and practitioners ramping up over the next few months.

Toto is the latest addition to an already prolific partnership between Animal Logic and Warner Bros., spanning more than 20 years. The Vancouver studio is currently in production on an animated film based on the DC Super Pets franchise, directed by Jared Stern and set for release in 2022. Known internationally as a digital hub, particularly for animation, Vancouver’s strong talent pool has allowed the studio to continue its

and universities across Australia to leverage every tool in the virtual production playbook from LED stage shoots, to real-time animation workflows, to performance capture, in-camera visual effects, and VR. The resulting films portray everything from futuristic journeys into alternate universes under the sea and in outer space, to suspenseful liveaction narratives with stunning visual effects, and thoughtful, whimsical, fully animated tales.

To watch all submitted films, visit https://vimeo.com/showcase/ueaustralia

SIGGRAPH Asia Heading to Sydney in 2023 SIGGRAPH ASIA has announced Sydney as the host city for its 2023 conference and exhibition which will bring together some of the world’s most respected technical and creative minds.

Widely recognised as the premier platform for the advancement of graphics, animation, art, and technology, the 2023/16th edition of SIGGRAPH Asia taking place from 12 – 15 December 2023, is expected to attract over 2500 delegates to Sydney and thousands of visitors to the exhibition showcase, sharing expert knowledge on research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education, and emerging technologies.

The event will also focus on sharing content with creative industries students across NSW, with June Kim appointed as the SIGGRAPH Asia 2023 Conference Chair. Ms. Kim is a lecturer at the University of NSW (UNSW), who has also served and participated in ACM SIGGRAPH for over a decade.

“Engaging the next generation is critical to the ongoing success for our community. Globally, there is a need to increase participation of youths, women, first peoples and people from diverse backgrounds, to study and develop skills in science, technology, engineering, arts, and design. Hosting SIGGRAPH Asia in Sydney will also provide the platform to launch new initiatives which help to scale and grow the local industry and spark interest amongst new audiences in this part of the world,” said Ms. Kim.

growth and success alongside their Sydney headquarters.

Meanwhile, SIGGRAPH Asia is scheduled for Tokyo, Japan (14–17 December 2021) and Daegu, South Korea (7–11 November 2022).

Visit www.animallogic.com

Visit http://sa2021.siggraph.org

POST PRODUCTION

EPIC GAMES, together with all Australian state screen agencies from all eight states and territories, have announced the culmination of the first Unreal Engine Short Film Challenge. The competition saw over 1800 aspiring filmmakers and seasoned artists, across all levels of creative and technical experience, participate in two weeks’ worth of free Unreal Engine filmmaking techniques. Over the course of the programme, they learned the latest techniques in real-time animation and virtual production and later teamed up to create short film pitches.

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POST PRODUCTION

Maya 2020.4 Marks New Chapter for Bifrost

AUTODESK’S MAYA 2020.4 features the biggest update to the Bifrost visual programming environment with deeper Maya integration; a user experience overhaul; and new scattering, instancing, volumetrics, and FX capabilities. The release also integrates the latest version of Arnold for a faster, engaging rendering experience, as well as updates to the Motion Library and Substance plugins.

New capabilities in Bifrost include: • Maya curve support: Maya curves can now be dragged and dropped directly into Bifrost graphs, where they are converted into Bifrost strands and can be used to build curve-based assets and tools.

This update opens the door for artists to use Maya curves to guide procedural generation of roads and fences, as well as the placement and orientation of object scattering.

• Graph shape nodes: Artists can now view Bifrost graphs as either DG or DAG nodes, that are visible in the outliner. DAG nodes are the new default for Bifrost graphs in Maya.

• New fields system: This update introduces user-defined, implicit 3D scalar and vector fields with infinite resolution and low

memory overhead. Using fields nodes, artists can now define custom fields to act as dynamic influences on particles, cloth, or aerodynamic simulations – without having to go inside FX compounds to edit them.

• Scatter pack: Higher-level scattering and instancing compounds have been added to the Bifrost toolkit, including a blue noise scattering node and integration with the new fields system.

• Volume improvements: Volume tools now support fully adaptive conversions between meshes and volumes, merging adaptive volumes, and converting between fields and volumes.

• Cloth and thin-shell simulations:

Users can now produce more accurate collisions and selfcollisions with an updated Material Point Method (MPM) solver.

• Aerodynamic simulations: The Aero solver gains significant performance enhancements, as well as increased capacity for detail refinement and artifact reduction, and new features like texture advection.

• Instantly terminate computation via the ESC key.

New features for version 6.1 of the Arnold renderer include: • New post-processing nodes: Users can now adjust image exposure, colour correction, white balance, tone mapping,

and vignetting using new postprocessing nodes called ‘imagers’.

• Nestled dielectrics: A new priority system for overlapping transparent objects enables artists to create scenes with more physically accurate reflections and refraction of rays. This allows for more realistic renders of scenes such as glass containers with liquid contents and bubbles or ice cubes.

• GPU improvements: The GPU renderer can now partially load textures, providing big savings on both memory consumption and rendering time. Support for light linking and additional light AOV groups, and enhanced OSL JIT compilation performance have also been added.

Lastly, plugin updates for Maya include: • Updates to the native Motion Library plugin include enhanced character previews with new orbit and zoom functions and a smoother initialization experience.

• An updated Substance plugin adds Substance Engine 8.0.3 compatibility, Standard Surface support, and improved interoperability with Maya and other Substance programs.

Visit https://autode.sk/3pKR29M

Epic Games Unreal Engine 4.26 EPIC GAMES’ Unreal Engine 4.26 delivers new tools to enable creators to craft believable real-time environments and characters; as well as advancements to Unreal’s virtual production toolset; higherquality media output; improved design review tools; and more.

POST PRODUCTION

Highlights of the 4.26 release include:

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More convincing animated characters – Hair and Fur is production-ready in 4.26, delivering the ability to edit, simulate, and render true strand-based hair, fur, and feathers. Hair and Fur now features a new Asset Groom Editor for setting up properties, and compatibility with features such as DOF and Fog. LOD generation is built in, and users are now able to generate cards and meshes for lower-end hardware in-engine as an experimental feature. Adding further believability to their characters’ movements, users can now create animations in Sequencer by blending animation clips such as motion-captured data. Animators can preview skeleton animations to easily see how one skeleton blends into the next, and match joint placement for a smooth transition between clips. The feature is

integrated with Control Rig, which offers an experimental full-body IK solution in addition to the standard FK/IK.

to interact with the water; the fluid also responds to Terrain, such as reflecting ripples off the shore, and reacting to river flow maps.

Immersive natural worlds and environments –a new Volumetric Cloud component is able to interact with Sky Atmosphere, Sky Light, and up to two directional lights, improving the quality of both realistic and stylised skies, clouds, and other atmospheric effects. The atmosphere can receive volumetric shadows from meshes and clouds; lighting and shadowing updates in real time to reflect time-of-day changes. There’s also a Environment Lighting Mixer window that enables components affecting atmosphere lighting to be authored in one place.

A new Water system, enables artists to define oceans, lakes, rivers, and islands using splines. Users can adjust and visualise the depth, width, and velocity of rivers along their lengths, and the wavelength, amplitude, direction, and steepness of waves on oceans and lakes. A new Water Mesh Actor uses a quad tree grid to render detailed surfaces up close, smoothly transitioning to simplified ones at distance.

Built-in fluid simulation enables characters, vehicles, and weapons

Unreal Engine 4.26 leverages technology such as NVIDIA’s NVLink, enabling data to be transferred between two GPUs at very high speed, in order to support the increasing number of pixels on LED volumes. This allows any viewport to be rendered on another GPU. The 4.26 release also introduces a fully REST-compliant Remote Control API, enabling users to collect and organise any parameters or function libraries from the Unreal Engine UI into customisable presets. These can be used in an Unreal Editor panel, or connected to widgets such as radial dials, sliders, or colour pickers - in web applications.

Enhanced high-quality media output – Movie Render Queue lets users create high-quality frames with accumulated anti-aliasing and motion blur for film and TV, and cinematics, and high-resolution images for print. New features in Movie Render Queue now make it possible to output render passes including matte IDs, camera motion vectors, Z-depth, ambient occlusion, reflections, and more, so users can

refine images in a downstream compositing or photo editing application. Movie Render Queue also now supports OpenColorIO (OCIO), enabling users to work in any colour space while ensuring that their image will look as intended on its target platform. There is also support for exporting multi-channel EXRs, Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHR codecs, and Final Cut Pro XML EDLs, as well as the ability to integrate render farms.

Users will see usability and performance improvements in the Collaborative Viewer template that enables multi-user design reviews on VR/AR/Desktop, both enhancing the collaborative design review process and allowing more users to join a session. There is also support for voice communication between participants over VOIP. Unreal Engine 4.26 also offers new improvements to the Chaos physics tool, ray tracing, new GPU Lightmass, a completely new Virtual Camera system, enhanced DMX support, and new Datasmith exporter plugins for Rhino and Naviworks.

Visit http://bit.ly/3dzSc5D

POST PRODUCTION

Magic Bullet Upgrade

intoPIX JPEG XS Plugin for Premiere IMAGE PROCESSING solutions provider intoPIX has announced the launch of its JPEG XS Plugin for Adobe Premiere for video editing and live streaming. The plugin is designed to speed up the pre- and post-production pipeline in JPEG XS format.

BORIS FX HAS ANNOUNCED its

MAXON HAS ANNOUNCED the

Boris FX Silhouette is now part of

availability of a maintenance

the Netflix Post Technology Alliance.

release for Magic Bullet Suite 14,

According to the company, “Visual

its collection of tools for colour

effects artists and post facilities working on Netflix Originals can now rest easy knowing that Boris FX Silhouette officially meets Netflix’s

correction, finishing and film looks, that enables support in MacOS Big Sur and Final Cut Pro for the updated tools: Colorista V, Looks 5

technical and delivery specifications

and Denoiser III.

and will do so in the future. The

Along with compatibility updates,

ground-breaking rotoscoping,

many minor enhancements and

non-destructive digital paint and

stability improvements are provided

compositing standalone application

within this maintenance release.

is only the third product to join the

Among the refinements are fixes for

Netflix Post Technology Alliance

loading thumbnails and 100+ LUTs

under the “VFX” category - marking

(Look-Up Tables) for MB Looks and

a new chapter in the product’s

significant improvements to MB

storied history.”

Colorista including minor adjustment

Silhouette’s latest release 2020

layer and keyframing issues for PPro

features integrated Mocha

as well as enhanced loading times

“Our plugin creates a perfect match between a versatile tool and the low-complexity, low latency codec that will preserve the picture quality,” explains Justine Hecq, Product Marketing and Business Development Manager. “It grants Adobe Premiere users hassle-free access to 10 times the data space, compared to using uncompressed video.”

Proxies are part of the master with the intoPIX JPEG XS Plugin.

The plugin allows quick (re)view of HD, 4K or 8K JPEG XS MXF files by just displaying a sub-resolution, which significantly reduces the bandwidth utilisation and computational load during editing or playback. The plugin enables you to switch instantly between lower and full resolutions.

HD, 4K, 8K editing can be performed with a normal laptop and network. The new Plugin is embedding the FastTICO-XS SDK and meets all the requirements to switch to a JPEG XS-based workflow effortlessly: super-fast encoding and decoding, support of all resolutions from HD, 4K to 8K, a wide range of pixel formats (4:2:2, 4:4:4, etc), MXF wrapping and audio support. Moreover, it does not require a high loading process: users can achieve all of this using a normal Intel or AMD processor.

planar tracking (previously a paid

for AE and PPro.

option), new advanced roto tools,

The upgrade of Magic Bullet Suite

new paintbrushes, and a detail

14 is available as a part of the

separation workflow for easier

subscription to Red Giant Complete

retouching.

and Maxon One.

With access to the standardised JPEG XS format, video editors can rely on the codec’s proven quality and features: visually lossless compression, robust over multiple encoding/decoding cycles, low latency and low complexity. The company says it is now easy to replace SDI-based workflows and start streaming over standard networks using SMPTE 2110

Visit https://borisfx.com

Visit https://www.maxon.net

Visit https://www.intopix.com

POST PRODUCTION

Boris FX Silhouette Joins Netflix Alliance

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AUDIO Digital soundwaves

www.content-technology.com/audio

Audio Tech Pioneer Rupert Neve Passes at 94 RUPERT NEVE, THE INNOVATOR and business owner whose analogue audio equipment designs have become an essential component in music recording, live sound production and home hi-fi systems, died on February 12, 2021 in Wimberley, Texas, due to non-Covid pneumonia and heart failure. He was 94.

His designs, ranging from largeformat mixing consoles to compact 500 series modules are found everywhere from the largest production facilities to the most basic home studios. His audio hardware designs have also been reproduced as software plug-ins.

Rupert and his wife, Evelyn, moved to Wimberley in late 1994 and became U.S. citizens in 2002. In 2005, established Rupert Neve Designs (RND).

Born in Newton Abbott, England, in 1926, Rupert showed an enthusiasm for electronics from an early age while growing up in Argentina. At 17, he volunteered to serve during World War II, joining the Royal Signals.

Returning to civilian life in England, he built a mobile system to record choral groups and public events onto lacquer disks. He also supplied public address systems for events involving Queen Elizabeth II, and Winston Churchill.

His contributions were recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Technical GRAMMY Award in 1997, an Audio Engineering Society Fellowship Award in 2006, 16

TEC (Technical Excellence and Creativity) Awards for Rupert Neve Designs products, and Studio Sound magazine’s Audio Person of the Century Award, in 1999.

After working for Rediffusion, Ferguson Radio and a transformer manufacturer for a time, Rupert set up CQ Audio, manufacturing home hi-fi amplifiers and loudspeakers.

In 1960, designed and built his first audio mixing console. In 1961, Rupert and his wife established Neve Electronics.

Rupert designed his first transistorbased equaliser in 1964, then produced his first transistor mixing console, for Philips Records’ studios. He went on to design and manufacture iconic equipment such as the Neve 80 and 50 series mixing desks. Years later, individual microphone preamp, equaliser and processing modules originally incorporated into those consoles, such as the 1073 and 1081, became prized for their sonic character.

Rupert adopted digital technology in 1977, introducing the world’s first moving fader system, NECAM (NEve Computer Assisted Mixdown), and installing the first system at producer George Martin’s Air Studios in London. The Neve 81 series of mixing desks integrated digital assignable controls into an otherwise analogue design.

Rupert and Evelyn sold the Neve Companies in 1975, by which time they employed 500 people worldwide with manufacturing

locations in England and Scotland and sales offices across North America. Austria’s Siemens Corp. subsequently acquired the Neve brand from its new owner, later selling the company to AMS in England.

Rupert and Evelyn, now operating as ARN Consultants, established Focusrite Ltd. in 1985, producing outboard equipment and a largeformat mixing console, of which just eight were made.

ARN Consultants moved on to work with Amek Systems and Controls Ltd. in Manchester, England.

Rupert’s first design project was “The Equaliser,” a stereo mastering EQ produced by Amek under the Medici brand. Further collaboration with the manufacturer followed with the development of the Amek 9098 large-format mixing console, and a line of outboard equipment. Rupert’s Transformer-Like Amplifier (TLA) design was integrated into several Amek mixing console lines.

Now operating from Wimberley, Texas, ARN Consultants worked on a number of projects, including Legendary Audio’s “The Masterpiece,” a modular mastering system.

Rupert also designed a pre-amp and pickup assembly for Taylor Guitars.

His first microphone designs were produced in 2011 when he partnered with sE Electronics to design the Rupert Neve Signature Series of active ribbon, condenser, and tube condenser microphones.

Rupert Neve Designs was

established in 2005. The company manufactures the 5088 analogue mixing console and a range of rackmount and desktop processing, summing and other equipment, including the Portico, Portico II, and Shelford lines. In 2012 RND began producing equipment in the 500 series form factor and in 2018 Rupert released his first digital design, the RMP-D8 Dantenetworked multichannel microphone preamp.

In 2011, Yamaha launched the first Rupert Neve Designs plug-ins, approved by Rupert, for its Steinberg platform. The plug-ins, emulations of the designer’s current and classic module circuits, have also been integrated into Yamaha’s CL Series and Rivage PM10 digital consoles.

Rupert returned to his roots in 2019 with the Fidelice range aimed at the high-fidelity audio market.

It included a headphone amplifier, phono preamplifier and digital-toanalogue converter.

Visit https://www.rupertneve.com/

Vale Michael Gudinski AM MICHAEL GUDINSKI AM, a key figure in shaping the Australian music industry, died peacefully at his home in Melbourne, Australia, on March 1, 2021.

Born 22 August 1952 to Russian immigrant parents, Gudinski gravitated to the role of music promoter in his teenage years, organising dances and booking bands such as The Aztecs and Chain (who he also managed).

Gudinski dropped out of his final year of high school and established his first booking agency, Consolidated Rock, in 1970.

AUDIO

In 1972, aged 20, he launched the inaugural Sunbury Festival with business partner in Ray Evans. His first international tour as promoter also came in 1972: John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers.

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In May 1972, Gudinski launched

independent record label, Mushroom Records. Based in Wellington Street St Kilda, Mushroom Records would become Australia’s largest ever independent label. 1973 saw a complementary sister company form in Mushroom Music Publishing.

Mushroom Records went on to sign artists such as Skyhooks, Split Enz, Jimmy Barnes, Kylie Minogue, Archie Roach, Hunters & Collectors, Paul Kelly, The Angels, Yothu Yindi, and many more.

Mushroom also became home to booking agencies Melbournebased Premier Artists and Sydney’s The Harbour Agency came under the Mushroom fold five years later.

In 1979, launched an international tour promotion arm, Frontier Touring.

In 1993, Gudinski co-founded Mushroom Pictures, which coproduced feature films such as Chopper, Wolf Creek and Gettin’ Square, plus hit TV productions (“Molly”, “Head First”).

After establishing a Mushroom UK office and new label Infectious Records – whose signings included Ash, Muse, Peter Andre, Garbage and Kylie Minogue – Gudinski would go on to first sell a share of Mushroom Records to Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited Group in 1993. Gudinski sold his remaining stake in the label to Murdoch five years later, in 1998 – but retained the ‘Mushroom Group’ name.

In 2006, Gudinski was awarded Member of the Order of Australia medal (AM) for service to the entertainment industry through the promotion of Australian music recording artists.

On Anzac Day 2020, Gudinski delivered the televised concert - Music From The Home Front created as a response to the global COVID-19 pandemic crisis and as a tribute to frontline workers.

In July 2020, with Gudinski at the helm, Mushroom Vision launched the music TV series The Sound, screening weekly each Sunday night on ABC and iview.

Visit https://mushroomgroup.com

AUDIO

Audinate Announces SDK for Dante Embedded Platform AUDINATE, THE DEVELOPER OF Dante AV networking technology, has announced the availability of a software development kit (SDK) for manufacturers of Arm-based audio products. This SDK lets manufacturers deploy Dante audio networking as on-chip software in their products, reducing costs and conserving on space while delivering worldclass audio performance.

The Dante Embedded Platform SDK provides the tools needed to develop Dante-enabled products built upon 32- and 64-bit Arm

Cortex-A processors using a Linux operating system, and supports online license activation for OEMs. The SDK allows manufacturers to validate their own designs for performance and capability, ensuring solid reliability for end users.

incredibly flexible and cost effective, and now

“We’re very pleased to offer the first SDK for Dante as software,” says Nick Mariette, Product Manager at Audinate. “We’re just beginning to see the changes brought to the AV industry through families of softwarebased products. Arm-based audio devices are

for x86-based audio products is anticipated

Dante can be integrated in to deliver a truly great customer experience.”

In addition to support for Arm Cortex-A processors, a Dante Embedded Platform SDK for release in the near future.

The Dante Embedded Platform SDK for Arm processors is available immediately.

Visit https://www.audinate.com

Evertz Buys Studer’s Strategic Assets from HARMAN

Evertz says it will invest in Studer to develop next-generation products to meet broadcast customers’ future needs while creating synergies between its current product suite and the Studer product environment.

“We saw an exciting opportunity to evolve these premium products with new products and feature development while having Studer continue to redefine how broadcast audio is produced,” said Brian Campbell, Evertz EVP Business Development.

“We’re pleased to complete this acquisition and move forward in welcoming this iconic audio brand along with members of its talented staff to Evertz and to our family of products and solutions.”

“We are also excited with the opportunity to welcome Studer’s many valued customers and further develop their premium products.” added Simon Reed, Evertz UK’s Managing Director.

“We are very pleased that the stewardship of the iconic Studer brand will continue on under Evertz’s leadership,” said Brian Divine, President, HARMAN Professional Solutions.

From The Beatles recording Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at EMI/Abbey Road

Studios on a Studer tape deck, to Studer digital mixing consoles in the control rooms at the world’s most prestigious and modern broadcast facilities, Studer has been an iconic audio brand for more than 70 years. HARMAN acquired Studer in 1994 and brought the brand into the digital age with such products as the Vista mixing console series.

Other technologies that are part of the purchase include: the Glacier Series of customisable broadcast audio control surfaces; routing and I/O solutions; the Infinity Core series of CPUbased backend audio signal processors; and system synchronisation products.

Visit www.evertz.com

AUDIO

EVERTZ TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED, a global provider of media and entertainment technology solutions, has announced the closing of the acquisition of the Studer brand, technology and related assets from HARMAN International.

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AUDIO

Remote Audio Production DIRECTOUT AND VIVIVALDY have introduced “ViViD”, a customised service that permits audio professionals to easily setup remote productions using standard internet connections.

The increasing demand for remote interaction of artists and sound engineers has led the two companies to offer consultancy and turn-key packages to address these applications.

“ViViD” packages include Vivivaldy VPN solutions combined with DirectOut products supporting RAVENNA, such as PRODIGY.MP and EXBOX. RAV. DirectOut’s RAVENNA implementation allows uncompressed real-time audio over IP transmission with ultra-low latency or with buffer times all the way up to 500ms.

Vivivaldy is a hardware/software solution that allows real time syncing of audio transmissions with signals originated up to a huge distance from one another.

SSL UF8 Studio DAW Controller

DESCRIBED AS, “The culmination of 40 years of mastering studio ergonomics experience”, the new Solid State Logic UF8 controller is an expandable to a 32-channel control surface with integration for all major DAW platforms. It is suited to music creation, production and mixing, post-production and webcasting. The new SSL 360° control software manages multi-controller configurations, customised user keys, and DAW switching across multiple layers, allowing for seamless switching between numerous sessions.

Andy Jackson, SSL Studio Product Manager, comments, “UF8 is an obvious next step in SSL’s development in ergonomically designed studio tools for todays’ mixers, producers and creators.

The layout and build quality are all about our

PRODIGY.MP is used in “ViViD” packages equipped with microphone pre-amplifier modules to collect analog audio signals at the artists’ locations while the headphone’s outputs serve for monitoring purposes. The built-in DSP also allows local equalisation and mixing at zero latency. The Vivivaldy infrastructure is capable of connecting distant locations and allows them to communicate at ultra-low latency of less than 15ms to enable live cross-monitoring.

EXBOX.RAV, DirectOut’s new RAVENNA to MADI converter, is collecting broadcast feeds. The audio packets are sent through the network at higher latency to grant secure and reliable transmission, assured also by Vivivaldy’s re-transmission mechanism. With the control software globcon the entire setup can be managed remotely at any location on the network.

fixation with ‘human engineering’; creating products that keep you in the creative zone with high-speed access to every fader or control, without operator fatigue or discomfort.”

Features include: • High-Quality 100 mm Touch Sensitive Faders.

• High-Resolution Colour Displays.

• Eight Endless Rotary Encoders.

• Custom Workflows – five banks of eight user keys + three quick keys = 43 assignable keys per UF8.

• Intelligent Multi-Purpose CHANNEL Encoder.

• Mouse Scroll Emulation – Control of any plug-in parameter you hover the mouse over.

• Integrates with All Major DAWs – Workflow ready templates.

Wohler Adds Atmos 3D Room Visualiser

WOHLER HAS RELEASED a free firmware upgrade for users of its flagship iAM-12G-SDI when purchased with Dolby Atmos option.

AUDIO

Two new screens help the user visualise the location of each audio bed or dynamic channel for both actual and dynamic channels. The audio bed is the arrangement of speakers in the listening room; the sounds produced by the audio bed accurately simulate the locations of the dynamic objects, which are heard as sound sources from any location in the listening room.

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The first screen shows the listening room with a 3D front view, with a representation of the video program screen location shown in the centre as a white rectangle. The various objects are shown as named channels (in blue boxes) for the audio bed objects, or as numbered channels (in green circles) for the dynamic objects. Dynamic objects may move around through the 3D screen as they move in the

program material. These objects appear according to what is present in the Dolby ATMOS bitstream. A maximum number of 16 objects can be displayed simultaneously.

The second screen shows the listening room with a 3D top view, looking down into it. The displays give a representation of the video program screen location, shown in the centre top (front wall) as a white rectangle. Also shown are audio bed objects, which are in fixed positions as speakers in the listening room.

Either dynamic channel objects or audio bed objects can be shown in the Dolby ATMOS 3D Room Visualiser.

A Metadata screen is also included, providing three sets of data, selected via tabs. It includes traditional Dolby Metadata, Loudness Data, and Presentation Data, which provides x-y-z coordinates for the position of objects in the 3D Room Visualiser.

Visit www.wohler.com

Luca Giaroli, responsible for “ViViD” at DirectOut, says, “Before the spreading of Covid-19, the demand for internet remote productions was already there, but the pandemic has definitely increased it. In this evolving scenario ‘ViViD’ allows audio professionals to achieve this, no matter their IT knowledge.”

“ViViD” packages can be purchased or rented. For more info contact DirectOut at vivid@directout.eu Visit http://www.tm-systems.com.au

• Switch Control Between Three Simultaneously Connected DAWs. • Powered by the SSL 360° Mac/PC Application.

• Expandable System – Chain 4 UF8s for a 32-channel SSL control surface.

• Includes SSL Native Vocalstrip 2 & Drumstrip plug-ins.

Visit www.solidstatelogic.com/UF8 and www.ambertech.com.au

Digital Recorder/Lavalier Mic Combo TASCAM HAS ANNOUNCED several new features for the DR10L Micro Linear PCM Recorder.

With its ultra-compact form factor and the included lavalier microphone, the DR-10L is suitable for videographers, filmmakers, event producers, and vloggers.

The DR-10L’s OLED backlit display provides clear, real time information about record levels, SD card status, and more. In addition to its support for 48kHz/24-bit BWF (Broadcast Wave Format), WAV format recording, the DR-10L also offers MP3 recording at both 128kbps and 192kbps.

Also included is the DR-10L’s Poly file dual record capability with adjustable dB level that automatically makes a backup track to the SD card. Users can, for example, set the dB level of the backup track to -6dB or-12dB to ensure recordings that are free

from clipping or distortion. There is always a secondary track for worryfree “no second take” recording.

Also notable, level meters are now active during both recording and playback. When combined with the included iZotope RX Elements software package for Mac or PC, users can ensure recordings are devoid of noise, air conditioning hum, fabric or other lavalier rustle noises.

The TASCAM DR-10L uses a single AAA battery with 10 hours of operation from one alkaline battery or fifteen hours via a lithium battery.

Other features include Auto Gain, a Limiter, and Low-Cut filter. The new features are included with all new DR-10L recorders, and previous units can easily be updated.

Visit www.tascam.com

AUDIO

THE NEXT STAGE IN SOUND.

Axient Digital defies limitations for both RF and audio excellence.

With an industry-leading 2 ms of latency*, linear transient response, and wide dynamic range, nothing gets in the way of true, pure sound.

Learn more at shure.com/axientdigital *From transducer to analog output, in standard transmission mode. © 2018 Shure Incorporated

www.jands.com.au

AUDIO

Distributed by

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RADIO The original broadcast media

www.content-technology.com/radio

SCA Gets Personal with LiSTNR App SCA HAS LAUNCHED LISTNR – a curated and personalised, free app offering radio, podcasts, music, and news, creating what it says is “a new audio destination for all Australians”.

offering with the development of new and original premium content, along with exciting partnerships to be announced soon, making LiSTNR the new audio destination for all Australians.”

Three years in development and following extensive research into consumers’ evolving audio habits and needs, LiSTNR consolidates all of SCA’s existing digital audio content plus a huge range of new and compelling premium content, all located in one free and easy to use app.

LiSTNR will house more than 100 premium original local, national and global podcasts. This podcast suite features content from Australian household names such as Hamish Blake, Andy Lee, Mark Howard, Gary Mehigan, Tom Tilley, Adam Shand, Cass Dunn, Dylan Alcott, Christopher Pyne, Rosie Waterland, Sarah Wilson and more.

This content portfolio will continue to expand over the coming months. A selection of premium PodcastOne US titles will also be available on LiSTNR and promoted on SCA’s media assets, as SCA continues its agreement PodcastOne US.

Featuring an intuitive onboarding process, LiSTNR delivers a daily feed of audio and easy discovery of new content through curated recommendations.

The app is available across a range of devices, including both iOS and Android, CarPlay and Android Auto, Google Assistant and Alexa and Android TV. Signed-in also users allow LiSTNR to provide a large scale known audience, enabling dynamic ad targeting, based on demographics and behaviour, offering brands unique audio advertising and partnership opportunities.

“The number of Australians accessing digital audio has doubled since 2016 and is projected to reach 80% of Australians by 2024. LiSTNR will provide a personalised listening experience that easily enables consumers to discover a new world of premium, relevant audio that is live and on demand,” SCA CEO, Grant Blackley, said.

“LiSTNR will be a primary generator of listening data, allowing SCA to provide an unrivalled, deep understanding of our audience. We now have the ability to deliver a valuable, targeted audience at scale for advertisers. And this is just the start. LiSTNR will continue to expand its content

LiSTNR will also feature live radio streams, radio podcasts and digital music stations via its Hit and Triple M networks, featuring some of Australia’s most recognised on-ar talent including Carrie Bickmore, Tommy Little, Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes, Ed Kavalee, Erin Molan, Mick Molloy, Marty Sheargold, Fifi Box, Brendan Fevola, Lawrence Mooney, Jess Eva, Basil Zempilas, Rebecca Morse, Anthony ‘Lehmo’ Lehmann, Andrew ‘Cosi’ Costello, Stav Davidson, Abby Coleman, Matty Acton, and more.

LiSTNR will also include radio sports shows such as the Triple M Saturday Rub (AFL), the Rush Hours and the Triple M Sunday Sin Bin (NRL).

Exclusive to LiSTNR, SCA is introducing an expanded music offering with 15 all-new linear music live streaming channels, catering for a diverse array of moods and genres. In addition, LiSTNR will feature four new weekly music podcasts that are available on demand with full

Listening Up via Mobile Phones, Smart Speakers AUSTRALIA’S COMMERCIAL RADIO industry has reported a strong year on year increase in the number of Australians listening to radio on their mobile phones.

Nearly 2.5 million people, or 17% of the population in the five metro markets, listened to live and local radio via their phones at some point each week in the December quarter, industry body Commercial Radio Australia said.

RADIO

The number of listeners tuning in via mobile was up 25% compared to the same period a year ago. There were also increases in listeners tuning in via PCs and tablets (up 27% to 1.2 million) and smart speakers (up 58% to 1.04 million).

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The data was derived from an average of the last three GfK radio audience measurement surveys conducted in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The research

found that while broadcast radio continued to be the most common way to access radio, with 83% of people tuning in via AM/FM and 27% via DAB+ digital radio, mobile phones are the third most popular device used to listen to radio.

Some 9% of listeners tuned in via a PC or tablet, and 7% used a smart speaker. The strong growth of 58% in the number of Australians listening via smart speakers was off a smaller base of 662,000 people in 2019.

“Broadcast radio remains the core and most important platform for the foreseeable future, but we are seeing some exciting growth in digital and streaming audiences as a result of investments and partnerships in these areas to make radio even more accessible across multiple devices,” said Joan Warner, chief executive officer of CRA. Visit www.commercialradio.com.au

music tracks.

Leading the line-up will be musician Linda Marigliano, who will create a new music show called ‘The Spin’ featuring the best newly released music from around the world.

LiSTNR will also provide a new on-demand audio News and Info service. Initially, it will include hyper local News and Sport reports across 15 regions and 34 towns in Australia, a new CrimeWatch weekly report in four key markets and The Locals’ Guide – a purpose-built events guide to help locals and visitors to know what’s on and enjoy their community.

External research by SCA iQ of 2500 Australians over three years focused on user experience and audio consumption, has identified a number of key consumer personas, known as ‘LiSTNR Vibes’, that enable a targeted buying and marketing approach for LiSTNR. Visit https://www.southerncrossaustereo.com.au

UK Awards First Small-Scale DAB Multiplex Licences UK REGULATOR OFCOM has announced its first awards of small-scale radio multiplex licences. Small-scale DAB provides a low-cost route for local commercial, community and specialist music stations to take to the airwaves.

While the mainstream UK radio industry uses the old DAB Eureka 147 standard, Small scale DAB stations use the DAB+ which allows a single DAB multiplex to accommodate a much larger number of audio services.

During trials which concluded in 2020, single-transmitter services, using open-source encoding and multiplexer software, were limited to an operational radiated power level of 100W per transmitter (200W

ERP in some cases) to avoid unwanted impact on other local DAB services.

Following a competitive process, where each applicant was judged against specific criteria, licences have been awarded in five areas: Derry/Londonderry; Glasgow; Salisbury; Tynemouth & South Shields; and the Welsh Valleys to GTFM. Further licence awards for the remaining 20 areas advertised in Round One will be announced in the near future.

Visit www.ofcom.org.uk

RADIO

Tieline Announces New Gateway-4 IP Codec The Gateway-4 is a powerful DSP-based 1RU IP codec designed for live remote broadcasting applications, as well as STL or SSL links. The Gateway-4 also includes support for AES67, ST 2110-30, AES3 and analog I/O as standard, and an optional WheatNet-IP card.

The Gateway-4 supersedes and replaces the popular Merlin and Genie STL audio codecs. It supports 4 full-duplex audio channels in 1RU to expand channel density by one when compared with these codecs. The Gateway-4 codec supports 4 channels only and is not upgradable to support more channels.

The Gateway-4 provides two stereo connections, or one stereo and two mono connections, or up to 4 mono full duplex connections. The Gateway-4 also supports multiple unicasting to up to 20 endpoints and multicasting.

For larger networks, the Gateway-4 is suitable for transmitter sites, remote trucks or rackmounted remote kits.

For affiliates and smaller stations, it can be used to transport studio-to-studio links, or a stereo studio-to-transmitter link signal plus another stereo connection, or dual mono connections for remotes.

The Gateway-4 seamlessly integrates with all Tieline IP codecs and delivers hitless packet switching using SmartStream PLUS redundant streaming, plus bandwidth aggregation using Fuse-IP technologies over internet connections.

It features dual internal power supplies, dual LAN ports and dual AoIP ports. An optional Gateway Euro ISDN module can also be purchased for use with the Gateway-4. This allows the codec to integrate with legacy ISDN network infrastructure for primary or backup connections as required.

Its feature-rich and compact design is interoperable with all Tieline IP codecs and compatible over SIP with all EBU N/ACIP Tech 3326 and 3368 compliant codecs and devices.

Gateway is configurable through an embedded HTML5 Toolbox Web-GUI interface and is also fully controllable using Tieline’s Cloud Codec Controller.

The Gateway-4 supersedes Tieline’s Merlin and Genie STL codecs and the Gateway-8 and Gateway-16 codecs supersede the Merlin PLUS and Genie Distribution codecs. Production of the Merlin and Genie families of codecs has ceased.

Tieline will continue to provide support and software updates for all Merlin and Genie codecs.

Visit www.tieline.com/gateway-4

Cloud-Based Radio Production Studio

StreamGuys Simplifies Podcast Management

CLOUD-BASED RADIO Production Studio On-Hertz, virtual audio specialist for the broadcast and media industries, has unveiled Nubo, an all-in-one cloud-based radio production studio available as a service.

STREAMGUYS HAS UPGRADED its flagship SGrecast podcast management and live stream repurposing system. Highlights of version 4.0 include an improved user interface to speed and simplify operations; an expanded waveform editing toolset; and further enhancements to the solution’s automated publishing capabilities.

Designed to simplify a media house’s workflow while boosting productivity, cloud-native Nubo brings a fully integrated live radio studio to the fingertips of broadcasters no matter where they’re located. With just a web browser and a mic, users can sign in and be on-air in minutes from anywhere and at any time.

Suitable for both large and small organisations, Nubo is easily scalable thanks to its Dockerbased architecture. The system offers reliable and secure connections and frees operators from unsecured, hard-to-expand remote desktop connections.

Nubo integrates with existing workflows and is compatible with most automation software on the market. The unique solution packages all aspects of a radio studio – not only contribution – into an easily accessible service available via subscription. With onboard AoIP capabilities, and interconnections with systems like Dalet and Netia, users can import playlists directly into Nubo.

With advanced features such as low latency contribution and monitoring, playout, mixing – including automixing, N-Minus,

talkback – and processing such as parametric EQs and dynamics, the easy-to-use SaaS suite manages up to six WebRTC contributors accessible from uniquely generated URL links, one VoIP Phone (SIP), one AoIP transmission codec (SIP/Opus) and up to 10 separate WebRTC monitoring/talkback feeds (for technicians and producers, etc.).

In addition, all web contribution channels benefit from the same top-notch processing as well as a dedicated N-1 bus, even for contributions from smartphones or tablets.

Moreover, thanks to Nubo’s comprehensive yet intuitive interface, any staffer – from a presenter to a technician or from a producer to a contributor – can easily operate the studio according to their requirements.

This, combined with the fact that users can take control simultaneously from anywhere on the planet, guarantees stations never miss a beat in providing their audiences with the most enticing and up-to-the minute content.

Visit https://www.on-hertz.com

New overlay windows enable users to quickly access and edit information about a particular item or task – such as the details of a particular podcast episode – while preserving their current place in the main interface and workflow. The result is faster and more intuitive operation.

SGrecast’s integrated, browser-based Waveform Editor also sports an updated user interface and expanded functionality. New interstitial cutting capabilities enable operators to remove unwanted sections in the middle of recordings and recombine the remaining segments for republishing. This offers immediate benefits for content repurposing for example, removing ‘baked-in’ advertising to enable subsequent dynamic ad insertion.

SGrecast’s enhanced AudioLogger recording feature offers the option of preserving mid-roll ad break metadata from the live stream, enabling subsequent dynamic ad insertion in the published podcast without requiring manual marker insertion. Combined with the ability to automatically trigger podcast publishing based on metadata in the live stream, this enables fully automated, metadata-driven

publishing workflows.

Version 4.0 adds new functionality for publishing to Google Audio News, including support for the mRSS format required for advanced Google News features. Users can specify episodespecific intro and outro audio files in the mRSS feed, providing greater granularity than the global, publisherbased start and end clips available with generic RSS. The new update also expands the range of standard RSS fields supported by SGrecast, including linking to specific webpages related to particular episodes in a feed.

A new Audit Log feature provides an integrated, historical log of automated or manual actions initiated

by SGrecast or its users, valuable for tracking activities in organisations with multiple users.

StreamGuys is bundling SGrecast’s optional Audio2Video and ENCOpowered automated captioning features for new and existing customers. Audio2Video enables users to turn on-demand audio content into compelling video clips for social media and other outlets, combining the aural content with graphics, custom text, visual waveforms, motion backgrounds and transitions. ENCO’s cloud-based enCaption technology enables users to automatically generate transcriptions of new or existing recordings, and to caption prerecorded, archived files for web and mobile streaming. Resulting captions can be exported as SRT, WebVTT or JSON files, while complete transcripts can be saved for later use.

Visit www.streamguys.com

RADIO

CODEC MANUFACTURER Tieline has announced the addition of the new Gateway-4 IP audio codec to its range of professional IP audio codecs.

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CONTENT DELIVERY Terrestrial, Mobile, Broadband

www.content-technology.com/transmission

Producing UK Australia Day Celebrations via Sweden

By Adam Leah, Creative Director, nxtedition FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS, the UK-based Australia Day Foundation (ADF) has organised a gala evening to celebrate the best of relationships between the UK and Australia. It is held at Australia House on the Strand, familiar to Harry Potter fans as the film location of Gringotts Bank.

It features fine food and wines, award presentations, entertainment and a strong sense of community. The event raises money for the Foundation, which provides financial help for Australians keen to further their education in the UK. As 23 January 2021 approached, it was clear that the usual gala would not be possible. The ADF, through its production company Talbot Productions, set out to deliver the same fun, engagement and values, but in a virtual event.

They even planned a wine tasting as part of the evening, with a sommelier guiding guests on tasting Yalumba wines, which had been sent to their homes in advance. Comedian Bec Hill was the evening’s host, with entertainment from musical theatre star Daniel Koek. Messages of support came from leading Australians popular in the UK, including Olivia Newton-John, cycling’s Phil Liggett and chef John Torode.

Last November, we at nxtedition had worked with Talbot Productions and systems integrator Broadcast Solutions on an event to mark the opening of the new (but covid-empty) stadium for AFC Wimbledon. This Australia Day event brought the dream team back together.

What we do at nxtedition is a complete production solution for video and audio, with a particular focus on story-telling. The system is entirely based in software running on COTS hardware.

Starting development in 2012, one of the advantages we bring is that we have built our technology on microservices from the ground up.

That means that we can build systems tailored to do precisely what our users want, from our library of functionality which covers every eventuality.

The other big advantage is that a microservices architecture makes the system perfectly suited to remote production. We can freely mix functionality on premises at multiple locations, together with central services in a cloud. That was precisely what was required for this event.

CONTENT DELIVERY

Because of social distancing, it was important that the crew in Australia House was as small as possible. On the other hand, the clear instruction was to deliver very high production values.

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On site we had three cameras, including one on a jib, each with an operator, plus two lighting engineers. Because we needed to be very reactive with the sound, mixing the band and singers, plus accommodating live presentation,

end-to-end latency of just a couple of seconds.

The reaction was delight in delivering the event against all the difficulties covid-19 has imposed.

Everyone involved was highly impressed by the production values we delivered, creating an online event which had the same quality and glamour that the ADF audience were used to when attending the live gala dinner. we had an audio supervisor on location, too, mixing all the local sources.

The 1080p output of the three cameras, plus the mixed audio, were converted to an SRT (secure reliable transport protocol) stream using Dream Chip Barracuda HEVC encoders. The stream went from London to nxtedition’s data centre in Malmö, Sweden, 1000km away, over the public internet. I was responsible for final production control from my home studio in Marieholm, another 30km up the road from Malmö.

I had a virtual production switcher, with the live sources plus pre-recorded elements, including the messages of goodwill from the special guests. I also had an audio mixer, again on the screen of the same standard PC. Because nxtedition is designed to tell stories, the production automation timeline is tied to the script. In this case I did a lot of live direction, but pre-recorded elements simply played when we got to the right point in the script.

The playlist also drove the prompter in Australia House, where there was a hand controller to regulate the flow to the speed of the host. The prompt feed, along with a return video feed of the output, was also sent in an SRT stream from Malmö to London, again over the public internet. Trilogy intercom was sent via VPN to the base station in Malmö, allowing for good communication using its virtual panels.

Finally, of course, we delivered the output live to the CDN which distributed the stream to ticket holders. They enjoyed the event live, with an

We did all this with a very small crew: six operators on site, plus me. It is hard to imagine how you could create a production with fewer.

‘On site we had three cameras, including one on a jib, each with an operator, plus two lighting engineers.

Because we needed to be very reactive with the sound, mixing the band and singers, plus accommodating live presentation, we had an audio supervisor on location, too, mixing all the local sources’

The important point here is not that we are working to get rid of people, but rather we are ensuring that all the people we have are actively and creatively involved in the production – two lighting designer/operators, three camera operators and an audio mixer.

One day soon, I hope, we will get beyond the need to put social distancing and protection above all other considerations. What we learn today, from remote productions like this, will continue to inform the way we cover events in the future. When we can control sophisticated productions remotely, surely it will make sense to do so?

The productivity gains we see here will ensure that more events are covered, and that hybrid solutions and remote connectivity are built intrinsically into event planning, not added as an afterthought. Whether that is for broadcast, for corporate events, for non-profits like Australia Day Foundation, or even for communities, people will create more – and more engaging – content Visit https://nxtedition.com

CONTENT DELIVERY

DENSITRON, THE DEVELOPER of Human Machine Interaction (HMI) and display technology, has announced two new additions to its UReady range of control and monitoring solutions. Both designed for a wide array of broadcast and media applications, the new launches are the UReady 4RU 19” Rack Control and Monitoring Surface and the UReady 2RU Control Surface Powered with the X86 Platform.

The 4RU 19” Rack Control and Monitoring Surface provides a 16.9” high resolution (1920 x 624) display, allowing multiple video picture monitor and audio level displays to be presented side-by-side. Incorporating a high-quality TFT display with capacitive touch allows the solution to be deployed as an interactive signal interface, with USB for touchscreen and Display Port, DVI and VGA for video signals. Developed to suit a myriad of broadcast applications, this major addition to the UReady range can be used for signal and picture monitoring, as a control system with multitouch PCT, or a combination of both.

The 2RU Control Surface powered with X86 includes a display with 1920 x 285 pixels and an optically-bonded capacitive touchscreen. Wide-angle symmetric viewing capability makes the product suitable for numerous applications in broadcast, telecommunications, and other networked control and monitoring environments. Based on the Intel Apollo N4200 Quad Core processor, the embedded X86 architecture and software ecosystem supports rapid and pain-free implementation by customers.

With a GPU based on Intel’s Gen9 architecture supporting DirectX12, the product has Ethernet connectivity and offers full support for Linux and Windows 10 operating systems.

Visit https://www.densitron.com/insight and https://proaudiotv.com.au

Tria Express Duet Production Server from Ross

ROSS VIDEO HAS ANNOUNCED the launch of the new Tria Express Duet production server, a replacement for the current Tria Express product.

Launched in 2016, Tria Express has been a production workhorse that has underpinned many important broadcasts and live events. Over these five years, Ross has systematically gathered customer feedback and input into the next generation solution, and we’re now very pleased to announce Tria Express Duet. Housed in a similar 2RU chassis and built on the same reliable video hardware as its predecessor, Tria Express Duet expands the number of possible video I/O configurations up to fifteen channels, providing even greater flexibility. Two software options are available with the hardware: • the TRIA-XD-2-SW enables two symmetrical record/playout channels.

• the TRIA-XD-4-SW features these same two symmetrical record/ playout channels with two additional playout-only channels.

Tria Express Duet also features a built-in MultiViewer. In addition, a twochannel Tria Express Duet can be upgraded in future to four-channels (two record/playout with two playout only) via a convenient software license.

Michael Kljucaric, Associate Product Manager for Servers at Ross, is very pleased to announce the new solution. “We believe that Tria Express Duet meets the need for a compact video server with between two and four channels. Fifteen preset channel configurations allow Tria Express Duet to be quickly changed from one operational mode to another, and the added MultiViewer (which can be undocked and moved onto an extended desktop computer display) and highly intuitive user interface make it a delight to use.

Combined with powerful standard features such as timecode chase and single-file architecture for fill/key and ISO-2 video content, the Tria Express Duet is the ideal solution for a wide variety of different workflows.”

Visit https://www.rossvideo.com

TAG Video Adds Dolby Atmos

NewTek Enables 12G-SDI Over Ethernet

Rack Controller for LYNX Technik yellobrik Series

OTT BROADCASTERS now have the ability to monitor Dolby Atmos encoded audio with TAG Video Systems. TAGhas announced that its MCM-9000 Monitoring and Multi-viewer platform now supports Dolby Atmos. The enhancement allows broadcasters to verify, validate and ensure error-free video and audio content delivery for MPEG-TS and OTT sources. TAG’s MCM-9000 is now certified

by Dolby to support Dolby Atmos, while also supporting Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus formats.

NEWTEK, the developer of IP-based video technology, and part of the Vizrt Group, has announced the NewTek Spark Plus IO 12G-SDI which encodes and decodes 12G-SDI sources to and from IP-friendly NDI at up to 2160p ultra high-definition for greater resolution, frame rates, and colour fidelity catering to the most demanding of media workflows.

LYNX TECHNIK, the provider of modular signal processing interfaces, has announced a new Rack Controller, designed to ease the process of controlling, configuring, and updating the popular yellobrik line of throw-down bricks.

The added support, certified by Dolby, enables TAG’s MCM-9000 to decode the Dolby Atmos stream for both MPEG-TS and OTT broadcasted content, allowing for full monitoring and audio bars visualization of the audio on all Dolby Surround and Atmos channels.

The MCM-9000 monitors the Dolby Atmos stream in parallel with the video and regular audio allowing the broadcaster to ensure all structural aspects are correct and to detect any abnormalities. All channels can be decoded down to baseband audio with the Atmos information displayed on the Multiviewer.

Visit http://www.tagvs.com and www.magnasys.tv

NewTek Spark Plus IO 12G-SDI offers a quick and easy solution to convert 12G-SDI UHD video into an IP-based media production workflow. It easily connects to 12G-SDI cameras or devices, converts the video signal to NDI and shares it with any compatible system, device, or application anywhere on the network including UHD screens, monitors, projectors, or video walls.

It can also turn any legacy 12G-SDI-enabled output device like a screen or monitor into an NDI signal on the network by using the decode functionality. Setup requires just one Ethernet cable. A web-based interface allows easy configuration and monitoring from a desktop or mobile browser as well as tally support via NDI and the option to mount onto cameras.

Visit https://www.newtek.com

The RCT 1012 is a first of its kind module allowing a facility to combine the control tasks for up to 12 yellobriks housed in a yellobrik rack. Using just a single slot as part of a yellobrik rack system, the RCT 1012 removes the time-consuming job of updating, configuring, and setting parameters of individual yellobrik modules one at a time, offering a bulk update method instead.

Once the yellobrik rack controller is installed in a yellobrik rack, it automatically detects the USB-connected yellobrik modules, and displays them in the APPolo software. Via the rack controller’s ethernet port connection, a user can quickly and easily visualize, control and configure all the yellobriks connected to an IP network.

While installed in a yellobrik rack frame (model: RFR 1000-1), the RCT 1012 also detects status information on primary and redundant power supplies.

Visit https://www.lynx-technik.com and www.techtel.com.au

CONTENT DELIVERY

Densitron Expands Control Surface Range

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CONTENT DELIVERY

Encoding Com Brings “Chunk” Change to Cloud Media Processing

LAUNCHED BY GREGGORY HEIL IN 2007, Encoding.com was established with the aim of providing API-based video transcoding. Today, the company offers a suite of Cloud Media services, including high-volume transcoding, digital rights management (DRM), playout graphics and editing, adaptive bitrate packaging and video hosting.

According to CEO Jeff Malkin, the company’s video workflow as a service model allows “… most of the companies on the planet that don’t have 200 video engineers on staff, like Netflix, to have access to a cutting edge, very mature, pretty powerful video and coding platform.

CONTENT DELIVERY

“We also maintain a team of experts who are not only experts in compression, but also workflows and opensource tools as well.”

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our platform running in the cloud,” says Jeff Malkin. “There are great efficiencies, both from a latency time perspective, as well as a cost perspective. The way it works is that customers integrate our API into their existing media asset management platform or CMS platform. You will send us a set of instructions via an API call in either JSON or XML and these instructions will ‘Encoding.com tell us where the source processed over a video is located. It can billion videos to in be located in the cloud in or Azure, or wherever 2019, says Malkin, S3, you’re storing. It can be ingesting around located on premise. In that API call, you’ll tell us 20 petabytes of all the ways you want us video content, to process your content, all the output, formats, and answering all the output packages about a trillion and all of the other bells API requests. and whistles. Then you Those metrics are tell us where you want us to deliver the output. It’s expected to be pretty simple. Then our dwarfed by 2020’s platform will be talking to your platform throughout stats given the the entire processing boom in demand workflow so that your system knows exactly the for streaming status of every job from services during ingest all the way through delivery.

COVID-19

Encoding.com processed over a billion videos to in 2019, says Malkin, ingesting around 20 petabytes of video content, and answering about a “I should tell you that lockdowns’ trillion API requests. we only focus on VOD Those metrics are workflows. We find that expected to be dwarfed by 2020’s that’s challenging enough. So, stats given the boom in demand we don’t focus on live linear and for streaming services during we don’t focus on players or CMS COVID-19 lockdowns. platforms. We focus a hundred “As, as you would expect VOD has percent on VOD in encoding exploded this year,” he says. “but workflows. it’s not just for our premium media “Encoding.com is now running and entertainment companies, over 45 different pro-media we’ve seen tremendous growth processing engines underneath within customers who focus on churches and religion, or our API, some of them are open enterprise, lots of different source, some are commercial and verticals.” some are proprietary that we have built. These engines drive The company’s services are a growing suite of microservices located in most AWS data centers globally - including Singapore, like transcoding, supporting every Sydney, Tokyo, Seoul and Mumbai format coming into our platform, allowing the ingest and processing and producing any format that of content “locally”. you need for delivery to all these different devices, packaging for “You don’t have to send your content very far in order to reach adaptive bit-rate HLS and DASH,

and smooth streaming, or DRM encryption or quality control or subtitle conversions, etc.

“This approach for having all these different engines allows us to very quickly add new features and capabilities as your requirements continue to change. And for you to take advantage of the new features is quite easy because you’ve integrated our API into your platform at that point.”

THE FILES ARE GETTING BIGGER For those in the content production and delivery chain, one requirement that continues to change is the ability to process ever increasing media file sizes.

“When you’re preparing content for direct-to-consumer distribution, you’re working with large files and the files are getting larger,” says Jeff Malkin. “We’re talking about high bitrate, mezzanine files, 4K, HDR, etc., and working with the files of that size can be very challenging. You’re trying to maximize your viewers, meaning support the greatest number of devices, greatest number of languages using subtitles and whatnot, to maximise your revenue.”

Malkin points to the rise of Dolby Vision as an example of this everchanging landscape. The Dolby Laboratories HDR format is set for a long lifespan as it accommodates 8K resolution, as well as colour space and brightness specs in excess of most current display technology. Apple’s iPhone 12 is a recent exception as it features native Dolby Vision compatibility.

Dolby Vision can encode mastering display colourimetry information using static metadata (SMPTE ST 2086), as well as provide dynamic metadata (SMPTE ST 2094-10, Dolby format) for each scene.

“We do work very closely with Dolby,” says the Encoding.com CEO. “It’s just gorgeous video. Now, the iPhone 12 that just came out has Dolby vision now, so we’re starting to see more of our customers starting to transcode and process using Dolby vision.

Encoding.com CEO Jeff Malkin.

“The source format that you would send to us needs to be a ProRes. mov file, or an MXF J2K, along with the Dolby vision metadata, and within Encoding.com, you can generate Dolby Vision version 5 or 8.1.

“What’s great about 8.1 is that it also has the fallback version. So, if you create 8.1 and the end user, the consumer, has a device, a TV or whatnot, that doesn’t support the latest Dolby Vision, but does support HDR 10, it’ll automatically roll back and you’ll have that and it’ll be supported in HDR 10. As you would imagine, these are very heavy, very fat files, very computing intensive to process.”

To meet the demand for processing of such large files, the company recently launched its “Ludicrous mode”, an ultra-fast parallel processing feature set.

“Basically, it’s ideal for very large files – HD, UHD, 4K, HDR files and you can output to HLS DASH and MP4.

“We ‘chunk’ the files into 10-minute segments. We process those chunks in parallel, and then we stitch it all back together at the end. So, we’re parallelising all those different chunks, which will significantly accelerate the overall processing time.

“Let’s say you take a 90-minute movie that’s HD. If you’re processing that, typically you might see a one-to-one relation.

It’ll take a little faster than 90 minutes to process that file. Using Ludicrous, we’ll process that in about 20 minutes, so you’re getting significantly accelerated processing times because we’re using so many instances in parallel.

“And you don’t have to make any changes on your end when using the API. It’s just an API flag.”

Visit www.encoding.com

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