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What would a live studio need if it worked directly on IP networks? That was the task BBC R&D set itself with a project that began in 2012 and which will hit a peak when it plays a central role in the world’s first live end-to-end IP production in Ultra HD to be conducted at the Commonwealth Games.
IP has been used by many broadcasters, BBC included, to link a studio to remote locations but the missing piece has been an IP production experience using internet protocols to switch and mix the videos. The BBC R&D trials conducted during the CWG next month promise to do just that, while also testing the limits of network performance by shunting 4K data around the UK in a collaborative production workflow – live.
“The concept is to introduce software and IP into the overall chain so it can be used alongside existing technology like DTT,” said Matthew Postgate, controller, BBC R&D. “IP will enable us to be more flexible with services we already produce, and longer-term, to introduce new kinds of services.”
BBC R&D describes IP Studio as an open source software framework for handling video, audio and data content, composed of off-the-shelf IT components and adhering to standards like IP packet synchronisation protocol IEEE1558.
4K or ultra-high-definition was a dominant theme at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. Among the many product launches were 4K production cameras at attractive price points, promising to make ultra-high-definition affordable, offering at least four times the resolution of high-definition without a prohibitive price premium. So what are the implications for broadcasters?
Blackmagic Design introduced a studio camera for live Ultra HD production for just under $3,000, excluding lens. That is an extraordinarily affordable price for a studio camera, including a 10-inch high-definition monitor. The company has also upgraded its cost-effective production switchers to 4K. It brings 4K studio production into the most modest budgets.
VidiGo Toolbox PRO now offers the unique new VLC Media Player plugin. The new plugin is the ultimate application to playback VLC supported codecs and streams natively to SDI. The new version of Toolbox PRO bridges the gap between content with all various codecs, and broadcasters who want to use content quickly in their daily shows.
Livestream Studio HD500 features 5 HD/SD SDI Inputs and 5 Live Video Outputs (HD/SD SDI, HDMI, Component, S-Video, Composite) in the most compact production suite available today. Built to television broadcast standards, Livestream Studio gives you real-time multiview, cut & fade, graphics overlay, video clip playback & recording (DDR) plus a full audio mixer with cross fade support.
Timecode Systems is bringing the ground-breaking Timecode Buddy system to IBC 2012. As the first products to generate world-class accurate timecode with the ability to sync to iOS devices over WiFi, the Timecode Buddy: system is changing the future of timecode and throughput of metadata in film and television.
Timecode Systems’ duo of new timecode hardware products and free iOS digislate app, are together enabling productions to sync picture and sound across all recording formats with absolute simplicity, transparency and precision.
Tying it All Together : A watershed moment in the Media Industry
Viewers have seen several step changes in the evolution of television, analog to digital, standard to high definition, and if you go back far enough, monochrome to color.
There have been similar changes on the production side, but those that have had most impact are the changes from film to videotape and analog to digital processing, the introduction of HD, and now the migration to file-based operations.
The migration from physical media to files processed on computer platforms presents opportunities and a new flexibility, but potentially adds complexity. You need systems that work together, and converting to file-based technology only gets you part of the way there.
Agreed file formats are necessary, but not sufficient to build digital facilities. To simplify file-based operations many media companies are adopting a service-oriented architecture. For the future the ‘cloud’ beckons, abstracting the services from geographical constraints.
The key to reusable services in the cloud lies in agreed standards and specifications that can enable interoperability.
READ THE PAPER HERE : http://www.amwa.tv/downloads/whitepapers/Tying_it_Together-Gilmer.pdf
Panasonic has introduced the AV-HS410, an HD/SD “smart” switcher. The unit builds on its predecessor, the AV-HS400A, and incorporates a host of new features, including a built-in high-resolution screen, video clip stores with timeline editing, effects memory preview, and an Application Program Interface (API) and Software Development Kits (SDK) for the creation of custom plug-in applications.
Object storage devices File-based storage does not inherently store information that is useful to a storage manager. Video files are unstructured data, as opposed to the structured data typically found in a relational database. A look at an MPEG video file reveals no information that would indicate whether it can be deleted or archived, or that it should be kept in nearline or online storage for immediate access. Such information as rights windows is kept in the right management database, and possibly the DAM system. This lack of important information at the file level leads to inefficient use of storage.
In contrast, object-based storage can encapsulate useful information with the media files as a media object. For example, information like keep forever, delete after a certain date when the rights expire, or not scheduled to play to air can be deleted from disk but maintained on the tape library. Currently, archive manager software and DAM implement these functions. For media needed for decades, encapsulating such information in an object makes more sense than with external applications, which may well not be around in the future. This moves more intelligence to the storage, which can interrogate objects to determine whether to retire or migrate aging data autonomously of any external applications.
Does this all-in-one video mixer have what it takes to stream your next event? We put the robust TriCaster TCXD850 Extreme to the test in this exhaustive review. NewTek’s TriCaster all-in-one video mixers have a long history in portable live production (we reviewed our first TriCaster back in 2006). But in recent years, the ability to both stream and record a live production has pushed the TriCaster into the next level of live productions. As part of that push, NewTek has introduced a series of rack-mounted TriCasters, the TCXD series, with the first and most robust being the TriCaster TCXD850 Extreme (TCXD850X).
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Since the NAB conference in April, 4K workflow options have swelled. Here's a look at the hardware, recording media, and codecs needed to produce and stream 4K video.
The video server is one of the key enabling technologies behind the move from videotape recording to file-based production. The server provides the bridge between content in the digital domain and real-time video. The device has come a long way from its early days as a VTR replacement, and it now forms an essential component in the carriage of video from acquisition to air.
This article is the fourth in a series on webcast video production and discusses video switchers, including the cost and features that differentiate several popular models.
Manufacturers’ representative and distributor L2Tek has become the first licensee of BBC R&D’s Stagebox HD production technology. Stagebox is a compact camera-mounted unit that takes HD video and audio from a camera or other SDI source, together with genlock, timecode, tally, talkback and camera control information, and transmits it over a time-synchronised network using standard IP protocols. 100Mbps AVCi programme content can be made available across a local or wide area network, integrated into the post production workflow in a format that enables direct editing or storage without loss of quality through transcoding. Specs : http://www.stagebox.tv/tech.html
The Digital Production Partnership (DPP) has today unveiled a major industry report, “The Bloodless Revolution: A Guide to Smoother Digital Workflows in Television.” The report is the first published guidance on digital workflows to be issued on behalf of ITV, Channel Four and the BBC. It seeks to help producers and suppliers achieve a smoother transition to fully digital production. The new guide follows the publication of the DPP’s report on breaking down the barriers to digital production (The Reluctant Revolution, September 2011). One of the claims made in the first report was that the pace of change in the industry was held back by a lack of commonly agreed ways of working. It observed that greater guidance is needed if the industry is to complete its move from tape-based to file-based production. READ GUIDE HERE : http://www.digitalproductionpartnership.co.uk/PDF_Outputs/DPP_Bloodless_Revolution.pdf
Volicon has released the biggest update yet to its Observer Enterprise video content logging and monitoring system, writes David Fox.
Version 6.0 simplifies critical processes with new loudness-monitoring capabilities, closed-caption support, and transport-stream monitoring and export, and is claimed to also serve as a convenient and versatile platform for additional monitoring applications.
The Observer range captures, stores, and indexes broadcast content from multiple channels, offering users simultaneous 24/7 access to video from their desktop. Configurable alarms monitor video quality and provide early detection of audio and video issues across hundreds of HD channels, facilitating rapid resolution and minimizing downtime. The system also allows broadcasters to manage and compare content assets across multiple channels in a unified interface from any internet connection.
Telestream today announced that it has created a new HD instant replay system for NASCAR race control officials. Developed for the start of the 2012 racing season, Telestream’s new Replay multichannel video player combines with its Pipeline HD video capture system to provide instant capture and display of 18 high definition 720p camera feeds. This allows race officials to instantly see detailed information to make rapid decisions about on-track aspects of the race.
The BBC is experimenting with iPads to speed production and better incorporate metadata at the point of acquisition for use throughout the programme’s lifecycle, writes Adrian Pennington. The focus of the Automated Production project at BBC R&D and demonstrated at BBC R&D North, is to use data and networking tools to power programme workflow. Alongside major pieces of IT research for post production and playout it is an attempt “to take it back toward the cameras and to the people making the programmes,” explained Lead Technologist, Jon Rosser.
Broadcast Pix has announced VOX, a live video production technology that works with any Granite, Mica or Slate system to produce voice-activated video productions.
VOX eliminates the need for an operator during live productions as it detects which microphone is being used and uses sophisticated software to switch to an interesting camera position and add appropriate graphics.
Website : http://www.broadcastpix.com/VOX/
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