Content+Technology ANZ June 2021

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Ticker Ups the Ante in Australia and Asia... page 22.

REGULARS 02 EDITOR’S WELCOME 03 NEWS+PEOPLE Seven’s Olympic Strategy;

Sony in Nine’s Studio Build; TVNZ Rebuilds Newsroom with DiNA; Telstra Buys MediaCloud; EVS Powers Gravity Video Ref; Govt Green Paper.

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31 INDUSTRY FOCUS

FEATURES 12 ACQUISITION ARRI Launches Global Solutions

Group; Wooden Camera Kits Out Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera; ALEXA Mini LF Update; MRMC Bolt Mini Model Mover; ZEISS Adds to Supreme Prime Radiance Family; Mo-Sys VP Pro with Sony Venice Integration.

18 SPORTSCASTING NRL Takes on Live Editing

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with BlackBird; NBC and OBS Ready for Tokyo Games.

22 NEWS OPERATIONS Ticker Ticks the Boxes

for a 21st Century News Channel; Inception V15 from Ross; Shutterstock Launches ‘The Newsroom’.

26 POST-PRODUCTION AWS’ Kyle Roche Talks

Nimble – a New Era in Pipelines; Mistika Boutique Introduces Dolby Vision 4.0; Boris FX Releases Sapphire 2021.5, Silhouette 2021; Adobe Creative Cloud Updates; Frame. io Unveils Version 3.7.1.

34 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

ADVERTISING MANAGER: Adam Buick Mob +61 (0)413 007 144 adam@broadcastpapers.com PRODUCTION MANAGER: Lucy Salmon Mob +61(0)412 479 662 production@broadcastpapers.com DESIGN & LAYOUT Wide Open Media Mob +61 (0)419 225 348 www.wideopenmedia.com.au PRINTING: SOS Printing, Sydney

30 MEDIA IN THE CLOUD Silver Trak Digital

Launches Media Room 3.0; Imagine Communications Unveils Versio IOX Express NAS; Cantemo Portal 5.0.

34 AUDIO Govt Green Paper Creates

Uncertainty for Wireless Audio; DPA Headset Microphones; Dante-Enabled Leader Clocks; Clear-Com Updates HelixNet Partyline, LQ IP Interfaces; Sennheiser’s Wireless Digital Evolution; Lawo mc²36 in 48-Fader Layout.

40 RADIO Canberra’s 2XX FM Picks AEQ

Digital Mixers; Community Radio Funding Maintained; Oz Radio Ad Revenue Rebounds; Lawo Upgrades Software for Radio; Digigram Delivers FM MPX Composite Signals from Studio to Transmitter.

42 CONTENT DELIVERY Switch Media Powers

OTT in the Solomons; AMC Supponor Targets Ads with VideoFlow and Magna; NDI Version 5 Unveiled; HbbTV Updates Test Suite; ATEME Microservices Maximise MediaHub Efficiency; BirdDog Embraces NDI 5; TAG Enhances OTT.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All material in Broadcastpapers’ Content+Technology Magazine is protected under Australian Commonwealth Copyright Laws. No material may be reproduced in part or whole in any manner without prior consent of the Publisher and/or copyright holder.

DISCLAIMER: Broadcastpapers Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for omissions or mistakes made within, claims made or information provided by advertisers.

EDITOR’S WELCOME

For the latest news visit www.content-technology.com

Haste Makes Waste?

By Phil Sandberg

IT WAS AT LEAST ten years ago that a whitepaper appeared from the bowels of UK regulator Ofcom outlining a future roadmap for terrestrial broadcasting in which there was none. That is to say, the future of terrestrial broadcasting was seen as one where traditional operators would migrate to online platforms leaving the Government of the day to auction their spectrum to telco providers for the purpose of broadband services.

The period since then has confirmed that a) most Governments borrow their ideas from somewhere else and, b) the

Internet as a solution for digitising and delivering everything in an economy still has a way to go.

Indeed, it may be a bit premature to think that all media can be magically migrated to a single platform, i.e., online. Also, given we are still trying to emerge from a pandemic and its associated downturn, auctioning off broadcast spectrum for services such as 5G might also be a tad premature, especially if you’re a Government that thinks such a process is going to net you “rivers of gold” (to borrow a phrase).

The timeline set out in the Federal

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An exceptional career opportunity awaits to join the Amber Team that proudly consists of industry experts with outstanding experience.

In your new role as National Account Manager, you will report directly to the National Sales Manager and, in conjunction with your strong Technical Support Team, will focus on your trusted major clients located across Australia with a good number of these in Sydney. You will manage these accounts and promote new business, as well as develop new accounts for the media systems products. You will prepare quotes and tender responses and manage these through to acceptance, then assist in the project delivery. Ideally, this role will be located in Sydney with expected interstate travel. Melbourne location will also be considered.

EDITOR’S WELCOME

You will have an in-depth working knowledge of the Broadcast Industry in Australia as a user, distributor or integrator and have built solid relationships with the broadcasters. You will have proven account management and sales experience and excellent negotiating skills and commercial acumen.

2

Contact Phil Holey on (02) 9904 4414 and 0412 311 107 and email your CV in MICROSOFT WORD. Please also forward a covering letter indicating your matching skills with the requirements for the role.

Email both as Word docs to jobs@interlogic.com.au and Quote 9266A.

Government’s Media Reform Green Paper involves broadcasters electing to release broadcast spectrum in 2022 with an auction of that spectrum to take place in 2025 and reassignment of the spectrum to occur in 2026 and beyond.

In a report undertaken for Free TV Australia entitled “Value of the 600 MHz spectrum band”, the Competition Economists Group (CEG), stated, “If the proposed timeline in the Green Paper is adopted, this will likely yield a relatively low willingness to pay for the 600 MHz spectrum band. The price the Government is likely to realise will be in the range of $0.28 – $0.55 / MHz / Pop. This represents a discount of between 52% - 74% to the median price realised for low frequency (sub-1 GHz) spectrum bands in comparable jurisdictions.

implies likely revenues between $0.6 billion and $1.2 billion.

The primary reason for this discount will be an oversupply of low frequency spectrum for 5G services in Australia should the 600 MHz allocation follow of the 850/900 MHz spectrum reallocation. The timing proposed in the Green Paper will likely lessen competition for the spectrum due to at least one of the three mobile network operators (MNOs) having an excess of low frequency spectrum.

“The timing of the reallocation is key to unlocking the greatest value from the spectrum band.”

“We estimate that the potential revenue from reallocating 84MHz of 600MHz band is $2.42 billion based on prices paid for low frequency spectrum in comparable auctions in other jurisdictions.

However, a discount of 52% - 74%

All broadcast stakeholders have acknowledged reform is needed and that they are prepared to enter into further discussion as to how and when this can be achieved.

The question for the Federal Government is, “What’s the hurry?”

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

2021 C+T DEADLINES AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND EDITION JULY/AUGUST 2021 Editorial Submissions: Ad Bookings: Ad Artwork:

21-07 -21 26-07-21 29-07-21

ASIA EDITION

JULY 2021 Editorial Submissions: Ad Bookings: Ad Artwork: For more information www.content-technology.com +61-(0)414 671 811 Email: papers@broadcastpapers.com

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NEWS + PEOPLE For the latest news visit www.content-technology.com

Seven to Broadcast Tokyo Games Across 45 Channels SEVEN WEST MEDIA has revealed what it says is the most advanced digital product in Australian viewing history to deliver the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 to all screens live and free from 23 July.

Seven says it will deliver its Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 experience across 43 channels and two simulcasts, including 36 channels curated by Seven, six pre-created channels direct from Tokyo and one existing Olympic channel.

Extending across Seven’s entire digital ecosystem including 7plus, 7NEWS. com.au and The West Australian, over one billion minutes will be streamed across the 17-day period, with four modes of viewing: live, full replay, Olympic minis (compressed replays) and short form highlights.

The broadcast will feature a consistent experience across 20 different platforms allowing Australians to stream across any device of their choosing, and live EPG integration to ensure they never miss a moment.

According to Seven’s Chief Digital Officer, Gereurd Roberts, “With Seven having the exclusive rights to Tokyo 2020, we’ve been able to deliver not only the world’s biggest sporting event, but the biggest digital event in Australian history. We are predicting more than eight million registered users will flood the platform, delivering an incredible wealth of data across name, age, gender, postcode and more to offer our advertising partners.

“It’s not just the scale of our digital offering that’s made Tokyo 2020 so exciting. We’ve entirely evolved the 7plus platform, in a program we call Experience Evolution, using the Games as a springboard to deliver a market-leading digital experience for the rest of our programming across the year and beyond. All the features built for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will also be used in business-as-usual VOD and Live experiences, setting the bar for BVOD streaming in Australia.”

• Autoplay: The autoplay functionality provides viewers with a simple way to binge multiple event replays, highlights and sports minis without needing to lift a finger. It simply plays the next relevant piece of content.

Experience Evolution introduces new features to 7plus, including: • Watchlist: Provides users with the ability to add their favourite sport to an easily discoverable watchlist, allowing them to watch the event at their own convenience.

• Chromecast and Airplay: As most people own multiple devices, including smart TVs and mobile phones, it’s becoming ever more important to provide a streaming service that supports this behaviour. The 7plus app will allow users to either Chromecast or Airplay content to their Chromecast or Airplay compatible device. This allows users to stream Tokyo 2020 on 7plus no matter the age of their television device.

• Continue Watching: This gives signed-in users the ability to watch a sport full replay and pick up where they left off via the continue watching carousel located on their home screen.

• HD/SD selector: The 7plus player provides users with the ability to toggle between HD/ SD to allow for the best and most data efficient streaming.

Experience Evolution uses a data-driven approach, including the use of proprietary 7REDiQ, to deliver a personalised experience to users, while driving product affinity and monetisation.

• Captions: Live and VOD (including multilingual): To provide the ultimate accessible viewing experience for all of our users, it’s important to provide captioning to ensure as many users as possible can watch their favourite sports, events and highlights.

• Freeze Frame: A select, scaled range of devices have been enabled with Freeze Frame ads that appear as an overlay whenever a user pauses the content.

Visit www.sevenwestmedia.com.au

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Sony in Nine Network’s State-of-the-Art Studio Build WITH CRITERIA INCLUDING SMPTE 2110 compatibility, networked camera control, and a path to 4K, the Australia’s Nine Network’s enlisted a wide variety of Sony equipment for one of its most ambitious broadcast engineering projects to date - the state-of-the-art studio and headquarters at its new home in North Sydney.

As Nine Network Studio/Live Technology and Automation Specialist, Stephen Willmott explains, “We required a mixture of fibre-attached system cameras setup as a mix of robotic pedestals, traditional pedestals, jib and handhelds. We also required high quality all in one pan/tilt/zoomcapable cameras for smaller studios. Overall, we required SMPTE 2110 compatibility where possible, ease of use, a networked camera control system to enable multiple control rooms access and control of cameras, a potential path to 4K and excellent quality pictures. The cameras would also be used across five floors of a high-rise office block. When we considered our options, it was clear Sony cameras were the best way forward for us.”

It was the Sony cameras’ quality, functionality and reliability that most impressed Willmott and the Nine engineering team as he added, “The Sony cameras fulfilled our requirements as they have native 2110 available when using the system cameras and the HDCU3100 CCU. The Sony multicamera system (MCS) allowed for a variety of control options including traditional MCU and RCPs as well as a software MCU. Then the BRCX1000 and BRCX400 cameras also integrated seamlessly into our Vinten robotics control servers.”

Being able to use all Sony cameras has allowed Nine’s operators to easily control any camera in the facility and match them quickly.

Willmott continued, “The familiarity with the systems has enabled our team to hit the ground running. The ability to remotely manage the HDCU base stations through a web interface has also allowed our team to quickly and easily make configuration changes. Picture-wise the images

coming out of the range of Sony cameras has been consistent and high quality.”

Nine is using Sony equipment across all of its studio programs, from six hours of live morning television to sports hosting and panel shows and nightly news programmes.

Typically, Nine’s new flagship studio employs a mix of predominately Sony HDCU3100 or HDCU3500 cameras with a number of BRC cameras for additional angles. Smaller studios use BRC cameras exclusively and there are a few ‘stand-up’ style positions where on-air talent can just walk up to a camera, put on a mic and start broadcasting which also use BRCX1000 cameras.

Willmott said, “These studios can be used in any of our control rooms. When in a manual production the cameras are controlled from a central technical position in our operations centre. When in an automated production, control of these cameras is passed to the co-pilot automation operator in that control room and they can also be assisted by a TD if required. Before each production we can assign cameras to different control rooms to ensure correct tally and returns using Sony’s integration with Lawo VSM. “The cameras’ ease of use and great picture quality are standouts for us. The consistency of the picture across the range of products make for flexible and efficient production. The Sony equipment also stands out because for us it is a complete range from fibre studio camera systems in multiple flavours, to box cameras, to PTZ style all in one – and all of these exist in a coherent

control ecosystem.

“The Sony equipment has allowed us to be flexible in moving cameras around the facility as required show to show, seamlessly expanding our camera inventory all while maintaining familiar functionality and a high picture quality. Since launching the facility, we have commissioned another studio with five additional cameras to service our expanding sports commitments, a commentary booth with a BRCX1000 and a temporary guest Covid isolation studio. The Sony cameras are central and critical to all of this and give us the ability to create and broadcast any production quickly and efficiently.”

In addition to the cameras, Nine has also deployed over 90 Sony professional LMD series monitors throughout the facility. These are used for reference, editing and general review applications.

The professional monitors were combined with numerous large display panels used for multi-view applications.

Visit www.sony.com.au or www.sony.co.nz

TVNZ to Rebuild Newsroom with DiNA 7MOUNTAINS, has signed what it describes as a milestone deal to deliver cloud newsroom solution DiNA to Television New Zealand. TVNZ has chosen DiNA as its core journalist tool, in order to transition to a modern, cloud-based newsroom. DiNA will sit at the heart of the newsroom for creating, planning and publishing news to all of TVNZs linear and digital platforms.

The project will be delivered in conjunction with 7Mountains technology partner Stem Media, with the development, installation and implementation of DiNA done remotely from Bergen, Norway.

NEWS + PEOPLE

Andrew Fernie, General Manager of Operations, News and Current Affairs at TVNZ, has been spearheading the project.

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“We want to allow our journalists to plan, investigate, collaborate and tell stories that matter and then deliver to all platforms with ease,” he said. “By choosing DiNA, we knew

that we’d end up with one tool that encompasses the planning, creation, and publishing of stories to linear TV, our digital platforms and to social media.”

With DiNA, TVNZ journalists will be able to work in an easy-to-use browser-based tool for all their news planning, story creation, collaboration, and to publish to all platforms, both linear and digital. DiNA integrates with ScheduAll for resource booking and resource management in the TVNZ newsroom. All planning and publishing to linear TV will be done in DiNA’s built-in rundown module, integrated with studio automation system Viz Mosart from Vizrt. This gives TVNZ a complete newsroom workflow for planning, creating and publishing news to rundowns, as well as to all of TVNZs digital platforms.

Fernie adds: “Having one unified user interface means that there’s no need to jump around multiple tools to create and publish content which allows our journalists to work more efficiently. Journalists working in DiNA can plan, prepare and create content for all programmes and platforms and publish to linear TV as well to our digital platforms through our CMS, and to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.”

Visit https://7mountains.com and http://www.stemmedia.com.au

ATEM Mini Pro ISO model shown.

Introducing ATEM Mini

The miniaturized television studio for creating presentation videos and live streams!

ATEM Mini is a whole television studio, miniaturized down into an easy to use solution for creating live multi camera television shows. Simply connect up to 4 HDMI cameras, computers and even microphones. Then push the buttons on the panel to switch video sources just like a professional broadcaster! You can even add titles, picture in picture overlays and mix audio! Then live stream to Zoom, Skype or YouTube!

Live Stream Training and Conferences

Create Training and Educational Videos

Edit and Fix Live Streams

ATEM Mini includes everything you need. All the buttons are positioned on the front panel so it’s very easy to learn. ATEM Software Control is also included for accessing more advanced features! The 4 HDMI inputs allow connecting cameras and computers, plus the USB output works like a webcam for Zoom or Skype.

The multiview even allows all cameras to be viewed on a single monitor!

With the new ATEM Mini Pro ISO model, you can now edit your live show to fix any mistakes or make improvements. You get all video inputs and program recorded as 5 separate video files! Plus a DaVinci Resolve edit timeline is saved, so you can open the live show and make changes with a single click! It only takes a few minutes to edit and upload a perfect version of your show!

The ATEM Mini Pro model has a built in hardware streaming engine for live streaming via its ethernet connection. This means you can live stream to YouTube, Facebook and Twitch in much better quality and with perfectly smooth motion.

You can even connect a hard disk or flash storage to the USB connection and record your stream for upload later!

Use Professional Video Effects

ATEM Mini..........$469 ATEM Mini Pro..........$945 ATEM Mini Pro ISO..........$1,425

Learn more at www.blackmagicdesign.com/au

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ATEM Mini is really a professional broadcast switcher used by television stations. This means it has professional effects such as a DVE for picture in picture effects, commonly used for commentating over a computer slide show.

There are titles for presenter names, wipe effects for transitioning between sources and a green screen keyer for replacing backgrounds with graphics!

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NEWS + PEOPLE

Telstra Buys MediaCloud

TELSTRA BROADCAST SERVICES PTY LIMITED (TBS) has positioned itself to broadcast some of the world’s biggest events to more parts of the globe and play a key role in delivering 24/7 programming to millions of people with the acquisition of the business and assets of MediaCloud Pty Ltd (MediaCloud).

Formerly part of Deluxe, MediaCloud was placed into administration in November 2020.

The acquisition will provide TBS with a suite of software-defined and cloud-based capabilities, media cloud delivery experts, and a London Master Control Room equipped with the capability to support major global companies and events.

As part of the acquisition, Australian free-to-air TV channel SBS has renewed its playout contract for MediaCloud services for seven years.

Darren Farnham, SBS Chief Technology Officer said, “We’re pleased to have extended our agreement for MediaCloud services with the backing of Telstra, and to continue delivering SBS’ unique content to audiences on their device of choice.”

Head of Telstra Broadcast Services, Andreas Eriksson, said that the addition of the MediaCloud platform will provide broadcasters with incredible flexibility to manage their content offerings through virtual environments.

“The global media industry is expanding to cloud-enabled and software-defined capabilities.

Adding these leading new capabilities alongside TBS’s existing global fibre and satellite networks sets us up to meet the evolving needs of the broadcast market as well as expand our value proposition to our global client base by providing world-class broadcast operations in London. The new capabilities will help broadcasters deploy new services and channels to respond to special events, programming opportunities and new markets in these changing times,” Mr Eriksson said.

The addition of MediaCloud capabilities to TBS’s Professional Media portfolio will enable it to offer: • Managed Streaming – an as-a-service offering enabling broadcasters to specify, launch and monitor OTT services with minimal resources while maintaining broadcast-grade SLAs. • Internet Delivery – the ability to deliver video content and live broadcast streams including HD, SD and Ultra HD (4K) to any registered destination point, across the public internet. It is expected that this internet delivery capability will form a new entry-level tier of services, the

Telstra Internet Delivery Network, available to broadcasters and media companies not requiring premium service level agreements offered by TBS’ current solutions.

• Media Management and Content Orchestration – a platform-as-a-service offering providing media asset management, content orchestration of media workflows and localisation, including importing, managing and previewing video, audio and subtitle assets, along with various transmission schedules.

• Playout – a fully managed, 24/7 service for the creation of broadcast-grade linear and complex television channels.

Visit www.telstra.com/broadcastservices

EVS Powers Video Ref for Gravity Media

EVS, THE PROVIDER of live video technology, has announced that Gravity Media has adopted its Xeebra multi-camera review system as the core technology for the company’s new integrated video adjudication and communications solution. The Gravity Review System (GRS) harnesses Xeebra to provide clients with precision live video judicial replay and integrated communications as a full-service OB package. The Australian market will be the first region to benefit from this new service.

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Xeebra is easily integrated into any live production environment, making it suitable for a broad range of sports and events. Fully networked and scalable, it can be deployed on-board an OB unit or set-up on-site with fibre connection in a flight-case configuration. It also supports full HD 1080p and super slow-motion.

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s a les .a us @ d 2n.com.au 02 9837 674 8

n_quarterAd_radio_intercom.indd 1

Xeebra provides a simple interface with “pinch and zoom” capabilities that enable users to review and share multiple synchronised camera feeds with each other.

They can easily zoom in from many camera angles and dynamically search for incidents or rule

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infringements. The Xeebra system records the action continuously so nothing is missed. This means that even if multiple incidents occur simultaneously, they are recorded and cued, ready for review and speedy penalty decisions.

“The job of referees and sports officials is a difficult one and their performance is often under as much scrutiny as the players on the field,” said Ben Madgwick – Director Media Services & Facilites, Gravity Media. “Using our GRS, there’s less scope for error and debate over crucial decisions which has a huge impact on the flow of a game and the quality of the production.”

The Xeebra-based GRS made its debut earlier this year at a major motor racing fixture in New South Wales, giving officials real-time coverage of the race from all angles to resolve controversial incidents and ensure drivers adhered to strict driving behaviour. The platform has continued to successfully earn its stripes in other fields of play, providing efficient TMO and Head Injury Assessment (HIA) for Australian Rugby Union’s Super Rugby, Trans Tasman, and international fixtures.

Visit www.evs.com

Gameday Hire Zooms in on Live Broadcasts for Oscars & Delta

SYDNEY BROADCAST RENTAL COMPANY, Gameday Hire, recently provided Zoom integration, LiveU transmission services and Engineering support for the global broadcast for the 2021 Academy Awards, and another livestream for Apple Music, featuring popular Australian artist Delta Goodrem.

Netherlands-based Technical Producer Bolke Burnaby Lautier was responsible for pulling together the technical teams across the globe to produce the eight live crosses.

Having worked previously with Sydney DOP Kleber Estorillio, Gameday Hire’s Andy Liell, and Line Producer Tori Smith, Bolke knew the Sydney end was in good hands.

Bolke said: “There were actually two different setups required at each location.

The main camera covered the nominees and was sent out via satellite as the main and LiveU bonded cellular as a backup path. Nominees watched the return program feed via Zoom and return IFB for the talent was also sent via the Zoom call. This kept satellite costs to a minimum not needing a redundant or return path. The second setup was a Zoom call for press interviews should a nominee win their award. The press

setup utilised a DSLR camera, external microphones and IFB to ensure high quality pictures and audio for the pool feed.

Comms was handled globally

by Unity Intercom with around 90 users allocated for all the remote sites. So, the whole setup was heavily dependent on solid network connectivity, and I knew Andy at Gameday hire could deliver the integration and reliability we needed.”

Gameday Hire was called upon to supply and integrate a LiveU LU800 Transmitter, Zoom computers, IFB and additional audio infrastructure, and Unity intercom clients. Gameday also provided a tech manager for the event to oversee all the technical services on site.

“Due to the global time differences, Sydney was one of the only locations to shoot during the day, backdrop was the Sydney Harbour Bridge, however backlit from the eastern side. Kleber our DOP did an amazing job with our Gaffer Scott Leeson to light up our talent while preserving the postcard background, and still allowing our talent to see the return program monitor,” said Andy Liell from Gameday Hire.

Following this successful event, Bolke was approached by global production company Done and Dusted to coordinate similar services for the Apple Music Livestream entitled ‘Apple First Listen’. ‘First Listen’ is a live 30-minute webstream to an Apple Music micro site, showcasing different artists new albums in conjunction

with the album launch. In this case the artist was singer/ songwriter and star of The Voice Australia, Delta Goodrem.

Bolke immediately reached out to the same team to provide production, equipment and services.

“For Apple First Listen, we required both a main and redundant LiveU TX path back to LA. I know there is only one place to go for managed LiveU solutions in Australia: Gameday Hire. Andy and his team provided 2 x LU200 transmitters, plus coordinated on site data connectivity, audio, Unity comms and the return Zoom integration. As usual everything was rock solid,” said Bolke.

“The Apple First Listen job required two setups for the host and Delta, which were once again expertly lit and shot by Kelber Estorillio. Once again there was a fair bit of integration with Zoom on this job: It’s becoming increasingly popular as a cost-effective tool for return video and comms. For this job we even ran Autocue for the host over another Zoom call, fed and controlled from the gallery in LA!” said Andy Liell. “Steve Foy from Alien Audio expertly looked after all our sound requirements. Tori Smith our line producer deserves special mention for her expert management of the client, production company, technical and talent stakeholders, while satisfying Covid requirements for a global production.”

Visit www.gamedayhire.tv

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.

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The 93rd Academy Awards telecast broadcasts to over 76 countries, and this year was broadcast in Australia on Channel 7, and simultaneously streamed on 7Plus. Due to the Covid situation globally, many nominees and winners joined the broadcast remotely from all over the world including Paris, Prague, Berlin, London, Rome and Sydney, Australia.

Sydney hosted Aussie Best VFX nominees Genevieve Comilleri, Matt and Cathy Everitt, and Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay nominee Sacha Baron Cohen, who was joined by his wife Isla Fischer. The live link was hosted from the Sydney Theatre Company deck at Walsh Bay.

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Australia | Hong Kong | Indonesia | New Zealand | Singapore7

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NEWS + PEOPLE PEOPLE ON THE MOVE JULIE FLYNN has taken on the position of interim CEO at the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA). She was previously CEO of Free TV Australia and of Freeview Australia.

---------------------------------------------------------------TREVOR MIFSUD has been appointed as Head of Technical Delivery at KOJO. He was formerly with Ross Video in the position of Solutions Architect. Prior to that, he served as Graphics & Automation Technology Manager with Nine Entertainment.

MURRAY ALLAN has been appointed Project Manager (Product & Content) at Streamotion. His appointment follows roles as Project Manager with BritBox, Product Project Manager with Gracenote, and Product Manager with Foxtel.

---------------------------------------------------------------RYAN DARNLEY has been named Broadcast Technical Support Officer with the Australian Federal Government’s Department of Parliamentary Services. He previously held the roles of Broadcast Technologist with Prime Media Group, and Broadcast Systems (Project) Engineer with Foxtel..

---------------------------------------------------------------GIANNI RIGGI has taken on the role of Sales Consultant at Videocraft Australia in the company’s Sydney office. He previously served as Channel Sales & Software Specialist with Adimex.

---------------------------------------------------------------JON SOBELS-CRAVEN has taken on the role of Technology Manager at TBS MediaCloud. He was previously Broadcast Technology Manager with Deluxe MediaCloud.

---------------------------------------------------------------JASON BOCK has been appointed Producer – Digital Experience with Binyan Studios. He was previously with Cutting Edge in the roles of Group Operations Manager and Technical Operations Manager.

---------------------------------------------------------------EAMON GANNON has been named Partner Tech Ops, SVOD Streaming, at ViacomCBS Networks International. His previous roles included Operations Manager PCS and Facilities Manager with Gravity Media, and Broadcast Services Manager with Chief Entertainment.

SBS AUSTRALIA has announced the appointment of Natalie Edgar as Channel Manager, SBS and SBS VICELAND. She joins SBS from the ABC where she has been Channel Manager for ABC TV since 2016, overseeing programming across a portfolio of channels including ABC TV, ABC News, ABC Australia, and the recently rebranded ABC TV Plus.

---------------------------------------------------------------NEW ZEALAND’S MEDIAWORKS has announced it has appointed Jeff McDowall as Chief Operating Officer.

McDowall joins MediaWorks after a significant career at Air New Zealand spanning more than two decades, most recently as Chief Financial Officer.

---------------------------------------------------------------THE SEVEN NETWORK has appointed Dean La Rosa as Head of Commercial Data. He will be responsible for identifying and delivering commercial data solutions for customers and partners. His resume includes commercial data roles at Nine Network and, before that, two years at Acxiom.

---------------------------------------------------------------AUSTRALIA-BASED Screen Diversity Inclusion Network has appointed Kelrick Martin and Michelle Cheng as new co-chairs for 2021-22.

KELRICK IS A NGARLUMA MAN from Broome WA, and in 1998 was the inaugural presenter of ABC TV’s Message Stick. In 2002 he completed his Masters in Documentary Writing and Directing at AFTRS, and in 2007 returned to WA to become NITV’s Commissioning Editor. He formed Spear Point Productions in 2010 whose credits include the multiple 2015 AACTA Award nominee Prison Songs. Kelrick was also the Indigenous Manager for Screenwest before joining the ABC as Head of Indigenous in 2016.

---------------------------------------------------------------MICHELLE CHENG is the SBS Content Industry Diversity Manager for TV and Online content. Michelle has a background in TV presenting/ writing, journalism and law (as an Australian solicitor). From 2016 to 2020 she worked with ITV Studios and Channel 7 as a television writer on the quiz show The Chase Australia and in 2018 she was an ABC TV panellist on more than 75 episodes of the quiz show Think Tank.

The Bluetooth Audio Gadget Now in over 100 On Air Studios in Australia

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codec algorithms, the Bluetooth Gadget always chooses the best possible codec for the connected device.

AU www.proaudiotv.com.au

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Aussie YouTuber ‘Jazza’ Streams with Blackmagic

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One of the first new channels is the tabletop gaming-focused YouTube channel “Tabletop Time,” which features miniature creation and live gaming between Jazza, his brother Shad Brooks and a number of other well-known gamers. Started several years ago, the channel was born again in early 2021 and has grown rapidly, moving past the 100K subscribers in less than a month.

To live stream, Jazza uses a mix of eight cameras, including a mix of Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6Ks and Pocket Cinema Camera 4Ks. An ATEM Mini Extreme ISO switcher is being used for multi camera switching and graphics insertions, as well as recording. He is also using Blackmagic Design Video Assists for monitoring and a number of Blackmagic Design Mini Converter models. The Blackmagic Design workflow was first used on “Tabletop Time” to shoot an eight-camera epic role-playing battle to celebrate the new channel hitting 100K subscribers.

“The ATEM Mini Extreme and some of the cameras arrived the day before we were going to start shooting. There is no way we could have done what we did without them. Without the Blackmagic gear, setting up, providing cards, syncing and managing all that footage would have been a nightmare or we would have had to be less creative,” Jazza said.

“The 100K battle itself was a huge amount of fun, but also a lot of thought was put into how to bring the energy of the game to our viewers. We had angel and demon models, and

floating heavenly buildings on one side and a volcano on the other. Sadly, I lost the game dramatically, and everyone got to see it all unfold with our eight Blackmagic cameras,” he continued.

For the 100k subscriber stream, Jazza created and played a Heaven vs Hell themed game based on the requests of the stream’s patrons.

The stream included a camera directly in front of the gaming table, a top-down camera rigged to the ceiling, two side cameras for tight shots of the players, two on the side of the gaming table and a wide shot camera on a slider. The eighth camera showed the technical director controlling the ATEM Mini Extreme to give viewers a chance to see how the stream was being created.

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“I’m blown away with the ATEM Mini Extreme ISO, even having just scratched the surface using it only a few times. It has completely blown me away, and the extra cameras and monitors enabled me to really make full use of everything that was happening in the game,” he continued.

“In the past if we wanted to film with eight cameras, not only would we have to record on eight separate cards, we’d have to sort through the footage, convert to MP3 and sync manually, and then we’d have to do all that editing! We’d be capable of it, but it’d take days just to achieve what got done for us with the ATEM Mini Extreme ISO automatically within the time we actually filmed! I think it’s safe to say the ATEM Mini devices have revolutionised what we can accomplish in our studio,” Jazza concluded.

Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com and https://bit.ly/3j7WwLU

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JOSIAH ‘JAZZA’ BROOKS is an Australian artist, animator and content creator globally known for his YouTube art tutorials and art challenges.

Growing from a single YouTube channel, which now has more than 5.4 million subscribers and one billion total video views, Jazza and his media company are creating new online channels and videos.

secure innovation sales@magnasys.tv www.magnasys.tv

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Free TV Australia Responds to Govt Green Paper, Urges Reform IN A DETAILED RESPONSE (TBS) to the Government’s Media Reform Green paper, Free TV Australia has set out a roadmap for the future of commercial free-to-air television.

Free TV believes the key reforms required include: - prominence requirements so that Australians can easily find and use free-to-air broadcast channels and on-demand services in a connected environment;

Free TV Chairman, Greg Hywood, said: “The Free TV industry has proposed a technology and regulatory pathway that recognises the central role that broadcast terrestrial freeto-air services currently play in the lives of Australians and the importance of ensuring they continue to be accessible to Australian communities.

- embedding the principles of net neutrality in the regulatory framework; - the extension of anti-siphoning regulations to online platforms to ensure Australians are not forced to pay for the iconic sporting events they currently watch for free;

“The upheaval in the media sector has only elevated the need for the strong and sustainable local services that people can go to for trusted news and public service information, to tune in to homegrown Australian stories and to watch iconic sporting events as a nation – no matter where they live or how much they earn. We need new rules for this new landscape but they need to be the right rules to ensure balance, quality, and accessibility for all Australians.”

- fulfilling the Government’s commitment to review the amount commercial networks pay for spectrum as the current tax is well in excess of international levels; and - addressing the financial pressures affecting the sustainability of free-to-air television broadcasting in regional and remote areas.

While Free TV does not believe the initial proposals included in the Green Paper regarding long-term TV technology platforms are workable, it says it welcomes the Government’s openness to other suggestions.

The Free TV submission outlines why reforms are critical to ensure the future quality of the TV technology platform, and a sustainable and competitive industry that can continue to deliver the social and cultural objectives of the Government.

In its reponse to the Green Paper, Free TV said, “The proposal to achieve a 600 MHz dividend using three shared multiplexes and migrating all services to MPEG-4 compression will

What the Broadcasters Say… “SEVEN’S FUTURE is built on a multi-screen and multi carriage strategy, and the Green Paper starts the discussion about the future regulatory environment we and the industry need.

complex business. Our competitors are not just other commercial television broadcasters, but other news, sport and entertainment content providers.

“The Green Paper proposes a new broadcast licensing scheme under which broadcasters could surrender spectrum in exchange for spectrum tax relief. The current proposal is like asking telecommunications companies to stop their technology innovation at 5G with no ability to upgrade to 6G and beyond. We think there is a better path.”

“Any action taken by the Government in relation to spectrum planning, and which results in a loss of our ability to compete, needs to be addressed appropriately. Any decrease in enterprise value needs to be appropriately compensated.

Seven West Media Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, James Warburton.

“THE PROPOSAL TO shift broadcasters to delivering services through shared multiplexes, reducing the number of 7MHz channels allocated for broadcasting, will require broadcasters to reduce the number and/or quality of the channels they offer audiences.

“The ABC also submits that the Green Paper model removes any future growth path for FTA television, by preventing broadcasters from offering television services in higher-resolution formats to meet audiences’ expectations and remain competitive with online platforms.”

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Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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“COMMERCIAL BROADCASTERS need to retain the right to shape their future and retain their ability to compete in an increasingly

“Significant consequences would include job losses and reduced support of the production and content industries. There would also be a diminished ability to invest in the creation and coverage of local and national news, Australian content and programming and live and free sport coverage.”

Nine Entertainment Co. “THE GREEN PAPER is predicated on the notion that investing tens of millions of dollars in new technology to create shared multiplexes within a relatively short timeframe will optimise the use of spectrum, to provide a digital dividend.

However, Regional Broadcasters have already heavily invested in compression technology, using a combination of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 technology to optimise spectrum usage. As a consequence, the compression benefits of shared multiplexes as proposed will not be significant and will adversely impact service offerings in regional Australia.”

Prime Media Group (Prime), Southern Cross

mean that broadcasters will have to either cut services or dramatically reduce picture quality.

“MPEG-4 will not deliver the efficiency gains required to maintain service equivalence, because most high-definition services already use MPEG-4 – there is less ‘low hanging fruit’ than the Green Paper anticipates. Likewise, MPEG-4 is not an efficient enough compression standard to allow future improvements in picture quality, which the industry requires for long-term sustainability.”

Free TV Chief Executive Officer, Bridget Fair, said: “Any proposal for regulatory or technology change should be measured by whether it will secure a strong future for commercial television over the next decade and beyond.

“Now is the time to start the conversation and lay the groundwork so that the right decisions to ensure a sustainable future of the Free TV industry can be made. It is critical that all Australians continue to have access to free and universally available television services into the future. We look forward to working with the Government to lock in the future of broadcast television for all Australians to enjoy”.

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

The Telco Response…

“THE GREEN PAPER opens up a ‘win-win’ reform opportunity which both addresses pressing broadcasting industry issues and, importantly, advances the nation toward achieving its digital economy vision.

“Re-allocating the undervalued 600 MHz band for critical mobile internet enables Australia to achieve a second digital dividend, further strengthening competitive national mobile networks, which will increasingly provide the basis for Australia’s future digital economy. 600 MHz band is already successfully deployed as part of 5G in North America and Australia must not be left behind.”

Andrew Sheridan, Optus Vice President Regulatory and Public Affairs.

“IT IS VITAL THAT broadcast services are enabled to continue to provide the vital service they provide into the future, especially in regional and remote areas.

“At the same time, 5G networks promise to deliver substantial economic and social benefits through greater connectivity, the Internet of Things, and better access to more information anytime, anywhere. Additional low-band spectrum is pivotal to this vision, and a second ‘digital dividend’ arising from further leveraging video compression techniques to more efficiently use scarce radio spectrum will benefit all Australians if some spectrum can be re-purposed to the provision of better mobile services.”

Telstra

Vale Dick Barton

THE AUSTRALIAN Cinematographers Society has reported the passing of one of its most venerated members, Butch Calderwood OAM ACS at the age of 91.

Butch was the longest serving editor of Australian Cinematographer Magazine along with decades of service to both the NSW and National levels of the ACS including many years as National Treasurer.

Mr Calderwood left Australia for the UK when he was 19 and became the BBC’s First Film Trainee. His career allowed him to see first-hand the historical events that shaped the world in the second half of the 20th Century.

While the bulk of his career was spent with the BBC where he shot Current Affairs, Documentary and Drama. He kept returning to Australia with stints at the ABC, Channel 9 and Channel 7 Network where his final full-time role was Head of the Camera Department.

According to the ACS, “While he was comfortable mixing with kings, presidents and Hollywood royalty he was always happiest with his fellow cinematographers and crew. To the many who were lucky enough to be mentored by him, not only did he shape their careers, but he also helped shape their palate and sense of humour.

“Butch’s life took him to every single country on earth and as he now sets sail on the final journey to the undiscovered

Dick Barton demonstrated deep technical knowledge and industry leadership during his time with FACTS, where he was instrumental in guiding the industry through some major developments, most notably regional licence aggregation, the introduction of the new Broadcasting Services Act in 1992 and planning for the transition to digital television. He was deeply respected in the Australian media sector, and received recognition for his many achievements within the broadcasting industry including the Paul Marlan Engineering Award in 1997 for his significant contribution to commercial television engineering.

Visit www.cinematographer.org.au

Visit www.freetv.com.au

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Free TV’s Director of Engineering, Roger Bunch said, “Dick Barton set a great example of the high values for accuracy required in science and technology to ensure standardisation achieved the intended scope and objectives for the end users. He displayed great insight from his foresight displayed in the intense debates on the Australian proposal for the global HDTV picture format.

his eye.”

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production studio

Mr Barton’s expertise in the area of digital television standards was critical to Australia’s move from analogue to digital broadcasting and his capability was internationally recognised in many forums, including being requested by the United Nations International Telecommunications Union to Chair the 1999 preparatory meeting for the World Radio Conference in 2000.

“He will be remembered internationally as an excellent ambassador for Australia in his ITU activities and a dear friend to many in the broadcasting industries in many countries, particularly in the Asia Pacific region.”

country we know he will be quickly finding

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empowering innovation sales@magnasys.tv www.magnasys.tv Australia | Hong Kong | Indonesia | New Zealand | Singapore

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Vale Butch Calderwood OAM ACS

FREE TV AUSTRALIA has announced the passing of its former Director of Engineering, Richard “Dick” Barton.

Mr Barton held the position of Director of Engineering at the Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations (FACTS) from 1981 to 2001. His broadcast engineering career commenced only three years after the Australian launch of television, during which time he worked as a broadcast engineer at NSW 9 Adelaide and TNQ 7 and FNQ 10 in North Queensland. His time at the coalface of television production and transmission spanned the rapid expansion of this new medium across Australia and many technical advances, most notably the conversion to colour television in 1975.

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

ARRI Launches New Global Solutions Group FOCUSING ON THE DESIGN and engineering of customised production infrastructures, including mixed reality environments and TV studios, ARRI has announced the establishment of a new ARRI Solutions Group.

Headed by General Manager Stephan Schenk, the establishment of the Solutions Group follows an organisational realignment of the Berlin-based ARRI System Group, which previously specialised in broadcast and lighting solutions. This new division will also offer consulting, planning, visualisation, design, implementation, and training for the cine market.

by supplying cameras which have got the right real-time metadata from Focus, Iris, Zoom, as well as camera settings, and aperture, and frame rates, and all of that, which can translate into something that the screen display technology can drive a screen with, not just in sync, but in every other aspect, light, colour, parallax, focal length, and all those pieces of information that we only take for granted when it’s there, when it’s fixed.

ACQUISITION

“A Solutions Group made sense to all the people that had worked from the sales side, including Sean and I in Australia and our team here, working on a lot of the productions that were doing proof of concept - Cutting Edge in Brisbane, Spectre Two major Studios, and NEP, and drivers behind Big Picture, the move and TVC, have been all of these the COVID-19 companies pandemic’s in Australia effect on global that were production and looking to buy the rise of mixed in to this new reality solutions production including LEDworld, were wall studios. all trying to According to see what equipment Brett Smith, would work General and how Manager of The ARRI Solutions Group was responsible for technical planning and ARRI Australia, installation at the DARK BAY Virtual Production Studio in Babelsberg, Germany. creatively that would “COVID then affect the budget, the workflow, and all created a different environment for production, those aspects of production which no one took in terms of remote production, and the need for for granted, that just saying ‘this is replacing remote production. It also increased the demand green screen’ meant it was going to be faster, exponentially, not only thanks to Netflix, and or cheaper, or better. But, it actually has to be all Amazon, and Apple TV+ for increased content, and three. that was long-form episodic television, streaming, “Again, being a hardware manufacturer and being cinema-style feature film production, as well as a systems integrator, and working with partners TV commercials, or commercials for some type of like FrameLight and systems integrators around playout. the world, it made sense that we started to look “That meant that demand was there, the interest at the other partner pieces that we didn’t have in building studios had increased around the world direct involvement with - like the LED panels, the Brompton drivers, the disguise Extended Reality exponentially and wanting things to move quickly. media servers, and all those areas that we’re not But, the other aspect was LED walls, the change in part of, but to see how we integrate.” the use of LED over green screen.

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“When Greig Fraser and Baz Idoine were DOP’s and working on The Mandalorian, everything was experimental. And the great thing about it for that type of work, in terms of assisting VFX, was the reflective aspect of the LED walls on a lot of the mirror finishes of the actor’s suits and things. Instantly, people could see a lot of VFX solutions happening, if you could manage to turn post-production into pre-production, and have an LED wall that did the job, in terms of realism, in terms of the content created, resolving parallax error and things like that, just shooting in a real environment.

“ARRI got very interested by not just reacting, but

Built in a record time of three months, one of the ARRI Solutions Group’s first mixed reality reference projects is the DARK BAY Virtual Production Studio in Babelsberg, near Berlin.

The ARRI Solutions Group was responsible for the overall technical planning as well as the coordination of the installation of all components, and coordinating ARRI’s three business units – Camera Systems, Lighting, and Rental.

Currently, filming is taking place in the DARK BAY for the Netflix production “1899,” the new series from the makers of “Dark” - Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar. The actors are being filmed in front of 55 metre-long and seven metre-high, bent at 270°, LED wall with the ARRI ALEXA

Mini LF camera and ARRI Rental lenses, created exclusively for “1899.” The LED wall is complemented by 70 SkyPanels from ARRI, combining to interactively illuminate the volume.

Brett Smith, General Manager, ARRI Australia.

In Uxbridge, near London, ARRI and ARRI Rental will open a mixed reality studio in 2021 for commercial and demonstration purposes.

Additional test and demo stages are operated by ARRI in Burbank, as well as in Munich, with more mixed reality studio projects in the pipeline. As a shareholder of Volucap, the first volumetric studio on the European mainland in Babelsberg, ARRI has worked on the further development of recording techniques for virtual reality and augmented reality since 2018.

On the broadcast side, the team equipped two state-of-the-art TV studios for WeltN24 in Axel Springer’s new Berlin building. The two news studios of the broadcaster WELT are the first broadcast studios to be equipped exclusively with Ethernet/IP-based lighting technology, right down to the spotlights. In combination with other luminaires, 100 SkyPanels from ARRI provide a highly flexible lighting design.

REMOTE PRODUCTION

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, ARRI developed another holistic approach that is now being continued under the umbrella of the ARRI Solutions Group: ARRI Remote Solutions for safe film productions of the highest standard. With a system of networked, remotely controllable ARRI cameras, lights, remote heads, and accessories, ARRI Remote Solutions allow workflows with safe distance between performers and crew and between the crew members themselves – without compromising operational and creative control.

“COVID generated interest in remote production,” says Bett Smith, “where a producer in their undies in LA, can basically have a witness camera, look at every feed on the set, and basically contribute in real-time. We’re going to low-latency, fibre feeds to production here, and we’re really interested in having solutions in our hardware and in our Solutions Group to solve all the problems that come from multiple-point remote production, because it’s real, it’s already existed for the last year in big feature films as well as commercials.

A lot of commercials in Australia last year were shot with Directors from Korea that never set foot in the country, and never could. That’s another part of our hardware combining with our systems knowledge, which has always been around the world and centred in Berlin, but now it’s actually been given a name as a group.”

Visit: https://www.arri.com/solutions

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Perfection re-defined Introducing the standard for critical colour reproduction. The Sony BVM-HX310 4K TRIMASTER HX™ professional master monitor scores for colour accuracy, true blacks and high-contrast performance, making it the perfect choice for colour grading, 4K HDR production workflow and quality control.

• Pinpoint colour accuracy even from a single pixel with Sony’s proprietary TRIMASTER HX LCD screen • Delivers 1,000 nits* of brightness in full screen with 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio – perfect for HDR and true blacks • Supports industry-leading colour gamuts including DCI-P3, ITU-R BT.2020, S-Gamut3.cine and S-Gamut3 • Quad-View Display Function with individual customised settings * Typical at D65

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ACQUISITION & LIGHTING

Ross Redefines Camera Motion Systems with AI CAMERA MOTION SYSTEMS have proved to be enormously popular with broadcast studios over the last decade given their ability to produce more dynamic and creative camera shots, as well offering more consistent and repeatable results by reducing human error.

Ross says it has now redefined camera motion systems with the launch of Vision[Ai]ry Ft – a facial tracking system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect, locate and track the position of faces within the video stream directly from the camera.

Vision[Ai]ry Ft uses facial positions to drive the pan, tilt and zoom axes of the robotic camera system to maintain the desired framing of the face or faces in the image. This

eliminates the need for a camera operator to manually adjust for the position of the subject in the image. Vision[Ai]ry Ft therefore offers significant benefits over more traditional methods of camera operation: • Consistent Framing – Vision[Ai] ry Ft reduces the burden on camera operators by removing the need for manual correction of camera positions to compensate for day-to-day variations in talent seating position, posture and height.

• Hands-Free Camera Workflow – Framing settings can be saved to templates that can be automatically recalled with robotic presets to provide a hands-free camera workflow when combined with production

automation solutions such as OverDrive from Ross.

• Consistent, High-Quality Tracking – Improved quality and consistency thanks to the automatic tracking of the studio talents’ on-air movements, providing consistently well-framed images at all times.

Vision[Ai]ry Ft’s AI algorithm can recognise a diverse set of race, gender and age data, and can accurately identify and locate faces as long as at least 50% is visible in the image. The user interface provides a live display of the video feed with detected faces and framing target clearly indicated, along with status info, tracking controls and framing template

library. In addition, damping and deadband settings enable the user to tailor the system to the talent in order to maintain optimal framing and tracking while eliminating undesirable movement and overshoot.

Visit www.rossvideo.com

BirdDog Outdoor NDI Cameras with Full Colour Matrix BIRDDOG HAS ANNOUNCED new A200 Gen 2 and A300 Gen 2, Full NDI, IP67 rated outdoor broadcast PTZ cameras.

A200 Gen 2 and A300 Gen 2 house BirdDog’s custom silicon NDI implementation to produce broadcast quality images. Both cameras also feature SDI for traditional baseband workflows.

Building on from the previous versions, A200 Gen 2 and A300 Gen 2 now include an amazing toolkit for shading with Colour Matrix controls for 64 positions of Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, as well as support for 72 Gamma positions.

The new Colour Matrix and Gamma tools can all be controlled remotely

by Cam Control, a free application that can be downloaded from BirdDog’s website.

A200 Gen 2 is targeted to begin shipping in June 2021 and A300 Gen 2 will being shipping in July 2021.

“We’re really proud to launch our A200 Gen 2 and A300 Gen 2 cameras,” said Dan Miall, BirdDog Co-Founder and CEO. “When running these cameras in NDI mode, you can run a single cable to them for NDI video, PTZ control, and now remote camera shading. You can also power them over the same cable with the

optional PoE injector.”

Additionally, BirdDog is offering a free update for all existing customers of A200 and A300.

The free update requires users to return their units to one of three BirdDog service centers located in USA, UK, and Australia, and from there BirdDog will update to the new software features to add the Colour Matrix and Gamma tools. It is a software update only, there is no update to hardware, and further details on this offer can be found on the A200 and A300 product pages on BirdDog’s website.

a free update path for existing customers,” said Eamon Drew, Co-Founder and CMO. continues, “Customers can just send their cameras to us, we’ll update them, and even send them back to the customer at our cost.”

“We’re stoked to be able to offer

Visit http://www.bird-dog.tv

ACQUISITION

Marshall Launches Global Shutter Cameras with Genlock

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GLOBAL SHUTTER camera sensors are nothing new to the broadcast proAV industry, however, when it comes to capturing ultra-fast motion within the field-of-view, motion anomalies become more of a challenge. Global Shutter sensors perform better in these environments as all pixels are exposed simultaneously. Rolling Shutter sensors roll through the sensor array in sequence (usually top to bottom) which can cause warping or motion blur in extreme speed environments. This is not to say one is better than the other, each play a role and have a purpose in video production.

Marshall has announced the launch of the Marshall CV568 and CV368 camera models with applicable feature sets for sportscast, newscast, racing, eSports, OB vans, or for any speed or low-light conditions.

The CV568 is a miniature HD POV camera with Global Shutter and Genlock Sync features. Built around a 1/1.8″ Sony global sensor with 25%

larger pixels and interchangeable M12 lens mount (comes with a 4.4mm – 84°), the CV568 features tri-level sync which allows multiple cameras to be plugged into HD workflows already in sync (genlock), allowing for seamless transitions between cameras with minimal amount of delay.

Other features include: • Simultaneous HDMI & 3GSDI outputs • Interchangeable M12 Lenses – comes with a 4.4mm (84°) • Global Shutter with Tri-Level Sync (Genlock) • SMPTE 424M (2.97Gbps) – 3GSDI: 1920x1080p @ 50, 59.94, 60fps • SMPTE 292M (1.485Gbps) – HDSDI: 1920x1080p @ 23.97, 24, 25, 29.97, 30fps; 1920x1080i @ 50, 59.94, 60fps; 1280x720p @ 50, 59.94, 60fps • Low Light sensitivity (0.05 Lux) with ability to capture IR wavelengths

• Image Mirror/Flip, Digital Zoom, Digital Image Stabilizer • Microphone/Line Level input with 2.5V Mic bias Meanwhile, the CV368 features: • Simultaneous HDMI & 3GSDI outputs • Flexible CS/C Lens Mount (lens sold separately) • Global Shutter with Tri-Level Sync (Genlock) • SMPTE 424M (2.97Gbps) – 3GSDI: 1920x1080p @ 50, 59.94, 60fps • SMPTE 292M (1.485Gbps) – HDSDI: 1920x1080p @ 23.97, 24, 25, 29.97, 30fps; 1920x1080i @ 50, 59.94, 60fps; 1280x720p @ 50, 59.94, 60fps • Low Light sensitivity (0.05 Lux) with ability to capture IR wavelengths • Image Mirror/Flip, Digital Zoom, Digital Image Stabilizer • Microphone/Line Level input with 2.5V Mic bias Visit http://www.marshall-usa.com

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ACQUISITION & LIGHTING

ZEISS Add Four New Focal Lengths to Supreme Prime Radiance Family ZEISS HAS ADDED four new lenses to the ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance family. The 18 and 135 millimetre focal lengths add telephoto and wide-angle specialties to the seven focal lengths available to date. The new 40 and 65 millimetre lenses enhance the standard range, meaning that the ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance family, as a self-contained series, now covers all possible applications for high-end film production. With a maximum aperture of T1.5, all eleven focal lengths stand out for their high speed and allow the finest nuances of light to be perceived, even in low-light conditions.

ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance lenses offer a distinctive look with consistent flares that can be controlled at all times. The ZEISS T* blue coating was developed especially for this series to allow users to create this look across all focal lengths – without having to sacrifice contrast or light transmission.

“The ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance lenses began as a variant and complement to our existing ZEISS Supreme Prime lenses and have now evolved into a high-end cine set in their own right,” explains Christophe Casenave. “Their sophisticated, artistic design has been so well received by the cine community that we are proud to expand the line with four new lenses, offering a comprehensive set of focal lengths for all kinds of artistic demands in cine productions.”

Among the first to use ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance lenses was Emmy award-winning DOP Dana Gonzales, ASC. For the fourth season of the iconic series Fargo, it wasn’t just the costume design, production design, and colour palette that had to convey the look of the 1950s, but above all, the visual imagery.

To portray this Kodachrome look, the ZEISS Radiance lenses worked perfectly for him.

Thanks to their versatile visual look, which is characterised by an extremely smooth transition between in-focus and out-of-focus areas and elegant bokeh, the lenses can be used in a flexible manner. According to Gonzales, it is

the pleasant softness that particularly sets ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance lenses apart.

“I use quite a bit of diffusion, but they are still very sharp with a soft fall-off, reminiscent of vintage lenses. I always embrace them and love the organic way the Radiance captures them. The flares always feel right and not forced.”

ZEISS eXtended Data Metadata Technology Like the ZEISS Supreme Prime lenses, the ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance lenses offer all the attributes of a cine lens – with an image circle diameter of 46.3 millimetres, they cover current large-format cine sensors and are compatible with current camera models such as the Sony Venice, the ARRI Alexa LF and Mini LF, or the RED Monstro.

Incorporating a uniform front diameter of 95 millimetres and consistently positioned focus and aperture rings, they feature smooth and reliable focusing, simplifying the task of changing lenses on set. The lenses’ average weight is about 1,600 grams.

The lenses are equipped with the ZEISS eXtended Data metadata technology launched in 2017, meaning they provide frame-by-frame data on lens vignetting and distortion in addition to the standard metadata provided by Cooke’s /i technology1 protocol. This simplifies and speeds up workflows, particularly for VFX and virtual production.

The new ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance focal lengths are now available for purchase as a set of four lenses from ZEISS cine lens dealers.

On the occasion of the presentation of the new focal lengths, it is once again possible to order the previous set of seven lenses or to exclusively purchase a complete set consisting of all eleven lenses. Deliveries commence Q3, 2021.

Visit www.zeiss.com

Mo-Sys VP Pro with Sony Venice Integration

ACQUISITION

MO-SYS ENGINEERING has now integrated its virtual production software – Mo-Sys VP Pro – with the Sony Venice camera. Capturing the dynamic camera settings data direct from the Sony Venice, users can simplify and speed-up virtual production workflows.

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the file naming format the camera uses to name the media files, and uses the same name for the metadata file containing the camera settings data, ensuring that matching the two together in post-production is simple.

The Sony Venice full-frame digital cinematography camera is rapidly gaining popularity, not least for the large number of software-controlled resolution and aspect ratio settings available. Mo-Sys VP Pro links directly to the camera software, monitoring every take and shot to highlight any mis-matched settings, whilst capturing the Venice camera data to assist in down-stream post-production compositing.

Mo-Sys VP Pro is now the most versatile and up-to-date virtual production solution for film, TV, game cinematics, and live broadcast. Mo-Sys VP Pro is integrated with Unreal Engine and supports either live or recorded virtual production workflows, using either green/blue screen studios or LED volumes. It provides compositors with additional lens data – like F-stop, T-stop and shutter angle – making VFX compositing much easier.

The integration means that Mo-Sys VP Pro goes into record mode whenever the Sony Venice camera starts recording. Mo-Sys VP Pro captures

“Virtual production is a powerful creative tool, for film as well as for television,” said Michael Geissler, CEO of Mo-Sys. “It is a complex

business, though, and smart systems that speed synchronisation and set-up in post-production give a huge boost to productivity. Once more, Mo-Sys is leading the industry with intelligent, practical, integrations, whilst also supplying camera tracking solutions with the highest levels of precision and data resilience available on the market today.

Mo-Sys recently announced the Cinematic XR Focus feature for Mo-Sys VP Pro, allowing camera operators to pull focus between real and virtual elements within an LED volume. This type of focus pull was previously impossible to achieve but using a Preston lens controller, MoSys StarTracker and Mo-Sys VP Pro, is now easily achievable.

Visit www.mo-sys.com

ACQUISITION & LIGHTING

Wooden Camera for Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro WOODEN CAMERA HAS INTRODUCED a range of kits and accessories for the new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K. Designed especially to accommodate the new camera, the new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro Camera Cage features a nextgen design and is available with a new top handle and LW 15mm baseplate in every tier of Wooden Camera’s production-ready kits.

The kits are available in Base, Advanced, Pro (V-Mount), and Pro (Gold Mount) versions. The Pro tiers feature the new camera-specific Micro Battery Slide Pro for adding micro and full-sized cinema batteries.

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro Camera Cage features an updated design which utilises a new C-shaped base for enhanced stability and support. The Cage also features pass-through slots for improved cable management, engraved markings to indicate the camera’s focal plane, and an offset cold shoe mount. The front of the Cage provides two mounting points for additional top rod configurations. Wooden Camera also includes a detachable HDMI and USB-C Support Bracket for ensuring secure cable connections.

To maintain a proper optical centre, the LW 15mm Baseplate should be used with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro

Camera Cage. This Baseplate features quality-of-life upgrades, including an improved safety release system for the top ARCA Swiss dovetail. It attaches to the bottom of the Cage and utilises updated directional arrows to indicate the proper direction for loading. Also included are two 15mm LW rod openings at the correct distance from the centre of the lens as well as a dual quick-release system via the ARCA Swiss dovetail slot on top and the ARRIStandard dovetail slot on the bottom.

The Base Kit for this camera features the Cage, Top Handle and LW 15mm Baseplate.

The Top Handle mounts directly to the top of the Cage via a new and improved captive bolt-on mechanism with safety pins.

Utilised on several of the new products, the mechanism can be tightened with either a flathead screwdriver or allen-key. The Advanced Kit adds an 8-inch Safety Dovetail and a pair of 12-inch 15mm rods. The Pro Kit adds the Micro Battery Slide Pro in either V-Mount or Gold Mount as well as two 15-inch 15mm rods and a 12-inch Safety Dovetail.

Wooden Camera’s power upgrade for Blackmagic’s camera, the Micro Battery Slide Pro is available in both V-Mount and Gold Mount versions. The power plate attaches to a

15mm LW rod system and features a D-Tap at 5.8 amps for accessory power. To avoid users exceeding the set current for accessories, a smart safety feature disables the accessory outputs leaving the camera running normally.

Once the current load has been reduced by either removing accessories or reconfiguring, the reset button can be pressed to re-enable accessory power.

Visit https://woodencamera.com

ALEXA Mini LF Software Update Package 7.0 ARRI HAS ANNOUNCED the availability of ALEXA Mini LF SUP 7.0 with many new features.

features are based on customer requests and greatly improve the overall usability of the camera.

One of the most asked for additions to the Mini LF are new Super 35 recording formats. With these new formats, the Mini LF is now more flexible than ever and can be used for both large-format and Super 35 productions. In addition, three of the four Super 35 recording formats offer higher frame rates than the ALEXA Mini.

Features of the ALEXA Mini LF SUP 7.0 download include:

At the same time, ALEXA is expanding the cameras’ features for the popular large format.

Two new large format recording formats deliver the large format look with a significantly reduced data rate (HD or UHD recording). Many additional

• New Super 35 recording formats.

3.4K S35 3:2 – 3.4K up to 60fps.

3.2K S35 16:9 – 3.2K up to 75fps.

2.8K S35 4:3 – 2.8K up to 75fps.

2.8K S35 16:9 – HD up to 100fps.

• New large format recording formats.

4.3K LF 16:9 – UHD up to 48fps.

4.3K LF 16:9 – HD up to 75fps.

• Expanded recording format names.

• • • • •

Improved Magnification monitoring icon.

Support for Signature Zoom Extender 1.7x.

Expanded list of default framelines.

Increased number of framelines.

User setup file forward/backwards compatibility.

• Camera Access Protocol (CAP) enhancements.

• Improved communication with LBUS devices.

• ECS improvements.

• Improved logfile exporting.

• Powerline Communication.

• System stability improvements.

Visit www.arri.com

MRMC Releases Entry-Level Bolt Mini Model Mover

The robotic arm can be used as a standalone system or synchronised with a camera shooting bot and enables full manipulation of products with repeat pass precision, timing and triggering capabilities. It comes with three mounting plates, including chuck mount and cheese plate, giving users a wide range of capture possibilities, as well as a gripper option. The 42kg unit is designed to be set-up quickly, can be mounted to a table or set on the floor, and

comes transport-ready in a compact flight case.

In tandem with MRMC’s motion control software, Flair, it allows users to shoot classic liquid pours, stirs, whirls, and splashes, or mount utensils like forks, spoons, or even sports accessories such as shoes or rackets to get the most dynamic high-end shots.

“The Bolt Mini Model Mover might be the smallest arm we do, but we have taken no shortcuts with it. It features the same Academy-Award-winning engineering excellence as the rest of our Bolt family,” comments Assaff Rawner, Managing Director, MRMC. “By bringing the entry-level price of high-end, high-speed robotics down to a sub

£50k price point, we hope to introduce a whole new sector of the industry to the enormous creative potential of motion control.”

Visit www.mrmoco.com

ACQUISITION

BIG ON CREATIVITY, low on price, the Bolt Mini Model Mover is an extremely versatile, lightweight, 6-axis high-speed arm designed for payloads up to 8kg that starts at only £49k ($68k).

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SPORTSCASTING Sport coverage worldwide

www.content-technology.com/sportscasting

NRL and Blackbird Score with Video

Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) has been using the Blackbird cloudbased editing platform to access, edit, enrich and publish match and other content to social, web, VOD and other digital channels.

THE NRL FEATURES 16 teams who compete for 25 rounds before a Grand Final series. While the NRL has broadcast rights partners – Nine and Fox Sports in Australia, and Sky in New Zealand – it also has limited in-match rights and some post-game rights itself, as well as rights for all archived content.

Using the Blackbird platform, the National Rugby League utilises these rights in publishing content to its social media channels, websites and apps.

According to Oliver Parker, Blackbird CCO, “Blackbird’s a cloud-based video editing platform. What we do is we work with our customers, and that’s leagues and federations like the NRL, but also sports teams, up through broadcasters, service providers, not just in the sports world, but in news and beyond as well, to access their media, whether that’s file-based or live-based, on-premise or in the cloud, for them to have anyone within that business access the video, create from it, and that can be anything from simple clipping, sequencing, all the way through to professional editing, and then publish out.

“The really crucial thing for Blackbird is that we do all of this in a web browser, and that’s what our unique technology allows us to do, is to address and edit, and manipulate video content in a browser in a way that nobody else can do. The most important thing for us from an architectural point of view is to be open.

We actually work with, more or less, any kind of cloud provider, storage provider, stream or acquisition technology as well. Whatever your workflow is, we can allow you to use that content without adding infrastructure, without adding any time into that or delay, and obviously from anywhere.”

According to Wayne Dakin, Media Services Manager, NRL, the decision to employ the Blackbird platform came with the desire to publish content on a wider scale.

“Five years ago, we made a decision to make our footprint and our production pipe be the same as the broadcasters. So, basically, anything we get from them, like ISOs and match clicks and all the stuff you can see in the background. We’re not trying to reformat it. It’s the same-same, which is great, but when you want to start doing that on a wider scale, you either have to buy a lot more really expensive equipment or look for another option,” says Dakin.

“Everything we do, from a broadcast perspective, video files, execution, studios and cameras, all of our stuff ends up online. Our end product, from where we start, it’s not to say that it’s dumbed down but it’s a lot lighter file.

The opportunity to work with [Blackbird] and actually make the same end product with less infrastructure was really appealing to us.

“Being an old-school editor on Avid of many, many years, to actually going in there and it feels quite similar to what I’ve been used to over my career as an editor, that was quite easy to dive in and pick up as well. Also, I think for us to have that ability to give people no real massive infrastructure other than a computer and a weblink, it made it quite easy and it’s been working really well for us.”

When it comes to workflow, Quanah McBride, Head of Digital Media, NRL, says speed and efficiency are equally important.

“When we create our clips and push, we not only push to our social platforms and our own network, but we also make it available in the MAM for our clubs and states. They want to pick it up and do something else with that site or publish to their own channels. Yes, speed, the faster you get it, the better it is, but we want it

to be long lasting as well. We don’t see this as throw away content that you can’t find again.

We want to make sure that we can go into it down the line and be able to pull back that asset, so putting a little bit of metadata that makes it relevant is important for us.

“We had an opportunity to start from scratch in here, so when we went and built the studio side of things, we were looking cloud first for the rest of our infrastructure, so all our web content management system and our video MAM platform underneath as in the cloud side of things, and we wanted to make sure that we could leverage a system that would integrate with our workflows, and that’s where Blackbird came in.”

According to Brad Preston, Social Media Strategist, NRL, once a clip is created and is placed in NRL’s MAM system, it is available for use on nrl.com with individual clubs also being able to pick it up and download for use on their own social channels/websites/apps, thus generating an enormous amount of exposure and engagement from limited in-match rights.

“That’s where Blackbird’s been amazing for us,” he says, “and the views have shown it for our site. We’ve skyrocketed.”

Visit www.blackbird.video

JOIN NEP AUSTRALIA - WE ARE LOOKING FOR EXPERIENCED BROADCAST ENGINEERS YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE for engineering the most technically advanced outside broadcast trucks across multiple sporting codes and broadcasters.

This is a full-time role, where interstate and international travel may be required. Working regularly on weekends may also be necessary.

SPORTSCASTING

ABOUT YOU: You must have exceptional drive, work ethic, a positive attitude and excellent interpersonal skills. You will need to work to explicit deadlines, have the ability to pick up new concepts in a rapid manner, and work with colleagues for long periods of time.

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TECHNICAL SKILLS: You must have a brilliant technical mind. VSM knowledge and experience with IP technology is preferred. A minimum of two years’ experience operating a broadcast truck solo will be essential.

WE NEED YOU! If you want to be part of a global company working on some of the biggest live and recorded television events Australia has to offer, send your CV to careersau@nepgroup.com and quote ref:BEAU. You must have the right to live and work in Australia to apply for this job. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

SPORTSCASTING

ross.video/anz

SPORTSCASTING

POWERING YOUR FAN ENGAGEMENT

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SPORTSCASTING

NBC Olympics on the Starting Block Having pioneered remote broadcast workflows for a number of years now, there is probably no rights holder better prepared for a COVID-era Olympic Games than America’s NBC, traditionally the biggest presence at any Olympic IBC. FOR THE FIRST TIME, NBC Olympics will provide live coverage of the NBC broadcast network’s Olympics primetime show in 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and ATMOS sound. NBC’s coverage of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will also be in 4K HDR. In addition, live competition coverage of all Tokyo Olympic programming on GOLF Channel and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA will be in 4K HDR. Events which will be featured in 4K HDR during the Games include gymnastics, track & field, swimming, diving, beach volleyball, golf, and tennis. NBCUniversal will also distribute 4K HDR coverage to U.S. distribution partners.

Coordinating between broadcast centers in Tokyo and Stamford, Connecticut, NBC Olympics has evolved its remote, file-based workflow with technology from a mix of developers.

Grass Valley has delivered a range of open standards-based IP systems aimed at driving efficiency within NBC Olympics’ studios inside the IBC in Tokyo. Grass Valley IP infrastructure will support processing of live video and audio feeds – both from studios and remote event venues – ready for delivery to the broadcaster’s production and editing control rooms ahead of live broadcasts. NBC Olympics will deploy Grass Valley’s IP Media infrastructure at the Tokyo IBC, leveraging control of a Cisco Spine and Leaf switching topology through the GV Orbit NMOS compliant router control and configuration system.

The IP Media solution is SMPTE-2110, AMWA NMOS IS-04/05, SMPTE-2059, UHD, and HDR compliant and comprises over 70 IQUCP modular gateways using both the 25GbE and 50GbE product versions, 170 Densitè+ XIP-3901 IP audio/video, SDR/HDR, IS-04/IS-05 processing modules and 16 MV-820-IP multiviewers. System management is enabled via the GV Orbit dynamic orchestration system, allowing production teams to leverage the power of IP using familiar SDI workflows. As part of the wider IP infrastructure, Grass Valley has also provided MADI audio gateway products, and the Audio Live multistream audio processing solution. Visit https:// www.grassvalley.com

SPORTSCASTING

NBC Olympics has chosen EVS’ XT-VIA servers for its 1080p – UHD/HDR production on-site in Tokyo and Stamford, and other venues for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The XT-VIA provides 12-plus channels of 1080p and six or more channels of UHD-4K in both SDR and HDR. Visit www.evs.com

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NBC Olympics will deploy Avid’s MediaCentral solutions to drive Tokyo-based remote and on-site workflows that will generate content for linear, OTT and social media platforms. For the first time, NBC Olympics will enable its editing team in Tokyo to simultaneously create both progressive (1080p HDR) and interlaced (1080i) versions of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the XXXII Olympiad. Using the Dynamic Relink functionality in Avid’s Media Composer, editors can enable cross-frame rate relinking between interlaced and progressive media. Visit www.avid.com

Telestream’s Lightspeed Live Capture and Vantage media processing platform will underpin the unique, mixed HDR/SDR workflow. Lightspeed Live Capture systems will receive 1080p59.94 HDR signals and create media simultaneously to two different formats. As the 1080p59.94 HDR is recorded in XAVC Class 100 HDR (Hybrid Log Gamma or HLG) format, Telestream’s Vantage software, running on an array of Lightspeed G6 servers will process the media as it’s growing.

SDR versions will be created in XDCAMHD 422 at 1080i59.94. The HDR to SDR conversion will be done through an advanced colour processing pipeline in Vantage using colour processing Look Up Table filters (LUTs) that translate HDR (HLG) to SDR (Rec. 709). In real time, while Lightspeed Live Capture is under record, Vantage will check both HDR and SDR assets into Avid Interplay. The Vantage system provides frame chase editing capabilities of both the HDR and SDR product, allowing Avid operators to edit on the fly from the live files as they are being recorded.

The HDR/SDR workflow takes advantage of Avid’s cross-rate dynamic relink capability. Avid operators focus on editing the 1080i59.94 SDR-based content, which will be consumed by the majority of viewers, and then simply re-link/ conform to the HDR assets to finish edits against the 1080p59.94 HDR product.

Signiant provide NBC Olympics with intelligent file transfer software to move petabytes of footage from Tokyo back to its centre in Stamford, immediately upon capture. Signiant’s network optimisation technology enables seamless transfer of the footage over standard IP networks, eliminating latency and packet loss, so that editors in Stamford can begin creating highlights almost immediately. The software also allows for content, including graphics work and pre-recorded footage, to be transferred quickly and securely back to the broadcast centre in Tokyo. Visit http://www. signiant.com Chryon is supporting NBC Olympics’ remote production workflow with Lyric X, a 4K-ready solution for graphics creation and playout. Lyric systems will be used in Stamford to enable an agile workflow for adapting graphics and getting them to air quickly. Additional Lyric systems will be deployed in a dedicated control room in Tokyo to support flexible graphics creation and playout for a select group of events.

Deployed in its Tokyo studios, Chyron’s PRIME Video Walls solution will enable NBC Olympics to deliver visual presentations on individual displays, or across a monitor wall. Data-binding to scene elements will simplify data visualisation. Visit www.chyronhego.com

Olympics studio operation bring a next-level immersive visual to our studio presentation, bringing augmented reality to our primetime coverage,” said Michael Sheehan, Coordinating Director, NBC Olympics. “Instrumented Jib & Steadicam will give our creative teams the flexibility to use this great new technology in ways to help tell the stories of these Olympic Games.”

Visit www.rossvideo.com Calrec is providing six Artemis consoles in NBC Sports’ IBC in Stamford, with a 64-fader Artemis and a Brio console in the Main Control Room in Tokyo. Also in Tokyo is a 32-fader Artemis Beam handling the audio in the 4K control room for “immersive” audio broadcasts, and two 40-fader Artemis consoles used in NBC Olympics’ fly packs for ‘immersive’ beach volleyball and golf production. There will be full IP routing in the IBC so all Calrec consoles will have AoIP interfaces connecting a variety of fixed format and modular Hydra2 IO to an IP router. Six RP1 units will connect NBC Olympics studios in the IBC with Stamford control rooms, as well as two studios on site in Tokyo, basketball and volleyball venues, to their home control rooms. Two Brio consoles are also in use at the downtown studios splitting the audio for redundancy between RP1 and Brio. Visit www.calrec.com NBC Olympics has turned to Xytech’s ScheduALL for a ninth consecutive Olympic Games to orchestrate the logistics of its people, equipment, locations and transmission feeds. Xytech’s ScheduALL manages critical information, such as video router assignments and satellite uplink scheduling, and automatically passes the information to downstream systems to facilitate on-air coverage for each feed. Visit www. xytechsystems.com

Rocket Surgery, Ross Video’s in-house creative and professional services division, will provide NBC Olympics with the Voyager graphics rendering solution (based on the Unreal 4 engine) along with production crew to integrate the graphic elements designed by the NBC Olympics graphics team and operate the technology on the air.

TAG Video Systems will provide NBC Olympics with an integrated software-based IP probing, monitoring and multiviewer solution to monitor MPEG Transport Streams originating in Tokyo, which are then logged, categorised and archived in NBC Sports’ Center in Stamford. The customisable system will run on off-the-shelf servers and give NBC Olympics the ability to view metrics and evaluate the health of the signals every step of the way.

“Ross Video’s Voyager product will help the NBC

Visit www.tagvs.com

SPORTSCASTING

COVID-Era Remote Production for Olympic Broadcasters WITH STADIA READY, vaccination of athletes well underway and the final editions of the Olympic Stakeholder Playbooks being published in June, the organisers of Tokyo 2020 are in final preparations for the Opening Ceremony on 23 July and what they say will be an Olympic Games that “… will be safe for everyone participating and the Japanese people.”

Citing the many sporting events taking place successfully around Yiannis Exarchos, CEO, Olympic the globe, the IOC Coordination Broadcasting Services.

Commission noted that more than Pic - Christophe Moratal/IOC. 54,000 athletes have competed in over 430 major sports events since September 2020, with all held safely for participants and the local population.

At its Virtual Joint Broadcaster briefing in May, host broadcaster Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) declared it, too, had moved into full operational mode while Right Holding Broadcasters were also in the final phase of their preparations for the Games.

OBS personnel are already relocated in the host city and broadcast installations at the IBC and venues are progressing at a rapid pace. A Playbook for Broadcasters, built on the same principles as the other playbooks, and including many of the same requirements, has been tailor-made to meet broadcasters’ specific needs as they bring the Games to their audiences around the world.

CHANGING THE RULES OF THE GAME INTRODUCING THE

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

Yiannis Exarchos, OBS Chief Executive Officer said, “Our preparations are well on track, we have excellent support in Tokyo, and we are moving as per planned. In the past, over complex situations, broadcasters have proven to operate in the most professional and responsible manner.

I believe that we will be able to showcase these historic Games in an unprecedented way, Tokyo 2020 will be the Games that will reunite the world.”

Tokyo 2020 will be the first Games coverage to be natively produced in 4K HDR while Japanese host broadcaster NHK will be producing a comprehensive broadcast package in 8K. For social media and other digital platforms, Content+, a web-based platform primarily dedicated to short-form and digital content, will be available with content for broadcasters to use and repurpose.

The International Broadcast Centre and the Main Press Centre will be housed in Tokyo Big Sight. Spanning some 265,700 square metres, it is the largest convention and exhibition centre in Japan comprising largescale exhibition halls, international conference facilities and a reception hall.

Over 9000 hours of sports content will be produced over the 17 days of the Games. The broadcast footprint will be some 30 per cent smaller than it was at Rio 2016, but due to innovations in cloud technology, content production will be up by around 30 per cent.

“We want them to do and help them to do, is reduce the presence [of broadcast staff performing work] that can happen anywhere in the world. To be shipping servers and setting up equipment in a city for things that can happen on the cloud is one of the things we want to avoid.”

Visit https://olympics.com

Go live from anywhere.

pa c i f i c

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

SPORTSCASTING

According to OBS CEO, Yiannis Exarchos, “We were lucky in the sense that we have the TOP partnership with Alibaba. Alibaba is one of the key players in the world in cloud technology, and together with them we developed what we call the OBS Cloud, which is a platform which allows broadcasters to receive content remotely on the cloud and even to work on this content remotely on a cloud basis.

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

Ticker News anchor Adrian Franklin in action.

On the Up: Ticker

In less than two years, next-gen news channel Ticker has gone from strength to strength with audience growth, personnel growth, a larger HQ, and the launch of a Singapore bureau.

By Phil Sandberg FOUNDED BY EX-SKY NEWS Australia anchor Ahron young, Ticker is a linear streaming channel operating 24-hours, seven-days-a-week. As well as the linear feed, Ticker also produces pre-recorded business lifestyle programming. Its content is also available on-demand through the Ticker app.

NEWS OPERATIONS

Now located in the former General-Motors Holden building in Port Melbourne, which Young says makes him feel like “Alan Bond on a Kerry Packer budget”, Ticker’s growth has also seen it finetuning its focus.

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“I think at one stage, we were growing 100% month on month, in terms of audience,” says Ahron Young. “And we’ve really been focusing substantially on what works. We don’t want to just follow the numbers. It is very tempting to have a look at what’s trending on Google, what’s trending on Twitter, and to build your rundown off the back of that. But, for me, when we go live, we do so many things with our live broadcast. We tell you the news, we have a reporter/anchor in Singapore who we cross to about what’s happening at the moment in China and that Asia-Pacific region, as well as politicians who join us from countries around the world now, as well as people who tell their stories. The live component is one very small

part of what we do - a very important part - but as time has gone on, we worked out that we’re not a television network, we’re a media company, and to really focus our interests across the entire business equally.

“We also have things called Ticker Originals.

They’re 15-minute programs called anything from Ticker Money, through to Ticker Fit, things that align and help to brand who we are. And there are also commercial sponsorships, where we have a co-host with our news anchor, one of our Ticker Originals hosts as well, depending on the topic.

“We’ve just got a partnership with the Australian Government, with AusIndustry, where we have our Ticker Originals host, Mike Loder, and he interviews people who are part of this program. And it’s a really interesting show, showing the world what Australian business can do. We don’t really consider ourselves as Australian, even though the values that we have are Australian, in terms of democracy, and capitalism, et cetera, and a fair go, but most of our audience is now overseas.”

as a video service, live TV video, in the offices of Government Departments, we are live at airports, we are live, obviously, on our website, we are live on Twitter every half hour. I believe our video goes out live to an IPTV version of Stan or Amazon in South Africa. People can download us on their Foxtel Now boxes.

“Trying to break down where people are watching is becoming even more difficult, but what I can tell you is when I have a look at our webpage through Google Analytics, it tells us that 30% of our audience is Australia, 30% is in the US, and the rest is made up from other countries. Singapore’s quite high, India’s huge as well. And they’re constantly changing and continually grow. But we started off as about 80% Australian.

C+T: How does the audience break down at the moment?

And we worked out that, who we are, we are an inner-urban, news network. We talk about global politics now. We talk about tech. We still focus on business, but what I love about business is it’s so wide. Aviation is a business story, but in the Aviation sector, they don’t consider themselves as a business story. Global politics impacts business, and there are decisions made that impact business.

Ahron Young: “It’s really hard to answer this question. And the reason is because we are live

“We’ve ventured into all of the different things that probably impact the lives of an under 45s innercontinues p24>>

NEWS OPERATIONS

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NEWS OPERATIONS >> continued from p22

urban millennial. When I say under 45s, I’ve also never met anyone over 45 who doesn’t consider themselves to be under 45s. They’re stateless, our audience. They’re people who travel around the world, who might work for KPMG or Deloitte, who might have more in common with someone like them, who lives in London, or Singapore, than their own next-door neighbour.

“And that’s what we worked out, and that’s why we worked out that there was no real point just focusing on Australia. Facebook isn’t an Australian service, neither is Google, so why limit yourself to a geographical destination.”

Tell us about the new studio.

Ahron Young: “When I spoke to you last year, we had this massive CNN-style news studio, where I’d anchor from, and that was all great, but there was no room to put anybody behind me, because there was only room for eight people. And, all of a sudden, we were employing 16 journalists across the day, and we needed more space. We just went, ‘You know what? We’re just dancing around the edges here. We’re never going to reach the potential of what we needed.’ And, knowing that commercial real estate was now a buyers’ market, we realised that now was the time to actually take a risk.

“We’re right now working on Autocues that don’t require anyone to control them, but they’re actually working off speech recognition. That’s a whole other part of our business at Ticker, is we don’t just take off the shelf, we’re also the biggest customers for a lot of the companies we work with. And we work in partnership with them on ways to essentially run a business, where what you see on screen are our staff. We don’t need dozens of engineers. We don’t need lighting crews and cameramen.”

Everything will be automated, but powered by an in-house system?

Ahron Young: “Correct. For example, we use virtual inputs. On one camera, we can set five different virtual inputs of where that camera should be.

We can put that into our scripting. We literally just have a dropdown menu, and say this script needs to be done from this camera, in this position. And we leave it to that. That will adjust the lighting, that will adjust the camera shot. And that will send a command to the presenter to let them know whether they need to get up from the desk, what they need to do.

“You can have open plan studios, but the amount of money you spend on the technology to cut out all of the background noise, is ridiculously high.

And if you have a look at CNN, they no longer have those huge offices behind them. It’s screens, it’s built-in TV studios.

“And then on top of that, the Autocue will also be voice-activated. One of the biggest challenges we’ve had, is we want to do stand-up presenting, but our Autocue requires a hand controller. We have had to find a way to overcome that. We generally think of what do we want to achieve?

And then what can the technology do? And off we go.”

“For Studio 1, we’re doing something really different in Australia. We’re building something which feels a lot more like a New York style loft with a huge LED wall which takes up the entire wall. We’re doing 1.6mm [pitch], I believe, in terms of the distance between the LED dots, which matters for television. I’ve seen in the past, where PTZ cameras that a lot of news channels own aren’t good enough because of the lenses.

And then the sets arrive at a 2.5, and you get this horrible moiré-ing effect.

“We’ll have three huge video walls as well, which are LED screens, which will sit behind our guests, giving us aspect there. A lot of concrete, it will feel very much like an inner-urban news network, what you would expect. A lot of back-light, but nothing like a Duratran, or anything like that.

NEWS OPERATIONS

“We’ve actually been working on something with our software developer in Brussels. We have worked with them to come up with a really simple user interface for our staff to be able to put a bulletin together, so that the journos, the directors, the producers can quickly put it together. It’s actually designed so that an anchor could put their own bulletin together themselves.

“We got a real estate agent to take us to eight or ten different locations, and none of them worked. It was either too cold, or too loud, or the build would have been massive. And the agent was listening to us, and he was like, ‘You know what? I reckon I know the place.’ He brought us here which used to be the Holden headquarters. At first, he was showing us some open plan spaces and, again, one of the lessons that I’ve learnt is open plan is the opposite of what works in TV because of the sound issue.

“What we will have will be two [HD] studios, a very large one and one which is a mid-sized studio, which is kind of our backup. And the mid-sized studio has a couple of 80-inch TVs with a virtual background which has been designed by our graphics team at [Sydney-based design studio] LightRise and can be transitioned in and out pretty easily.

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those columns, will be an LED column, so we can put sponsors up the side, or the names of shows up the side for news programs. We’ll probably have four cameras, one on a slide, or one on a jib to Autocues. And the whole thing will be done with no studio crew, and one person in the control room.

“There will be desks that come apart, standing positions, lots of different abilities to light it, an LED column. We’ll have different columns that are all on castors to move around, and then we’ll have one of

You’ve assigned a journalist to establish a Singapore bureau. What has that involved?

Ahron Young: “First, it was choosing who would be the right person. And Jackson Williams, I [first] hired him at Sky News about five or six years ago.

The one thing I loved about Jackson was he could set up a bureau. He’s self-reliant. People at Sky News are great. We always had to shoot our own stuff. You were both on air, but also had to be very technically proficient.

“We worked out that Singapore was a great place to be because it’s like the easy entrance to Asia, as a lot of Australian businesses say. And Singapore is very much the regional leader when it comes to finance. That was a place that made sense.

And then we had to think about how we’d make it work. We have a bunch of partners we work within Australia, who also happen to have offices in Singapore, one of them being [PR Technology company] Telum Media, and Telum Media said to us, ‘Oh, our headquarters are in Singapore. You should chat to the boss.’ So, we spoke to him, and they were based at a co-working space, which is just near the Marina Bay Sands, MBS, and it’s called The Quadrant. We spoke with them, met with them, and came to an agreement of how it would work. Then we had to organise the

technology.

“We sent that over with Jackson, and then he got there and set that up. We have, I think it’s a 75-inch Plasma with a shot of Singapore Ticker Founder and CEO, Ahron Young. which our graphics team have worked on, and then Jackson sits there, and basically, the camera connects to a computer and all the stuff that we do, and it comes back to our control room here in Melbourne, and we control the news from here. He now does the evenings, Australia time, which is the afternoons in Singapore. That essentially means, that when we next open up in San Francisco, we’ll have the same template we do over there, and then that begins in Australia, to work on our overnights. Next will be San Francisco, and then London, and then that will bring us back to mornings, Australia time.”

C+T: It sounds very ambitious.

Ahron Young: “Is it though? People often talk to me about that ambition. When I worked at Sky, there were about 200 staff, I believe. And they did many different jobs, but there weren’t 200 staff on camera. What I’ve essentially done is to work out, do we need a news control? Do we need a news exchange? Do we need ten people in a control room, or even three that Mosart needs you to have, as well as a Technical Director? Do you need all these things? Or are you able to co-share jobs?

“It’s just a bit more technology, really. And technology’s now at that point, where we don’t need satellites to bring it in, and all of the things that once upon a time, if you were to anchor Nine News out of their Los Angeles bureau, you would need. Things have changed dramatically. It sounds ambitious, but really, instead of living in South Melbourne and working in Port Melbourne, Jackson lives in Singapore and works at The Quadrant, otherwise our afternoons, evenings would be coming from here. We’ve just taken a person and put them somewhere else, and used technology to build up our overseas component, and that’s all it is.”

So, what’s the roadmap going forward?

Ahron Young: “The aim is to, essentially, have eight different countries doing three hours of Ticker news a day, live, and then building out each of those local countries as well, because what we cover is international, and everyone has a story.

And you talk about Ticker Original shows, whether it’s Ticker Business, or Ticker Eats, or Ticker this or that, well, people eat in every country, people do business in every country. It’s the way that we operate that is how we’re able to make money.

And what we’ve worked on is a template for our business, as I say, almost like a franchise, and we go from there.”

Visit https://tickernews.co

NEWS OPERATIONS

Inception V15 from Ross ROSS HAS ANNOUNCED that V15 of its Inception newsroom computer system (NRCS) and social media management tool is now available.

This latest release includes a range of new features, with a focus on two key areas:

Deliver multi-cam live productions on-demand

• Assignment Manager Enhancements – Several new features have been added to the Assignment Manager to help improve planning, including the introduction of duration-based, all day and multi-day events. There is also improved visibility of timing information for content created in the Assignment Manager as well as increased search capabilities to allow for better planning and communication.

• MOS Device Permissions – Version 15 adds the option to set user permissions by MOS device, meaning that some users may be able to create and modify MOS objects for all configured devices while other users can now be given more limited access. This allows for more granularity in workflows and is especially powerful in an Enterprise environment where multiple teams may be using the same Inception instance.

“While we’re always looking ahead to innovate our products, they also have to meet the day-to-day needs of our end users,” said Jenn Jarvis, Product Manager for Editorial Workflows. “We see product development as a partnership, and the feedback of the people using Inception every day is an integral part of our process.”

Customers with an active software maintenance agreement should contact the Ross Technical Support team to schedule their upgrade to V15.

Visit www.rossvideo.com

Shutterstock Launches The Newsroom

PRO | PRO2 | PRO4

Take full advantage of the LiveU LU800 multi-camera capability by activating your multi-cam license only when you need it !

SHUTTERSTOCK, INC. HAS LAUNCHED The Newsroom, a resource for newsrooms which sees Shutterstock working directly with news teams to package key trending stories, archival and UGC content, to help global clients ‘tell the story behind the story’.

The Newsroom connects Shutterstock’s established team to news teams, editors, journalists publishers and broadcasters to a “concierge service” for access to exclusive premium content.

“The Newsroom leverages the expertise of world class editorial professionals to deliver breaking and trending news via photo, video and packaged collections directly to the inboxes of today’s leading media and broadcasting networks globally,” said Jamie Elden, Chief Revenue Officer at Shutterstock. “We want our customers to be at the forefront of breaking news content, and the time is now. Our clients are looking for turnkey news stories that they can amplify across their platforms to maximise moments of engagement.”

Shutterstock has also created a dedicated Newsroom team with a combined 50-years of experience across newsroom management, contributor

Visit www.shutterstock.com

Go live from anywhere.

pa c i f i c

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

NEWS OPERATIONS

management, and social strategy. The team includes Editorial Director of The Newsroom, Aaron St Clair, a former 17-year veteran of Splash/ Corbis, where he led the internal team, and managed hundreds of freelance photographers and videographers; Timothy Plant, who managed newsrooms at Hollywood Life, OK!, Star and InTouch, Sascha Weis, Global Head of Newsroom Partnerships and Sales, who was previously General Manager of Splash/Corbis; and Mike Mandel, Amanda Elmslie, and Kate Brooks, who collectively have over two decades of experience as account managers for publishers, photo agencies and newsrooms.

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POST PRODUCTION www.content-technology.com/postproduction

Orchestrate Forward - Amazon Nimble Studio

Hailed as allowing users to “create a new content production studio in just a few hours”, Amazon Nimble Studio is designed to give content producers the ability to manage rendering, remote workstation and pipeline resources according to budget and need.

THE NEW CLOUD-BASED PLATFORM supports both Windows and Linux, and employs high performance workstations powered by Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) G4dn instances with NVIDIA Graphical Processing Units (GPUs), shared file storage from Amazon FSx, and lowlatency streaming via the AWS global network.

the first time that’s been completely realised.

Nimble really brings that entire artist pipeline together.

Amazon Nimble Studio is available in six AWS Regions and AWS Local Zones: US East (N. Virginia), US West (Oregon) Region, Canada (Central) Region, Europe (London) Region, Asia Pacific (Sydney) Region, and US Local Zone (Los Angeles), with additional region support to be announced.

“We released a 200-page whitepaper on how you could build your own studio in a cloud, and it spans 50 different AWS services and partner things like Teradici, and Weka, and so on, and it’s just a massive amount of work. It could totally be done, and we have customer case studies like Untold Studios [the UK-based group whose credits include The Crown] that have gone through that effort and done it themselves, but Nimble really just makes that easier for customers. We take all the infrastructure orchestration, we tie the storage and the streaming to the workstation for your artists, and we make that all completely seamless between the creative workflow and the render farm. It’s basically just an end-to-end content creation pipeline now.”

According to Kyle Roche, General Manager for Nimble Studio at AWS, “If you look at the Content Production pillar in general, this is one of the five pillars that we announced under the AWS for M&E initiative. We focused basically on three areas of Content Production, and these are Rendering which is the compute and storage to render at scale. We look at virtual workstations as part of this Content Production pillar as well, especially with COVID and the push for work from home over the last year. Lastly, in that Content Production pillar, we talk a lot about solutions that bridge the infrastructure between those two things. I think if you look at the creative pipeline from an artist sitting on a workstation, designing, or modelling, or texturing an asset, all the way through to the render farm, now you have that complete picture, end-to-end within AWS, which is I think

“Correct. I think there’s actually more nuances available that they’re faced with as well. If you consider, say Untold Studios, or any of these customers that are running their own infrastructure, workstations particularly are time sensitive to when they’re on. If I have to start coordinating when people come to work, when they leave the office, should I start them early, should I leave them on afterwards?

And then, how do I transfer from the working storage on a virtual workstation back to shared storage for the rest for my artists? They might be in different time zones, and Nimble takes care of all that for them, too. We priced it in a way that it’s completely on-demand, so they don’t have to worry about this artist came in at

In addition to AWS solutions, such as the AWS Thinkbox Deadline render management application, artists can work with third-party applications and integrate custom software applications into Amazon Nimble Studio via Amazon Machine Images (AMIs).

C+T: While Untold Studios built their own studio in the cloud, maintaining that system would be a massive undertaking?

this particular time, I need to make sure Kyle Roche, General Manager, there’s an EC2 Amazon Nimble Studio.

Instance available, or I want the storage from yesterday’s work on this texture to be available for this lighting or comping artist.

We coordinated all the work in storage across the team and, basically, completely automated the orchestration of the infrastructure for those workstations.

“It’s a pretty big cost savings for customers as well, but that’s not really the only value. If you look at how these studios are creating, where the data exists on the artist workstations is usually not the same spot where they’re going to render. It’s just a tonne of friction to move this massive amount of data around, get it uploaded, downloaded, or in a central spot where you can run the rendering jobs, and Nimble Studio takes care of that as well.

When the artists create, all of the assets that they do create are in a central spot. When you render from any of these workstations, it can pull the entire job. That saves, not just time on coordinating your workstations, but a tonne of money on data transfer, and you get to iterate more frequently which obviously is very important for content production.”

How would a VFX house utilise Nimble?

“What you do first, you setup your studio. We ask a number of questions, and we generate a script that’s built on what we call CDK which is our Cloud Development Kit, and that automates cloud formation templates, spins up all of your studio infrastructure. Once that’s set up, the next step is to customise that workstation image, and that point is where you start to see

Taking the Initiative: AWS for Media and Entertainment

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ACCORDING TO KYLE ROCHE, the AWS for Media & Entertainment initiative, launched in April 2021, is designed to “… put the capabilities that both AWS has directly and our partner community has indirectly, together to help customers more easily navigate the slew of options that exist in the [AWS] ecosystem.

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The AWS for Media & Entertainment (M&E) includes nine AWS Services, 11 AWS Solutions, dedicated AWS appliances, and solutions and service offerings from more than 400 AWS Partners, including AWS Partners such as Adobe,

Arc XP, Autodesk, Deluxe, Dolby, Epic Games, Evertz, Grass Valley, Imagine Communications, Mission, Slalom, Sony Media Cloud Services, TrackIt, Teradici, and Wizeline.

Services and solutions are matched against five solution areas, or “Pillars”: Content Production; Media Supply Chain & Archive; Broadcast; Directto-Consumer & Streaming; and Data Science & Analytics.

AWS solutions and service include Amazon Nimble Studio; AWS Elemental MediaPackage, AWS Elemental MediaConnect, AWS Elemental

MediaLive, AWS Elemental MediaConvert, AWS Elemental MediaStore, AWS Elemental MediaTailor, and Amazon Interactive Video Service (Amazon IVS).

“Other than Nimble,” says Roche, “it was pretty much all the things that exist today through the Amazon Marketplace, through our partner network, or directly through AWS. We’re just gathering things in a way that’s more useful and easier to find for our customers.

Visit https://aws.amazon.com/media

POST PRODUCTION these workloads work. A VFX shop might put Houdini, and Maya, or Blendr, and Substance all in one node, whereas an architecture Shop might be doing some CAD tools. Then their Studio Administrator basically decides, here’s the type of workstation that are available for those types of artists. And then from there, they tie it to whatever the backend is on that production pipeline.

“It’s rendering for VFX. It could be like a game build pipeline for a game shop, or still renders for architecture or product visualisation. It kind of varies based on that, but we give the studio complete control over what those workstations have installed on them and what licenses they bring for the artist as well.”

With all the different applications, when it comes to billing, it’s just one bill?

“This is one of the intersections if you go back to the AWS for M&E initiative. We have so many partners that have offerings on the rendering side. I know we have north of 70 different partners that have rendering packages that work with Thinkbox Deadline. We have partners like Teradici which handle streaming for workstations, Weka for storage. There’s a whole slew of ecosystem partners. When I’m in the studio and I spin up my particular version of that desktop, I can pick any of these and any of the solutions that Amazon has to offer as well. We don’t do a lot of work in the DCT space, so you’re going to see customers installing Autodesk Maya and bringing their entitlements for that, or Houdini, or Unreal Engine. That’s all been driven this set of partner solutions that you put on top of your workstation.

“We don’t pass that bill through unless it’s coming from the AWS Marketplace. You can bring your entitlements. You can get some from us. You can get some directly from the partner. It’s your choice.”

And when the job is finished, what form does that take?

“What we did bundle was basically, if we separate what I do with the content versus creating it. On the how I’m creating it side, we bundle basically the workstation time for the artist, again, regardless of what type of artist.

The streaming, we give you basically enough bandwidth to stream Dual 4K back from that workstation, and then the storage that the artist is working on at that particular time. And then all

Maya within Amazon Nimble Studio.

that storage is shared across their whole studio.

“VFX is a little bit ahead with Nimble than some of the other industries, but Thinkbox Deadline, you can use Conductor, you can attach any other rendering package you want. But that rendering job would be pulled out of that working storage.

“If you were a game shop, and you have Unity, or Unreal, or Lumberyard on your machines, and all of your game builds go to the same directory, and then that could go off to your build pipeline, or your deploy pipeline.

“The rendering is attached by default. If you are doing any rendering, 2D, 3D or real-time, those pipelines are available through Thinkbox and some of our partners. But, the game build pipeline, you’d have to put a partner solution on the back of it, architecture, the same sort of thing. It would be done by a partner solution.”

How much of a cultural shift is involved and do you give advice on that?

there with workstations, right? And I think this hybrid model where customers are rendering parts of their workload in the cloud already, that will continue for quite some time - maybe wait for opportunistic hardware refresh recycles, or something like that.

“But, in the same way that they’re bursting their render capacity, I think studios can use the cloud to burst their artists’ bench, or the number of people they have working, or their geographic location. And that’s something they haven’t really been able to do on-prem. I can’t have five artists in a different city without investing in an office and desktop. I think we’ll see them burst their artists’ team in a way that they used to burst their rendering jobs. I think on-prem will continue to change and evolve, as it does in every industry, but it’s definitely not the end of on-prem.

What’s the roadmap for the future? Does this spell the end of on-prem?

“As far as a roadmap, we’ll continue to try to make things easier for customers. I think the AWS M&E initiative outlines the different partners and which pillars are focused on.

And, we’ll try to make tighter integrations with them, make it easier for customers to link these solutions to things like their Nimble Studio instance. That’s a main focus for 2021, as well as just making rendering easier in general. I think rendering, it’s still a big compute job. It’s very coordinated across sometimes thousands and thousands of machines. There’s always work to do to make that more seamless for customers as well.”

“I think on-prem, there’s large investments out

Visit https://aws.amazon.com/nimble-studio

“We do. Actually, in a lot of cases, we help sit by customers and help them design. We have a great team of solution architects from different studios and professional services, resources that can help customers look at what they have, look at the pipeline, how it’s built, and help them remap that into what this could look like on the cloud and what it maybe should look like. There’s a lot of collaboration back and forth, and we’re happy to do that.”

NEW ZEALAND’S WETA DIGITAL has partnered with software provider, Autodesk, Inc., to launch WetaM – a cloud-based product offering that provides tools designed and developed by Weta Digital, fully embedded in Autodesk Maya.

The launch of WetaM marks the first product launch under a newly formed Software-as-aService (SaaS) division within Weta Digital. This new business arm is an integral part of Weta’s expansion strategy to offer professional and prosumer tools to artists across the global entertainment industry.

WetaM productises Weta’s unique set of

Weta intends to rollout WetaM as a private beta in Q4 2021. The new service will offer a suite of 100 tools built with Weta’s “DNA”, including academy award-winning artist tools, procedural workflows, and AI-assisted architectures.

together the most creative minds in the world and has been a pioneering innovator in the visual effects and entertainment industry for decades,” said Prem Akkaraju, CEO of Weta Digital. “WetaM is a transformational move that will raise the bar for global creative production, redefining the industry in the process. At its core, this partnership with Autodesk will extend the reach of the Weta magic, making it more accessible for artists in pursuit of creating amazing characters and worlds across film and television.”

“WetaM is the first step in the democratisation of VFX and animation production. Weta Digital brings

Visit http://www.wetafx.co.nz and http://www.autodesk.com

proprietary VFX tools for artists. It is built on Maya’s open API, and will be commercialised by Weta Digital as a subscription cloud service. Artists from around the world will have access to one complete – from stage to screen – cloud-based pipeline.

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Weta Digital to Launch VFX SaaS Platform

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POST PRODUCTION

Mistika Boutique Introduces Dolby Vision 4.0 SGO HAS ANNOUNCED the latest upgrade of Mistika 10 which introduces new features contributing to enhanced HDR and colourmanaged workflows, updated SDK libraries, performance boost, ergonomic improvements and more.

Dolby Vision 4.0 with new Color GUI Mistika Boutique and Ultima are now equipped with Dolby Vision 4.0, empowering creatives and postproduction facilities with the HDR workflow required for the latest industry standards. Mistika users will also find a new, dedicated Dolby

Vision Colour Interface, displayed in a visually much more attractive way, facilitating HDR grading with Mistika’s professional colour toolset – including a brand new and interactive hexagon tool. Interactive support for the latest version of Dolby Vision has also been added to Precision and Tangent colour control panels.

Also included with this release is a new Precision control panel interface with overhauled mapping, and stunning graphics – all combined to provide greatly improved overall functionality and operational

experience. Enhancements have also been made for Tangent panels, comprehensively optimising mapping and performance.

Reorganised Unicolour and Blackmagic Generation 5 Colour Science Reorganised in this new release

by Colour Space type, Mistika’s Unicolour tool now supports Blackmagic Generation 5 colour science, enabling a complete colourmanaged workflow with Blackmagic RAW files.

Performance boost, updated SDK’s and vertical stack import

In addition, users running Mistika Boutique on Windows will notice a significant performance boost – up to three times faster rendering, interactivity and playback. Faster tracking, animation and navigation has also been unlocked by optimising Shape Management.

All SDK libraries have also been updated to support the latest cameras and a new system of importing vertical stacks, specifically designed for dealing with VR media has been added.

Visit www.sgo.es

Boris FX Releases Sapphire 2021.5 with Native M1 Mac Support BORIS FX SAPPHIRE is now available with native Apple M1 support. The 2021.5 update represents a major step forward for artists who rely on Macs to add photorealistic visual effects to film, television, commercial, and streaming projects.

“Apple’s breakthrough M1 technology delivers lightning-fast speeds to Macs – a must-have for today’s post-production turnarounds,” states Boris Yamnitsky, Boris FX President and Founder. “Artists will love working with Sapphire’s renowned creative effects natively inside M1 technology. Get ready for supercharged workflows that save tons of time.”

New features include: • Native support for M1-powered Macs.

• Adobe After Effects multi-frame

rendering support (currently in Adobe public beta).

• Better speed and interactivity for the Sapphire preset browser.

• Improved Sapphire PanAndZoom with added internal image cache and enhanced functionality (Avid Media Composer only).

• Lens Flare presets.

Sapphire’s PanAndZoom effect received a significant upgrade primarily due to suggestions from customers like veteran freelance editor Jonathan Moser. “It’s great to know that the team at Boris FX takes the time to listen to their customers and cares about making our lives easier,” says Moser. “I’m so happy with the improvements to Sapphire PanAndZoom. It will save a lot of editors a lot of time.”

“Sapphire has a long history of listening closely to feedback from the community and doing our best

to incorporate those changes and make a better product,” says Brian Fox, Director of Product Marketing. “When Jonathan reached out and explained the limitations of the old Sapphire PanAndZoom workflow, I knew this was something we could help with.”

Sapphire 2021.5 is available as a plugin for Adobe, Avid, and OFX hosts including, Autodesk Flame, Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve and Fusion Studio, Foundry Nuke, VEGAS Pro, and more. Purchasing options include permanent licenses, upgrades, and annual/monthly subscriptions. Current subscription and upgrade and support plan customers receive a complimentary update.

The 2021.5 release coincides with a brand new Nitro FX Transition Pack created by director/editor Angus Emmerson, known for his trendy glitch and smooth warp transitions on high-profile broadcasts like Formula One Racing, The Masked Singer, and The People’s Choice Awards. Nitro FX includes over 50 fully customisable resolutionindependent transitions that add high-energy transitions to promos, sizzle cuts, or trailers.

Visit https://borisfx.com

Adobe Creative Cloud Updates ADOBE HAS RELEASED new features and performance updates across Creative Cloud video and audio tools that enhance collaboration, improve workflows, and boost performance.

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The May release features notable updates to Audition that gives users more speed and power to match the growing demand for audio content, from podcasts to audio books, as audio becomes an increasingly core part of digital experiences. The new Audition features in this release include:

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• Audition on Apple M1 – Audition now runs natively on Apple M1 systems providing improved performance for recording and

mixing high-quality audio content such as podcasts, broadcast, sound design, audio restoration, and more.

• Loudness Meter (also in Premiere Pro) – Provides industry standard ITU-based loudness monitoring for broadcast, podcast, and streaming media content. Presets support common regional loudness requirements, like EBU for Europe or ATSC for the Americas, while new presets ensure compatibility with online destinations, such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Netflix, and YouTube.

• Strip Silence – A highly-requested feature that allows users to

identify and remove silent or inactive regions in recorded clips, without losing synchronisation in multitrack audio. This feature is extremely helpful for cleaning up voice recording, interviews, and preparing multi-track edits, such as podcasts or audio documentary content.

Additionally, Adobe is continuing to enhance workflows in Premiere Pro with the inclusion of: • Text Gradients – Text gradients are now part of the modern titling tools in Premiere Pro. Apply gradients to text in the Essential Graphics panel to add sheen to letters or colourful effects for text and titles.

• Label Colours for Captions – Caption items in the Captions track now have the same label colour options as other items on the timeline.

• Improved Caption trimming – Caption items are linked to their associated video and audio clips, making it easier to fine-tune edits and keep everything in sync on the Timeline.

• The May release will also include performance improvements for Canon XF HEVC and support for DirectX12 display technology on Windows.

Visit www.adobe.com

POST PRODUCTION

Boris FX Announces Silhouette 2021 BORIS FX SILHOUETTE is set to further cement its mark on the world of film and television. The advanced rotoscoping, non-destructive paint, and compositing toolset is now available as an affordable plugin to the post-production industry’s most popular host applications.

Artists who have previously relied on Silhouette as a standalone application on projects including Avengers: Endgame, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, and The Mandalorian can now access the same powerful tools directly inside Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro, Foundry Nuke, Blackmagic Fusion and Resolve, Autodesk Flame, and VEGAS Pro. “The role of paint and rotoscope artists has become increasingly important as production values soar.

Invisible effects work is a major component on every film and TV project – think matte painting, wire removal, digital make-up, and more,” says Boris Yamnitsky, President and Founder, Boris FX. “The ability to use Silhouette as a plugin directly inside host applications like After Effects, Nuke, and Resolve will dramatically change how these artists work. It also further aligns the Boris FX product family (Sapphire, Continuum, Mocha Pro) together and streamlines post-production workflows as artists can easily jump in and out of any Boris FX product without leaving their project timelines. The result? Major timesavings and greater collaboration.”

“Our goal with Silhouette 2021 was to create next-level editing tools to handle the most difficult roto shots,” states Marco Paolini, Silhouette Product Designer. “Complex shape animations are easier than ever

before with the new gestural brush reshape tool, point grouping, collapsing, and distribution.

Many of the new tools and enhancements, too many to mention, are a result of artist feedback from around the world.”

“Silhouette has always been the go-to software for getting the hardest roto, tracking, and paint tasks done. When you are faced with a difficult deadline it’s nice to know you can rely on a solid set of tools to help knock out the task in front of you,” remarks James Pina, LAIKA, RotoPaint Lead Technical. “With the new user-suggested features, it just keeps getting better and better every year without compromising the original spirit of the software.”

Silhouette 2021 Highlights: • Multi-Host Plugin: All Silhouette features are now available when launched as a plugin.

(The previous Silhouette Paint plugin was limited to paint-only functions.) Artists now have access to the entire node-based workflow for roto, paint, tracking, warping, keying, and compositing in their host application.

• Lens Correction Node: The Lens Correction node can calibrate and correct lens distortion for advanced effects tasks or generate and export an ST Map

for other host applications. The Lens Correction node is built on shared technology from Mocha Pro’s Lens Module.

• Roto Editing Tools: Based on artist feature requests, new tools and functionality make Silhouette’s superior rotoscoping capability even stronger.

• Brush Reshape: Uses a circular brush to automatically select and then move points when you click and drag them using the Magnetic Reshape behavior.

• Point Collapse and Distribute: Collapses a selection of points into a very small area that can later be distributed between surrounding points. This is useful for shapes where the complexity changes over time.

• Point Groups: Groups of points can be pre-defined and then quickly edited as a group in the Reshape and Transform tools.

• Split Shapes: Similar to the Split Edit function in non-linear editing

systems where a clip is split in two. Split Shapes is practical for shapes that transform from simple to complex and viceversa.

• Weighted MultiFrame: Using the new Fade In/Fade Out parameters, keyframe adjustments can be dynamically weighted over user-definable time periods to control the intensity of an adjustment over multiple keyframes.

• Roto Review and Approval Improvements: Notes assigned to objects (shapes, layers, trackers) can now be displayed in the Viewer. The convenient review and approval tool lets artists easily see notes provided by their supervisors.

• Paint Enhancements: Clone Source Masking and improved Color Picker.

Visit https://borisfx.c

Frame.io Unveils Version 3.7.1

Frame.io 3.7.1 includes redesigned Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects extensions with intuitive new user interfaces. Editors and motion graphics artists will find the most commonly used controls and commands at their fingertips.

Navigation controls have been moved from the bottom of the screen to the top, giving users a

larger and clearer view of assets.

Switching between projects and teams has been streamlined, file path breadcrumbs have been added, and the download button now lets users import media directly into Premiere Pro or download it for later review. It’s also easier to upload active sequences into Frame.io, making sharing the latest version of a cut faster than ever.

navigation panel to the web app.

Simply click and drag to show additional folders and text, or shrink it to leave more room for assets.

New shortcut menus let customers quickly move assets up one folder, making it even faster to reorganise clips. Files can now be uploaded directly from Google Drive on iOS devices. This makes it easier for users to add assets, no matter where they are.

The new Adobe extensions are free for all Frame.io users and are available for download in the Adobe Creative Cloud Marketplace.

“We’re excited to share these improvements with the over one million customers that count on Frame.io every day,” said CEO Emery Wells. “The updated Adobe

Frame.io 3.7.1 also adds a resizable

Premiere Pro and After Effects extensions dramatically improve the way editors and motion graphics artists work with Frame. io. Plus, we’ve also taken some of our top feature requests and packaged them into this update.

We hope you’ll enjoy the improved experience and, as always, look forward to hearing your feedback.”

Frame.io 3.7.1 is a free update for all Frame.io users. The new iOS updates can be found on the App Store, and no actions are needed to access improvements to the web app.

Visit http://frame.io

POST PRODUCTION

FRAME.IO, THE CLOUD-BASED video review and approval platform, has announced Frame.io 3.7.1.

This update features new Adobe integration extensions along with dozens of other performance improvements and enhancements.

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM Silver Trak Digital Launches Media Room 3.0 IN WHAT THE COMPANY is describing as a gamechanger for the media and entertainment industries, Silver Trak Digital has launched version 3.0 of its cloud-based Media Room asset management solution.

Media Room 3.0 has a number of new features including a fully-elastic Aspera cloud service allowing users to collect and distribute files at up to 3Gbs, a frame accurate player, clipping, transcoding and framerate conversions. It also boasts per-recipient dynamic watermarking, IP restrictions and 2FA for increased security.

There is a full studio-grade DRM and enhanced artwork capabilities for electronic screener campaigns. In addition, there is AI/ML, speech to text, face and logo recognition, enhanced audio handling and a new Media Room Media Centre for controlled sharing of content.

of Media Room’s development we consulted with our clients to make sure the features offered were relevant and effective. This close consultative partnership with our clients has been one of the major reasons for Media Room’s success.”

Fast forward to 2021 and Media Room 3.0 has become a preeminent, affordable asset management platform that provides users with even more features than before. Built to manage native broadcast files, including 4K content, Media Room allows clients to collect,

Silver Trak COO Christian Christiansen.

As Silver Trak Digital COO Christian Christiansen explains, “Media Room 3.0 is the culmination of nearly a decade’s development. In 2012 Silver Trak Digital was operating as a 9 to 5 business in an industry that required content services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Media Room was developed to place Silver Trak Digital right on the user’s desktop providing a 24 x 7 operation.

“With the industry facing major technology changes moving from tape-based workflows to file-based ones, supporting technologies needed to transition accordingly and provide an easy way for files to be captured, stored, searched and transcoded for rapid distribution.

Hence Media Room was born.”

Silver Trak wanted its clients to be able to self-serve many of the services they offered including Aspera file-based deliveries, transcodes and framerate conversions. It was Media Room that would enable this range of services to become available to clients who, critically, would only be paying for them when they used them making the transition to filebased workflows easy and cost effective.

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

“At the time we decided on developing Media Room, the industry had gone through a period of contraction,” continues Christiansen. “Many technical and operational people had left and more and more clients relied on Silver Trak Digital to be not just the service provider of highly technical services, but also the adviser on technical specs. It was clear Media Room had to play a bigger and more important part in our clients’ day to day operations.”

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Thus, Media Room was further developed so less technically-minded users could perform more complex services via a particularly easy to use interface.

Christiansen adds, “We had to offer Media Room at a price point that would suit the Australian media industry and would allow organisations of any size to take advantage of Media Room’s flexibility. Users, of course, wanted Media Room to make them more efficient, so at every stage

Silver Trak Digital’s new Media Room 3.0 in action.

store and manage content in an intuitive, secure environment.

Explaining the game changing nature of Media Room 3.0 Christiansen says, “Users of Media Room 3.0 can now get all of the features and functionality listed above in one, easy to use interface. We are particularly proud of the new Screener module that allows companies to be individually creative in their presentation and look of screener campaigns with enhanced artwork features, dynamic watermarking and full studio grade DRM. Media Room 3.0 sets a new high bar as result of working in such close partnership with the broadcast, news, sports, distribution, production and post production industries over the past ten years.”

An example of the effectiveness of Media Room 3.0 comes in the distribution of content, which gets a major boost when it is aggregated and collected through Media Room. The content is easily uploaded by third party producers or post production facilities into Media Room which in turn also provides a secure sharing environment for rushes. Media Room then facilitates the storage and management of hundreds of thousands of files in every imaginable format and then delivers them to clients around the world via a simple, straightforward and efficient Media Room-generated delivery.

Christiansen has seen an unparalleled rise in the

use and success of Media Room over the last ten years with clients now using the solution across multiple verticals and industries.

He notes that, in addition, one of the major benefits that comes with Media Room is the overall and underlying business of Silver Trak Digital itself. As a result, any client who uses Media Room has easy access to the many services Silver Trak Digital offers such as “eyes on” QC, content preparation and packaging for over 100 OTT, SVOD and AVOD platforms, DCP creation and distribution, and more.

Christian Christiansen concludes, “Media Room benefits all of our clients by making them more efficient, more mobile and agile. As such Media Room 3.0 is a tremendous asset to the industry in Australia as it enables cost effective access to digital services so they are no longer cost prohibitive and challenging.

“Even if you are not a Media Room client in the broadcast, production or post-production industries, you will have most certainly experienced Media Room by either receiving content from or uploading content into Media Room. Media Room 3.0 builds on a ten-year pedigree and takes its users to the next level of services for the future.”

Visit http://www.silvertrak.com.au and http://www.mediaroom.com.au

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

Imagine Communications Unveils Versio IOX Express NAS IMAGINE COMMUNICATIONS HAS ADDED to its storage portfolio with the introduction of Versio IOX Express NAS, providing broadcast and production facilities with a high-availability shared storage solution that enables on-air scalability and pay-as-you-go expansion.

hardware ready for immediate deployment, reducing the complexity and effort of onsite time. For 24/7 broadcasters, Versio IOX Express provides a flexible path forward, enabling easy scaling of capacity or bandwidth – without having to take the system off air.

The ability to manage a system from hundreds of miles away is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.

Versio IOX Express offers tools needed for simple and effective storage management, whether onsite or working remotely. The solutions are offered in bundles of predefined capacity and bandwidth and are delivered with software and

Powered by the EditShare EFS solution, built on Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) enterprisegrade hardware, Versio IOX Express is designed to sustain prolonged operation in the most demanding environments. True shared storage access eliminates the need for resource-intensive asset transfers. Coupled with the parity stack and

RAID protection, Versio IOX Express guarantees the fastest client recovery time of less than 20ms.

Versio IOX Express is offered in predefined bundles, allowing users to choose capacity and parity stack topology to suit their needs. This simplifies the order process and makes pricing transparent. Users can choose from a single device, relying on the internal RAID-6 protection, a 1+1 configuration with stack mirroring, or a high-availability N+1 single-stack parity architecture.

Visit www.imaginecommunications.com

Cantemo Portal 5.0 Delivers New Content Insights insights into user’s assets. The upgraded history page provides the ability to trace more records for an item. This feature allows users to filter an asset’s history, viewing all the individuals who have interacted with an item, as well as tracing any metadata updates. The audit wizard enables users to create and schedule new audits at set intervals. Scheduled audits can send notifications to both an associated email account and notifications in Portal, allowing users to download audits as a JSON, CSV or XML file.

The latest enhancements are supported by updated components and an improved user experience. Portal 5.0 offers a new Vidispine

Archive Framework plugin, for extensive storage configuration from third-party archive vendors.

To maximise customer’s content data, the latest version of Portal includes 22 new API endpoints for retrieving and manipulating Collections and Items.

Visit www.cantemo.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

CANTEMO HAS ANNOUNCED the latest update to its media asset management system, Cantemo Portal. Portal 5.0 has launched new features which offer greater control, detailed content insights and an improved user experience.

The latest version of Portal features an updated interface and entirely new auditing capabilities, which offer more control over the data associated with content. These improvements are designed to provide users with the ability to manage their metadata more effectively and tailor search filters as needed.

Portal 5.0 now allows users immediate metadata access and has improved auditing capabilities which deliver comprehensive

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

Updates for ShareBrowser Media Asset Manager THE LATEST RELEASE of Studio Network Solutions’ ShareBrowser, the media asset manager included with EVO video editing servers, features an intuitive new interface, extended bin search, easier creation and downloading of preview proxies, a new web app, and a range of third-party integrations.

ShareBrowser’s new interface allows users to toggle between two thumbnail view settings – list view and gallery view. In addition, ShareBrowser Bins can now be searched, where queries can return results from individual shares, all shares, or even a defined selection of shares.

You can also use ShareBrowser bins with Nomad, EVO’s included remote editing utility suitable for teams working from home or in a hybrid onprem/off-prem environment. Simply add media you will need to access remotely to a bin, and retrieve proxy files of the media in that bin using Nomad from home.

clip was not transcoded, or if you haven’t set up EVO’s auto-transcode feature yet, the new ShareBrowser can instantly create a preview proxy with a simple right-click selection.

These preview proxies can then be downloaded to any remote workstation with Nomad and used for offline editing, mezzanine workflows, and collaborators working from anywhere.

With the ShareBrowser web app, users can search, preview, tag, and comment on media through their preferred web browser, even without local network access to the file system.

Simply point your browser to EVO, log in, and get tagging.

With the new ShareBrowser, web app users can also browse the entire directory structure, navigate files and folders, search by volume, create preview proxies, and download preview proxies for offline review and remote editing.

To simplify workflows, ShareBrowser helps users easily see which files are online and offline with a simple, visual file status. Offline files will show as transparent when browsing media in both list and gallery views, so editors can easily identify the file’s status before taking an action on it.

EVO has integrations with Adobe, Ross Video, DaVinci Resolve, Amazon, NewTek, Final Cut Pro, cloud storage, and many others. With the ShareBrowser panel, for example, Adobe users can search their media asset management system directly in Premiere or AE, import their media into a project, and easily see all of their metadata for a faster video editing workflow.

The new ShareBrowser panel also allows Adobe creators to open a Premiere project directly from the panel and open a clip directly in the Premiere source window from their shared storage – all without leaving Adobe Premiere Pro.

The new ShareBrowser makes it easier to create and download preview proxies for offline editing and remote production workflows.

Slingshot, EVO’s automations engine and API, can automatically transcode media into preview proxies on a recurring schedule. But, if a particular

ShareBrowser MAM software is also now available as a workflow integration plugin for DaVinci Resolve Studio video editing software by Blackmagic Design. The new workflow integration provides access to the ShareBrowser MAM system from directly inside of DaVinci Resolve,

ShareBrowser’s tagging features make it easier to add custom metadata like the DP or client’s name to a media file. It’s also more intuitive to add tags to entire folders in bulk, a useful tool for importing new footage shot from a single location or cascading tags into themed media content.

allowing video editors to search, tag, preview, comment, and import media without leaving the Resolve video editing workspace.

ShareBrowser also features an integrated extension in Final Cut Pro and works with all major production applications like Avid Media Composer, Pro Tools, Blender, Nuke, and more.

EVO also integrates with a variety of cloud service platforms and can be configured to automatically backup and replicate media to the cloud for a lowmaintenance archival workflow.

For LTO/LTFS tape archives, ShareBrowser has a new integration with StorageDNA. Users can search archived files in ShareBrowser, identified by a tape icon on the media thumbnail. Users can also send clips to the StorageDNA archive or restore archived media with a simple right-click selection.

Studio Network Solutions has also added new upgrades to the ShareBrowser API for better third-party integrations and a more seamless content creation experience for its users.

Custom fields are now connected more fluidly within the API, so users now have the ability to parse, insert, and search custom metadata with the API. This makes it much easier to transition to ShareBrowser if you’ve been using another media asset management or digital asset management (DAM) system.

Also new are protected and invisible fields in ShareBrowser, accessible through the API. This allows third party integrations to create and edit fields that users can’t modify (protected) and fields that users cannot see at all (invisible). These restrictive fields minimise the potential for user error while maintaining system-to-system links, ensuring files and metadata integrity.

Visit https://www.studionetworksolutions.com

5th Kind Integrates with Box

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

5TH KIND Collaborative Media Solutions has announced a new integration with Box, the Content Cloud, joining its Box Technology and Services Partner Program. The new integration is part of 5th Kind’s Script-to-Screen initiative streamlining production workflows from pre-production through post and beyond. The relationship brings together Box’s leading content management capabilities with 5th Kind’s deep production workflow expertise to help drive new standards around remote collaboration, security, and advanced metadata.

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CORE by 5th Kind is a secure, cloud-based collaboration and asset management platform focused on improving production workflows from script-to-screen and supporting remote production. When files are uploaded into CORE from integrated tools like Box, and other sources such as live camera feeds from set, it automatically associates the metadata from the integrated system. This data makes every file a secure, reusable, findable asset as it moves through production workflows, file shares, and downloads. Every file is individually watermarked and granular permissions limit

access to it.

The Box+CORE integration allows entertainment teams at any stage of production, from any location, to engage in the creative process, all from a browser, with nothing to install, download or configure. For CORE users, the Box integration extends the value of the Content Cloud’s collaboration tools, best-in-breed integrated applications, and enterprise-level product services, like Box Sign.

With CORE, Box users gain access to faceted search, real-time review and collaboration, frame-accurate video annotations, granular

access controls, and on-the-fly watermarking.

Box customer’s retain access to Box’s security and compliance features as well as access to its 1400+ integrated applications.

Visit https://www.5thkind.com and www.box.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

ATEME Launches ‘PILOT Media’ Orchestration Solution ATEME HAS ANNOUNCED the launch of PILOT Media, a cloud-native solution designed to bring business intelligence, workflow automation, and efficiencies to the media supply chain.

The cloud-native solution facilitates the controlled migration of production and operations to new service models – whether those be on-premise or in a public or hybrid cloud – enabling content owners, broadcasters and service providers to harness the power of the cloud in whatever capacity suits them best.

PILOT Media’s manage-by-exception approach enables business logic, metadata-driven automation for media capture, ingestion, management, enrichment, storage, and publishing.

This creates efficiencies and reduces operational overheads throughout the media supply chain.

Moreover, schedule-aware prioritisation of workflows ensures service-level requirements are met, while also lowering operational costs.

PILOT Media features: • A simple drag-and-drop workflow builder to support a nimble operating model.

• Management insight, with dashboards updated in real time from overall operations or specific workflows.

• Robust reporting tools which provide detailed management information to support capacity and workload planning.

Jean-Louis Lods, VP Media Supply Chain Solutions, ATEME, said, “Viewers today have more options than ever in terms of what content to watch – both on TV and on their personal devices. With this, content and service providers are facing fierce competition. We are excited to launch PILOT Media to the market as in doing so we are not only enabling our customers to compete more efficiently and maximise ROI by reducing their operational costs, but we are giving them the opportunity to create new revenue streams, for example by launching a D2C OTT service or through rapid onboarding for distribution.”

Visit https://www.ateme.com

Dalet Expands Ecosystem with Third-Party Integrations

Cloud-based infrastructures and services are becoming more practical for content access, storage and asset management. However, many organisations prefer the flexibility of multicloud platforms for optimal levels of security, performance and reliability, as well as business continuity and system redundancy.

According to Bea Alonso, Chief Market Officer at Dalet, “The company will continue to explore integrations with providers of complementary solutions, especially cloud infrastructures and services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure and most recently, Alibaba Cloud – to strengthen its

position as a true multi-cloud support vendor.

Dalet Flex was one of the earliest cloud content supply chain solutions, and works seamlessly with these four different cloud infrastructure vendors.”

Dalet FlexMAM seamlessly integrates with archive solutions such as Spectra BlackPearl The newest integrations include: • Extended Adobe Premiere Pro integrations for Dalet Flex and Dalet Galaxy five to support a wider set of editing scenarios, especially remote editing. FlexXTEND, the Dalet Flex panel integrated within Adobe Premiere Pro now includes the ability to collaborate, store and archive Adobe Premiere Pro projects for centralised management.

• Dalet Galaxy xCloud on Microsoft Azure to support cloud-based radio production workflows and extend Dalet Galaxy xCloud to a wider range of customers.

• Dalet Flex and Dalet Galaxy five with Spectra Logic’s BlackPearl RioBroker Archive to enhance existing workflow orchestration with expanded archive management capabilities.

• Other recent Dalet integrations include Dalet Flex with Online Video Platform provider Kinow, Dalet AmberFin Cloud Transcoder Service with

InSync FrameFormer and increased device support for Dalet OnePlay including Telemetrics Robotics and Avid Maestro.

Dalet now offers more than 300 active integrations across its product range, covering every customer requirement from third-party integrations, cloud services and more. Its systems are designed for seamless third-party compatibility, allowing customers, system integrators and other manufacturers to add new capabilities through open application programming interfaces (APIs), including B2B and B2C REST APIs in Dalet Flex, and software development kits. Dalet APIs for Dalet Flex, Dalet Media Cortex, Dalet AmberFin and Dalet Galaxy five are all available.

Visit https://www.dalet.com

AJA Delivers PAK Dock Pro

ATTO Support for Apple macOS 12 Monterey

AJA VIDEO SYSTEMS recently rolled out the new compact PAK Dock Pro media reader featuring USB-C connectivity. With no external power supply required, the compact, plug-and-play device streamlines the transfer of Apple ProRes and Avid DNx files from AJA Ki Pro Ultra 12G digital video recorders to desktop and laptop computers on macOS and Windows operating systems.

PAK Dock Pro supports the latest USB 3.2 Gen 1 standard via the USB-C connection, ensuring broad compatibility and extremely fast transfer speeds.

CANTEMO HAS ANNOUNCED the Nnetwork and storage connectivity provider ATTO has announced a commitment to support macOS 12 Monterey which was unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2021 (WWDC21).

Designed to simplify media transfers in broadcast, production, post and ProAV environments, PAK Dock Pro allows professionals to quickly and easily ingest files recorded to AJA PAK solid state drives (SSDs) to a desktop or laptop computer. Users remove the PAK media drive from the Ki Pro Ultra 12G, insert it into the PAK Dock Pro and plug the media reader into their computer via USB-C for near-instant editing, highlights creation, archiving and more. PAK Dock Pro is compatible with all AJA PAK drives including the PAK 2000, PAK 1000, PAK 512 and PAK 256, and PAK drives used in legacy Ki Pro Ultra and Ki Pro Quad products.

Visit https://www.aja.com

Products in the ATTO portfolio that will support macOS Monterey include: • ATTO Celerity 32Gb/s (Gen 7 and Gen 6), 16Gb/s (Gen 6) and 8Gb Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs) with ATTO MultiPath Director.

• ATTO ExpressSAS GT 12Gb and ExpressSAS 12Gb SAS/SATA HBAs. • Thunderbolt 3 and 2 enabled ATTO ThunderLink adapters.

• ATTO FastFrame 10/25/40/50/100GbE SmartNICs. • Software including ATTO 360 Tuning Software, ATTO Xtend SAN iSCSI Initiator, ATTO ConfigTool, XstreamVIEW, Express NAV and QuickNAV Visit https://www.atto.com Visit www.cantemo.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

SHIFTS IN THE GLOBAL WORKPLACE over the past two years have led to more geographically dispersed remote employees that still need to connect to headquarters, colleagues, partners and customers worldwide. To achieve the flexibility needed to serve the new remote workforce, content-focused organisations are prioritising system interoperability. They are turning to open solutions like Dalet Flex, Dalet Galaxy five and Dalet AmberFin that offer easy integration, to create extensible remote workflows that can be customised with best of breed solutions such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Microsoft Azure, and Spectra BlackPearl RioBroker.

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AUDIO Digital soundwaves

www.content-technology.com/audio

Govt Green Paper Creates Uncertainty for Wireless Audio WIRELESS AUDIO USERS IN THE CURRENT UHF TV BAND (FREQUENCY RANGE OF 520694MHZ) ARE LOOKING AT A SPECTRUM SQUEEZE SHOULD A RESTACK GO AHEAD AS OUTLINED IN THE AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S Media Reform Green Paper Modernising television regulation in Australia.

According to the Green Paper, should commercial television broadcasters agree to consolidation in the form of shared transmission multiplexes (which would provide the trigger for the ABC and SBS to also consolidate transmission arrangements), a spectrum restack would ensue.

Five services in a particular market would be consolidated across three multiplexes, leaving 84MHz of spectrum in the band available to auction to 5G service providers. This would amount to halving the current UHF TV band.

Currently spread across that band, in amongst the TV channels, are the users of wireless microphones, in-ear monitoring and production communications systems, classed as wireless audio transmitters in the Low Interference Potential Devices (LIPD) Class Licence. Also included in the current band is Channel 27 (520 – 526MHz), a 6MHz slot too narrow for TV broadcasting which is used nationally by LIPD users.

Wireless audio transmitter applications have grown over the years from TV and film, music events, and theatre to sectors such as community centres, houses of worship, conference facilities, healthcare, hospitality and education. It is now estimated that there are over 150,000 channels of wireless audio across the current user base in Australia with sales of new systems running at about 15,000 systems per year. Halving the UHF band would have a number of negative impacts for such users, being secondary users to Free to Air TV services.

In a response to the Green Paper submitted on behalf of AV technology distributor Jands Pty Ltd

by Jeff MacKenzie, the company’s Technology Lead, stated: “The application of this technology continues to grow annually in scale and density to meet the demands of contemporary productions and complex system requirements.

AUDIO

“Any further reduction to the spectrum available to these devices will reduce capacity, increase potential for interference and impose additional management overheads on the very industry sector this paper aims to assist, thus making the stated goal of increasing production of local content even more difficult to attain. Other industry sectors and end-users will also be affected by a reduction in available spectrum.

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“We note that wireless audio transmitters are not specifically mentioned in the Green Paper. We urge the department to consider these systems and ensure allowances are made to support their operation within any new framework that is proposed. The ongoing viability of these systems

is reliant on continued availability of sufficient interference-free spectrum in the UHF TV broadcast band.”

Echoing these concerns, Chris Smith Sales Director – ANZ Professional Audio – Business Communications with fellow technology distributor Sennheiser Australia Pty Ltd stated, “What is proposed in the Green Paper will effectively halve the spectrum available for PMSE (Programme Making and Special Events) systems in Australia, producing significant constraints on the businesses and organisations whose operations depend on these systems and on the audiences who consume the content they deliver.

“We encourage

“We seriously question whether there is any real need to repurpose all of the 600MHz band to 5G applications when there is so much spectrum already available for it, and new innovations are available to help make more efficient use of that spectrum.”

the department to allocate sufficient resources and budget to fund a wide-ranging communications program to target

From the user side, Natalie Peterson, Business Manager for Totally Sound, a production business based in Bunbury, Western Australia, stated: “The performance parameters that wireless audio systems demand cannot be delivered with other technology, not now and not in the timescale being considered in this Green Paper.

and inform such users of any

further changes.

“We have already been through this in 2014/15.

The first Digital Dividend rendered all our wireless inventory useless. This cost our small business $40,000. This played out in businesses across the country. The cost of replacement was significant and there was absolutely no acknowledgement or compensation for the impact/costs incurred.

“We also have a retail and installation arm to the business. We have sold many wireless PA systems to our clients, specifically sporting clubs, churches, celebrants, agricultural clients, schools and funeral directors. In a lot of cases the purchase of their PA system is one of their more significant costs, and they purchase it believing it will work for them for years to come.

“Our business would suffer significantly if the proposals in the Green Paper were implemented.

We have a significant investment in wireless

audio technology. Our investment was made based on the spectrum allocated to it in the Digital Dividend just seven years ago. This equipment cannot be modified to suit the 500MHz band. The Green Paper proposal would make much of our investment worthless, again.”

According to Jands’ Jeff MacKenzie, the Federal Government’s proposed restack timeline (mid2024 to December 2025) is “ambitious” as it fails to account for the relocation of a vast, but unknown, population of LIPD licenced users of wireless audio transmitters. It also ignores the logistics of such a relocation.

“Experience gained during the digital dividend of 2014/2015 taught us that the user base for wireless audio transmitters are extremely difficult to contact as there is no formal licence process or central registry for users of class licenced products,” stated MacKenzie.

“Additionally, many of these end-users are nontechnical and do not routinely follow government or industry news. We still occasionally discover 700 MHz wireless audio transmitters in operation that should have been retired in 2015.

In most cases the operators of these devices were unaware of the previous digital dividend or the changes to the permitted operating range.

“We encourage the department to allocate sufficient resources and budget to fund a wideranging communications program to target and inform such users of any further changes.”

In the long run, however, the question of wireless audio spectrum may be a fait accompli. According to Jason Owen, Managing Director of specialist communications, video and audio company, D2N – Technology Solutions, “I can’t help but think that the telcos and the bigger players are going to win because they’ve got more money to throw at this. I mean, the whole wireless audio space, we’ve just been squeezed over time and it is very challenging. The manufacturers have obviously tried to develop gear that’s wider band and more flexible, but that in itself generates other issues because when you’ve got wideband gear, you’re actually pulling in more noise, so you’ve got to have better filtering and better antennas at the front end.

“I think that the hammer’s already fallen, metaphorically, in that we’re going to lose some more spectrum. It’s just how much, and when, and how we can be compensated for it as an industry, because you’ve got people who have gone out spent real serious money on new audio kit because of the [first] restack.

“We need spectrum that’s consistent. That’s the thing. If it’s less spectrum, fine, but can we nail it down for the next 20 years, so the guys that go and invest, they’re not having to reinvest all the time? They’ve only just paid the first bit of gear off, and they’ve got to go around again - that stuff can ruin businesses, literally.”

SUPERIOR. PORTABLE. WIRELESS. AUDIO

Industry-setting Axient ® Digital sound and performance. Now available to audio professionals in film & portable broadcast. shure.com/ADX5D

AUDIO

On location. In the field. Or at the studio. Wherever production takes you, the ADX5D lets you capture clean, clear audio with standard slot-in portability.

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AUDIO

Sennheiser’s Wireless Digital Evolution RF EXPERT SENNHEISER says it is bringing simplicity to wireless with Evolution Wireless Digital. The series introduces an easy, app-based workflow while retaining all the professionalism, multi-channel capability and reliability that users have come to expect of UHF and 1G8 microphones.

The Smart Assist App As the engineer in your pocket, the app guides you through the set-up in easy steps. An intelligent set-up automatically creates reliable wireless connections, no wireless expertise is required. Users can name channels to make it easy to stay organised, and have access to all system settings. Bluetooth Low Energy allows for remote access to the system and makes sync’ing with the receiver convenient. The app also includes tutorial videos, providing operating instructions all in one place.

Microphone Transmitters Evolution Wireless Digital transmitters have an input dynamic range of 134dB, five times more than the usual 120dB. This means that they can pick up everything from a very soft whisper to a jet engine at 50 yards’ distance – and this eliminates the need for a sensitivity setting on the transmitter entirely. The receiver has been set to a gain value covering most applications, which you can easily change if desired. A new

user interface makes this super-easy – no complex sub-menus, everything is available at a glance.

No Frequency Calculation More and more RF is appearing on stage but Evolution Wireless Digital (EW-D) takes on this complexity and helps you go with the flow. The app will scan the environment to find open frequencies. And as EW-D has borrowed tech from Sennheiser’s top Digital 6000 and Digital 9000 series, the wireless microphone systems do not generate any significant intermodulation products. This not only makes for more room in a given frequency window, but the app can also simply set the wireless links at 600kHz intervals without any frequency calculation and is therefore able to fit in more frequencies than a standard mic system.

EW-D has a low latency of 1.9 milliseconds and a transmitter battery life of up to 12 hours with the BA 70 rechargeable battery pack. A bandwidth of 56MHz with up to 90 channels

per band makes it easy to find space even in the most crowded of RF environments. As a digital system, EW-D does not use a compander. Gone are the associated noise floor and artefacts.

EW-D handheld transmitters couple with any Sennheiser or Neumann wireless capsule. This includes the Neumann KK 205 and KK 204, the new Sennheiser MM 435 and MM 445 as well as the Digital 9000 capsules.

Evolution Wireless Digital is available with a choice of handheld, instrument, lavallière, headmic, combo and base sets.

Visit https://en-au.sennheiser.com

Lawo mc²36 in 48-Fader Layout LAWO’S MC²36 AUDIO PRODUCTION console features a new dual-fader operating bay that allows 48 faders in the same space as a 32-fader board.

With DSP more than doubled from its predecessor, the new mc²36 with built-in A_UHD Core functionality offers 256 processing channels, available at both 48 and 96kHz, and natively supports ST2110, AES67, RAVENNA, and Ember+. It provides an I/O capacity of 864 channels, with local connections that include three redundant IP network interfaces, 16 Lawograde mic/line inputs, 16 line outputs, eight AES3 inputs and outputs, eight GPIO connections, and an SFP MADI port.

Operating and visualising features include Button-Glow and touch-sensitive rotary controls, colour TFT fader-strip displays, LiveView video thumbnails, and super-precise 21.5-inch full HD touchscreen controls. Its builtin full loudness control is compliant with the ITU 1770 (EBU/R128 or ATSC/A85) standard, featuring peak and loudness metering which can measure individual channels as well as summing busses.

The mc²36 offers seamless integration of thirdparty solutions like recording systems, effects engines, and other systems running on external PCs, into its user interface. Applications display right in the console’s screen, while console keyboard, touchpad and touchscreen provide control.

AUDIO

Lawo’s mc²36 also offers integration of

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Waves SuperRack SoundGrid, providing operators with access to Waves’ extensive plugin selection of real-time signal processing alongside the console’s internal processing engine – no additional screens or control devices required.

Lawo says moving the mc²36 to the A_UHD Core means that all developments in the future will happen on a single, unified platform, and it will continue to provide production file compatibility between all mc² consoles. For instance, a production file from an mc²36 can be used on an mc²96 for post-production – opening the door to a whole new level of performance.

The mc²36 is based on Lawo’s A_UHD technology and includes Lawo’s innovative new IP Easy functionality that makes IP setup as simple as analog. IP Easy, based on Lawo’s innovative HOME management platform for IPbased media infrastructures, makes connecting IP audio and I/O devices as easy as if they were baseband – the console automatically detects new devices and makes them available at the touch of a button. IP Easy even manages IP

addresses, multicast ranges, and VLANs, and includes security features like access control and quarantining of unknown devices to protect your network.

HOME is natively built on a cloud-ready microservices architecture, enabling users to connect, manage and secure networked production setups from the ground up.

Furthermore, it provides centralised access and control for all Lawo gear within a setup. HOME helps broadcast professionals address some of the most demanding requirements of modern IP infrastructures, including automated discovery and registration of devices, connection management, flow control, software and firmware management, scalability and security.

Visit https://lawo.com

AUDIO

Headset Microphones DPA MICROPHONES’ 4466 CORE Omnidirectional and 4488 CORE Directional Headset Microphones are based on the design of the company’s 6066 Subminiature Headsets.

The new solutions feature the brand’s 5mm round microphone capsule. These latest offerings provide the security, durability and flexibility necessary for use in theatre, broadcast, worship and corporate conferencing.

With a one-size-fits-all design and adjustable height and boom length, the 4466 and 4488 headsets accommodate small to large head types. A three-point gripping system (above, below and behind the ear) ensures a greater level of security, while the flexible ear hooks provide continued comfort during extended use.

In addition, the new headsets share the same interchangeable cable and boom options as the 6066 Subminiature Headsets. This includes

the 90-degree cable management at the neck. The headset frame, boom and capsule have a nonreflective surface for unobtrusiveness and ease-of-use for camera crews. With a highquality, professional look, the 4466 and 4488 are available in the company’s standard black and beige options, with a brown version coming soon.

Visit www.dpamicrophones.com and www.ambertech.com.au

Clear-Com Updates HelixNet Partyline, LQ IP Interfaces CLEAR-COM’S LATEST UPDATES to its HelixNet Digital Network Partyline add visual communication, two-way radio capability, and a powerful suite of new capabilities for intercom system administrators looking to tailor intercom stations to specific user workflows.

LQ IP Interfaces, meanwhile, have the ability to connect to any type and brand of intercom or audio device over IP, and the new 4.2 update now adds the ability to Save and Restore LQ unit configuration.

HelixNet 4.2 new function features include an ‘In-Use-Tally’ to visually indicate talk activity on individual channels, allowing users to quickly correlate what they hear on their intercom station with individual channels, while also providing a visual cue to those who have removed their headsets or may not be listening.

HelixNet 4.2’s enhanced administrative functions provide the ability for an intercom system administrator to tailor a HelixNet intercom station to its user and environment. New

functions include the ability to set minimum and maximum volume controls, disable channel mute controls, configure loudspeaker operation, and to permanently set the headset toggle key and new operation modes for the HKB shift page. With these new functions, HelixNet intercom stations can be configured to allow an advanced user full control of the system, while heavily restricting controls if needed.

With the 4.2 update, operation of two-way radios is made easier by allowing keying of the radio to be given selectively to a user using the new ‘Secondary Talk Action’ function which allows individual talk keys to initiate a visual “Call” signal or LQ ‘Network Control Event’. Call and control events can be assigned to a GPO port to interface with two-way radios, enabling selective users to speak to one or more two-way radios with the push of a single button.

Finally, HelixNet’s new “Interlock Talk Group” option allows the ability to guarantee a user only speaks to one channel at a time.

LQ 4.2

LQ users can now save their configuration settings in a file on the computer they use to manage their audio network. A pre-saved configuration can be reloaded onto the LQ device at any time, so if the device is being used for multiple shows or system configurations, each respective configuration can be saved and pre-loaded.

With the 4.2 update LQ can now support eight Agent-IC clients as well as up to eight Station-IC clients (Station-IC Release 1.1. for LQ expected mid-2021), bringing the total numbers of virtual clients supported to 16.

LQ’s dynamic capabilities and processing platform enable it to carry out multiple tasks simultaneously. With the addition of a new Resource Calculator, users can ensure their LQ device is operating at its optimal level by assisting administrators in applying LQ’s functionality to an audio network and thus helping determine which connections can be made to maximise use of the device.

Visit https://www.clearcom.com

Dante-Enabled Leader Clocks

Both the Model 5401A and Model 5402 can serve as the Dante Leader Clock for literally hundreds of Dante devices that can be simultaneously active on a LAN. Additional resources, including the units’ ability to generate sine-wave audio

tones, adds to their range of benefits. Any required configuration can be easily performed using the webpage interface or by way of the graphics display and controls provided on the front panel. Ethernet connections are made using standard RJ45 jacks and redundant powering is supported by way of AC Mains and 12 volts DC inputs. The lightweight units mount in one-space of a standard 19-inch equipment rack.

The Model 5402 offers all the capabilities of the Model 5401A with the additional timing precision provided by an integrated GNSS receiver.

This allows the Leader Clock’s timing reference to be derived from the four major satellite constellations: GPS (US), Galileo (Europe), BeiDou

(China) and GLONASS (Russia). In addition, GPS capability can be augmented with the unit’s support of the QZSS (Japan) constellation. With satellite-based timing capability, multiple Model 5402 units can be utilized at geographically diverse locations and provide a common synchronisation source for all associated Dante devices. A high-performance, weather-resistant GNSS antenna is included with each Model 5402, ensuring that full out-of-the-box functionality can be quickly achieved.

Visit https://studio-tech.com

AUDIO

STUDIO TECHNOLOGIES has introduced two Dante Leader Clocks for supporting the timing needs of Dante-compliant devices: the updated Model 5401A Dante Leader Clock and the new Model 5402 Dante Leader Clocks with GNSS Synchronisation. Both products deliver precise timing signals for use in Dante audio-over-IP applications. The synchronisation needs of Dante devices connected to a local area network (LAN) can be seamlessly supported using the PTPv1 (IEEE 1588-2002) protocol. For Dante’s implementation of AES67 and ST2110, both the Model 5401A and Model 5402 provide support for the PTPv2 (1588-2008) protocol.

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AUDIO

SSL Expands DAW Production Tools FOLLOWING THE RECENTLY launched UF8 advanced DAW controller, Solid State Logic has unveiled what it calls the “next level in hardware plug-in control” with UC1.

UC1 delivers simultaneous multi-function control of the included SSL Native Channel Strip 2 and Bus Compressor 2 plug-ins within your DAW session. At the heart of the UC1 is the SSL 360° Plug-in Mixer, allowing users to access and control all of their Channel Strips and Bus Compressors in one virtual console overview, offering a true console-like approach to mixingin-the-box.

The UC1 combines studio-quality encoders, switches and feedback LEDS, with an authentic moving coil Bus Compressor gain reduction meter for that true console ‘centre section’ experience. With knob per-function control of the SSL Native Channel Strip 2 and Bus Compressor 2 plug-ins, the UC1 provides a continual on-board display of which plug-in is currently in use, and a value readout of the control currently engaged.

The new SSL 360° Plug-in Mixer application allows users to create their very own virtual SSL console to work in unison with the UC1 hardware. Designed to provide instant access to current and future SSL designed Channel Strip and Bus Compressor plug-ins within a single window environment, mix sessions are managed with unparalleled efficiency.

Full licenses for SSL Native Channel Strip 2 and Bus Compressor 2 plug-ins are included with UC1. Channel Strip 2 is a fully featured Channel Strip, based on digital modelling of the EQ and

Dynamics curves from the legendary XL 9000 K SuperAnalogue console. V2 adds SSL’s proprietary anticramping algorithms and the ability to trigger the dynamics sidechain externally. Bus Compressor 2 expands its feature set with additional Ratio, Attack and Release options, the ability to trigger the sidechain externally, as well as x2 and x4 oversampling.

UC1 features include: • SSL workflow and console ergonomics meets the power of SSL Native Channel Strip 2 and Bus Compressor 2 plug-ins.

• Every UC1 purchase includes full licenses of SSL Native Channel Strip 2 and Bus Compressor 2 plug-ins.

• Knob per-function control of SSL Native Channel Strip 2 and Bus Compressor 2 plugins.

• Muscle-memory operation and constant visual feedback via the smart LED rings.

• On-board display tells you which Channel Strip and Bus Compressor plug-in UC1 is currently focused on, as well as giving you a value readout of the control currently being turned.

• Load Plug-in Presets and change Channel Strip routing directly from UC1.

• Authentic moving coil Bus Compressor gain reduction meter, driven from the SSL Native Bus Compressor plug-in.

• SSL Plug-in Mixer (hosted in SSL 360°) provides a place to view and control of your Channel Strips and Bus Compressors, all from one screen.

• Switch between 3 different DAWs that are connected to the Plug-in Mixer.

• High Quality all metal enclosure, with a brushed anodised top plate.

• Hi-Speed USB connection to computer.

• Powered by SSL 360° Mac and PC software.

Visit https://www.solidstatelogic.com and www.ambertech.com.au

Calrec Boosts Brio with Enhanced New Packages CALREC HAS ANNOUNCED enhanced versions of its Brio console with the Brio Duet and Brio Medley packages, offering greater channel counts and expanded connectivity as standard.

Calrec has upgraded the Brio’s base specification, and Brio 36 Duet becomes the baseline Brio console with an increased input channel count of 96 channels (up from 64) to deal with more surround and immersive mixing as well as standard or slim trims (where space is at a premium). The Brio Medley package adds a Dante or MADI expansion card and a Br.IO I/O box with 24 mic/line inputs, 16 analogue outputs and eight AES I/Os. For existing Brio customers, Calrec is offering an upgrade option to 96 channels on a 64 channel Brio.

Brio is a plug-and-play broadcast console with no DSP sharing so all facilities are available all the time, making it very flexible. It slots into any broadcast workflow and is easy to drive and learn.

Brio is fully loaded with dynamics and delay on every path. Its powerful feature set includes a huge internal router, multiple monitor outputs, comprehensive built-in I/O, plus it’s expandable for future growth.

Calrec also recently announced the launch of a free educational training module for mixing live broadcasts in Dolby Atmos using the Calrec Brio console. The need to train people on how to mix in Dolby Atmos has grown rapidly through increased demand from service providers who want to deliver their live events in Dolby Atmos.

These training modules explain how to create and monitor immersive mixes with a variety of inputs quickly and easily on Calrec’s cost-effective Brio console.

Visit https://calrec.com

Neutrik Module for MIC, Line, AES Dante Adapter

AUDIO

NEUTRIK HAS ANNOUNCED new options to remote control preamps of their new DANTE network device NA2-IO-DPRO.

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Neutrik now features full integration with Crestron control products to remote control the NA2-IO-DPRO, Neutrik’s latest addition to networked devices. Designers can now fully integrate the DPRO into a Crestron system and

perform various controls such as gain, phantom power, lo-cut, mute and mic/line switch.

Crestron control devices. The module is available

The NA2-IO-DPRO is Neutrik’s POE powered Dante I/O solution to add more flexibility in a network setup for Line, MIC and even AES signals. Besides their own control software, the NA2-IO-DPRO can be remote controlled from Yamaha CL/QL consoles and from Q-Sys and

In addition, new DPRO Controller software 2.0

for free in the Crestron application market. and related firmware is available on the Neutrik website. It is recommended for all NA2-IO-DPRO users.

Visit http://www.neutrik.us

RADIO

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RADIO

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RADIO The original broadcast media

www.content-technology.com/radio

Canberra’s 2XX FM Picks AEQ Digital Mixers 2XX FM IS CANBERRA’S oldest community radio station, running since 1973 on 98.3FM and now also online.

Recently, the technical management of the station has decided to renovate its two main radio studios. At the heart of the installation are two FORUM IP digital audio mixers from AEQ. AEQ FORUM IP is a digital audio mixing console designed for ON AIR broadcast control. It features: automatic monitor cut, cough-cut, faderstart, signalling control, control signals for the automation of external equipment, management of external communications, intercommunication, etc.

With its modular design and small size, AEQ FORUM IP is suited to a wide range of scenarios: self-monitoring, control-locutory, television production controls, sound production, mixed configurations, integration in large installations, etc.

In the case of 2XX’s installation, the central switching is handled by an AEQ NETBOX32 MX unit that works as the central router of the all-IP installation. The installation, configuration, commissioning and training was carried out by Broadcast Components, AEQ’s local partner, in direct communication with AEQ’s central technical services in Madrid.

AEQ FORUM IP provides AoIP multi-channel input and output modules with up to 64 input and output channels compatible with the new AES-67 protocol

Visit https://2xxfm.org.au, www.broadcastcomponents.com.au and www.aeq.eu

Lawo Upgrades Software for Radio Products LAWO, the manufacturer of IP-based audio and video products, has announced a new software update for users of Lawo radio mixing consoles, Power Core mixing engines, and On-Air Designer configuration software.

The new radio software, v6.6 PL-003, represents a major upgrade to On-Air Designer, the configuration software used to customise the functions of Lawo’s radio mixing consoles and audio cores including the ruby radio console. A flexible mixer with uncluttered work surface, ruby features multiple snapshots for instant recall of saved parameters and settings, with silent motorised faders that automatically recall saved positions and programmable context-sensitive user keys that may be customised using On-Air Designer software. The new software adds the ability to selectively load snapshots using extended logic functions, enhanced AES67 stream tuning tools, and integrates control of Lawo A_line audio I/O devices into the radio workflow.

The update also adds new features to the configuration web pages of Power Core, Lawo’s RAVENNA / AES67 mixing engine and I/O gateway device, as well as some enhancements for Lawo’s VisTool GUI Builder Software.

RADIO

“Our radio team is always committed to developing the very products our clients need,” notes Johan Boqvist, Senior Product Manager, Radio. “To that end, we test our software and hardware products continually, and make improvements based on clients’ feedback. This software upgrade underscores our commitment to excellence and to improving the tools, workflows, and experiences of Lawo Radio customers.”

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via DANTE technology. Through this connectivity, signals are selected and delivered to other consoles, routers, and other input and output terminal equipment from more than 350 different manufacturers.

Radio v6.6 software applies to the entire range of Lawo radio products, including ruby, sapphire, sapphire compact, crystal and crystalCLEAR mixing consoles, Power Core and Nova17 MK2 engines, VisTool MK2 GUI Builder software, and the On-Air Designer console customization tool. Clients can find the release notes and download the software by visiting www.lawo.com and clicking the “Downloads” link.

Australian Commercial Radio Ad Revenue Rebounds COMMERCIAL RADIO ADVERTISING revenue for Australia’s metropolitan radio stations jumped by 72.6% in the month of May to reach AUD$59.605 million from $34.534 million a year ago, according to data compiled by Deloitte and released by industry body Commercial Radio Australia.

The rise reflects a strong rebound for radio from the depths of the COVID-19 slump, as advertisers returned to the market.

“It’s enormously encouraging to see advertisers returning to radio in full force after a challenging 12 months,” said Joan Warner, chief executive officer of CRA. “The industry is seeing robust activity from national advertisers and we anticipate the recovery in the SME market will continue to build in the coming months and into the busy Christmas season.

“Most major advertiser categories have recovered well and it is expected that with the new fiscal year, a fresh investment cycle is highly likely.”

The results follow a 51.9% year on year increase in ad revenue in the month of April to $51.636 million.

The metropolitan revenue figures compiled

by Deloitte report on revenue received by metropolitan commercial radio stations in the five major capital city markets and include agency and direct ad revenue.

In the month of May, Victoria, the largest radio market, was up by 74.5% to $20.028 million compared to the same period a year ago, while NSW stations enjoyed a 71.2% increase to $17.685 million. Queensland stations rose 77.6% to $8.965 million, WA was up 73.2% to $7.470 million and South Australia climbed 62.1% to $5.457 million.

Visit www.commercialradio.com.au

Community Radio Funding Maintained RECOGNISING the invaluable role community radio has made throughout the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian Government has maintained the sector’s funding at AUD$20.15m and $20.37m for 2021-22 and 202223, respectively.

According to the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, “This funding is the critical baseline to support community radio stations and sector-wide projects (like community digital radio, national training, multiplatform distribution, AMRAP), and ensures our sector can continue its vibrant output and meet evolving community need.

“The CBAA is appreciative of the Australian Government’s support and continues work to secure additional funding of $5m to enhance our sector’s impact. We hear from our members that additional support is still needed: due to COVID-19, volunteers need to be re-engaged, and fundraising/ sponsorship personnel invested in to reinvigorate income streams. We also know that many stations need to replace ageing infrastructure, or upgrade to better undertake emergency broadcasting.”

Visit www.cbaa.org.au

RADIO

Deliver FM MPX Composite Signals from Studio to Transmitter bandwidth thanks to the µMPX compression.

In addition to this, bandwidth can also be conserved by selecting a lower sampling frequency and/or bit depth in uncompressed PCM. • Reliable hardware: X/LINK-MPX is based on the same hardware platform as the acclaimed IQOYA X/LINK range. It also features two internal redundant power supply units.

• Robust IP streams: Forward Error Correction, Redundant dual streaming with time diversity in PCM ensures that the transportation of IP streams is completely reliable and stable.

IQOYA X/LINK-MPX features include: • 2 internal redundant PSUs 100-250VAC (Optional: 100-250VAC/-48vdc) (Max 15W consumption) • 4 network ports 1 x 100 Mbps + 3 x Gbps on RJ-45 ports • 1 analogue MPX input (BNC) and 1 digital MPX input (XLR) • 1 analogue MPX output (BNC) and 1 digital MPX output (XLR) • 2 balanced analogue I/Os, and 1 stereo AES/ EBU I/O with hardware sample rate converter • 4 GPI/4 GPO on Sub-D25 • One RS232 port for serial data tunnelling Networking capabilities include: • Possibility to separate network traffic (WAN, LAN, management) via the 4 network ports • VLANs, QoS (VLAN Tagging, DSCP • IGMPv2 and V3

Encoding, Decoding and Streaming features include: • MPX transported in RTP/UD and in PCM 16/20/24 bits • Baseband audio monitoring stream in PCM linear 16/20/24 bits, ISO MPEG-1/2 Layer II, Layer III, MPEG-4 AAC, AAC-LD, HE-AACv2, HEAACv1, AAC-ELD, Opus • Dual port redundant streaming on WAN, with time diversity up to 3 seconds • Unicast, multicast and multi-unicast • Real-time metrics on network path quality for the primary stream as well as for the FEC/ redundant stream.

• Selection of FECs (from + 15% + 100% IP bandwidth) Other features include: • Two backup levels when decoding the MPX IP stream: secondary MPX IP stream on another network port, backup MPX ÿle stored on local SD card • Monitoring on the headphones output of the audio included in the MPX signal • AES transparent transport • Front panel vu-meters to monitor the level of the MPX signal, the level of the baseband audio embedded in the MPX signal, and level of the baseband audio input / output Visit https://www.digigram.com

RADIO

DIGIGRAM, THE PROFESSIONALaudio solution specialist, has launched its new IQOYA X/LINKMPX codec. This new product is designed for the delivery of an FM MPX composite signal to one or several transmitter sites.

Currently, most of the studio-to-transmitter links for FM transmissions rely on the transport of the baseband audio signal over IP networks.

This requires the FM composite MPX signal to be generated at each transmitter site with devices such as sound processors and RDS encoders.

Over the past few years, there has been a growing demand for the MPX signal to be generated within the studio, since it will help reduce the amount of equipment required at the transmitter site, optimise power consumption, and reduce maintenance costs.

Digigram X/LINK-MPX supports both analogue MPX and digital MPX AES192, allowing analogueto-analogue, analogue-to-digital, digital-toanalogue, and digital-to-digital distribution of the MPX signal. Thanks to the optional µMPX compression, the cost of transportation is further reduced by using inexpensive network links.

According to Digigram, the advantages of IQOYA X/LINK-MPX include: • Reduced operational costs at transmitter sites: Sound processing and RDS encoding are centralised at the studio side. This reduces the maintenance costs as well as the power consumption at transmitter sites.

• Optimised IP transport bandwidth: The new X/LINK-MPX will be able to conserve network

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CONTENT DELIVERY Terrestrial, Mobile, Broadband

www.content-technology.com/transmission

Switch Media Powers OTT in the Solomons SWITCH MEDIA, the provider of online video technology, is providing an online streaming service for Solomon Islands’ free-to-air television network, Telekom Television (TTV). Owned by Solomon Telekom Company Limited (STCL), TTV’s online video platform utilises Switch Media’s MediaHQ Lite to provides subscribers with a two-channel service that is available online across multiple devices, including Chromecast streaming technology.

The recent completion of an undersea cable between Australia, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea has significantly increased connectivity, creating new technology opportunities for communities on these islands.

The new over-the-top (OTT) service will provide a combination of free-access and subscription, with subscribers receiving unlimited data via their ISP. Billing is carried out via mobile phones and users

will have the opportunity to purchase vouchers to access the service from local retailers.

Using MediaHQ Lite, TTV have a cost-effective, fast-to-market online video solution that enables them to push content to the market quickly and inexpensively. MediaHQ Lite is a best-ofbreed solution that allows content providers to extend their reach, free up operational resources and adapt to the changing OTT landscape and consumer expectations. This means an OTT service can be launched quickly and easily without any kind of customisation other than adapting to the company’s own branding. MediaHQ Lite includes a pathway to enhanced monitisation, such as a full-featured dynamic ad insertion (DAI) integration allowing uncompromised addressable ad experiences.

Robertson Szetu, Chief Commercial Officer, Telekom Television says, “The undersea cable has

opened the doors for our communities to access high-speed services. Our new OTT offering gives greater access to viewers looking for news, sports and entertainment programs across a variety of devices, 24/7.”

“This is a really exciting project that allows us to collaborate with one of our closest neighbours to provide an online video platform that can be accessed by all,” explains Luke Durham, CTO, Switch Media. “We have worked with TTV in the past and we’re delighted that they selected us to provide this great new OTT service.”

MediaHQ Lite features include secure VOD and live streaming with DRM, a global CDN service, real time analytics reports, comprehensive metadata, high definition ABR encoding, dynamic adinsertion and a range of ready-to-go applications across every screen.

Visit www.switch.tv

AMC Supponor Targets Ads with VideoFlow and Magna RECENTLY, MAGNA SYSTEMS deployed an alternate broadcast feed for Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) with virtual advertising delivered by AMC Supponor. The VideoFlow system was easily and reliably utilised across the public internet with 4G and 5G backup for load sharing at second biggest event on the GRNSW calendar, Ladbroke’s Golden Easter Egg Event.

As AMC Supponor COO, David Adams, explained, “AMC Supponor were demonstrating our latest AIpowered virtual advertising placement system at the event. In order to provide enhanced coverage of the Golden Easter Egg Final for Ladbrokes. com, dailytelegraph.com.au and thedogs.com.au, we worked with Magna and GRNSW to deliver targeted and relevant advertising for the different broadcast feeds.”

AMC Supponor’s AI system can replace static and digital billboard advertising, including ads on the barrier fence and different ads on the track or field through multiple broadcast feeds. At this particular event, Ladbrokes signage replaced barrier signage at the dog races on the Ladbrokes app, whilst local

Ladbrokes commentators were at the track.

Adams continued, “The requirement for AMC Supponor was to provide an augmented virtual feed which had ten virtual advertisement locations placed around the track. For each race there were different ads placed in those ten locations through a playlist which was created in the AMC Supponor system for each participating brand. For the enabling technology we turned to Magna who provided us with an excellent VideoFlow solution.”

In total, Magna set-up and provided a VideoFlow internet gateway to deliver the HD content to Telstra Broadcast Services, which then made it available to Ladbrokes.com, dailytelegraph.com. au and thedogs.com.au. Magna used both the local internet connection and Telstra 5G in a load sharing scenario to deliver the content with zero packet loss across the six-hour event. For further efficiencies the VideoFlow solution would also dynamically use 5G data if the internet feed fell below a predetermined data rate, totally in sync and without any picture interruption.

David Adams concluded, “The virtual feed provided

by Magna was delivered seamlessly with very little latency and in very clear vision. The ability to send out a feed without relying on the tradition movement of feeds, made the process very efficient and gave us a significant edge in remote production. Finally, being able to use the existing NBN network is a revelation.”

Magna Systems Group CEO, Matthew Clemesha added, “VideoFlow is a gamechanger for cost effective delivery of remote content by utilising what has been previously touted as the unreliable public internet. By having seamless load sharing with 4G and 5G mobile data, this system becomes extremely resilient and reliable whilst maintaining contribution standard quality with sub-second end-to-end latency.”

VideoFlow is a founding member of the RIST Forum and leads development for contribution and distribution of broadcast content over the public internet or any IP network.

Visit www.magnasys.tv

HbbTV Releases Updated Test Suite

CONTENT DELIVERY

THE HBBTV ASSOCIATION has announced the simultaneous release of the 2021-1 version of the HbbTV Conformance Test Suite and the Test Assertions Repository (TAR).

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The 2021-1 Test Suite release (v2021-1) is the first major release of the Test Suite in 2021. The release contains 2963 test cases in total, an increase by 142 test cases since the v2020-3 release.

The new release includes new tests developed for the HbbTV specification for Targeted Advertising (HbbTV-TA) and the first test cases for the new version 2.0.3 of the HbbTV specification.

The remaining test cases will be delivered during 2021 and should form part of the Test Suite release v2021-2.

Meanwhile, the HbbTV Conformance Test Suite is a tool for device

manufacturers to verify compliance of their products with the most current HbbTV specifications, ensuring that applications and content from broadcasters and content owners can work flawlessly across TVs and set-top boxes from all manufacturers. The Test Suite is available to all HbbTV members and also through the registered HbbTV test centres.

descriptions (“Test Assertions”) which can be referred by any organisation running a conformance regime for HbbTV compliance when a definition of compliance is needed.

HbbTV is also releasing a set of test

Visit https://www.hbbtv.org

The test assertions are publicly available through a Test Assertion Repository (TAR) which can be found on the HbbTV website, accompanied by explaining notes.

CONTENT DELIVERY

IP PROBING AND MONITORING VIRTUAL STUDIO PRODUCTION

BROADCAST NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE AND CONTROL

CONTRIBUTION AND DISTRIBUTION MULTI-CHANNEL PLAYOUT AUTOMATION AND CONTENT DELIVERY

SDN ORCHESTRATION

LOW LATENCY SECURE VIDEO TRANSPORT ACROSS ANY IP NETWORK

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Create the IP ecosystem that works for you.

Without the lock-ins.

Technology moves way too fast to be locked into an IP ecosystem solution from a single manufacturer that doesn’t quite tick all your boxes. Magna can help customise a successful solution for you that works just the way you need it to. With our trusted partners, using only quality products that adhere to the latest standards including SMPTE 2110 and NMOS, we deliver flexible, future-proof solutions for broadcast media and telcos alike.

Whether it’s for studio, control room, playout, editing or transport, there’s a Magna solution that works for you.

www.magnasys.tv

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CONTENT DELIVERY

ATEME Microservices Maximise MediaHub Efficiency SINCE ITS LAUNCH IN 2010 as a provider of media playout solutions, MediaHub Australia has witnessed rapid expansion to become a comprehensive end-to-end service provider. Today, the organisation offers a diverse suite of services to meet the changing media management, delivery, and distribution requirements of its clients.

MediaHub delivers over 400 television and radio services across Australia, enabling high-bandwidth and low-latency connectivity, a full suite of compression services, media asset management, storage, and transcoding services, just to name a few.

AVW and Ferncast Increase DVB Overhead Efficiency

Adapting to the Expanding Broadcast Market Faced with this rapid growth, MediaHub needed to increase efficiencies and evolve to match changing customer demands. To meet these objectives, the business looked to implement a virtualised IP solution using common infrastructure into its operations. This is where ATEME, the provider of video delivery solutions for broadcast, cable TV, DTH, IPTV and OTT, came in.

MediaHub selected ATEME’s TITAN video-processing software range as the base to build its offering. MediaHub, and its customers, enjoy flexibility, scalability, reliability, and efficiency via the use of five key components in the ATEME technology stack: TITAN Playout, TITAN Record, TITAN Live, TITAN Mux, and PILOT Manager.

Scaling Up Quickly While Providing the Best Experience TITAN Playout is a playout and automation solution that allows for highly customisable channel playout workflows, either on-premise or in the cloud. It supports traditional full-featured linear playout through to pop-up and eventbased channels, with full disaster-recovery capabilities.

The compressed and uncompressed live feed and video file playback capabilities allow MediaHub’s customers to achieve scalability while also providing high video quality and an improved quality of experience to their viewers.

TITAN Live is ATEME’s compression platform, delivering the high video quality at the lowest possible bit-rate, allowing MediaHub to facilitate high video quality, low-latency Freeto-Air and OTT delivery of SD, HD and Ultra HD content for its customers. Meanwhile, TITAN Mux facilitates optimum video quality by allowing for statistical multiplexing with TITAN Live while enabling the ability for regionalised channel viewing.

Underpinning these core components is ATEME’s PILOT Manager System, which provides MediaHub with the flexibility to dynamically fine-tune its clients’ existing channels and the scalability to add new channels with minimal service disruption. It offers secure user administration and task monitoring via an intuitive webbased user interface. All these capabilities reduce daily operational expenses.

The combination of these technologies not only allows MediaHub to provide high-quality broadcasting capabilities to its clients, but the reduced cost of ownership that MediaHub experiences from using the TITAN suite can also be passed on to customers.

The Role of Containers and Kubernetes

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The complete range of ATEME’s TITAN suite is built on a containerised, micro-services, Kubernetes-orchestrated architecture. This provides the core of MediaHub’s virtualised common-infrastructure platform.

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Containers are standard units of software, packaging up code and all its dependencies to allow an application to run quickly and reliably from one computing environment to another; abstracted from the underlying infrastructure.

Containers also facilitate agile integration, deployment, and

continuous development – allowing both MediaHub and its customers to stay at the cutting edge of technological advances. The self-contained environmental consistency enables simpler and more efficient technical operations, whether on-premise, or in cloud deployments. In providing full on-premise and cloud flexibility, containers also allow MediaHub to benefit from full distribution portability across operating systems.

Kubernetes, the open-source container-orchestration system with architecture resilience, also helps MediaHub efficiently automate computer application deployment, scaling and management, and it works with virtually any type of container. Kubernetes can also support the growing requirement for various cloud strategies while reducing complexity, future-proofing MediaHub’s evolving set-up.

Reaping the Benefits: Efficiency & Sustainability Leveraging containers and Kubernetes also enables MediaHub to benefit from reduced power consumption and rack space. This is further enhanced by ATEME’s pure high-density software and standards-based IP approach, optimised for running on the latest generation Intel and AMD chipsets. Hyper-precise resource allocation in the virtualised environment ensures that no CPU cycles are wasted, ensuring MediaHub’s services are efficient and sustainable.

According to Will Munkara-Kerr, ATEME Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand, “Our long-standing partnership with MediaHub is a source of pride for us. In addition to the specific benefits that MediaHub gains from the TITAN suite of products, the support and network uniformity of the common infrastructure that has resulted from the partnership will enable MediaHub to realise the benefits of platform standardisation in future offerings to its customers. This is in tandem to optimising its in-house engineering expertise and avoiding the complication of working with multiple vendors.”

Alan Sweeney, MediaHub CEO, said, “By harnessing ATEME’s technology portfolio, MediaHub has been able to develop its digital transformation strategy to keep ahead of the crowd in a rapidly changing landscape. Where we gain true added value from ATEME’s technology however is the benefits that are passed on to our customers. Our organisation works with a diverse range of clients in the broadcast, telecommunications, IT, and commercial sectors and they have been able to tap into flexibility across their operations, from areas such as cloud to disaster recovery.”

Visit www.mediahubaustralia.com.au and www.ateme.com

OVERHEAD IN COMPUTING REFERS to additional, indirect computation effort required for a specific task. This may include computation time, memory usage, bandwidth or other resources. In communication specifically, there is data transfer overhead, which refers to the various types of control and signalling data that is required for the payload to reach its destination.

Similarly, encoded audio has overhead data in addition to the audio signal. In the case of transport streams there is also overhead caused by padding. TS transport packages are 188 bytes, which is usually larger than the audio frame of most codecs. This means the rest of the package must be padded to fill out the 188 bytes. The exact amount of overhead can vary based on multiple factors, like the amount of additional data that is inserted (which may be very large in the case of overhead caused by processes like Forward Error Correction), the complexity of encoding and transport processes and the latency that the operator is willing to accept. In some transport protocols and methods, the packet size can also be adjusted, which is another way the overhead and latency can be affected.

Visit https://www.avw.com.au and https://www.ferncast.com

CONTENT DELIVERY

NDI Version 5 Unveiled

NDI, A VIZRT GROUP BRAND, has unveiled NDI version 5 which the company says is “… a true revolution in video storytelling that turns the whole world into your studio.”

From large broadcasters to billions of smartphone users with a story to tell, NDI 5 will make it possible to connect to any device, in any location, anywhere in the world – allowing it to work with almost any video application in the world.

Physical studios can connect to ones in the cloud and remote video production effectively becomes local.

NDI Bridge New to the NDI Tools free download with NDI 5 is NDI Bridge. Forming a secure bridge between any NDI network regardless of location, NDI

Bridge redefines the concept of ‘remote workflows,’ opening up a wealth of new opportunities for live video production.

NDI Remote Also new to NDI Tools, NDI Remote allows anyone using just a URL to contribute live audio and video using an Internet-connected device, like a camera phone or a web browser, to another point anywhere in the world. NDI Remote allows anyone, anywhere to contribute to a show – big or small.

The benefits of NDI’s optimised codec and transport protocols provide unparalleled ease of use across existing networks. Other selected benefits of NDI 5 are: NDI Audio Direct: Provides seamless integration of NDI

audio into software-based audio workflows, be they across a local network, in the cloud or hybrid, setting your production free from the limitations of hardware audio mixers Reliable UDP: As part of NDI’s mission to make video easier everywhere, RUDP transfer makes WAN and WiFi connections more resilient with less configuration required Apple Support: Full support for Apple silicon systems, bringing full NDI capability to all macOS, iOS, tvOS and iPadOS devices for the first time Improved Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro support: Adobe Premiere and After Effects plugin now features improved audio workflow.

Updated plug-in allows output for Final Cut Pro with real-time audio and video frame buffer output And Much More: Many other benefits are available, including support for genlock – even remotely, selection of network adapters, and more To make NDI even more accessible to new and experienced users alike, the free NDI Tools download has been reimagined for NDI 5, with a fresh interface and intuitive guidance built in.

NDI is making 10,000 NDI|HX Camera app downloads free of charge for a limited time from Google Play or the Apple App Store.

Visit http://www.ndi.tv

BirdDog Embraces NDI 5 with Suite of New Workflow Tools BIRDDOG HAS ANNOUNCED support for NDI 5 across all hardware products including Flex Family, 4K Family, Studio NDI, Mini, all PTZ Camera models, and the upcoming Wallplates, and SDM range.

Support for NDI 5 will roll into BirdDog products throughout 2021. In addition to NDI 5 support in existing products, BirdDog has announced two new product lines, Cloud Connect and BirdDog PLAY.

BirdDog Cloud Connect Cloud Connect is a suite of applications for Apple TV, Android TV, iPhone, iPad, Android mobile devices and BirdDog PLAY. Cloud

Connect allows for super-fast and high-quality monitoring anywhere in the world with NDI source to screen latency as low as two frames. With Cloud Connect, remote editorial workflows and remote live productions become faster and easier.

Cloud Connect allows editors to output their Avid, Adobe, or Apple Final Cut Pro timeline and view it anywhere in the world in as little as 2 frames latency. Directors can give real-time feedback and producers can be sitting in comfort of their home watching on a big screen.

Cloud Connect addresses remote productions in a faster and more interactive way to allow Dante audio

integration and optimise media delivery with high quality video codecs. All Cloud Connect mobile device apps include PTZ Control from any NDI enabled PTZ, including BirdDog NDI PTZ cameras, NDI and NDI HX cameras from Sony, Panasonic, Marshall, NewTek, PTZ Optics, Canon, and more.

BirdDog PLAY BirdDog PLAY is a low cost, NDI Player that can display any local NDI source on the network, as well as tie into BirdDog Cloud Connect to bring remote sources to PLAY from anywhere in the world.

PLAY supports many video formats both local and remote, fully

implementing NDI 5 including highbandwidth and NDI | HX2 formats, BirdDog Cloud Connect and NDI Remote with resolution support on some formats up to UHD 2160p60.

Designed for easy installation, PLAY includes a rubberised, magnetic base to mount securely to the rear of a display or on your desk. Integrating technology like CEC means users can use their existing remote control for their display to navigate the rich UI with ease.

BirdDog PLAY and BirdDog Cloud Connect will be available publicly in Q3, 2021 with a limited beta program available for Cloud Connect via a signup on the BirdDog website.

Visit www.bird-dog.tv

TAG VIDEO SYSTEMS has enriched the error source recording functionality and capacity of its Multiviewer and Monitoring platform as the roll-out of OTT continues to grow. Users can now manually set a recording of an OTT channel, record all metadata elements of additional OTT formats, and set 32 channels to be recorded simultaneously, a significant increase in capacity.

The TAG recording feature is set to help users analyse and report detected error events. The platform automatically records a range of the last few minutes of each pre-

defined stream in a cyclic mode using a ‘First In, First Out’ method.

When an event is detected that meets a threshold set by the user, the recording is automatically saved to external storage. The recording can later be used to analyse the event and troubleshoot the cause.

Users now have the ability to manually set a recording of an OTT channel. Prior to this feature, recording was triggered automatically by an alarm that detected errors in the content that were beyond an acceptable threshold. There are situations, however, when alarms are not initiated because the problem isn’t

critical enough to be reported, or the service isn’t affected, but the channel still needs to be recorded for investigation, testing and analysis of the instance, and this is especially important in OTT with its multiple flavours and different sets of metadata for different formats.

Now users have the added option to manually record instances of OTT channels as needed to troubleshoot problems and document even seemingly innocuous errors.

TAG has also enriched the functionality of the monitoring and visualization platform to address the major shift to more metadata that comes with more

OTT formats. Each OTT format has unique characteristics and unique metadata headers associated with the transmission. Users need to have all this information available for the post-mortem analysis, so TAG has incorporated recording capability to include all elements and headers of HLS, MPEG-DASH, MSS, and CMAF OTT streams for improved analysis capabilities or recorded errors. Additionally, the recording of encrypted content before and after the decryption is now available.

Visit https://www.tagvs.com

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TAG Video Systems Enhances Functionality for OTT

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Photos by Nathan Collett

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See more photos at www.facebook.com/phil.sandberg

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CLASSIFIED + EVENTS POSITIONS VACANT

address customer requirements, assesses customers’ met and unmet needs and recommends solutions that optimise value for both the customer and Ross Video.

Solution Architect, Oceania Sydney Office, Alexandria New South Wales, Australia

• Coordinate closely with Ross’ Sales team and business partners to align solutions designed to meet our customers’ business requirements.

THE SOLUTION ARCHITECT ROLE will support the Oceania Sales team in its initiative to increase sales of Ross Video technology in dynamic and innovative applications.

This key role in the Ross Sales organisation requires a unique blend of engineering / solutions solving skills along with the “soft skills” required in a sales process. The Solutions Architect is responsible, during pre-and post-sales activities, for ensuring Ross Video’s Superior Customer Experience. This requires collaboration with the sales team, customer interaction and managing the client’s expectations throughout the engagement.

• Proactively educate and provide professional development to team and business partners in order to enhance their product knowledge, technical acumen, and technical sales skills.

This is a diverse role that requires close collaboration with the company’s Sales, Marketing, Research and Development, and Technical Support teams to ensure proposed deals include technical solutions that accurately address our customers’ needs.

Ideally based in Sydney, this position will focus on the Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island territories.

What we offer

Ross offers competitive salaries and comprehensive health plans, as well as several perks to help you perform at your best.

Some of these perks include flexible hours, generous paid time off, fitness/wellness allowance, employee share ownership program, development support and a ton of fun social activities and events!

Best of all, you will be part of the Ross Video family, and we’ve got a pretty energising environment here.

Some of the things you will work on:

• Participate and contribute to sales opportunities driven by the Regional Sales Managers, prioritising efforts based on maximising total impact on the team’s productivity.

• Scope technical solutions to

• Generate localised sales tools on various mediums for internal and external distribution (PowerPoint’s, Application Notes, Competitive Guides, etc.).

• Engage in customer facing product presentations, demos, training, and workflow guidance to end-users and business partners at customer premise or tradeshows.

• Opportunistically pursue additional business development opportunities and collaborate with Sales to ensure these are effectively covered and advanced.

• Work on systems oriented and highly technical projects.

• Create drawings that capture the spirit of specific opportunities, while also creating general variations for use by other groups at Ross.

• Help to prepare world-class customer facing proposal supplements.

• Manage proposals for large RFPs. • Participate in developing and implementing product awareness collateral / presentations.

• Provide client feedback to Marketing Product Manager(s) on product & application requirements.

Ideally, you will have most of the following:

• Minimum 5 years of combined sales, sales engineering, presales experience.

• Record of achievement and technical solution expertise in a comparable sales role.

• Understanding of the Broadcast / Media Technology Market (Live

Production experience an asset).

• Poses strong knowledge of industry standard protocols, connectors and terminations.

• Advanced skill set in using in Visio or OmniGraffle as well as AutoCad Architect.

• Preferred experience in scheduling software MS Project or Merlin (OSX).

• Excellent Communication & Presentation Skills.

• Must be proficient in both Desktop and Server Networking.

• Able to work co-operatively with and across all company departments.

• Strong presentation skills. Strong knowledge of Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

• Possesses strong and creative problem-solving traits.

• Experience working with CRM’s.

Bonus points if you have the following:

• Existing knowledge and use of Ross Video products.

• Experience in Video over IP solutions.

To apply for this position, visit https://bit.ly/3iIXZsa -----------------------------------------------------------

Marketing Coordinator Dept: Corporate Marketing Reports to: Regional Marketing Manager – APAC

(Sub-Contractor, 3 working days per week/25 working hours) BASED IN AUSTRALIA, this role is a broad and varied position that involves working with a tight-knit and growing team. It would suit a disciplined generalist with a strong work ethic and ‘can do’ attitude.

Duties, Responsibilities and Accountability:

• Assisting the Regional Marketing Manager with the organising of the various regional trade shows, exhibitions, business partner run events and team events throughout the year.

is successful in implementing campaign plans and/or marketing activities.

• Participate in Oceania Teams Meeting.

• Writing social content for Oceania social channels include Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. Posting and monitoring of the metrics.

• Liaising with internal staff to produce content for the social channels • Preparing templates for videos and static content for Instagram and Facebook.

• Identifying trending posts for monetisation to increase the community across Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn. • Monthly report on social activities

Job Requirements Knowledge/Education/Training:

• Fully qualified marketing professional • A working knowledge of MS Access, MS Word, MS Excel, Outlook (E-Mail) programs, Photoshop knowledge is essential.

• A professional and confident manner • Strong typing/word processing skills • Experience with managing social channels.

Traits:

• Strong organisation and communication skills • Ability to schedule duties/projects (multi-task) • Ability to work unsupervised, attention to detail and an evident work ethic • Desire to contribute to a team environment • Bright, outgoing and confident personality • Creative flair • Passion for marketing and increasing brand awareness.

Experience:

• Help organise the production of branded items such as merchandise and promotional gifts

• 1-2 years’ experience working in an office setting • 1-2 years working within a marketing team (preferably with social channel responsibilities)

• Assist Regional Marketing Manager to ensure Oceania

To apply, email your application to Vivian Yu: vyu@rossvideo.com

CLASSIFIED + EVENTS

ADVERTISER INDEX

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Blackmagic Design----------------------------------------------------------------5

LAWO --------------------------------------------------------------------- 39

Ross Video-------------------------------------------------------------------------19

D2N Technology Solutions--------------------------------------------------6

Magna Systems & Engineering--------------------------------------7,9,11

SilverTrak Digital------------------------------------------------------------------31

Digistor ----------------------------------------------------------------- 27

METexpo--------------------------------------------------------------------------23

Sony-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13

Grass Valley----------------------------------------------------------------------OBC

Pacific Live Media----------------------------------------------------------21,25

Stagetec------------------------------------------------------------------------- 41

Jands------------------------------------------------------------------------------35

Professional Audio & Television--------------------------------------FC,3,8

Telstra ------------------------------------------------------------------ IFC

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The 2021 ABE Exhibition, Conference and Workshops are landing at Luna Park, Milsons Point, Sydney, from November 9-10.

2021 ABESHOW Exhibitors include 4Amber Technology 4Blonde Robot

Hear from industry experts on hot topics such as IP production and delivery, 4K, HDR, HEVC, OTT, VR, cloud broadcasting and more.

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See the latest solutions to empower production and delivery of your content. Register now for updates & notifications on speakers and attendees.

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