TV Tech 490 - Oct 2023

Welcome to the October 2023 issue of

ARCUS > Engineered for demanding sports and live major market news. Both touchscreen and physical control, plenty of IP layering, and paging, routing and logic control.

STRATA

>

For remote work and local news.

Works with Wheatstone’s LAYERS Server Engine or the Wheatstone BLADE-4 IP physical mix engine.

TEKTON > Compact, easy operation

with physical and touch-screen flexibility.

The TEKTON has all the TV features most studios need.

LAYERS Larger Format Touch Screens

AoIP WheatNet-IP Tablets LAYERS MIX SUITE SOFTWARE

EQ/Dynamics

Routing

< LAYERS MIX SUITE

Build/control/extend your network virtually. Deploy multiple software mix engines and multitouch glass controllers from one or multiple servers to streamline your workflow.

Logic

Physical Control Surfaces

Good News Starts Here Wheatstone AES67/SMPTE 2110 -30 IP Audio Network Systems

BROADCAST AUDIO PERFECTIONISTS®

THE CINEMATIC LOOK • AVID ACQUISITION • IMAGE-BASED LIGHTING .

VS ) M IAL CE DO IC EN IS IF IG W ART LL . 8 ( TE p IN

www.tvtech.com | October 2023

Data’s Destiny How IP is revolutionizing the future of live media production equipment guide Cloud Solutions

contents

October 2023 volumn 41, issue 10

10

14

18

22

10

Cinematic: Blurring the Lines Between Live Sports and Hollywood

20 Protecting Digital Data IDC predicts the Global Datasphere will grow from 33 ZB in 2018 to 175 ZB by 2025

By Karl Paulsen

Demand continues to grow for the “cinema look” on the field and in the venue

By Craig Johnston

14

IP Production Systems Harness Flexibility

When speed to air is critical, IP gets it done

By Bob Kovacs

18

What Does the Sale of Avid Mean for Its Future?

For its user base, moving to a private company leaves many questions unanswered

By Frank Beacham

equipment guide

Resiliency

22

user reports cloud solutions

6

Image-Based Lighting: The Disappearing Distinction Between Lights and Video Displays

in the news

By Bruce Aleksander

eye on tech

IBL fixtures open new possibilities for lighting efforts

25

• Blackmagic Design • Vizrt • Sony • Avid • Perifery

24

34

people

twitter.com/tvtechnology | www.tvtech.com | October 2023

3

editor’s note

Signs of the Times

Vol. 41 No. 10 | October 2023 FOLLOW US

www.tvtech.com twitter.com/tvtech

Photo Credit: IBC

Another successful IBC Show wrapped up last month and based on my feet and the shoulderto-shoulder ratio on the exhibit floor, I can attest to the fact that attendance was up.

According to organizers, 43,065 attendees from 170 countries packed the RAI Amsterdam, which hosted more than 1,250 exhibitors. This represents a 16% increase from 2022 in terms of attendance as well as a healthy increase in the number of exhibitors as well.

“We’ve seen a fantastic turnout from the entire industry at IBC2023,” said Michael Crimp, IBC’s CEO. “There was a real sense of purpose at the show as business leaders and tech innovators came together to help our industry navigate change and build a better future for media and entertainment.”

Since the industry last gathered back in April, the onset of the writers and actors strikes have crippled production (the WGA was still on strike during the show), creating uncertainty among exhibitors as to the industry’s immediate future.

Media pundit Evan Shapiro discussed the origins of that turmoil, warning attendees about potential landmines M&E companies face in today’s media landscape where streaming companies, in particular, are pulling back from the salad days of only a few years ago.

As the pandemic increased media consumption, studios didn’t plan for a future where consumers would reduce their subscriptions as health concerns subsided and much of the world reopened.

“But when the lockdown was over and the media companies handed out bonuses like candy canes, consumers have not continued to consume content in the same way,” Shapiro said, adding that increasing churn rates are a red flag. “In the last year, the symptoms have got so bad that they can no longer ignore it,” he warned.

Along with the turmoil currently taking place in the industry’s lowered revenues and labor strife, M&E technology (which is in a constant state of change) is facing more disruption than ever, according to Louis Hernandez Jr., founder of Black Dragon, parent company of Grass Valley.

Hernandez Jr. reminded attendees that, in addition to media tech, his equity group funds companies involved in banking, retail, cybersecurity and sports tech and that the dramatic changes currently underway are a direct result of digitalization.

Citing a recent study by the Center for Business Transformation on the disruption caused by digitalization of the various sectors, Hernandez said the group uses two primary metrics: the degree to which industry operations are being disrupted, and the degree to which the economics are being disrupted.

“And by those two metrics, they say that our industry (M&E) is the most disruptive industry of all of them,” he said. “Congratulations, welcome to the show.”

Disruptive technologies have always been with us. IP and the cloud enabled the world of streaming, but along with its benefits, it’s also raised concerns about security and privacy. AI, the current buzzword, also has both its good sides and bad sides in both media production and consumption.

With its conference discussions, tech forums and exhibit demos, IBC proved once again that debating and seeing these technologies up close and personal will never replace the Zoom call.

CONTENT Content Director Tom Butts, tom.butts@futurenet.com Content Manager Terry Scutt, terry.scutt@futurenet.com Senior Content Producer George Winslow, george.winslow@futurenet.com Contributors: Gary Arlen, Susan Ashworth, James Careless, Kevin Hilton, Craig Johnston, Bob Kovacs and Mark R. Smith Production Managers: Heather Tatrow, Nicole Schilling Managing Design Director: Nicole Cobban Art Directors: Andy McGregor, Anthony Wuillaume ADVERTISING SALES Managing Vice President of Sales, B2B Tech Adam Goldstein, adam.goldstein@futurenet.com SUBSCRIBER CUSTOMER SERVICE To subscribe, change your address, or check on your current account status, go to www.tvtechnology.com and click on About Us, email futureplc@computerfulfillment.com, call 888-266-5828, or write P.O. Box 8692, Lowell, MA 01853.

LICENSING/REPRINTS/PERMISSIONS TV Technology is available for licensing. Contact the Licensing team to discuss partnership opportunities. Head of Print Licensing Rachel Shaw licensing@futurenet.com MANAGEMENT SVP Wealth, B2B and Events Sarah Rees MD, B2B Tech & Entertainment Brands, Carmel King Head of Production US & UK Mark Constance Head of Design Rodney Dive FUTURE US, INC. 130 West 42nd Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10036

All contents © 2023 Future US, Inc. or published under licence. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher. Future Publishing Limited (company number 2008885) is registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All information contained in this publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. Future cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price of products/services referred to in this publication. Apps and websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates to them. This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.

If you submit material to us, you warrant that you own the material and/or have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material and you automatically grant Future and its licensees a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in any/all issues and/or editions of publications, in any format published worldwide and on associated websites, social media channels and associated products. Any material you submit is sent at your own risk and, although every care is taken, neither Future nor its employees, agents,subcontractors or licensees shall be liable for loss or damage. We assume all unsolicited material is for publication unless otherwise stated, and reserve the right to edit, amend, adapt all submissions.

Please Recycle. We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from responsibly managed, certified forestry and chlorine-free manufacture. The paper in this magazine was sourced and produced from sustainable managed forests, conforming to strict environmental and socioeconomic standards.

TV Technology (ISSN: 0887-1701) is published monthly by Future US, Inc., 130 West 42nd Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10036-8002. Phone: 978-667-0352.

Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to TV Technology, P.O. Box 848, Lowell, MA 01853.

Tom Butts Content Director tom.butts@futurenet.com Future plc is a public company quoted on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: FUTR) www.futureplc.com

Chief Executive Zillah Byng-Thorne Non-Executive Chairman Richard Huntingford Chief Financial and Strategy Officer Penny Ladkin-Brand

Erratum: In the September issue of TV Tech, the call letters of the Westmoreland, N.H.-based LPTV launching the nation’s first 5G Broadcasts were misspelled in Doug Lung’s article on the subject. The correct call letters are WWOO-LD.

4

October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

twitter.com/tvtechnology

Future plc is a public Tel +44 (0)1225 company quoted on442 the 244 London Stock Exchange (symbol: FUTR) www.futureplc.com

Chief Executive Officer Jon Steinberg Non-Executive Chairman Richard Huntingford Chief Financial and Strategy Officer Penny Ladkin-Brand

Tel +44 (0)1225 442 244

See you at NAB NY # 617

DISCOVER ELASTICITY.

HOME Apps SERVER-BASED PROCESSING Multiviewer UDX Conversion with HDR Processing Graphic Inserter Stream Transcoder

ST2110 XS

LAWO.COM

in the news XGen Network Launches Test 5G Broadcasts on WWOO-LD XGen Network, a new startup targeting 5G Broadcasting, successfully launched a proof of concept for 5G Broadcasts on WWOO-LD Sept. 13 with a 1080p programming stream of live content from France 24 and EAS tests.

Organizers noted the event represented the first 5G broadcasts from a U.S. T.V. station to a smartphone.

“In my career, I've seen broadcast technology go from film to 5G and we think that this small step could be the start of something big,” said Bill Christian, owner of low-power station WWOO-LD. "This is a big thing," said Frank Copsidas, founder of Low Power TV Broadcasters Association (LPTVBA) and XGen Network.

"It's 5G Broadcasting right to a cell phone.

What does that mean? You can watch your shows on the phone, sure. But what it really means is what it means for first responders" and the best use of broadcast spectrum for the public interest and safety.”

Copsidas noted that the technology was still in its infancy in the U.S. but predicted that 5G Broadcasting would be rolled out to the public in about a year from now.

On June 12, Boston-based LPTV station WWOO-LD filed for an experimental license with the FCC to test a 5G Broadcast system and received FCC approval in July.

Speaking via a remote video connection after the demo, FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington noted that the media landscape has changed dramatically in recent years

October

In celebration of our 40th anniversary, TV Tech is offering a month-by-month look at some of the headline-making industry news of the past four decades.

XGen Network Founder Frank Copsidas (L) and Andrew Tao, vice president of operations for XGen show 5G Broadcast over a smartphone.

with content being delivered over a variety of platforms to many different screens.

“Broadcasters are now neither the primary creators nor the primary distributors in the media [landscape] and yet, broadcasters are made entrusted with public airwaves and consequently must discharge their vital public interest obligations [with an] ever narrowing slice of media revenue. And so as broadcasters...[adapt to this], the Commission must help in clearing a regulatory path [that is] no longer solely grounded in primary video distribution.”

"That's why…I was very pleased to hear that my colleagues in the Media Bureau acted quickly to grant temporary authority to engage in 5G broadcast testing,” Simington added. “And I'm pleased to hear the interest

already expressed by those in the vendor ecosystem and the public safety community in partnering to deliver new and innovative services across broadcast spectrum….5G Broadcasting represents an exciting possible evolutionary path and broadcast future.”

Prior to the demo, Lorenzo Casaccia, vice president, technical standards & intellectual property at Qualcomm, noted that 5G services have already been deployed in many parts of the world. “5G Broadcast is also sometimes known as 'enhanced TV' and [it]...is ready for primetime now," he said. "This technology can be easily deployed over commercial broadcasting networks available today in most parts of the world. And it can also leverage smartphones economies of scale, which is really a game changer for the broadcasting community.”

The launch didn’t come without some pushback however. Just prior to the event, Mark Aitken, president of ONE Media and Jerald Fritz, EVP, Strategic Affairs for ONE Media, in an op-ed posted on tvtechnology. com, criticized 5G Broadcast, especially when compared to the more baked ATSC 3.0 standard.

“The implied notion that, because 5G Broadcast is a 3GPP standard and in phones today, it somehow magically opens the market to hundreds of millions of devices compatible with 5G wireless reception is wishful thinking,” they wrote.

George Winslow

October 1993: After nearly half a century of

October 2003: Increased scrutiny is being placed

supplying recorders, magnetic tape and related

on projects to upgrade existing TV towers to

products for the television and radio industry,

accommodate new digital antennas following

Ampex announced that it would be moving away

the recent deadly collapse of Alabama station

from the broadcast sector to focus on high-capacity

WAAY-TV’s tower as it underwent modifications.

data storage devices. The move follows a series of

The incident was the fourth in recent years in which

ownership changes and shrinking sales figures.

tower workers died.

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons

October 2013: ESPN announced that it had ditched October 1983: The latest in videotape formats—1/4-

conventional HMI lighting technology in favor of

inch—is making headlines in TV Technology’s

newly-developed LED fixtures in connection with

second issue, with the news that a SMPTE Standards

its coverage of the recent US Tennis Open. The

subcommittee comprised of engineers from most

network cited on-set heat reduction and the ability

major video companies will shortly begin extensive

to instantly reach desired color temperature without

testing of the new format. Some, however, are not

the “warm up” required by HMI as reasons for

optimistic about 1/4-inch’s future. As summed up by

making the switch.

Sony’s Peter Dare: “1/4-inch has a hard row to plow.”

(Despite much promotion and optimism, the format gained little traction.)

6

October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

twitter.com/tvtechnology

Thirty years ago, Ampex announced its withdrawal from professional broadcast.

See you at NAB NY # 617

DISCOVER ELASTICITY.

.edge HYPER-DENSITY SDI/IP CONVERSION AND ROUTING PLATFORM 25/100GbE | 192 I/O (HD-BNC) per 2U | License-based .jpegxs – ultra-low latency compression .proxy – video proxy generator Lawo FLEX – function-agnostic subscriptions

ST2110 XS

LAWO.COM

in the news OPINION

Wisdom vs. Intelligence (The Artificial Type, That Is)

I

ntelligence is knowing the right another instance, it might mean answer, but wisdom is asking offering insight on which story the right question.” –Author, concept should actually proceed to Unknown. production.

I have been thinking a lot about One day, her company’s Generative Artificial Intelligence Generative AI and massive (AI) and media since I interviewed data set sifting might even Diesel Labs founder and CEO Anjali help news directors and Midha. assignment editors make Her company assists M&E some news judgments enterprises in the use of Generative about which stories Phil Kurz AI and massive data sets to make to pursue—at least in better decisions about media content. The some instances. specifics will vary from client to client, but in Why not all news decisions? general it’s safe to say that a lot of what the Why not every show to be company does is to help media companies green-lighted? Why not each improve the likelihood that a specific piece of marketing decision? Simple, content will resonate with the public. there is a difference between In one case, that might mean predicting intelligence—even which film is most likely to succeed so a studio artificial intelligence— knows where to focus its marketing budget. In and wisdom.

The unique quality humans bring to these and the thousands of other decisions that must be made daily in our industry is wisdom, forged in the kiln of life and professional experience, a broader view of the context in which decisions must be made and an understanding that the broader goals of an organization may dictate a particular choice is selected—even if it seems to be the wrong one on a micro level.

To be completely fair, Midha never posited that her company’s service and use of Generative AI should replace people in the M&E industry. Rather, she was quite clear about Diesel Labs’ offering being a tool to make better decisions, not a replacement for deciders.

Why? Because I suspect that bottling the wisdom factor humans bring to life is elusive and will be for the foreseeable future. l

TV Tech Recognizes Excellence at IBC 2023 Congratulations to the winners of the TV Tech Best of Show Awards at the 2023 IBC Show!

The awards were judged by a panel of industry experts on the criteria of innovation, feature set, cost efficiency and performance in serving the industry. All nominees will be featured in a Best of Show Program ebook, available online.

Adder Technology - ADDERLink INFINITY 3000 Series

Cobalt Digital - Pacific ULL-DEC Ultra-Low Latency 4K Decoder

AJA Video Systems - AJA KONA X

Eluvio - Eluvio Media Wallet for Connected TV Powered by the Content Fabric

Audinate - Dante Connect

NEP Group -5G MT-UHD MiniTx Net Insight - IP Media Trust Boundary with SMPTE RP 2129 Nextologies - NXT-MCR

ENCO Systems - enCaption5 Avid - Avid Media Composer|

Quantum - Myriad

AWS - Elemental MediaConnect Gateway BZBGEAR - BG-Commander-Pro: IP/Serial PTZ Joystick Controller with 7” Touchscreen

Evertz - ev-670-X30-HW-V2 Virtualized Media Processing Platform IMAX - Stream Smart

Ross Video - Voyager XR RUSHWORKS, an ENCO brand - PTX Model 3 PRO

InSync Technology - MCC-HD Bridge Technologies - VB440’s New Audio Panel

Matrox Video - Matrox ORIGIN

Telos Alliance - Telos Infinity VIP

Clear-Com - Arcadia Central Station Update: I.V. Direct

Megapixel VR - HELIOS LED Processing Platform

VoiceInteraction - MMS-Broadcast Edition

8

October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

twitter.com/tvtechnology

Zixi - Zixi Software Defined Video Platform (SDVP)

The New HyperDeck Studio

Get broadcast quality H.264, ProRes and DNx files recorded to SD cards or SSD media!

HyperDeck Studio lets you record broadcast quality video files directly onto SD cards and SSD media! The new redesigned HyperDeck Studios feature modern design with more codecs and quieter cooling.

All models now support recording to H.264, Apple ProRes or DNxHD files with either PCM or AAC audio. For ISO recording, there’s even built in timecode and reference generators for syncing multiple units!

Popular ProRes, DNx, H.264 and H.265 Files!

Elegantly Designed Professional Broadcast Deck

Advanced Broadcast Connections!

The new HyperDeck Studio models have been totally redesigned with dozens of new features! The Pro models feature a machined metal search dial with increased mass and a soft rubber surface that feels nice to the touch. Plus the search dial features an active clutch, just like a traditional broadcast deck!

With dual media slots, you can change cards without interrupting recording!

Depending on the model HyperDeck Studio features a wide range of video and audio connections such as 3G-SDI, 6G-SDI or 12G-SDI. All models include HDMI for connecting to televisions and projectors. There’s even a dedicated SDI monitoring output on the Pro and Plus models with on screen status.

The 4K model has 10G Ethernet for extremely fast network file copying!

Record to External USB-C Media Disks

HyperDeck Studio HD Mini ������������������������������������� $495 HyperDeck Studio HD Plus �������������������������������������� $695 HyperDeck Studio HD Pro ���������������������������������������� $995 HyperDeck Studio 4K Pro �������������������������������������$1,595

If recording to other types of media is required, the USB-C expansion port lets you plug in an external flash disk for recording. USB-C flash disks have unlimited capacity because they can be physically larger than an SD card or SSD. Just move the disk over to a computer and instantly start editing!

There are also menus for managing external disks on the built in LCD.

www.blackmagicdesign.com

HyperDeck supports the most popular codecs in use today! All models include DNx and ProRes file formats. However all models also include H.264 in quality up to 10 bit 4:2:2 when recording in NTSC, PAL, 720p, 1080p and true 1080i interlaced formats. While the 4K model adds H.265 when recording in Ultra HD. The Plus and Pro models have ProRes 4444 for fill and key playback!

Learn More!

lens trends

Fujinon’s Duvo HZK251000 lens

Cinematic: Blurring the Lines Between Live Sports and Hollywood Demand continues to grow for the “cinema look” on the field and in the venue

By Craig Johnston

Broadcast lens makers have long worked to marching orders from large venue live sports and concert producers wanting longer and (still) longer focal length telephoto zoom lenses. This year the camera at the center field fence can frame a head and shoulders shot of the batter; next year it will inch in a bit to a head only shot.

But now those lens makers are hearing a second voice. It’s asking them for a more cinematic look, not to replace the mega-telephoto zooms, but for use on the sidelines and locker rooms.

10

October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

There are a number of elements to that cinema look. The most easily identifiable is a shallow depth of field. At the risk of oversimplification, depth of field in still or motion picture photography is the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image captured with a camera. The more shallow the depth of field, the less of the image is in focus, and the more is out of focus.

This shallow depth of field has long been the province of photography and motion pictures, where it is said to be eye catching. But now it no longer is just restricted to pros—with average

twitter.com/tvtechnology

consumers using the “profile” feature on their smartphones, even the average joe understands its appeal.

THE DETAILS There are three ways to reduce the lens’ depth of field: • Increase the image sensor size • Increase the iris setting, the f-stop • Increase the lens focal length Most live sports cameras and lenses utilize B4 mount lenses, with -inch three-chip prism sensors. Most cinema cameras and lenses utilize PL mounts, which have larger image sensors than the B4 mounts, and thus deliver a more shallow depth of field.

Opening the lens’ iris setting will also shallow the depth of field. In order to keep the light level even it may be necessary to deploy neutral density filters in the camera. Shutter speed can also be used to limit the light hitting the sensor, but can also yield unwanted effects.

To shallow the depth of field by increasing focal length, a prime lens can be switched out with a higher focal length lens, or zooming the lens can achieve the same result. For a production moving fast and furious, a zoom lens is preferred.

“Over the last series of years, be it sports or other live events, concerts, generally multicam, we’ve seen a desire to create that cinematic

lens trends look,” said Stosh Durbacz, national sales manager, Optical Devices Division, Fujifilm North America Corporation.

At the 2023 NAB Show, Fujifilm introduced its Fujinon Duvo HZK25-1000 box lens, which deploys a dual-format system that supports two single sensor sizes: a large format sensor size and a traditional super 35mm sensor.

“Our customers helped us identify a very clear need for a long and fast cinema lens that can produce cinematic results in a live production environment,” said Durbacz. Fujifilm’s newly developed 1.5x expander shifts the focal length of the telephoto side, enabling super-telephoto image capture of 1500mm (1000×1.5).

Bokeh is another lens attribute that yields a cinematic look. Bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in out-of-focus parts of an image.

There are several characteristics that impact bokeh, said Art Adams, product specialist, Cinema Lenses at ARRI. “But the most important is spherical aberration: do light rays from the edge of the lens focus at the same point as light rays from the center of the lens? ARRI lenses are very well corrected for spherical aberration and this produces backgrounds that are incredibly smooth. Subjects pop out of out-of-focus backgrounds as there are no residual hard edges to draw the eye away.”

Adams pointed to ARRI’s 65-300 Signature Zoom as the most useful for live sports. “It is exceptional because it doesn’t exposure-ramp at the end of the zoom range: when you start your zoom at T2.8 at 65mm, you’ll end your zoom at T2.8 at 300mm. That lens ships with

Canon’s CINE SERVO PL Zoom lens

a 1.7x extender at no extra charge, and that turns this lens into a very high quality 110mm510mm T4.9.”

ERGONOMIC HURDLES There are a lot of technical hurdles to developing lenses that provide the cinematic look.

But there are ergonomics factors as well.

In cinema production, there may be four or five different operators working around the cinema camera. On a broadcast crew, you have one operator for each camera.

“This is largely because when they’re making a video, making a movie, they’re not beholden to the action head of them,” said Mark Weir, senior product manager, Alpha Cameras & ARRI’s 65-300 Signature Zoom Lens

12

October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

twitter.com/tvtechnology

Lenses, Sony Electronics. “They can have as many takes as they want because the actors and what’s happening are under the control of the production, they’re not taking images that are happening in front of them. They’re literally making them, they’re crafting them, they’re organizing them, they’re structuring them to fit their requirements.“ Weir notes that the technology for the cinematic look is in its infancy. “It doesn’t cover everything in the world of broadcast sports, for example,” he said. “You’ve got to deliver the kind of reach to cover action 100 yards away.

Trying to then cover it in shallow depth of field is probably not what the production is looking for. It’s a balance of both.”

As the depth of field becomes more and more shallow, keeping the lens focused on the action becomes more difficult.

“The challenge is knowing where to point that auto focus,” said Josh Stoner, senior specialist, Product Management Team, Broadcast and Cinema Lenses for Canon. ”The trick is how to make it react so you’re not catching someone out of frame, like somebody coming into the frame and then the focus jumping to that person. That’s more of an operator function to learn how to do that. It’s less about learning where to point the autofocus, when to engage it and when not to engage it.”

Stoner said picking a lens for a cinematic look depends on which cameras utilized. “If they’re using a stubby camera and they have a whole rig built up around it, I’m going to suggest one of our CINE-SERVO, the 70 to 120, which is going to give you a kind of a wide angle look,” he said. “If they’re going to run around on a gimbal, with a C370, I’m going to go with one of our RF lenses to give you autofocus and lightweight capability so you can run around with it.”

With host broadcaster Olympic Broadcasting Service recently announcing that it will be using cinematic lenses for the first time at the 2024 Games in Paris, expect to see an overload of the cinematic look next summer. Which seems appropriate when you consider the French invented cinema. l

live production

IP Production Systems Harness Flexibility When speed to air is critical, IP gets it done

Karlheinz Amberg, director of global events for Lawo, stands in the control room for a recent global sports event held in Australia.

become the de-facto standards for today’s international broadcast centers.”

Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

By Bob Kovacs

The term “live production over IP” covers a lot of territory, but the basic idea is that IP circuits are used for at least some of the signals in the production. In some studios that are built for IP production from the ground up, IP circuits are the primary pathways, and the gear directly connects to these IP circuits.

Just about any type of production can work with IP technologies. Examples of productions that use IP techniques range from the highest-level sports and events, down to local news and talk shows. Although more traditional SDI systems are still practical and in wide use, IP-based systems are here to stay.

One huge benefit from IP techniques is the ability to get remote feeds very quickly and at low cost. What used to take an expensive satellite feed can now be set up in seconds inexpensively from anywhere in the world using an IP feed.

“On my way home from [a major sporting event in] Australia, I could not help marveling at how much has changed over the last decade,” said Karlheinz Amberg, director of global events for Lawo. “Each event has become a milestone, as cutting-edge technology is deployed at the request of host broadcasters. ST2110 IP and remote production have

14

October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

SMALLER FOOTPRINT One of the benefits of increased use of IP technology for large-scale broadcasts is that the gear has a smaller footprint.

“One might argue that thorough planning allows operators to prepare enough hardware for global events, yet last-minute

requests and changes of plans are difficult to address in this way,” Amberg said. “Besides, who wants to justify the carbon footprint of shipping additional devices to where they are needed in a matter of hours?

At this year’s global events, Lawo’s HOME Apps took center stage, according to Amberg.

“For one recent event, it was decided to run them on 10 Dell servers (10U in total),” he said. “We used them for 60x HOME UDX apps to downconvert 3G ST2110, 1080p HDR streams to 3G ST2110, 1080p SDR, 1080i SDR and other flavors of broadcast video.”

Amberg said that when the entire planet is watching, the slightest glitch may trigger tirades of irate remarks by the director, the CTO, the organizing committee, and the sponsors who pay substantial amounts to be associated with a flawless experience.

“I think it’s fair to say that any match, race, hockey tournament, motorcycle event, etc., of global interest you have watched over the last 20 years has involved a considerable amount of Lawo gear,” Amberg said.

BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC, used Matrox Video’s Monarch EDGE encoder technology, coupled with GlobalM’s SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) distribution platform, to televise the state funeral

BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC, used Matrox Video’s Monarch EDGE encoder technology, coupled with GlobalM’s SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) distribution platform, to televise the state funeral of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II across the U.K. a year ago.

twitter.com/tvtechnology

live production

To livestream sports at Fort Hays State University as well as a local high school, the student production team uses approximately 10 cameras routed into a NewTek TriCaster TC1.

of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II across the U.K. a year ago. The workflow began with Monarch EDGE multichannel encoders. Most live content ready for distribution entered master control as SDI feeds, and an EDGE E4 quad-channel, 4:2:2 10-bit encoder captured and contributed four high-quality, low-latency streams—main and reserve domestic feeds, and main and reserve international feeds—to the GlobalM streaming platform.

The GlobalM orchestration network then distributed and transmitted the SRT-enabled feeds, including backup and redundant paths, to international rights-holders across the globe, while the master control monitored all streams in real time with the GlobalM web dashboard. During the 12-hour broadcast, GlobalM did not drop a single packet, providing worldwide BBC audiences access to 12 hours of high-quality, uninterrupted event coverage.

LIMITED SATELLITE CAPABILITY Spending associated with satellite contribution and distribution has historically been restricted to events that warrant its expense and complexity, and fewer and fewer broadcasters are equipped with the necessary satellite-receiving equipment. In the case of the queen’s funeral, rights-holders with no satellite capability still needed to access the signal in the same quality as satellite would provide.

“The BBC would not have been able to meet the demand for the content without the EDGE/GlobalM combination,” said Paul Calleja, chief technology officer and co-founder of GlobalM. “Matrox Monarch EDGE’s high-quality and low-latency encoding support on the GlobalM private IP backbone gave BBC Studios complete stability and quality

16

October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

for each stream, ensuring international rights holders near and far got exceptional event coverage.”

In this case, GlobalM chose SRT, and Monarch EDGE performed flawlessly with this transport mechanism, according to Calleja. In rapid response setups like the queen’s funeral, commissioning is key. Monarch EDGE proved easy to set up and deploy, so that the broadcaster could focus on capturing the event, and not struggle with network configuration.

The highly competent broadcast staff that operates at the highest levels needs to get experience and training in a challenging learning environment. One such program in the United States is at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kan. At FHSU, a faculty-led student crew is tasked with the official television production of all the school’s NCAA Division II sports, which go to paying customers. Therefore, there is no room for error or equipment failure.

FHSU broadcasts everything from football to volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, and men’s and women’s basketball. The college also has a partnership with a local high school, where the high school pays FHSU to livestream scholastic athletic events that include football, volleyball, boys’ and girls’ basketball, and track.

“To capture all this sports content across the schools, we use about 10 cameras routed into a NewTek TriCaster TC1,” said Nick Schwien, director of Tiger Media Network at Fort Hays State University. “We use Vizrt/NewTek equipment for all our live productions in-house and off campus, including a TriCaster 2 Elite, a TriCaster TC1, a TriCaster Mini 4K, Viz Engine, 3Play 3P2 and 3Play 3P1,

twitter.com/tvtechnology

and other components by Vizrt.”

For cameras, FHSU uses a mix of Panasonic, Blackmagic Design, NewTek PTZ and JVC equipment. Much of the gear is mounted in a custom-made Bigfoot cart.

“Our TriCasters handle anything we can throw at them, and they are a great way for college students to learn about productions,” Schwien said. “We are even currently in the process of developing a sports production emphasis at FHSU, which works out well since the gear has been so easy for the students to learn.”

Ease of use and reliability are critical in a learning environment, and Schwien said that the TriCasters and associated gear have really worked out well in that regard.

“The TriCasters also help us stream to many different platforms using an easy setup process that expands our opportunity to reach audiences,” he said. “It helps us engage our loyal audiences and fan bases as well.”

CORPORATE CONFERENCE JAB Holding is a behind-the-scenes corporation that invests in many well-known name brands, such as Panera Bread, Tiffany, Lacoste, Cover Girl and Burberry. With offices spread across the globe, it is time-consuming and expensive to have company-wide faceto-face meetings. For its annual gathering this year, JAB hired Gradient Experience to produce a two-day conference on video using high-quality IP links that featured LiveU encoders and decoders.

“The use of LiveU allowed our team to adapt to last-minute changes in scheduling,” said Corey Protin, head of livestream & studios for Gradient Experience. “When a guest could no longer fly to our London green-screen facility, we simply used a LiveU TVU One 5G mobile encoder

live production encoder alongside the LiveU LU4000 4K/quad HD rackmount receiver to bring him/her into the production. We were able to meet the presenters’ needs, without sacrificing our production quality.”

Products for live IP production are among the fastest growing categories in the video industry. Although broadcasters have been able for decades to do remote broadcasts via microwave, IP remote devices give users far more mobility and flexibility.

An example is the TVU One from TVU Networks, which just debuted at IBC 2023. The TVU One is a portable 5G cellular modem that can work at resolutions up to 4K/60 fps in HDR quality. In addition to supporting 5G cellular modems, the One can also be fitted up to work with Starlink, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and satellite.

NEWS UPGRADE A major network-owned station on the East Coast recently upgraded its news production to a Ross Video Hyperconverged solution.

This included two Ultrix-FR5 platforms featuring integrated Ultrix Acuity production switchers, connected to the station’s existing ST 2110 production network. The Ross gear

WINNER

“ST2110 IP and remote production have become the de-facto standards for today’s international broadcast centers.”

—KARLHEINZ AMBERG, LAWO

has been deployed as the heart of two live production studios, which also use the company’s routing systems and multiviewers.

“As rack space was limited, Ultrix delivered a full production solution for two studios in a compact 10RU, connecting easily into the existing ST 2110 network,” said Alun Fryer, technical marketing lead for Hyperconverged Solutions at Ross Video. “The system integrated a full-size Ultrix Acuity production switcher for each studio with the flexibility to repurpose the hardware to multiple smaller

Ultrix Carbonite switchers on demand for smaller production jobs.”

Fryer explained why the Ross Ultrix solution was the right for this large broadcaster. “[Ultrix] integrates video and audio production, signal processing and routing into a compact, adaptable platform,” he said. “The software-defined features allow the customer to adapt the capabilities of the platform to the needs of the facility dynamically, giving them the production flexibility they needed.”

The tools for live IP production cover a lot of turf in the television industry, incorporating everything from familiar-looking devices like production switchers to cloud-based services that were just thought of a few years ago. The competitiveness of the live broadcast business—especially news—means that broadcasters are always going for the gear that will get them on air with news in the fastest, most flexible way possible.

This in turn spurs manufacturers to develop products and systems that give broadcasters that “faster-than-now” capability. IP systems, with their easy integration of wireless and wired devices, is the platform on which faster-than-now is built. l

media tech

What Does the Sale of Avid Mean for Its Future?

For its user base, moving to a private company leaves many questions unanswered

Credit: Avid

A

incentive structure for long-term t the time this artiplanning.” cle was written, the The video editing market is now entertainment incrowded. Today, Avid competes dustry was on strike with Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple and virtually all major production Final Cut Pro and Blackmagic shut down. In the middle of all DaVinci Resolve, as well as a range this comes the news that Avid, of lower-cost options. In the audio one of the legends in film, video market, Avid’s Pro Tools competes and audio post-production, is bewith Adobe Audition, Apple’s ing sold to STG, a private equity Logic Pro X, Reaper, Cubase and firm, for $1.4 billion in cash.

EXPERTISE free software, such as GarageBand Other than the typical Frank Beacham and Audacity. optimistic press releases from the company, there has been radio silence on the sale. Jeff Rosica, Avid’s president WHAT’S NEXT? and CEO, won’t talk about the sale beyond the For Avid’s user base, moving from a publicly news release. Calls to several Avid analysts and traded company to a private company leaves major users also got a “no comment.” questions unanswered. Avid’s board of A blog from Devoncroft Partners, a media directors has unanimously accepted the offer. research firm, found “there is no detailed Closing of the transaction is expected during rationale provided by Avid’s management the fourth quarter of 2023, though at presstime team or board of directors on why this the deal was still subject to Avid stockholder is in the best interests of Avid and its and regulatory approval, along with other stakeholders.” “customary closing conditions.”

Devoncroft continued: “We can appreciate The deal includes a termination fee of the conventional view of private equity $39.8 million should Avid terminate the ownerships is decidedly negative among media transaction, which limits the company’s technology professionals. Caution is advisable. ability to entertain alternative proposals.

Becoming a private company, under STG’s Whatever the implications of the sale turn stewardship, may very well prove beneficial for out to be, Avid has a long and rich history in all stakeholders as Avid’s board believes. And the video business. At the 1987 NAB Show, it’s not like the public markets have a perfect the company, founded by inventor Bill

18

October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

twitter.com/tvtechnology

Media Composer Symphony video editing software interface

Warner, demonstrated the first protype of the Avid Media Composer in a hotel suite.

Media Composer opened the door to nonlinear editing. Linear editing, then the standard, was too hard and cumbersome. Avid was started with the sole goal of providing a faster way to create media.

It took a convergence of technology to make Warner’s dream come true. One key component was the Apple Macintosh. By 1989, with the help of the Macintosh CPU, the Avid/1 Media Composer became a viable product with real-time video compression techniques that could instantly display edited sequences.

The Avid/1 could simultaneously handle full-motion color video at 30 FPS and two channels of 44 Khz, 16-bit sound. With this, medi editing changed forever.

‘SWEATING BULLETS’ At that NAB Show, Warner recalled at the time, “I could taste it. I wanted that machine.

I just had to have it. So, we shipped the machines by FedEx to the NAB Show. Our machines were lost in shipping. Then they found them in time, but we were sweating bullets,” Warner recalled.

“Just to show you how much money meant to us at that time, we were thrilled because we got the shipping for free. And it was like $1,000 to send these big machines, but they had been lost for a few hours. We got our machines and we set it all up in the suite. We called people at their hotels to make sure they would come. And they did. We got our first

media tech

Jeff Rosica, Avid president/CEO

$500,000 investment at that NAB [Show].”

Two years later, Avid began selling its system. The first handful of systems went mostly to editors for making commercials in New York. The system was still immature, and the kinks needed to be worked out before tackling the big film market in Hollywood.

The video quality of the Avid/1 was VHS quality due to the use of a very early version of the Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) codec. In 1991, when Avid implemented JPEG compression,

picture quality greatly improved. Finally, the system was ready for primetime.

In 1992, Avid made its Hollywood debut.

That year, Steve Cohen began editing Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers” on Avid’s first Film Composer system. After an initial process shakedown, the Film Composer performed well—it operated at a true 24 fps, with no locked-out frames or fields. The company went public in 1993.

Avid’s cut lists were 100% accurate, consistent and stable over editing changes.

Over the years, many optical-heavy shows appreciated this accuracy and stability, when

“Becoming a private company, under STG’s stewardship, may very well prove beneficial for all stakeholders as Avid’s board believes.”

—DEVONCROFT PARTNERS

every scene comes out to the frame, every time.

Avid had set a new editing standard. By the year 2000, more than 100 television shows and movies such as “Titanic” and “The Matrix” were edited with Avid products.

By 2018, Avid’s editing products, including its premiere audio editing app, Pro Tools, were used in 70% of commercially published music, 90% of original primetime content and most of the world’s major news networks.

Avid has won a Grammy, 16 Emmys and two Oscars.

Now, facing a new chapter in its 35-year history, there is speculation about the future of Avid. Might it be broken up—separating its film, video and audio products and services?

No one is saying.

In a letter to Avid customers, Rosica wrote, “We’re confident that by becoming a private company, we will strengthen our business and be able to achieve greater scale, performance and speed.”

It’s anybody’s guess whether or not this will be true. l Frank Beacham is a New York City-based writer and media producer.

cloudspotter’s journal

Protecting Digital Data Resiliency IDC predicts the Global Datasphere will grow from 33 ZB in 2018 to 175 ZB by 2025

W

hen an organiapplications and services) but it zation has the allows the organization to unlock ability to bounce innovation, efficiency and cost back from a savings. When critical services disruption, e.g., a power outage, are finetuned through practices natural disaster, or a cyberatassociated with resiliency, then tack or ransomware attack, that connectivity is improved, reliabilability to recover is referred to as ity increases and faster responbeing “data resilient.” Typically, siveness is achieved. data resiliency is framed within No matter where the data a disaster recovery (DR) plan and center is located, where you are EXPERTISE is best protected when its data is or where you’re going, colocation Karl Paulsen backed up regularly and stored in can enable you to adapt to an multiple locations. ever-changing digital landscape.

Examples of data center (or private cloud) Flexibility constraints are reduced while resilresiliency might include having server power iency is enhanced. Services become instantly supply redundancy, where each server’s power scalable, enabling a flexible infrastructure supply is duplicated to protect from failure of with high-speed connectivity and proximity its primary supply; or at the extreme where to partners and carriers. there is a duplicated server (i.e., a “secondInternational Data Corp. has identified ary” server) that is active or in a hot-standby some rationale as to why organizations mode and automatically takes over should the should store more of the data it creates. primary server fail.

First, data is essential to any organization’s On a larger scale, data center redundancy is efforts to establish digital resiliency. Defined another resiliency option, with the same redunas “the ability for an organization to rapidly dancy concept holding true at the level of the adapt to business disruptions by leveraging data center facility itself—that is, a portion (or digital capabilities,” this applies not only to all) of the data center is replicated on site or at the restoration of operations, but it allows the an alternative location including the cloud. organization to capitalize on changing conditions. Sometimes framed in part as a “digital operating model”—having an efficient enviCO-LO OPTIONS ronment enables digital resiliency because Colocation (also called “co-lo”), whereby businesses are dependent on their data. organizations that support “hot sites” (readily Second, digitally transformed companies primed to take over in the event the primary (those who have adopted a digital operating site is compromised), is another methodology model) use their data to develop innovative for digital data resiliency. solutions for their future. Companies are Data center colocation, aka “future-proof” quickly discovering that having more data not allows your digital footprint to be replicated. only helps affirm the direction they are headIn turn, this concept serves multiple purposes ing, but also creates opportunities to launch but most importantly, it allows the organizanew revenue streams. tion to scale faster and easier while providing Today, there are needs in the organization flexibility and the ability to adapt quickly. It to monitor the pulse of their employees, further enables you to take advantage of new customers and partners in order to retain a opportunities without depending upon other high level of trust and empathy that ensure “non-controlled” means (as in a short-term customer satisfaction and loyalty. Data is application using the cloud). the source for this pulse and those entities believe there is latent, potentially unmined CRITICALLY SAFE value from analyzing both current and older Your IT infrastructure is everything. Keepdata. However, the flip side is that the cost to ing it safe from natural disasters, threats and store more (or all) data holds organizations bad actors falls into the category of “critical back from modifying their data retention polservices.” Modernizing a hybrid IT infrastrucicies. Media is certainly a part of that “video ture not only improves performance (as in

20

October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

twitter.com/tvtechnology

hording” model, especially news organizations that never know when that one lone, exclusive story content would propel them forward. A deep “glacial” archive that could take hours to days to access is not the answer as the news mandate demands accessibility, given that no one knows when that “special clip” might need to be recovered, fast!

NEVER ENOUGH STORAGE There is a cost to pay for these capabilities, as IDC reported in a May 2022 forecast, which stated: “worldwide, the (circa 2021) global StorageSphere forecast for 2022–2026 would produce a base of 7.9 zettabytes (1 zettabyte=1 trillion gigabytes) of storage capacity at a base install cost of $370 billion.” However you read this, IDC sees total storage in excess of 175 ZB by 2025. Predictors speculated in 2021 that having this much storage “may still not be enough.” Furthermore, there may never be a known ending point for storage to stop growing, and no one knows what those numbers may really be.

Organizations are just now beginning to show a positive ROI on data analytics initiatives, especially with older data—lending to the need for a well-protected and resilient data management agenda. In support of this, a proven ROI (on analytics initiatives) would only amplify the need for storing more data or retaining data longer. Leveraging AI for active search and recovery of older information will certainly depend on the ability to access this older data—the question looming being: “How does this get paid for?” But that is a topic for another time…

The summation of all this data, whether it is created, captured or replicated, is called the “Global Datasphere,” and it is experiencing tremendous growth. IDC predicts that the Global Datasphere will grow from 33 ZB in 2018 to 175 ZB by 2025. Ironically, it is estimated that >30% of the 175 ZB of global data in 2025 will be generated in real time. In 2017, about 15% of that DataSphere was already real-time data.

To keep up with the storage demands stemming from all this data creation, IDC forecasts that over 22 ZB of storage capacity must ship across all media types from 2018 to 2025, with nearly 59% of that capacity supplied from the hard disk drive (HDD) industry.

cloudspotter’s journal

Equivalency is mathematically stated as 1,024 ZB = 1 Yottabyte (YB) with a yottabyte of storage taking up a data center the size of the states of Delaware and Rhode Island.

A yottabyte is the largest unit approved as a standard size by the International System of Units (SI).

ENTERPRISE RENAISSANCE? The enterprise is fast becoming the world’s data steward… again. In the recent past, consumers were responsible for much of their own data, but their reliance on and trust of today’s cloud services, especially from connectivity, performance and convenience perspectives, continues to increase while the need to store and manage data locally continues to decrease. Moreover, businesses are looking to centralize data management and delivery (e.g., online video streaming, data analytics, data security and privacy) as well as to leverage data to control their businesses and the user experience (e.g., machine-learning, machine-to-machine only communication, IoT, persistent personalization profiling). The responsibility to maintain and manage all this consumer and business data supports the growth in provider cloud datacenters. As a result, the enterprise’s role as a data steward continues to grow, and consumers are not just allowing this, but expecting it.

As recent as 2019, more data would be stored in the enterprise core than in all the world’s existing endpoints. (Reference: “The

Digitization of the World – from edge to core”: an IDC white paper in November 2018).

The diagram above shows the Data Hierarchy, adapted from the SNIA Dictionary 2023.

M&E JUMP START According to IDC, “mankind is on a quest to digitize the world,” and one of the key drivers of growth in the core is the shift to the cloud from traditional datacenters. As companies continue to pursue the cloud (both public and private) for data processing needs, cloud datacenters are becoming the new enterprise data repository. In essence, the cloud is becoming the new core. In 2025 IDC predicts that 49% of the world’s stored data will reside in public cloud environments.

Not all industries are prepared for their digitally transformed future. So, to help companies understand their level of data readiness, IDC developed a DATCON (DATa readiness CONdition) index, designed to analyze various industries regarding their own Datasphere, level of data management, usage, leadership and monetization capabilities.

It examined four industries as part of its DATCON analysis: financial services, manufacturing, healthcare and media and entertainment.

Manufacturing’s Datasphere is by far the largest—given its maturity, investment in IoT and 24×7 operations, manufacturing and financial services are the leading industries in terms of maturity, with media and entertainment most in need of a jump start.

A DATA EXPLOSION Every geographic region has its own Datasphere size and trajectories that are impacted by population, digital transformation progress, IT spend and maturity, and many other metrics. China’s Datasphere is on pace to becoming the largest in the world and is expected to grow 30% on average over the next seven years; by 2025, it will be the largest Datasphere of all regions (compared to EMEA, APJxC, U.S., and the rest of world) as its connected population grows and its video surveillance infrastructure proliferates. (APJxC includes AsiaPac countries, including Japan, but not China.)

Consumers are addicted to data, and more of it in real time, i.e., active or stored video from entities such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and more.

You cannot hide from the data. More than 5 billion consumers interact with data every day; and by 2025, that number may be 6 billion or more. That equates to 75% of the world’s population. So, by 2025, each connected person will have at least one data interaction every 18 seconds. Many of these interactions are because of the billions of IoT devices connected across the globe, which by themselves, are expected to create over 90 ZB of data in 2025. l

Karl Paulsen is a frequent TV Tech contributor who has been writing about storage and media solution technologies for the past three decades. He can be reached at karl@ivideoserver.tv.

twitter.com/tvtechnology | www.tvtech.com | October 2023

21

lighting technology

Image-Based Lighting: The Disappearing Distinction Between Lights and Video Displays IBL fixtures open new possibilities for lighting efforts

An image-based lighting fixture by Quasar Scientific reinforces the lighting within a virtual production volume.

Credit: Quasar Scientific

A

out how to use it. bout 20 years ago while attending a trade show in Las VIRTUAL PRODUCTION Vegas, I crossed a In its most basic form, LED walkway between buildings along panel lights consist of individual The Strip. I stepped out into the pixels. Advanced versions can dazzling light of one of the new be mapped out to form a kind of outdoor digital billboards that had low-resolution display screen. At just started to appear. In glancing the point where you can “drive” away from the considerable glare, I these lights with images played saw that everyone on the walkway across the light’s face, you have EXPERTISE was bathed in an ever-changing an image-based light (IBL). Need BRUCE light from the garish display. For a larger area? Just add another ALEKSANDER me, this accidental lighting was panel and map it accordingly. a lot more interesting than whatever was If that sounds similar to a video wall, it is. being hawked on the billboard itself. The play IBL fixtures and video walls actually have of light was animated like fireworks on the a lot in common with each other. Dot-pitch, upturned faces in the crowd. It was a thing of brightness and color quality may be different, beauty in a sea of over-the-top excess. but they’re both fundamentally screens.

Although I didn’t realize it at the time, that One is designed to be viewed directly, while was my introduction to image-based lighting— the other is indirectly viewed by way of its years before anyone had named it or figured incidental light and reflections. When used

22

October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

twitter.com/tvtechnology

together in the realm of virtual production, the results are the latest in movie magic— with the benefit of capturing realistic virtual environments and the actors’ performance directly in the same camera shot.

IBL fixtures are now integral to special effects production.

Special effects (SFX) used to rely heavily on “green screen” and required extensive post production to piece effects together.

Virtual production studios can now accomplish that in one pass, permitting virtual backgrounds to be simultaneously combined with live foreground action, representing a transformational change in the industry.

Shows such as “The Mandalorian,” and current “Star Trek” shows depend heavily on virtual production within LED volumes.

One byproduct of shooting within these immersive LED volumes is that ambient light from the screens, along with their reflections,

lighting technology

illuminate the foreground—much as they would in nature.

DEFICIENCIES There are, however, still a few problems.

Most video screens are made of RGB (red, green and blue) LEDs. Although these screens look fine when viewed directly, the RGB emitters give off light that’s deficient. It lacks the spectral fidelity needed for accurate color reproduction. This is particularly noticeable on flesh tones.

In an attempt to address these deficiencies, some video wall manufacturers are beginning to take a page from the lighting fixture industry, broadening their color spectrum by adding phosphor-based “white” LEDs to the RGB mix. Although the color fidelity of these RGBW displays don’t quite equal the accuracy of purpose-built lighting fixtures, they’re a big improvement.

In practice, using these white LEDs becomes a balancing act between how it looks to the camera and how it lights the actors. One company addressing this challenge is Emmy Award-winning Brompton Technologies, which developed “TrueLight” to better control the light balance. Breakthrough advances like this are part of the ongoing evolution in lighting today.

It’s now possible to open up a virtual area of white light within an LED volume (but outside of the camera shot) to help illuminate a scene. At the moment, however, the best LED volume walls are still somewhat deficient, only scoring a color accuracy of around CRI-80 out of a possible 100. Those displays will eventually improve, although change will require considerable investment.

IBL fixtures are inherently better at lighting the foreground by all measures. And their ability to work in conjunction with the dynamically changing images can now permit a seamless match with background images.

ACCURATE COLOR REPRODUCTION Inspired by the industry’s need for better lighting tools, several manufacturers have stepped up. Among them, Kino Flo and Quasar Science have created lights that convincingly match virtual backgrounds, as well as providing for accurate color reproduction.

For example, envision a car chase past a row of street lights. While a conventional light gag could be used, the IBL fixtures can more accurately mimic the movement of the street lights past the car by inputting the moving street lights directly. Combined with the matching images in the Volume, these tools work together to build a more convincing illusion.

To accomplish this, IBL fixtures have taken a page from video displays to become a sort of low-resolution video panel, but with more output and higher color fidelity. Likewise,

IBL fixtures have taken a page from video displays to become a sort of lowresolution video panel, but with more output and higher color fidelity.

LED volumes have borrowed some tricks from lighting. Micro LEDs and flip-chips create tighter pixel structures that allow direct recording without moiré. This tight clustering has also enabled the addition of “white” LEDs to improve the color fidelity of the light the volume emits.

Image processing that was originally developed for the video game industry adds to the realism. 3D creation tools, such as Unreal Engine, have made it possible to add real-time background perspective changes that appear in-camera.

The amount of control required for IBL lighting fixtures has exposed the limitations of the DMX-512 lighting protocol.

Fortunately, there are already practical workarounds. IBL lights require input control that more closely resembles a video feed.

Designing better control solutions will be an ongoing process.

These are the latest tools for the literal expression of virtual light. They’re already playing an important role in media and entertainment production. We should also remember that the “poetic” interpretation of light can be of equal importance in storytelling.

Conventional lighting fixtures will remain important tools in production, but the unique capabilities of IBL fixtures open new possibilities for lighting effects beyond virtual production studios. The full impact of these new technologies is a tale still being written. l Bruce Aleksander invites comments and topic suggestions from those interested in lighting at TVLightingguy@hotmail.com.

twitter.com/tvtechnology | www.tvtech.com | October 2023

23

Credit: Brompton Technology

Light from standard RGB displays can’t accurately reproduce skin tones, as seen on the left. RGBW display panels (on right) address this problem with broader spectrum light with the addition of a white LED. Specialized processing tools, like those from Brompton Technology, help integrate this higher-quality light without sacrificing background images.

eye on tech | products and services Sony BURANO Sony’s new BURANO camera, part of the company’s CineAlta lineup, features a sensor that matches the color science of the VENICE 2.

Sony has designed BURANO specifically for single-camera operators and small crew and has built in-body image stabilization into the PLMount digital cinema camera. The camera’s compact housing includes a thinner-than-before electronically variable ND filter structure along with the optical image stabilization mechanism. When removing the PL lens mount, the camera can be used with E-mount lenses. It supports fast hybrid AF and subject recognition AF, even for fast-moving subjects.

Using the color science of the VENICE cameras, BURANO features an 8.6K full-frame sensor that shares most of the VENICE 2 specifications, enabling it to work alongside that camera in all types of productions. The sensor features dual base ISO of 800 and 3200 and 16 stops of latitude. zh ttps://pro.sony/ue_US/products/digital-cinema-cameras/burano

TVU Networks TVU Search for Adobe Premiere Pro TVU Networks has joined the Adobe Video Solution Partner Program and released a new Premiere Pro plug-in that gives users access to TVU Search from within the editing application. Editors can use the plug-in to locate desired video content in seconds, easily clip it and transfer it immediately to Premiere Pro without leaving their creative canvas or application.

The cloud-based TVU Search plug-in relies on AI-driven algorithms and automation. Able to ingest nearly any live video source, TVU Search analyzes and indexes video content in real-time upon ingest and enables users to pinpoint the specific content needed using an intuitive interface. The plug-in presents Premiere Pro users with an extensive array of tools, including speech-to-text transcripts, integrated player tools with shortcut keys, quick transcript export and easy mark-in/ mark-out timecode configurations, to create video clips. Multiple users in multiple locations can use TVU Search to access the same content at the same time. zw ww.tvunetworks.com

Intelsat IntelsatOne IP

ARRI SkyPanel X

Intelsat has announced a new content distribution system that will use the internet to transport quality video content worldwide. IntelsatOne IP is designed as a global interconnected network powered by a software platform, eliminating the need for hardware, making for faster deployment.

“IntelsatOne IP increases the reach and flexibility of the Intelsat Global Media Network and complements our existing global satellite and fiber footprint,” said Pascale Fromont, vice president of Media at Intelsat.

“IntelsatOne IP offers more connectivity options to broadcasters of all sizes looking for more affordable and reliable ways to transport content as well as for those seeking new ways to increase viewership.”

Broadcasters can access the full Intelsat Global Media Network by using Intelsat’s hybrid terrestrial and satellite infrastructure, bringing connectivity that traditional IP providers are unable to provide.

IntelsatOne IP is available now for customers to begin testing use cases and is scheduled to become commercially available as an operational service at a later date. zw ww.intelsat.com/media/products/intelsatone-ip

ARRI’s SkyPanel X is a new, all-weather modular LED luminaire that can be configured into different sizes.

SkyPanel X provides superior low-end dimming with flickerfree operation from 100 to zero percent for direct, close-distance key lighting. With a dynamic CCT range from 1,500 to 20,000 K, the luminaire can emulate the characteristics of sodium lamps or cloudy sunlight.

The RGBACL full-spectrum light engine features the best ARRI lighting color science to date, enhancing skin tones and achieving deep color reproduction. Eight pixel zones per LED panel meet the requirements of advanced console programming, visual effects, and virtual production environments.

SkyPanel X is designed to address the needs of studios, rental houses, and corporate clients and that it is tailored to meet the requirements and working dynamics of DPs, gaffers, console operators, lighting designers, and broadcast technicians. zw ww.arri.com/en/lighting/led/skypanel/x-series

LiveU LU4000 ST 2110

Dalet Dalet InStream

LiveU’s new single 4K/Quad HD video receiver for ST 2110 broadcast facilities, is the latest addition to the LiveU IP-video EcoSystem and is designed to provide an efficient and adaptable way to receive high-quality LRT (LiveU Reliable Transport) live content feeds from any LiveU EcoSystem device and then seamlessly output them as 2110-compliant streams.

The LiveU LU4000 ST 2110 operates as an all-in-one receiver in the video chain, reducing IT costs, time and overhead while keeping everything in sync.

Building on LiveU’s LRT protocol, the receiver enables a resilient, low latency IP-to-IP workflow for receiving a single 4K video feed or up to four full HD live feeds, adding to the operational scalability of ST 2110.

The LU4000 ST 2110 can be swiftly deployed regardless of network configuration. The LU4000 ST 2110 is fully NMOS-compliant, making device discovery and control easy. zw ww.liveu.tv/products/share/lu4000-st-2110

Dalet InStream is an elastic IP ingest SaaS solution that enables customers to dynamically scale ingest operations in a matter of seconds. Complementing the highdensity Dalet Brio on-premises ingest and playout platform, the cloudnative Dalet InStream leverages the agility and performance of the cloud in a pay-per-use model, bringing greater efficiency, flexibility, and cost savings to capturing news, sports, and other key live events.

Dalet InStream seamlessly integrates across the Dalet ecosystem— Dalet Flex, Dalet Pyramid, and Dalet Galaxy five—enabling customers to schedule, record, access, edit, and deliver content from anywhere, faster than ever. The flexible end-to-end cloud workflows provide customers with new opportunities to expand their programming and significantly reduce total cost of ownership (TCO). With the introduction of Dalet InStream, any ingest scenario required by Dalet customers is now fully supported: from IP streams in the cloud to on-premises SDI & IP feeds, standard file upload and camera card ingest. zw ww.dalet.com/products/instream

24

XXXXXXXX October 2023 2021 | www.tvtech.com | www.tvtechnology.com | twitter.com/tvtechnology | twitter.com/tvtechnology

equipment guide | cloud solutions

Secret Weapon Studios Powers Cloud Workflows With Blackmagic Design USER REPORT

By Greg Olliver Founder & CEO Secret Weapon Studios

NEW YORK—Secret Weapon Studios is a new film-tech startup founded by filmmakers for filmmakers to make production more efficient for everyone, while remaining cost-conscious.

The cloud is a central technology for enhancing efficiency in today’s post workflows, which is why our turnkey post platform, PostHero, leverages DaVinci Resolve post-production software, Blackmagic Cloud remote collaboration tools, and Blackmagic Cloud Store and Blackmagic Cloud Store Mini network storage solutions, coupled with certified assistant editors, editors, training, 24/7

support and more.

DaVinci Resolve 18 supports Blackmagic Cloud, so users worldwide can host project libraries on the DaVinci Resolve Project Server in the cloud, effectively sharing projects and working collaboratively with editors, colorists, VFX artists and audio engineers on the same project simultaneously.

REMOTE TEAMS An unscripted series for a major streaming service recently employed PostHero for its post production workflow, effectively connecting a fully remote post team of nine between Puerto Rico, California, New Jersey and New York.

Managed by Secret Weapon Studios’ post supervisor, a main Blackmagic Cloud Store in New York hosted the raw media and proxies, while the other eight team members were

Greg Oliver, who founded Secret Weapon Studios, uses DaVinci Resolve 18 and other Blackmagic Design solutions in the cloud to facilitate remote productions.

supported each with a Blackmagic Cloud Store Mini hosting the proxies. The team was linked together by Blackmagic Cloud, with its Blackmagic Proxy Generator App automatically creating and managing proxies from the camera originals, with those proxies synced to the team’s Blackmagic Cloud Store Minis via Dropbox.

With an extremely tight delivery timeframe that left us no wiggle room, the real-time collaboration provided by the workflow was essential. Connected via Blackmagic Cloud, everyone worked off the same media so all edits were seen by the entire post team in real time, and the editors could even set permissions if needed. With a remote team spread all over the place, we had zero issues with someone having the wrong media or project file—rather the result was a seamless, streamlined workflow that saved time and money.

COLLABORATION NOT CHAOS In general, most editors still work remotely today, and many of our clients keep asking if there is anything we can do to help streamline their post processes; now we have an answer.

With Blackmagic Cloud Store, Blackmagic Cloud Store Mini, DaVinci Resolve Studio and the collaborative power of Blackmagic Cloud, an editor, assistant editor, colorist, sound mixer, VFX artist and more can all be collaborating on the same timeline at the same time from anywhere in the world.

If you’ve been in the business long enough, you’ve probably experienced some of the waves of changing editing technology, and here we are in 2023 embracing the new wave with DaVinci Resolve, which takes all the chaos out of the remote work equation.

As with any change, there is sometimes a bit of pushback from editors who can be set in their ways, which is why we at Secret Weapon Studios supply vetted and certified assistant editors and editors, alongside training with the hardware, software and support, so it’s a no-brainer for everyone. There is a lot of new technology revolutionizing the film and content industry, and we’re excited to be in the middle of it, working alongside companies like Blackmagic Design. l Greg Olliver is founder and CEO of Secret Weapon Studios. Reach Secret Weapon Studios and Olliver at 848-800-2525 or coordinator@ secretweapon.studio. For more information visit https://secretweapon.studio/.

For additional information, contact Blackmagic Design at 408-954-0500 or visit www.blackmagicdesign.com.

twitter.com/tvtechnology | www.tvtech.com | October 2023

25

equipment guide | cloud solutions

novel.media Taps Vizrt to Take ELF to the Cloud USER REPORT

By Levon Melikian Managing Director and Founder novel.media

MUNICH—I founded novel.media in 2008 to offer video production services for a wide range of businesses. We pride ourselves on our long professional relationships with our clients who rely on us to help them achieve their vision.

Which is why, when the European League of Football (ELF) told us they wanted to go completely to the cloud for its 2023 season, I was immediately excited for the opportunity. We decided to work with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Vizrt to do this transition efficiently and effectively to provide an even better viewing experience for American football fans across Europe.

Our challenge was to broadcast more than 100 games in nine countries, ensuring that we had the same on-air graphics and quality of production we’ve provided ELF for the past two years. Creating a great fan experience for viewers—who love the statistics and information that we broadcast live—is not an easy task. It was particularly difficult because the teams are spread all over Europe, with directors all over the continent as well.

SAVINGS & EFFICIENCY

is a young league, this kind of cost reduction while maintaining a high level of production makes a huge difference in helping it grow in popularity. We managed to reduce costs significantly while still using up to seven cameras on the field in parallel, and that of course improves the fan experience, with every angle of the game covered.

When it comes to sustainability, the impact of doing remote productions was huge. We used to have five to six operators every week traveling all around Europe, and a rough calculation now suggests we are saving more than 300 tons of carbon dioxide per season.

Our goal was to make a smooth transition to cloud production without losing the high quality of broadcast the fans expected. We were also looking to improve viewer experiences, and the new features that the Vizrt Live Production Solution offered with advanced graphics and increased video quality, gave us what we needed to take that next step. l

The benefits were clear and the improvements in efficiency were obvious right off the bat. We can do all productions in our studios, where we can produce four games in parallel.

Not only have we reduced the need for multiple graphics operators, we’ve also significantly reduced the time it takes to calibrate the line of scrimmage.

We’ve also reduced an almost seven-digit budget per season and considering that this

Levon Melikian is a seasoned industry expert with over a decade of experience. As the founder and managing director of novel.media GmbH, he has spearheaded innovative projects for Constantin Medien, ProSieben Media and Sport1, among others. He can be reached at levon.melikian@novel.media.

More information is available at www.vizrt.com.

ics in real time, and virtual advertising and 1st and 10 lines created with Viz Arena. We used 3Play 3PV for replay and slow motion so viewers could catch every moment of the game.

With our tight deadline, Viz Now was incredibly important. It saved weeks of setup time, as it automates the deployment into AWS and provides a clear portal to spin up live production on game days and turn them off when games were finished.

AUTOMATED DEPLOYMENT Based on those requirements, we chose to work with Vizrt. We wanted to provide the graphics and virtual logos with the kind of quality that only Vizrt can provide. We also wanted to ensure we had this high standard for everyone working on the production in different parts of Europe—and that was only possible with a remote production model.

The ELF games were end-to-end cloud live productions using Viz Vectar Plus (now TriCaster Vectar), Viz Trio, Viz Engine, 3Play 3PV and Viz Arena. Viz Vectar Plus made software-based video/audio switching possible, with Viz Engine rendering graph-

26

October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

Levon Melikian’s novel.media used Vizrt’s cloud-based solutions to transition the production of 100 European League of Football games in nine countries to the cloud.

twitter.com/tvtechnology

equipment guide | cloud solutions

Sony’s Ci Drives National Hot Rod Association’s Cloud-Based Workflow USER REPORT

By Rob Hedrick Senior Director of Production National Hot Rod Association

GLENDORA, Calif.—The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is the sanctioning body for the largest motorsports organization in the world and our goal is to provide a safe environment for drag racing. On the television production side, where I work, we aim to deliver engaging racing action to our fans and viewers on Fox, in-venue, through our OTT platform and on our multiple content delivery platforms and take this content through post production.

I make sure everyone on our content team has the tools to do their job efficiently and effectively, to get the content out as quickly as possible. One of the key pieces of our process is Sony’s Ci Media Cloud, a cloud-based solution, which allows for collection, backup, review and streamlining of media workflows.

The NHRA has a vast library of archival content, and each race generates between 4 and 5 terabytes of content that result in upwards of 600 to 800 hours of programming annually. Because of this, we knew we were going to need a large asset management system to store all of our content and deliver it effectively. We also sought a system that could be accessed from on-site in our edit workflow and our cloud-based workflow.

A ‘SWISS ARMY KNIFE’ FOR THE CLOUD We ultimately chose Ci because it allowed all of our assets to be managed in the cloud and we didn’t have to keep on prem storage.

We also quickly found that the cost savings associated with Ci were tremendous. Furthermore, in unison with Amazon Web Services storage, Ci allows us to create storage management policies that push content into the S3 Glacier and then down into Deep Archive at regular intervals.

The NHRA is responsible for producing between 20 and 24 events a year, and we have upwards of 30 cameras on site. Each camera is

Rob Hendrick at the NHRA uses Ci’s cloud-based workflow to manage NHRA’s massive production output from 20 and 24 events a year with upwards of 30 cameras on site.

connected via fiber, wireless or directly to the cloud and we get that data back to our users quickly and efficiently. The camera-to-cloud workflow in Ci means we can rapidly get assets from our multiple cameras back to Ci and ready to be used by our content team.

We also use Ci to automate ingest and upload. Camera feeds are recorded in EVS and files are exported by the Xfile and then sent to a NAS location that is set up as a watch folder in Ci Relay, which uses transfer acceleration and bandwidth management to automatically upload files to the right locations in Ci, giving us instant access when we need them.

Making our content available to our editors with speed and ease allows us to deliver the experience that our fans expect, whether it’s televised or on our social platform.

LIVE STREAMING WITH CI In addition, we’re live streaming 10–12 hours a day to our fans. Every bit of that funnels through Ci, making it easily available

for our social team, marketing team and sales team to go in and look at anything that’s been on our OTT or on television. They can grab it for a proof of performance, send it to a marketer to show what we’ve done for them on-air or get it to our cloud-based editing team so they can turn it around and create new assets that are ready for the next show nearly instantaneously.

Ci really is the heartbeat for the backend of our entire production workflow, whether it’s providing the storylines in the television show, an item on social media, a regular post or something that marketing can use to sell tickets. l Rob Hedrick, senior director, production, at the NHRA, is an accomplished media professional with a distinguished career of more than 20 years in creative arts and business management. He can be reached at rob@nhra.com.

More information is available at www.cimediacloud.com.

twitter.com/tvtechnology | www.tvtech.com | October 2023

27

equipment guide | cloud solutions buyers briefs LTN Arc

Lawo HOME Apps

LTN Arc is a fully managed service designed to handle every aspect of versioning for live events. Arc enables media companies to repurpose and decorate centralized feeds into customized streams for distribution on multiple channels, reaching new audiences.

LTN Arc makes this possible by leveraging the LTN Network, acquiring feeds from worldwide venues, delivering them for processing, and enabling the decorating of live content with graphics and voice overs. Arc enables organizations to drive the monetization of live content through scalable, flawless metadata signaling for advanced advertising and channel customization workflows. https://ltnglobal.com

Designed to be lightning-fast and easy to spin up and configure, Lawo’s HOME Apps run on standard servers—whether they’re on-premise, in private data centers or in the public cloud—and can all be controlled via the unified HOME user interface for agile spin-up, configuration and use.

HOME Apps are also designed to future-proof broadcast and media operations by infusing them with a striking amount of flexibility and scalability. That flexibility leaves ample room for hybrid setups involving both existing hardware and the new server-based app offering. The HOME Apps platform supports the SMPTE ST2110, NDI and SRT protocols as well as the JPEG XS, H.265 and H264 compression formats with others likely to follow. https://lawo.com/

Signiant Jet As more media companies move workflows to the cloud, Signiant Jet makes it easy to automate the movement of content to and from the cloud with unprecedented speed, reliability and security. Signiant has long served as a trusted inter-company broker for secure exchange of media assets throughout the global supply chain and Jet builds on this legacy by providing a simple next-generation mechanism for companies to exchange data with one another through a secure mechanism, all managed from Jet’s web interface.

Jet is built on the same patented hybrid SaaS architecture that underpins Media Shuttle, Signiant’s person-initiated file transfer service, making it easy to deploy and operate. Jet also works for any size operation with on-premises file storage and cloud object storage. www.signiant.com

swXtch.io cloudSwXtch cloudSwXtch is a virtual overlay network that helps users migrate high-volume media workflows to the cloud using the same processes as their on-premises systems. Last year, cloudSwXtch introduced multicast, PTP synchronization, network path redundancy and other on-prem features to the cloud, enabling exceptional reliability for transport, delivery, monitoring and more. swXtch.io has added Lossless UDP for additional stream protection.

Lossless UDP optimizes packet delivery for high-bandwidth streams with minimal latency for dynamic ground-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground bridging, and without relying on proprietary protocols or hardware components. cloudSwXtch is also easily deployable in all major public cloud networks. www.swXtch.io

Evertz Reflektor

Triveni Digital GuideBuilder XM and Broadcast Gateway

Evertz’ Reflektor is a Softwareas-a-Service (SaaS) media transcoding and distribution platform that offers comprehensive processing and transcoding directly in and from the cloud. Reflektor uses licensed microservices, on-premise processing nodes or in the cloud to normalize signal types to best suit the needs of the end user or final application.

Suitable for UHD/4K field contribution, remote production, return feed monitoring, remote collaboration and cloud production, this versatile service supports multiple applications and can manage signal formats such as MPEG-TS, NDI, SMPTE ST 2110, HLS, MPEG DASH, etc., that are used in cloud-based transport and production. It also supports SRT and RIST transport protocols and codecs such as H.264, HEVC, or JPEG XS. www.evertz.com

Triveni Digital’s GuideBuilder XM and Broadcast Gateway are designed to simplify the delivery of NextGen TV services. As a managed cloud service for overseeing network-based broadcast chain functionality, GuideBuilder XM streamlines the creation of channel signaling and EPG metadata for terrestrial ATSC 3.0 signals.

In concert with SkyScraper XM, innovative datacasting applications can be managed from the cloud. With the broadcast chain in the cloud, broadcasters can ingest schedule listings, map them to services, and generate outputs for multiple DTV channels with zero CAPEX and reduced OPEX. The solution supports ATSC 3.0 broadcast services in HD and UHD, enabling stations to easily generate ATSC 3.0 signal information via user-defined transmission parameters. For ATSC 1.0 applications, GuideBuilder can simultaneously provide PSIP signaling. www.trivenidigital.com

28

October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

twitter.com/tvtechnology

equipment guide | cloud solutions

AMC’s Journey Into the Private Cloud With Avid USER REPORT

By James Popowytsch VP of Engineering AMC Networks Industry Department David Weickert Director of Engineering AMC Networks Jonathan Applebaum Manager of Broadcast IT AMC Networks

NEW YORK—As the ultimate destination for storytelling, AMC Networks operates in more than 125 countries worldwide and is the home to several iconic brands across television, independent film, production, distribution, gaming and publishing. We’re behind some of the most celebrated and acclaimed television content, such as the TV series “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul.”

Bringing these productions to market requires a stop in AMC’s New York City headquarters, where teams of producers, editors and designers craft ancillary and promo material for use across a diverse delivery landscape. Until recently, the technology portion of that operation consumed over 45,000 square feet of real estate. So, when Covid forced everyone to work from home, there were a lot of empty rooms.

James Popowytsch (above), David Weickert (center) and Jonathan Applebaum (right) spearheaded AMC Networks’ effort to virtualize vital tech operations using Avid solutions.

GETTING STARTED After some initial experimentation, we decided to adopt HP’s RGS app, which allowed editors to work on the same Avid Media Composer PC they were used to. In short order, our operation was humming along with no loss of efficiency or creative quality.

As the pandemic wore on—and with success of work-from-home—it became apparent that a permanent remote editorial strategy should be considered. This would entail virtualization of the Avid PCs and sunsetting most of the real estate. No strangers to virtualization—we had already successfully virtualized our Avid backend systems—we reasoned that it was time to virtualize the Media Composers as well. A cluster of 14 Dell servers were deployed, each fitted with five Nvidia T4 cards and 100G networking. Nutanix AHV virtualizes the 100 VM Avid environment, and Teradici PCoiP provides the link to the home.

AMC’s editors are accustomed to working exclusively with hi-res media, so what is seen at home must be largely artifact-free.

Unfortunately, we immediately encountered drifting audio sync and random video stuttering. Not being a turnkey system, troubleshooting was a painstaking process but over time we qualified every link in the chain and developed our own test movies to aid in troubleshooting.

The breakthrough came from a Teradici software engineer who created a system

that allowed graphical plotting of our visual experience. This led to a fix for the audio sync issue, as well as improvements to playback smoothness. The result of Teradici’s efforts now fuels our collaboration with Avid on improvements to the Media Composer’s Media Player.

THE PRIVATE CLOUD PAYOFF Media Composer has always been at the center of our post-production operation, and once the planned improvements to Avid’s Media Player are realized and—except for very specific workflows and finishing operations— working remotely via our private cloud will be virtually (pun intended) as good as being on-premise.

From an engineering perspective, virtualization provides agile deployment, simplified maintenance, and significant overall cost savings. From the user’s perspective, virtualization provides high-powered, consistent performance across all 100 Media Composer seats, as well as the flexibility to work from anywhere and at any time. And from a producer’s perspective, this environment affords the opportunity to engage with editorial talent across the globe.

The 45,000 square feet of real estate referred to earlier is ready for its next life.

And though our move to a private cloud was instigated by the pandemic, we’ll likely look back and realize that this paradigm shift was all but inevitable. l James Popowytsch, AMC’s VP of engineering, has been at the company for 20+ years, and is at the forefront of its media production and delivery strategies. He can be reached at James.Popowytsch@amcnetworks.com.

David Weickert, AMC’s director of engineering, has been with the company for 19+ years, and oversees the deployment and support of all NYC post environments. He can be reached at David.Weickert@amcnetworks.com.

Jonathan Applebaum, AMC’s manager of broadcast IT, has vast industry experience, and is often selected to QC and tune new environments. He can be reached at Jonathan.Applebaum@amcnetworks.com.

More information is available at www.avid.com.

twitter.com/tvtechnology | www.tvtech.com | October 2023

29

equipment guide | cloud solutions

Harmonic VOS360 Media SaaS

Qligent Vision 3 for ATSC3.0/NextGen TV

Harmonic’s VOS360 Media SaaS allows users to simplify all stages of media processing and delivery for premium video streaming and broadcast services. Running on the public cloud, the end-to-end video platform provides unparalleled agility, resiliency, security and scalability for a superior viewing experience.

Designed to unify the entire media processing chain, VOS360 features these essential media processing functions: ingest, playout, branding, transcoding, statistical multiplexing, encryption, packaging, origin, server-side ad insertion and delivery. The VOS360 platform is based on a flexible SaaS business model. To ensure the highest service availability, Harmonic’s VOS360 Media SaaS can be deployed in a geo-redundant configuration. www.harmonicinc.com

Qligent has released an updated version of its Vision 3 monitoring and analysis platform that supports the ATSC 3.0 standard. including support for Dolby AC-4. Vision 3 for ATSC3.0 fully supports all QoS/QoE/Recording and Analysis performed for ATSC 1.0 for the 3.0 standard, including all advanced Vision 3 functionality including Match content identification, advanced alarming and alerting. It also includes Qligent’s Audit, a new integration of As-Run reconciliation for playout systems identifying and reconciling SCTE triggers against content delivered. www.qligent.com

SDVI Rally The SDVI Rally media supply chain platform is used by a wide variety of customers including commercial media companies, public-service broadcasters, and movie studios to optimize their media supply chains.

The platform deploys all the applications and cloud infrastructure needed to process content, automatically scaling up or down depending on demand. With over 60 media processing applications available as integrated services, Rally is designed to make it easy for users to find the right tool for every job and change tools when appropriate. Using the SDVI Rally media supply chain platform, organizations gain business and technical agility, operational efficiency and newfound intelligence about their supply chain operations. https://sdvi.com

Matrox ORIGIN Matrox ORIGIN is an asynchronous media framework built on a cloudnative architecture that reconciles live production requirements with the capabilities of the cloud, operating IT infrastructure as it was intended to run—asynchronously.

As a result, Matrox ORIGIN’s disruptive, software-only, asynchronous framework offers highly scalable, responsive, low-latency, easy-tocontrol and frame-accurate support for tier-one live productions onpremises and in the cloud. It also allows users to operate, build, and develop scalable best-of-breed solutions suitable for a public or private cloud and lets them focus on core competencies while building on a cloud-native framework. Matrox ORIGIN’s frame-accurate responsive and simple control, also comes with AV synchronization and built-in redundancy. https://video.matrox.com/en

30

October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

twitter.com/tvtechnology

Interra Systems Interra Cloud Services Interra Systems’ Interra Cloud Services (ICS) is a cost-effective media processing platform that enables broadcasters, video distributors and OTT service providers to leverage the cloud to reliably deliver premium on-demand content.

ICS currently offers cloud-based services for media content verification, closed captioning and subtitling and in the near future.ICS BATON will offer automated file-based quality control (QC) and ICS Captions for automating captioning and subtitling workflows. https://interra.cloud/

Imagine Communications Aviator Orchestrator Aviator Orchestrator unifies on-prem and cloud multi-site workflows under a common deployment platform—enabling media companies to seamlessly control hybrid environments and optimize their resources on-prem or in the cloud. It works with both Imagine’s and partners’ on-prem and cloud routing control and playout systems.

With Aviator Orchestrator, it doesn’t matter whether channels are in two or more on-prem locations, cloud regions or a hybrid combination of both.

Aviator Orchestrator keeps everything synchronized and makes it possible to make changes to live streams, content and channels as needed. https://imaginecommunications.com

EditShare FLEX EditShare FLEX is a suite of turnkey, readyto-go solutions for remote collaborative workflows and video editing in the cloud.

Users choose the desired modules and implement them in their own cloud account.

FLEX allows users to use their preferred NLE software, allowing creative staff to work anywhere while ensuring secure synchronization of content and is plug-and-play with no need for extensive and complex configuration and network management. https://editshare.com

equipment guide | cloud solutions

WRAL-TV Transforms Content Preservation and Search With Perifery Swarm USER REPORT

By Pete Sockett Director of Engineering and Operations Capitol Broadcasting Co.

RALEIGH, N.C.—WRAL-TV, Channel 5, is the NBC affiliate serving the Research Triangle area in North Carolina and is locally owned and operated by Capitol Broadcasting Co. Our station produces about 12.5 hours of live news every day, offering viewers a mix of breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment and educational content.

The volume of content we manage is growing rapidly, driving us to optimize our news archive. We wanted to upgrade our archive to enable faster access to historical content and simplify search, enabling digital news assets to be reused and monetized more effectively.

We installed Swarm software on a 500 TB storage platform that will continue to grow as our station’s needs evolve. Deploying Swarm has transformed our archive operations—the S3 cloud-native solution reduces complexity by offloading content from online workspaces. Once content is offloaded, Swarm keeps it online and easily accessible anywhere, anytime, providing us with a powerful webbased search tool and enhanced metadata awareness.

At WRAL, we need to be ready to cover breaking news 24/7, and Swarm offers instant access to all of the assets in the archive whether we have an internet connection or not. Beyond speeding up the archive workflow, Swarm software provides us with flexibility, scalability and a predictable cost

THE KEY CHALLENGE Our existing archive consisted of a mix of spinning disk and an optical disk archive system. Given the sheer size of our archive, one of the challenges we faced during the upgrade was deciding whether to store the archive in the public cloud or on-site. Ultimately, we chose to host the new archive on-site to speed up access to content and ensure high reliability with no reliance on internet service.

Our key requirement in an archive solution was support for an S3 connector. Supporting S3 would ensure seamless integration with third-party solutions, like artificial intelligence platforms. We also wanted an archive solution with high scalability, flexibility and a predictable cost model.

We worked with Bridge Digital, a Nashville, Tenn.-based systems integrator, to ensure a seamless implementation. After evaluating the available archive solutions, we chose Perifery’s Swarm S3 cloud-native in-facility archive for its fast access to media content, S3 compatibility and reliability.

Working with Bridge Digital integrator, Pete Socket chose to upgrade WRAL’s archive with Perifery’s Swarm S3 cloud-native in-facility archive.

model. We aren’t locked into a particular cloud vendor or piece of hardware.

INTEGRATED ACCESS Swarm software compatibility with the S3 open standard for object storage ensures that we can integrate third-party applications with the archive. Currently, Swarm is integrated with Eon Media’s Eon Archives AI product and BitCentral’s Oasis media asset management software. Integration with Eon Media’s platform to Swarm allows WRAL’s archives to serve as a highly advanced AI-powered media store, supplying hyper-local and media clients, as well as content creators across the globe with stock and archival footage.

In addition, Swarm software is scalable, allowing us to grow in capacity and throughput.

We can rapidly scale up to hundreds of nodes, and dozens of clusters as needed—from a few 100 TBs to hundreds of petabytes and beyond.

Furthermore, Swarm includes multi-layered security, encryption in-flight and at-rest, immutability, WORM and automated replication capabilities to ensure that internal or external parties never violate the integrity of WRAL’s content.

Our data storage requirements will continue to grow. With Perifery’s Swarm software, WRAL is ready for the foreseeable future.

Swarm provides us with a flexible, scalable and reliable S3-compatible archive solution that speeds up access to digital assets and improves content discovery. l Pete Sockett is the director of engineering and operations at Capitol Broadcasting Co., a diversified communications company that owns and/or operates WRAL-TV, WRAZ-TV, WRALFM, WRAL-HD2, WNGT-CD, WCMC-FM, WCMC-HD1, WDNC-AM, WCMC-HD2, WCMC-HD3, WCLY-AM, WCMC-HD4 in Raleigh, N.C.; WILM-TV, WILT-LD and Sunrise Broadcasting in Wilmington, N.C. and many other assets. He can be reached at PSockett@ wral.com.

More information is available at www.perifery.com.

twitter.com/tvtechnology | www.tvtech.com | October 2023

31

equipment guide | cloud solutions buyers briefs AWS Elemental MediaConnect Gateway Elemental MediaConnect Gateway is a cloud-connected software application for transmitting multicast live streams using AWS, sending video to and from your customer-managed multicast infrastructure.

MediaConnect Gateway sends a multicast feed from your network operations center as unicast, transporting the video to AWS Elemental MediaConnect.

MediaConnect Gateway simplifies building live video workflows in hybrid environments by providing support, monitoring, and control in one service. With MediaConnect Gateway, you can share video with affiliates, contribute video to AWS Media Services, and distribute video worldwide. https://aws.amazon.com/mediaconnect

Bitcentral’s Fusion Hybrid Storage (FHS) is an intelligent storage solution that combines the reliability of onpremise storage with the flexibility of cloud-based resources. With FHS, businesses can scale their media storage to meet the exact needs of their business model while saving on the infrastructure costs of an onpremise setup.

The cloud capabilities of FHS allow broadcasters to unlock limitless scalability whilst eliminating manual processes and safeguarding their assets. FHS offers security for valuable assets through cloud-based disaster recovery, in addition to the monetization potential of real-time metadata enhancement capabilities that give library content a new lease of life. https://bitcentral.com

TVU Networks TVU Search TVU Networks has joined the Adobe Video Solution Partner Program with a new Premiere Pro plugin. that enables users to seamlessly access TVU Search within Premiere Pro, streamlining content discovery and integration.

TVU Search leverages AI-driven algorithms and automation to transform media discovery. It can ingest virtually any live video source, indexing content in real-time. Users can quickly locate and retrieve desired content through an intuitive interface. The plugin empowers Premiere Pro users with features like real-time speech-to-text transcripts, integrated player tools, quick transcript exports, and easy timecode configuration. Being completely cloud-based, TVU Search allows multiple users across locations to access content simultaneously, making it ideal for news and sports production across any platform. For those aiming to be first-to-air with breaking stories, TVU Search provides Adobe Premiere Pro users with a powerful tool for seamless content integration. www.tvunetworks.com October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

Pebble Automation 2.0 system architecture delivers the power, flexibility, scalability, and rich user interface that can be optimized for individual and group accessibility, exception handling, and resource access.

Automation 2.0 supports on-prem, hybrid, and cloud deployments and greater levels of network security offering exceptional system resiliency.

New functionality can be added in and existing functionality modified seamlessly, effectively improving service loading and workflow efficiency by simplifying the operator experience. Each operator can control a large number of channels, and desktop layouts can be customized to streamline operational practices and minimize errors. www.pebble.tv

Dalet InStream

Bitcentral Fusion Hybrid Storage

32

Pebble Automation 2.0

twitter.com/tvtechnology

Dalet InStream is a hyper-scalable multichannel cloud-native ingest solution. An expansion to Dalet Brio capture capabilities, Dalet InStream elastic ingest workflows reduce the cost of capturing events and producing near-live content in the cloud.

InStream can scale ingest capabilities based on needs; access ingests from anywhere, creating efficiencies across multi-site operations, removing duplication and enabling faster workflows; reduce TCO while maintaining broadcast-quality capture and formats; centralize operations with a single interface, enabling users to manage IP & on-premises SDI ingest, when combined with Dalet Brio; and supports a range of broadcast feed formats. www.dalet.com

Cablecast REFLECT+ REFLECT+ allows PEG channels and other broadcasters to push some or all of their media assets into cloud storage. For network securityminded organizations, content is not accessed directly from the station by online viewers, which also means access is not subject to local network limitations, power outages, etc.

REFLECT+ is also scalable—stations can choose how much storage to allocate and even push specific VOD content to the cloud automatically.

REFLECT+, has no third-party hosting—content remains in the station’s own ecosystem, which means no surprise changes in viewer access. www.cablecast.tv/

Synamedia Quortex Link Synamedia’s Quortex Link is the industry’s first, pay-as-you-use, self-service SaaS platform for justin-time video distribution. The secure and reliable platform allows users to distribute premium live content to affiliates over IP and features a transparent pay-as-you-use pricing model.

The SaaS model means content owners can set up distribution in a few clicks and operate it from anywhere without having to provision equipment or infrastructure. Operators only need to send content once to the cloud, from there it can be delivered to any number of affiliates. www.quortex.io

equipment guide | cloud solutions buyers briefs nxtedition nxt|cloud nxt|cloud is the fully public cloud version of nxtedition’s microservices solution for broadcasters and content creators. For nxt|cloud, nxtedition has developed a fully containerized. Linux version of CasparCG, allowing the company to offer the same playout and graphics engine as a scalable, elastic and secure microservice in the public cloud.

Each CasparCG instance contains two channels capable of playing out video (including alpha support), audio and graphics composited upon unlimited layers. nxtedition has also converted CasparCG to fully utilize javascript HTML/CSS graphic templates. By using the power of the virtual CasparCG engine, nxtedition combines unlimited layers of video, audio, images and HTML5 graphics onto a single output, and each instance spun up has two separate IP stream outputs. https://nxtedition.com

Ross Production Cloud For Ross Production Cloud, Ross took the same technology that drives the most demanding live productions on the planet and put it in the cloud. Using interface and control systems users are already familiar with, it unlocks more efficient and flexible production for broadcast quality production. The Ross Production Cloud live production solution allows users to collaborate seamlessly with a powerful virtual production switcher, graphics engine and audio mixer, all managed using the world’s leading automated production control system.

The solution allows users to move their entire workflow to the cloud, distribute it across on-premises virtualized servers and purpose-built hyperconverged hardware or build base capabilities on-premises and expand into the cloud as needed. www.rossvideo.com

Grass Valley Framelight X Framelight X provides nextgeneration asset management that is native to GV AMPP Platform As demand for new content increases, media organizations must find strategies to improve the efficiency of content production. By improving the efficiency of content creation, allowing collaboration between globally distributed teams, and building systems that adapt dynamically to demand, media organizations can realize significant savings all while producing more content. The cloud-based Framelight X solution is designed for global reach and speed, offering editing choice and ease of use with browserbased editing using AMPP Editor and craft editing with GV EDIUS or Adobe Premiere. www.grassvalley.com

Rohde & Schwarz Gallium / StreamMaster Gallium/StreamMaster provides intelligent multichannel playout designed to offer playout automation with integrated broadcast graphics.

Gallium/StreamMaster provides playout capabilities that go far beyond linear playout. It also provides future-proof, easy, and costeffective playout automation that allows you to be flexible and adapt quickly to changing markets, with multichannel playout automation, graphics template creation, cost-effective master control and channel branding for playout, cloud playout, and software-defined integrated master control playout. www.rohde-schwarz.com

products & services marketplace

twitter.com/tvtechnology | www.tvtech.com | October 2023

33

people on the move For possible inclusion, send information to tvtechnology@futurenet.com with People News in the subject line.

TRACEY ROGERS

GARRETT POPE

KYMBERLY CANNON

FRANK DEO

Nexstar Media Group

Gray Television

Advanced Systems Group

Imagine Communications

Nexstar Media Group has promoted Tracey Rogers to senior vice president and regional manager for its broadcasting division, overseeing television stations and digital operations in multiple markets nationwide. With nearly 35 years of management, sales and marketing experience, Rogers most recently served as vice president and GM of WKRNTV (ABC), the Nexstar TV station serving Nashville, since May 2017.

Gray Television Inc. has promoted Garrett Pope to senior VP, sales operations. Prior to that he served as VP, traffic and sales systems, where he oversaw Gray’s traffic and programming hubs for nearly 500 program streams across both broadcast and digital platforms.

Recently, Garrett built Gray’s sales research hub to provide research insight and strategies for Gray’s sales teams across its portfolio.

Garrett’s career includes time at Univision, Raycom Media and Gray.

Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has opened a southwest U.S. office in Las Vegas under the oversight of strategic account executive Kymberly Cannon. She will be responsible for strengthening existing relationships in the region and looking for opportunities to deepen ASG’s range of engineering and technology expertise.

Cannon spent the last four years with ASG. Prior to joining ASG, Cannon was with Quantum and Dell/EMC.

Imagine Communications has appointed Frank Deo CTO of its ad tech business. He will oversee product development, operations and long-term technology strategy for the ad tech portfolio.

Deo has led product and engineering teams in the media industry, along with extensive experience in addressable advertising, telecommunications, OTT streaming and data analytics systems. Prior to joining Imagine, Deo held positions at multiple ad tech companies,

IVAN LOCHAN

CARRIE HOFMANN Tegna

COSTA NIKOLS

CATHY GUNTHER

Advanced Systems Group

Riedel Communications

Nexstar Media Group

Ivan Lochan has joined Advanced Systems Group as its learning and development manager and will report to ASG VP and GM for managed services Jody Boatwright.

With more than a decade of experience in human resources, talent management and learning and development, Lochan will oversee employee training and leadership development. Lochan will roll out a learning management system, leadership development workshops and develop new ways for ASG employees to share their expertise.

Tegna has named Carrie Hofmann president and GM of WLTX, Tegna’s CBS affiliate in Columbia, S.C., where she will oversee the station’s operations across all platforms.

Since 2020, Hofmann has been news director at WCNC, Tegna’s NBC affiliate in Charlotte, N.C. Prior to WCNC, Hofmann was news director for six years at KSHB, assistant news director at WCNC, producer and executive producer at KMGH, before being promoted to assistant news director. Prior to KMGH, she was producer at WTMJ in Milwaukee.

Costa Nikols has joined Riedel Communications as VP of sales enablement. He will design, develop and institute sales enablement programs to build the foundational and technical knowledge of the global sales team. Nikols was most recently VP of global sales enablement at Grass Valley. For more than 20 years, Nikols held various leadership positions at GV and its acquisitions, including senior product manager at Snell & Wilcox and sales engineering group manager at Miranda Technologies.

Nexstar Media Group has appointed Cathy Gunther VP/GM of its broadcasting and digital operations in Sacramento, Calif., including KTXLTV (FOX), FOX40.com and related digital and social media channels.

Gunther has more than 20 years of broadcast management, programming, research and sales experience. She most recently served as VP/GM of KOKI-TV (FOX) and KMYT-TV (MyNetworkTV), Tulsa, Okla., where she was responsible for long-term strategy and day-today management of both stations.

34

twitter.com/tvtechnology

October 2023 | www.tvtech.com |

Multiply your game feeds 4x — in one fluid motion LTN Arc helps you distribute games more efficiently so you can turn live streams into larger revenue streams.

Discover Arc