TVTE September 2016 by Future PLC

September 2016 I Issue 4 I Volume 35

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Will eSPORTS save TV?

IP is ready Buyers guide: for prime time

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IBC Product preview

Game Changers New Technology for Broadcast IP, Multi-Channel HD, 4K/UltraHD, Streaming, Capture and More AJA is pleased to offer a range of new solutions for the established and emerging pipelines you work with today and will integrate tomorrow. We have announced a range of new connectivity, signal conversion, recording, capture, playout and streaming solutions. Mini-Converters with solutions for HDMI 2.0, HFR and IP transport, desktop solutions for HDBaseT, Broadcast IP and 3G-SDI, the flexible multi-channel FS4 with incredible support for both HD and 4K/UltraHD workflows, new openGear cards, and powerful customer requested firmware updates for Ki Pro Ultra and CION. These are the solutions youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been waiting for.

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CONTENTS A NEW IBC FOR A NEW INDUSTRY? It’s that time of year when all roads lead to Amsterdam. IBC2016 will no doubt feature talk of IP, 4K/HDR, VR and OTT. But the bigger discussion will be about the future of the industry itself as it transitions from a broadcast to an IT-centric paradigm. And as the industry changes, so will IBC have to change. As Mark Harrison warned at July’s HPA Tech Retreat UK (full review in this issue): “If you really want to understand what’s coming up next, go to developer conferences, not CES, NAB or IBC.” With that changing landscape in mind, this issue we take a look at eSports. While media traditionalists chuckle at the idea of audiences watching people play video games, YouTube and Twitch are producing global megastars, with mega-followings. And eSports is just one high-proﬁle example of fully virtual production – content created wholly within a digital environment, circumventing whole segments of the production pipeline. We also check in with the progress being made in the broadcast transition to IP, including a look at IP production at the Rio Olympics and the IP For Live project which brings together major broadcast vendors to build a complete IP broadcast infrastructure. Get your comfy shoes ready – I’ll see you at the RAI!

Neal Romanek Editor nromanek@nbmedia.com

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MAKING THE GRADE: ANTHONY RAFFAELE

WELCOME TO THE OlymIPics IP production takes hold at Rio 2016

Interview with the colourist of Woody Allen’s first digital feature

IBC PRODUCT PREVIEW Sneak Peek at what’s on display at the IBC Show in Amsterdam

GET YOUR GAME ON Pro video gaming is more watched than played among millennials, making it TV gold

EVENT REVIEW: HPA TECH RETREAT UK The HPA Tech Retreat comes to Europe

September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

COMMENTARY

Have faith in an agnostic approach for cloud video Dimetis COO Dr Shahin Arefzadeh believes software and hardware agnostic platforms will be the way forward for broadcasters

n a dynamic and fast-changing environment where there is the continued drive for improved efficiencies and desire to do more with less, performance and reliability remain key considerations for all broadcasters. And with the increased need for virtualisation across the broadcast workflow, this focus on optimising operations will only get stronger. From playout to contribution and production. In addition, as broadcasters and OTT providers react to the trends driving the market — such as adopting IP across the entire workflow — the value of standards-based, agnostic solutions will become clear. This move towards full IP is also being driven and enabled by the convergence of IT technology and broadcast, something clearly seen in the fact that IT infrastructures are built on standards-based technology that has long been benefitting the industry. When it comes to something like seamlessly transporting real-time video and media files over diverse, general purpose IP and legacy networks, broadcast industries have a lot to learn. The move towards using more IP is,

TVTechnology Europe September 2016

however, gaining momentum. But what exactly are the benefits of using software and hardware agnostic platforms? Simply put, they enable broadcasters to simplify operations, better manage services and ensure the highest levels of performance across the workflow.

“Using agnostic platforms allows organisations to still buy best-of-breed hardware and software but leverage the beneﬁts of a multi-vendor environment” Using agnostic platforms allows organisations to still buy best-of-breed hardware and software but leverage the benefits of a multi-vendor environment and not be dependent on one technology, vendor or proprietary solution. A further benefit is that service orchestration — the ability to create, delete and update services at an abstraction layer using highly sophisticated automation and a simplified user interface — has

not only become the industry norm but can be accomplished efficiently and effectively. There are, however, challenges when it comes to service orchestration. These typically include concerns around security, scalability and the use of orchestration in a cloud-based environment. With the right service provider and, indeed, the right technology, the limitations and challenges can be overcome. The opportunities that this success service orchestration delivers — paving the way for network orchestration and file orchestration, combining scalability with multi-tenant and multi-container deployment on an as-neededbasis — are especially relevant given the fact that many organisations are looking to move their infrastructure from private cloud to public cloud. Ultimately, broadcast organisations want their service orchestration platforms to be the natural progression of their network management software. They’re looking for a solution that will be easy to deploy and maintain, speed up time to market for global services, and will enable them to react quickly to changes in the market. www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

COMMENTARY

The beginning of a beautiful friendship For Solomon Israel, VP of business development for TV & media at Ericsson, data doesn’t just help relationships with consumers - data is the relationship

ne of the industry’s biggest challenges today is finding new ways to present content to the consumer. Although we have the requisite analytical data to ascertain the depth of the consumer’s content library in a particular space, it is fundamentally important that service providers deliver highly targeted recommendations and services. It is a critical element in the overall user experience. Yet the greatest challenge is ensuring the data is both actionable and meaningful.

found that consumers are still not surprised or delighted by the types of recommendations they receive. Looking more broadly at the industry, 50 percent of consumers cannot find anything to watch on linear TV at least once every day. That’s a startling statistic, particularly when you consider that many consumers can have access to up to 600 channels at any one time. But if the consumer does not know a particular piece of content is available to them, in their eyes it simply does not exist.

THE NEEDS OF THE CONSUMER Netflix is an interesting discussion point and I sometimes refer to them as the “tallest Pygmy in the room” as they are doing the best job based on the data available today. The service is proving popular because the consumer feels they are part of an audience of one, rather than one person in an audience of many. Netflix’s usage statistics demonstrate continued and increasing usage by individual subscribers, attesting the value of what they do. Nevertheless, if you peel the layers of the onion further back, what you realise is that consumers are ultimately dissatisfied. The 2015 Ericsson ConsumerLab TV and Media research

GETTING PERSONALISED This offers a huge opportunity for service providers, particularly when you consider that they have a distinct competitive advantage over their OTT counterparts by being able to draw upon far deeper content catalogs and longerheld subscription bases. Ericsson ConsumerLab data shows that one in two consumers trust their current TV service provider to handle their personal data securely and responsibly. Furthermore, one in four TV/video consumers said they were open to providing personal data to get more accurate recommendations. However, this implicit agreement to divulge information around viewing is reliant upon receiving a tangible

TVTechnology Europe September 2016

benefit, including cost efficiency and hyper-smart services that respond to moods and needs. We are also seeing personalisation extended to the world of advertising and the overall monetisation of content. The value of content itself has changed. The consumer is only interested in content that is valuable and relevant

“(Netﬂix’s) internal research found that if they were unable to capture a member’s attention within 90 seconds, they would mostly likely lose interest and move on to another activity“ to them, regardless of whether it has been endorsed by a broadcaster, network or a brand. This is opening up an entirely different avenue for content providers to participate in the content creation process, with shorter production timeframes, and less investment required up front. During INTX 2016 earlier this year, it was interesting to listen to Mark Greatrex, executive www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

IT’S WHAT’S BEHIND THAT KEEPS US AHEAD

VP, Cox Communications, describe how his company has been working to a process where the content is personalised to develop a deeper bond with the consumer. The process starts over a 3-4 month period, and based upon their experience, the content is later customised further, based on feedback. This has ensured lower churn, higher customer satisfaction, greater numbers upgrading their service and a better overall user experience. THE NETFLIX APPROACH Ericsson ConsumerLab research highlights that 40 percent of consumers said the greatest influence in deciding what to watch on their broadcast TV service was the way in which they browsed through the titles in the TV guide within the service. The key to success lies in using data to drive the organisation. For instance, in an interview with Gizmodo, Nick Nelson, global manager of creative services at Netflix, said: “Imagine having to tell your friend about the last movie you watched through a single drawing on the back of a playing card. If you had to encapsulate the entire movie into a few inches to convince your friend they’d love the movie, what would it look like?” The company’s internal research found that if they were unable to capture a member’s attention within 90 seconds, they would mostly likely lose interest and move on to another activity. In fact, the human brain is reported to process images in as little as 13 milliseconds. It’s through this process that having selected an initial dozen or so images associated with the content, Netflix can measure what viewers are watching, the click through rate and how specific imagery works across different screens or platform. By accurately gauging viewer response in relation to its artwork, Netflix has been able to increase the number of hours its subscribers view content, as well as overall engagement. While they remain the tallest pygmy in the room, Netflix is succeeding by responding to consumer’s feedback in real time. They are offering a blueprint for the industry; concentrating on agility and leveraging analytics to understand how to present content to an array of devices, specific locations and most importantly, to the individuals watching their content.

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DATA FIRST, STRATEGY SECOND Our industry needs to focus on becoming data driven before devising specific strategies around it. The influx of data can then be used to validate these strategies and then be adapted, course corrected or refined further as required. Ultimately, it comes down to responding to the disruption that is happening in the industry and that comes with a deep focus on the consumer. That comes through analytics and the raw numbers that we see today but it also comes from the deep in-depth interviews that we can perform with individuals. For instance, there has been a lot of discussion in the last few years about the cord-cutting trend, with many claiming it’s a cost-cutting exercise. During the compilation of Ericsson’s 2015 ConsumerLab TV and Media research, one of the individuals interviewed (who we dubbed ‘John the Cord Cutter’) said he was prepared to spend as much or perhaps even a little more than he did before – as long as he had a say on the bundle or selection of content that he was being provided. For me, that says everything about the importance of control and empowerment. While the importance of cost is still a hugely important fact, it really does come down to listening and engaging with consumers in a far deeper and meaningful way. www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

G&D’s KVM systems have a proven reputation for long lasting usability and reliability. But that’s not all that keeps us ahead.

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September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

SPORT

Welcome to the

OlymIPcs Philip Stevens looks into the broadcast technology for Rio 2016 and finds the race to IP is already well underway

io 2016 – or, more properly, the Games of the XXXI Olympiad - kicked off in Brazil on 5 August. In excess of 10,000 athletes from more than 200 countries and territories competed at almost 40 venues across the country. And, like most Olympic Games, a mammoth broadcasting operation was mounted. This year saw a significant increase in the amount of Internet Protocol (IP) technology being employed. “Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) used extensive IP technology for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, increasing the capacity request for all services by 100 per cent compared to previous Games operation,” explains Isidoro Moreno, OBS head of engineering. “IP network technology brings greater flexibility for live sports broadcasting, in particular for live streaming possibilities from ENG cameras. It also offers higher capacity in terms of the number of programmes that can be transported. It really represents the key element for all our file-based workflows.” Moreno explains that from the venues to the International Broadcast Centre (IBC), OBS used both 10Gb and 40Gb standard trunking circuits.

TVTechnology Europe September 2016

He goes on to state that the Olympic Video Player (OVP) transmissions were fully based on IP technology. “The OVP provides Rights Holding Broadcasters with their own fully produced platform containing live video and on-demand players for the internet, tablets and mobiles. Launched for Sochi 2014, the OVP dramatically increased digital offerings for those Games. In fact, for the first time in Olympic history, the amount of digital coverage exceeded traditional television broadcasts.” OBS relied extensively on cloud services in order to make OVP available across the world. “As well as OVP, our Virtual Reality content was uploaded to the Cloud from where it was accessible to all the users.” Moreno continues, “For the Rio Games, we didn’t face any particular challenge as all IP networks were carried over a reliable optical fibre infrastructure established by OBS in collaboration with our official telecommunications partner. Our technical operation is increasingly moving towards IP technology, and Rio

is certainly an inflexion point in that sense. For the international broadcasters, it plays a crucial role in the implementation of their remote operations.” REMOTELY RIO One such broadcaster is Norway’s TV2 – who devoted its main and sports channels to providing 24/7 coverage of the Olympic Games. In addition, the broadcaster offered an event-based OTT offering that allowed viewers to search by sport, rather than channel.

Isidoro Moreno, OBS: “Our technical operation is increasingly moving towards IP technology, and Rio is certainly an inflexion point in that sense.”

www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

“Our main studio in Rio was sited in Olympic Park,” explains Jens Knudsen, vice president productions, news and sports at TV2 Norway. “For the Sochi Winter Games we built a flat pack studio in Sweden. The 72 square metre studio and additional areas for make-up and a green room can be transported in three containers – and these were shipped to Brazil. Once there, they were positioned next to the tennis venue and within sight of the basketball hall. By using polarising filters on the windows and cameras and utilising low level LED lighting, we were always able to see the Olympic Park as a backdrop.” Four Sony P1 cameras were used in the studio, with one mounted on an Electric Friends crane. All output from all four cameras was sent back to Bergen where the programme director, producer, EVS operator, graphics operator and audio engineer were based. “There was a technical manager based in the Rio studio and the CCUs were operated from there to overcome any latency issues,” says Knudsen. The crane camera, with seven axis movements and trajectory and position repeatability of 0.01 mm, was employed extensively for augmented reality (AR) shots using a Vizrt Virtual Studio graphic engine. “The smooth tracking of the Electric Friends crane integrates exceptionally well with our AR system,” states Gerhard Lang, chief engineering officer at Vizrt. “Our graphics engine was located in the Rio studio, and so removed any latency problems that might otherwise occur. By combining the outputs in Rio, a complete signal could be sent back to Bergen for cutting into programmes.” Lang says that the improved Viz Engine 3.8 provides far greater rendering capabilities than earlier releases. That, in turn, produces higher quality graphics with greater photo-realism. TV2 also used a number of other Vizrt products for other graphic applications. In addition, the company’s media asset management (MAM) system provided vital logging operations for the broadcaster. “Bigger broadcasters can create their own logging capabilities, but we have come up with a better solution to suit our purposes,” reveals Knudsen. “We use the logging data in the Broadcast Data Feed supplied by OBS along with the MDS to populate the Viz MAM system. This metadata gives our editorial and technical staff in Norway quick access to the material on all 12 MDS feeds. For a smaller broadcaster, it is a fantastic solution.” LISTENING FOR IP IP Technology was also deployed in Brazil for audio connectivity. Lawo is providing VSM (Virtual Studio Manager) Broadcast Control and Monitoring www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

The Lawo LCU commentary system was used for the announcing positions at various sports venues

solution for NBC Olympics. The broadcaster used the system at both its production compound within the International Broadcast Centre in Rio, and its studios in Stamford, Connecticut. VSM was the overall control system for core routing and tally management, connecting to multiple third party devices on an IP backbone. It utilises approximately 80 LBP hardware panels and 80 GUI-based VSM Panels accessed from various monitors and tablets provided throughout NBC Olympics’ various production facilities. Also deployed were a Lawo audio-over-IP Commentary System along with several Lawo V_ pro8 video processors to manage the broadcaster’s coverage at Stamford. The V_pro8s received video feeds from Rio, de-embedded the audio and then inserted into RAVENNA and MADI streams that ultimately fed the Lawo LCU commentary system for up to 20 announce positions covering various sports. In addition, several venues in Rio were connected to the NBC Olympics compound within the International Broadcast Centre with Lawo’s V_remote4 units to provide connectivity and processing for network audio and video signals delivered via IP-connections from the remote sites.

“IP network technology brings greater ﬂexibility for live sports broadcasting, in particular for live streaming possibilities from ENG cameras” “In going through the collaborative design process with NBC Olympics, it was critical that we had the ability to customise the overall system to support the workflows they wanted, while also providing the flexibility to grow the system as technologies evolve in the future,” says Mark Whitman, Lawo’s vice president of sales.

CELLULAR, TOO One company that has seen a significant uptake in its technology in the last several years has been LiveU. Over the past eight years of deployment, it has supported hundreds of customers in their coverage of many sporting events, including six NFL Super Bowls, two FIFA World Cup tournaments and, of course, the Olympic Games – both summer and winter. LiveU’s VP of marketing, Ronen Artman, says there have been multiple developments since the last Olympic Games in terms of improving picture quality, reducing latency and further strengthening signal robustness. “There have also been two other main drivers. First, our desire to offer a solutionsbased approach whereby customers can select technologies and services from across our range to create a bespoke package for themselves, and secondly the need to increase capabilities while continuing to decrease the size of hardware models.” LiveU offers solutions ranging from the flagship LU500 and Xtender technology through the ultra-small LU200 to the LU-Smart smartphone app. There’s also the Mac-based software version LU-Lite, which provides fast and reliable file transfer and live video via a MacBook. “But the overall aim remains the same - to provide high-quality, live video via technology that allows users from the online and broadcast worlds to provide content that others can’t - and at price points that suit each market,” states Artman. He goes on to say that Brazil invested in the cellular infrastructure to meet the demand posed by the Games. “We worked with all the Brazilian cellular operators to give the best service and also offered multiple, dedicated Wi-Fi hotspot locations and a special integrated Ka-band satellite solution that included a VSAT terminal, VSAT antenna with universal mount, Wi-Fi router, and all cables and connectors.” Once at the location, a LiveU unit could be set up and ready to transmit in around one

September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

SPORT minute. “The operator simply turns on the unit, configures the delay and presses ‘Live’– a one touch operation. The unit can also be controlled remotely via our central management platform,” reveals Artman. “Most LiveU signals are sent straight to the home country. A very few of our customers may deploy local servers at the IBC to get the stream locally.” The units can either be used as standalone operations or part of multi-camera set ups. But if they are intercut with other IP feeds, the delay is negligible – a few tens of milliseconds. The same IP connections for sending signals back to the broadcaster’s base were used in the reverse direction for cueing presenters via the IFB feature. Similarly, feeds for prompts were fed from the studio to the remote location

TVU One is a fifth generation cellular IP based mobile transmitter

LESSONS LEARNED TVU Networks equipment has also been used at the London and Sochi Olympics. What lessons has the company learned on its Olympic journey?

“We worked with all the Brazilian cellular operators to give the best service and also offered multiple, dedicated Wi-Fi hotspot locations and a special integrated Ka-band satellite solution”

“Our technology proved to be highly reliable and flexible for use in these major events, allowing broadcasters to change the way they delivered live video coverage to their viewers,” said Chris Bell, VP of customer support. “With Norway’s TV2 shipped its studio to Rio in three containers

TVTechnology Europe September 2016

TVU’s 4G/LTE mobile transmitters, there was no longer any need to rely solely on fixed location video coverage. Broadcasters were free to go anywhere in and around venues or other desirable backdrop locations to transmit live video.” Bell goes on to say that TVU One transmitter equipment as used for mobile spot news live video coverage and also for fixed live position video coverage at the Rio Olympics. “TVU One is our fifth generation cellular IP based mobile transmitter that delivers live video with transmission resiliency, HD picture quality and sub-second latency in an ultra-compact size and weight form factor. TVU One cold starts in about 20 seconds for live video transmission using cellular, satellite, microwave, BGAN, WiFi or Ethernet connections.” In addition, TVU Grid was used to share the live video to multiple stations in their home countries. “This is a powerful, simple IP-video distribution, routing and switching system that gives broadcasters the ability to seamlessly switch live IP video content and share live video streams between multiple remote locations anywhere in the world,” says Bell. OBS’s Moreno concludes “IP opens up opportunities for sports broadcasting while increasing performance and reducing costs. We believe IP will be adopted more and more across the entire broadcast workflow in the future.” www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

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SPORT

Improve QoS for live sports streaming Nivedita Nouvel, VP of marketing at Broadpeak, looks at optimising multiplatform streaming to meet the increasing audience demand for multiscreen sports

ive streaming of major sporting events such as the Super Bowl and the European football championships has exploded in popularity. In fact, the 2016 Super Bowl made headlines when 3.96 million people streamed the big game live. The Olympic games in Rio, Brazil drew huge streaming audiences. Now operators and content providers are looking for ways to manage the complexities of the streaming environment. One of the biggest challenges is handling peaks in audience, which can be unpredictable, especially during live sporting events. This can significantly impact the delivery chain. Another issue is the requirement for low latency. No one wants to hear a neighbour screaming about a goal that 30 seconds before they see it in on their own screen. Utilising ABR technologies traditionally implies unicast, which is expensive and bandwidthhungry in terms of usage of peak resources. Operators and content providers need advanced CDN technologies to address latency issues and improve quality of service (QoS). This article will outline some of the recent advancements in CDN technologies that are helping optimize ABR streaming for live sporting events. TECHNOLOGIES FOR OPTIMISING ABR QOS There are a few ways that content providers can enhance the live ABR streaming process. One solution is to use multiple CDNs for content delivery, allocating requests based on specific criteria, such as geolocation, NSPs, type of content, etc. The best CDN for delivering video content in the UK, for example, is not necessarily the same as for delivering it in The Netherlands. Some CDNs perform better for certain NSP subscribers than others. In addition, some CDNs are more expensive than others but provide a better quality of service, which is essential for premium content like live sports. To obtain even better QoS, content providers can rely on several CDNs simultaneously, dynamically taking into account the changing network conditions to request more from the CDNs that are performing best at a given time. Another option for content providers is to

www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

To obtain better QoS, content providers can rely on several CDNs simultaneously

deploy local caches in the operator’s networks to reduce CDN costs and improve end-users’ QoE. With this solution, local caching servers capture the most popular content from a specific provider and stream it to viewers. Live channels can be sent once through a CDN as a service, used as a contribution network, to the local cache box, which will repeat them for all the viewers watching the same content. Since the content is streamed

“If content providers and operators want to remain competitive, they must ﬁgure out a cost-effective strategy for delivering live video content anytime, anywhere, on any device” from a location closer to end-users, bandwidth fluctuation is reduced. Another benefit is that delivery costs are substantially less, as the content provider pays the CDN as a service mainly for a contribution link and not for all the traffic. On the operator front, multicast ABR technology can be used to cost-effectively manage the consumption peaks of live multiscreen services for millions of simultaneous viewers with only a few megabits per second used from the operator

network. Under this approach, operators rely on the multicast capabilities of their own networks to transport ABR content while leveraging end-user devices to convert it back into unicast. All of this takes place in a way that is completely transparent to end-user devices, and it makes scalability for live event streaming a real possibility. Utilising multicast technology, operators can also reduce latency, as it allows them to use smaller chunks and to reduce the number of chunks to be buffered in the player, allowing operators to reach latencies comparable with IPTV. REMAINING COMPETITIVE Live sporting events are being streamed by more and more providers to multiple devices, including TVs, PCs, smartphones, and tablets. If content providers and operators want to remain competitive, they must figure out a cost-effective strategy for delivering live video content on any device, and over any network with minimal latency. Today, many operators are looking to transition from IPTV to ABR delivery technology to unify their distribution architecture and reduce costs. The two issues holding them back are scalability and latency. Utilising a multicast technology can solve both and provide a unified solution for all screens. Ultimately, these technologies make viewers happy and also put more revenue into the pockets of both content providers and operators.

September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

SPORT

Get your GAME on: eSports is here Pro video gaming is more watched than played among millennials, making it TV gold. Adrian Pennington reports

he emergence of pro video gaming, aka “eSports”, has been likened to that of action sports like kiteboarding and trial riding – activities that went mainstream with the oxygen of video streaming. The difference is that while not everyone has access to mountains or a surfboard, pretty much anyone can play a video game. What has made broadcasters sit up, though, is that eSports is more watched than it is played. Traditional broadcasters are astonished when they learn that some of the most popular entertainers in the world are gamers whose YouTube playthroughs get millions upon millions of views. The phenomena had a slow burn before its metoric rise of the last few years. Online gameplay was first ignited twenty years ago when avid gamers began showcasing their skills to gain online street cred. Amateur competitions attracted games publishers to formalise play into leagues and promote their titles. At the same time, individual gamers began posting videos of gaming-withcommentary on YouTube, exemplified by webn megastarsw PewDiePie and Dan TDM.

TVTechnology Europe September 2016

Player and team profiles rose on a wave of internet streaming, sponsors have helped legitimise the activity, Amazon took game-casting mainstream by scooping gamer video community Twitch (ahead of Google), prize money rocketed accordingly, and gaming tournaments are now streamed live from packed stadiums. “So far eSport has not needed traditional media

“So far eSport has not needed traditional media to grow” to grow,” confirms Amisha Chauhan, research analyst, Futuresource Consulting which puts a $500m current value on eSports worldwide. “From its online base it has grown immensely due to fans that are highly tech savvy and internet fanatics.” eSports draws comparison with top tier global sports like Champions League football in terms of the number of viewers it can attract. The 2015 UEFA Champions League final had around 180 million TV audience in 200 territories (and a total estimated

reach of 400 million viewers). By comparison, last December’s League of Legends world championships boasted a cumulative number of viewers online and TV of 334 million over the fourweek tournament. “eSports is fast becoming one of the most watched and passionately followed global sports categories among younger audiences,” said Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, CEO of Swedish digital media powerhouse Modern Times Group. “There are now almost as many gamers in the world as traditional sports fans.” The fanbase is overwhelmingly the demographic which has deserted TV for online entertainment. “Gamers are ultra-consumers: early adopters of new technology, heavy users of broadband, more interested in HD and natural-born multi-screeners,” says Michiel Bakker, CEO Ginx. “With the rise of YouTube and Twitch, games have become media themselves,” says Todd Hooper, CEO of virtual reality gaming platform VREAL. “More people are watching games than playing games. If you are a publisher or studio www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

Major broadcast equipment vendors are now supplying eSports productions

Last year’s League of Legends world championships boasted a cumulative number of viewers of 334 million

The athletes: “Players train for hours to perfect their craft”

building a game you are also thinking about how it will be viewed as entertainment.” That’s why broadcasters are eager to bring eSports onboard. MTG, which bought a controlling share of Cologne-based Electronic Sports League (ESL) a year ago for €78m, launched the world’s first 24/7 esports TV channel in April. It calculated that the average revenue per eSports enthusiast in 2014 was over $2, compared to $56 for traditional sports fans: “This global phenomenon has tremendous potential,” declared Lindemann. In May, Turner Broadcasting’s E-league – a joint venture with talent agency WME IMG – went live on the TBS and on Twitch, scoring more than 150 million minutes of video consumption in its first week and 92,000 concurrent streams on Twitch. In June, Sky and ITV took minority stakes in London-based Ginx eSports with the aim of launching a 24-hour channel. Ginx TV will air competitions such as Counter Strike: Global Offensive from its King’s Cross studio. It says the deal will enable it to reach 37 million households worldwide making it the world’s biggest eSports TV channel. Investment is piling in from elsewhere too. Multichannel network Machinima, in www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

which Warner Bros and Google have stakes, is launching magazine show Inside eSports on Go90, the mobile video service of American telco Verizon. Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard paid $46m (£30m) for eSport network Major League Gaming and plans to launch its own eSports cable channel.

PRODUCTION Live events such as Dota 2 and League of Legends held at major stadium venues in front of a capacity crowds are treated in much the same way as any OB. When BBC iPlayer and BBC Three showcased the quarter finals of the League of Legends world

VR meets eSports “Anyone who has tried VR knows this is the future of gaming,” says VREAL’s Hooper. “Traditionally, games have been treated like video content, as a 2D service. VR breaks that paradigm. VR gamers want to move around and experience their own POV. Video doesn’t really enable us to that, but game engines do.” Seattle-based VREAL (Virtual Reality Entertainment and Livestreaming) has a platform in beta which, when integrated via an SDK into any Unreal Engine or Unity-powered experience), re-renders the game for the viewer in real time. “This allows viewers to have their own independent camera, and freely move about in the world instead of being locked into the player’s view,” says Hooper. “It enables a watcher to feel inside the game.”

VREAL Lounge concept art

VREAL’s beta includes a rendering of avatars representing a viewer in the game. For those without a VR headset the platform will stream a 2D and 2D 360 version of the game.

September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

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The Manila Major Sixteen teams competed for a $3 million prize pool on June 7 - 12, 2016 in the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. PGL produced the show and its video production. “When I started to design the production for this event, it became apparent that it was too big to run on a single video mixer or even with a single director,” explains Vlad Petrescu. “As a result, the production was split in what we call ‘cores’. One such core was the in-game production. This refers to everything that happens on screen during an actual match. The equivalent for football would be what viewer’s see on TV after the referee starts the match. “Our in-game director had full control over what he showed on screen during the match,” says Petrescu. “We had several never-seenbefore features like split screens with three observer points of view at the same time and even an insane composition where we put ten player cameras and modified the game interface to show a full five versus five battle in a more comprehensive manner.” PGL produced three more cores, all with their own mixers, CGI systems, routing and multiviews. According to Petrescu , the challenge was to get the cores to link and communicate with each other. “Which is why, for instance, our CGI operator can activate transitions, videos, lights, sounds, LED animations and request stats from a server, all at the same time. A lot of things need to be perfect for this to work.” A new development for PGL are arena effects. Game ‘events’ stored on the server are used to activate lights and pyro effects in the venue. “Let’s say a bomb has been planted and it explodes... at the exact moment the bomb explodes on the server, a pre-programmed light and pyro show lights the arena,” explains Petrescu. “This is a concept we are constantly developing and improve and it’s different for each game we run events for.”

championships last October from Wembley Arena, Trickbox TV built a temporary flyaway control room. “It was of the same standard and using the same kit which we would deliver to any live broadcast,” explains Trickbox MD Liam Laminman. “With three incoming host feeds, our location facilities were augmented coverage with Sony HDC-1500 cameras, an EVS and other equipment including a Trilogy Messenger talkback system.” For production of E-league, Turner built a 10,000 sq ft arena including 25,000 sq ft of LED lighting in Atlanta. The facility is fitted with 26 cameras, including 12 devoted to capturing POVs for each player and one trained on the collective team. A camera suspended from the ceiling offers 360-degree angles of the event floor. In addition, www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

Turner Studios has built custom eSports training facilities and 75 post production suites. Red Bull runs its own eSports studio in Santa Monica. One format produced from there pits two gaming teams of five players against each other. As they play, Reidel MediorNet Modular frames ingest twenty HDMI POV video signals from the gaming consoles, convert them into HD-SDI, and carry them to the control room. The POV cameras focus on the faces and hands of all ten players, with additional HD-SDI cameras positioned on the game commentators. These inputs are combined with the primary gameplay feeds to produce the eSports broadcast. Many eSport companies run production on

“It was of the same standard and using the same kit which we would deliver to any live broadcast” BlackMagic Design and/or Ross Video hardware. Romanian-based sports producer PGL has several Atem 2M/E 4K mixer, Teranex converters and Decklink capture cards. Rival streamers ESL and Hitbox deploy Ross Video Carbonite switchers and Xpression or casperCG graphics gear. “We surpass [TV] in some aspects,” claims Vlad Petrescu, head of broadcast, PGL. “While TV has the edge in overall professionalism and broadcast consistency…an eSport production looks and feels more complex.” eSports tends to be highly connected to viewers via social media. During PLG’s production of The Manila Major, it showed a custom Battleview for Dota 2 and received “tonnes of valuable feedback from people that know how they want to watch an eSports match,” reveals Petrescu. “The next day we coded these features and presented a new version, which was way better received by both viewers who saw it for the first time and those that didn’t like it very much the first time around.” During an event, PGL will scan social media for questions or remarks from viewers. “If we find something interesting, we have ways of showing it during different segments of the show. For example, we’ll have a Q&A segment at the end of a match where our analysts answers questions from various social media channels.” According to Adam Simmons, director of content for game streaming platform Dingit.TV, latency is crucial with audience interaction. “Using social with the live stream is vital,” he says. “Players can type in a chat room to respond to fans or to explain move. If that delay is more than a few seconds the game will have moved on, and you will have lost your audience.”

PGL’s Vlad Petrescu: “We surpass [TV] in some aspects”

Both Dingit.tv and Hitbox claim their latency is the net’s best. “We can deliver in milliseconds which is no different to Skype,” says Jason Atkins, eSports player turned Hitbox events manager. Hitbox also claims to be first to market with 4K video by trialing game Heroes of the Storm in 4K in February. “4K will be standard in a couple of years,” says Atkins. “People are beginning to get kit which won’t break the budget, like Nvidia GTX 1070 graphics cards, to power 4K.” ESPORTS OLYMPICS The marriage with TV should help legitimise eSports in the public consciousness. “This level of recognition will help propel eSports towards mainstream audiences rather than mainly millennials,” says Futuresource’s Chauhan. “The integration of eSport in the 2020 Olympics would potentially help overcome the stigma against it.” There are obvious differences between an eSports athlete and an action sports athlete. However, argues Kimberly Popp, eSports performance manager at Red Bull, eSports players are using skills and mechanics such as hand-eye coordination.

“The next day we coded these features and presented a new version, which was way better received” “Their physiology impacts performance,” she says. “Players train for hours to perfect their craft. Just playing the game is no longer enough to remain competitive.” eSports could be given another boost with the sale of virtual reality (VR) displays. eSports players use a mouse and keyboard to play making it hard for the public to see them as athletes or accept eSports as a real sport, observes Petrescu. “When VR arrives this prejudice will disappear for good. One will need to be a true athlete to be a successful in VR eSports.”

September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

SHARPSHOOTER “Filming Damselfly egg laying behaviour. This called for long periods in a river with the lens almost touching the water. I was using a big video tripod with a custom designed macro rail system.”

“Time lapse of a live mosquito trapped in a sundew melon. Each eye measured 15 microns. Difficulties: obtaining satisfactory depth of field whilst maintaining good resolution. A custom built optical system was used”

The

invisible man This issue Barrie Smith talks with scientific filmmaker Francis Craig Chee who transforms the microscopic into the spectacular

Profile Name: Francis Craig Chee Age: 53 Family: Yes. Languages: English only, I’m afraid! Occupation: Marine biologist and scientiﬁc ﬁlmmaker

Where did you grow up? Sydney, Australia Where do you live today? Bristol, United Kingdom. Why did you move to the UK? I was working in Dublin as an Apple Final Cut pro

TVTechnology Europe September 2016

trainer and decided to make a base in Bristol as it seemed a logical choice due to my type of work What are your specialities in terms of video shooting? I spent many years before taking a PhD, and actually during the PhD studies I used a vast range of microscopes from electron microscopes to several kinds of light and laser confocal microscopes. I wanted to bring these microscopy skills into action for what I’m now doing in terms of scientific filmmaking. So I guess my specialty is as a formally trained microscopist. What caused you to look outside the laboratory and search for more technically adept equipment? A regular research light microscope is great if everything you want to image happens to be on

a microscope slide or in a petri dish however, once you want to film something in a vertical orientation, then you need a microscope setup that can do that, with a specialist stage as well. You operate a ‘fully pimped out’ electron microscope. How do you use it in video capture? The “pimped out microscope” is actually a Nikon research light microscope, sitting on its own custom designed and built anti-vibration table. Video is captured live via the modified phototube (for DSLRs) and or video cameras via a C mount. I also own a custom-built long working distance microscope, but this one is mounted horizontally, again on a custom anti-vibration table. Video capture is via an F-Mount, but any kind of video mount can be fitted if required. www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

What are the demands of micro-/macroscopy video capture? One of the biggest and certainly the most important aspects is the lighting. To that end all of my lighting systems are custom designed and built by me or co-designed and built by an engineer I’ve been working closely with. Essentially I need very, very reliable gear that simply doesn’t fail me, even if there are power failures. Stable filming platforms are also high up on the list too. For this reason all microscopes are on anti-vibration tables.

Current assignments. Where, doing what, shooting for whom? I’m a commissioned filmmaker for Science Photo Library (SPL). Science Photo Library is a privately owned stock photography and, more recently, stock footage agency, founded in 1981. Its headquarters are in Maida Hill, in West London. SPL represents me in the UK and globally. I’ve been working closely with them for some years. I also shoot as a freelancer, both in the studio and abroad. Hundreds of clips get sold each year. Currently I’m shooting time lapse and motion footage of ice crystal growth using a purpose built microscope to image actual crystal growth.

What kind of lighting do you use? For all shoots involving plant growth or shoots that require a particular “day length” then fluorescent grow lights are used. All other lighting has been custom designed and made either by myself or by an engineer I work with. These later lights are all using special LEDs and custom-designed lens systems with high spec fibre optics. Sometimes I’ll use tungsten lighting when heating is not a problem.

Have you had any experiences of your work being pirated? If you mean taken and used without my permission, then you can count YouTube channels that rip off my videos marking them up as theirs and adding advertising to them.

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What did you do about it? Report them to the YouTube Police! Result: the videos are immediately removed.

“Studio shot using a custom designed microscope. Objective magnification: X2. The microscope was not sitting on the same base as the subject — a far from ideal situation but sometimes necessary for time lapse work”

September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

SHARPSHOOTER

Hand held macro shooting at 1:1, using natural light. This kind of shooting allows for the spontaneous unexpected moment to be captured.

Do you ever shoot 3D? As yet I’ve not had any requests to shoot 3D. However I am planning at some stage to build a microscope with this capacity. What programmes and broadcasters have you shot for? To be honest, as I sell most of my work via SPL, it’s difficult to say, as it’s usually picked up by production companies producing stuff for broadcasters, and whilst they might say who the end user is, I usually don’t know. But some examples are a macro time-lapse of ice crystal growth on The Strangest Weather on Earth, also How the Universe Works - that was a production for Discovery Science. Another earlier one for TV in 2012 involved some macro work to be used in a BBC three part series, How to Grow a Planet. This was a request via SPL for the BBC. There is a huge list, as hundreds of clips get sold per year. Tell us about some of your most demanding assignments? Recently, I filmed both time-lapse and motion of cell development. It took about three weeks to nail some good sequences of blood flowing in embryonic tadpole gills using a microscope. The difficulty was in animal behaviour, as the slightest vibration caused these miniature creatures to shift their positions, many of which were not suitable for a good composition. I even have a specialist microscope stage to help avoid any vibration but once you go over X3 at the objective, the slightest bit of movement can, if filming in water, look like a tsunami! www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

“Filming adult dragon fly behaviour required a good mid shot of the eyes. Insects move, especially when you want them still. Shot in 40C heat and full sun.”

Do you use any specialist camera gear? The cameras are all standard DSLRs or if need be, something else I might hire. All of my scopes can fit just about any type/brand image capture device there is available. Other gear that you access? I sometimes hire high speed cameras. I’ve used some Olympus models in the past. I can’t recall the models. What’s important to me is the frame size and frame rate. Generally I want around at least 1000fps. What optics do you use? All Nikon glass for shooting macro. Nikon, Zeiss and Mitutoyo objectives for the microscopes. Equipment “wish list”? Maybe a good high speed camera capable of 4K? Or another good microscope setup. What useful piece of gear do you wish someone might make? I would like RED or someone else to bring out a fan-less (to avoid vibration and sucking in dust) super sensitive, low light camera that shoots 2K and 4K in colour and can be rigged for time-lapse as well. Best thing about your job? After working for some big US companies in the corporate world, being my own boss, plus being able to look after our son whilst on the job.

Hairiest/ assignment and why? None as yet for work, but I could fill a room with stories of non-work escapades from being held captive by mercenaries to losing a jet engine in mid flight. All of which was photographed or filmed by me - but purely for myself. Go on, tell us about your non-work escapades? Once while travelling to an island we were held by some mercenaries. Two of us on a local bus. To begin with, we thought a movie was being made when we saw all the guns. But very soon it was clear they were all quite real guns and real intentions. We were obviously not on any “wanted list”. The latter was a sort of filming assignment while I was doing an MA. I was travelling in the Middle East on a no-name charter flight on an old McDonnell Douglas MD80 over the ocean, near Lebanon. We experienced a series of engine surges on the starboard engine during take off, then at altitude a serious engine surge in the same engine, whereby the pilot shut the engine down. There was a brief moment before the auto-pilot corrected for the roll of the plane and some tense 30 minutes or so before we actually landed at a completely different airport. What do you do in your down time? Ha! It’s pretty full on for me, but all of my remainder time is spent looking after my son!

Contact Worst thing about your job? There’s never enough time!

Email: info@francischeeﬁlms.com Web: www.francischeeﬁlms.com

September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

ACQUISITION – VR

Comprimato: powering Nokia’s VR Nokia’s OZO aims to be the go to camera for VR. Essential for its operation is Comprimato’s JPEG 2000 compression. Neal Romanek reports.

It’s not just hardware. Comprimato is one of several software specialists contributing to Nokia’s OZO project.

okia has claimed that its OZO VR camera is the cutting edge of virtual reality acquisition. Designed with professional production in mind, the OZO captures 360 degree spherical video with eight 2Kx2K sensors, and 360x360 surround sound. The system also features Live Virtual Reality Preview and is designed to integrate with existing video and audio compositing workflows. One feature that Nokia hopes will give the OZO an edge is its use of JPEG2000 compression from Comprimato. JPEG2000: UNSUNG HERO Comprimato was founded as a spin off from founder Jiri Matela’s university research on video compression. Starting with an initial team of four, the company is now 20 employees. The company’s speciality is a JPEG2000 Ultra HD standard compliant software codec which leverages the power of AMD, Intel and NVidia GPUs and CPUs for real-time Ultra HD video and image compression. Headquartered in Brno, Czech Republic, Comprimato’s codec has been used by such leading media companies as Telestream, Vizrt and Technicolor. JPEG2000 is a widely admired, but often underexploited, codec for video production– as distinguished from a codec for video distribution, like HEVC or H.264. JPEG2000 offers particular benefits for video production in that every frame is encoded separately. JPEG2000 is also resolution scalable which allows for higher bit depths. Nokia’s search for a video processing codec took them to Comprimato. “They contacted us with an uknown project they were working on,” says Comprimato head Jiri Matela. “We worked on this project for almost a year. Then last summer they introduced this beautiful camera.”

www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

Nokia had kept its cards close to its chest during the collaboration. The company never revealed its VR strategy to Comprimato. “Sometimes with these companies, when they are working on something revolutionary, like OZO, they don’t tell you what their intention is up front. They only said, ‘We would be interested in your MJ2 encoding.’ So we did a lot of tests with them and we discussed a number of different encoding scenarios. They were looking at other companies too, but finally decided to include us as part of the camera’s software.”

“I believe that JPEG2000 will be an important codec player in virtual reality production” The integration of the software into the OZO camera was executed entirely by Nokia’s in-house team with Comprimato providing consultation and testing. “And that’s our goal,” says Matela. “We try to make our SDK as simple to use as possible so everyone can take it and use it without our guidance. Of course, when guidance is needed we are happy to provide that service.”

SCALABILITY So what is it about the JPEG2000 codec that makes it especially useful in developing a high end VR camera like the OZO? “It’s just my speculation, but the advantage of JPEG2000 for the OZO is the resolution scalability, so you can access a lower resolution of the original video feed which allows you to do faster processing in the software.” The Nokia camera produces multiple video streams which are sent to a computer for processing. Being able to process that video at a lower resolution allows for greater speed and efficiency – and is essential in a live workflow, given the amount of data generated every second. “I believe that JPEG2000 will be an important codec player in virtual reality production,” says Matela. But with all the efficiences and quality that JPEG2000 provides, why hasn’t it had wide-spread adoption yet? “I’ve been asking this myself,” says Matela. “For any codec what’s important is an ecosystem of different tools supporting the codec. With JPEG2000, the fast implementations used to be solely on hardware. Now we’re seeing more adoption of JPEG2000 with the availability of more fast software processing ability.“

September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

BUYERS GUIDE – CABLES

OB’s need a high-fibre diet Josh Simons, technical director at Argosy, tell us what to look for in cables and how outside broadcast companies need to up their cable game

abling for outside broadcast is often one of the last things that is considered when it comes to kitting out a truck or preparing the infrastructure for a temporary or fixed venue live event. Many outside broadcasters have fallen into habits that don’t make practical or economic sense in the long-term when it comes to investment, stock, cable quality and splicing. Choosing the right cable solution for an outside broadcast (OB) application is not only crucial, but needs to be a deliberate choice based on a long-term strategy that brings a better return on investment. THE RISE OF FIBRE The revolution that transformed the broadcast world over the last decade sparked a technology transformation that spanned not only screens and cameras but trickled down to the core infrastructure that now carries high-bandwidth video signals over distances that copper simply cannot handle.

“Undeniably, in the very near future, aside from some legacy coaxial cabling, broadcast infrastructure and truck cabling will be primarily made up of ﬁbre” Fibre, which first raised its head in postproduction environments, was swiftly adopted in HD video extension/distribution equipment, audio MADI equipment and then was more widely integrated into SMPTE cameras. In Europe, some big operators dipped their toe in the fibre waters first, using fibre infrastructure for monitor walls and audio transport. Hot on their heels however were the OB companies covering sports like golf, cricket or horse racing, many at fixed venues, as they were increasingly under pressure to feed multiple channels with ever higher quality images over long distances.

TVTechnology September 2016

Undeniably, in the very near future, aside from some legacy coaxial cabling, broadcast infrastructure and truck cabling will be primarily made up of fibre for the transportation of video and audio and of copper twisted pair for the transportation of IP and control signals. TO SPLICE OR NOT TO SPLICE? Until recently, when it comes to choosing a fibre solution, a great many OB companies have been improvising, which has led to a rise in splicing. This has now become common practise due to the wide availability of low-cost distribution cables and fusion splicers, combined with the high cost of military tactical cable assemblies with expanded beam connectors, which dictated to some extent this early direction. The practise of tactical fibre assemblies emerged as the cost of this type of cabling reduced over time making it more widely available. These were better suited to deployments in harsh environments, which saw the OB companies invest in bulk tactical cable, albeit low count, at typically four channels. The choice was often made between a drum of high-count, pre-terminated tactical cable and on-site splicing, which offered a welcome rugged, re-deployable and easily

serviceable option to OBs. As a result, many OBs are now witnessing a legacy technology creep born from the introduction of fibre media without a clearly defined strategy. The knock-on effect is that the ongoing cost of deployment of fibre has been higher than expected overall. THE (WIRE) PEOPLE ON THE GROUND Riggers at temporary venues for live events are often outsourced and work long days in often difficult and pressing conditions. This can sometimes lead to mistakes, as individual connectors are not removed correctly from the patch panels and cable protection are not replaced, so damaging the cables. In a case where the cable is spliced, the cable could be reduced by 1-2m at each splicing, reducing the cable run to an unusable length over time. There are of course solutions to preventing Josh Simons, Argosy

Many outside broadcasters are falling behind in the cable race

this, including training, stock management of these shorter assets and re-investment in cable stock. While this may reduce the impact of damage during de-rigging operations, this increases deployment costs and time. As an alternative, pre-terminated solutions set the scene for best practise processes during rigging and de-rigging operations.

“Many OBs are now witnessing a legacy technology creep born from the introduction of fibre media without a clearly defined strategy. RETHINKING CAPEX & OPEX From a commercial perspective, OBs that are investing in fibre now need to make more informed capital expenditure (CapEx) and operational expenditure (OpEx)-oriented decisions from the start. They need to review their options carefully to familiarise themselves with the pros and cons of tactical fibre assemblies versus other types of cable management systems. Is there really a point to building up capital and assets that aren’t of value time and time again, such as redundant cable left over after one too many splicing? Are pre-terminated fibre cables and spare cable stock a more efficient way of meeting customer’s on site needs than splicing? In addition, cabling is often seen as a necessity that bolts on to the active equipment rent-out part of an event. It may not bring in direct revenue but a careful choice of cabling does offer some return on investment, when one considers www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

that cheaper cable has a lower operational life expectancy and that could jeopardise the entire production, as the cost of cable has a direct impact on quality. In the case of returning events, for example music festivals or motor racing, there is a case to be made for the promotion of a permanent infrastructure so cabling doesn’t have to be deployed and recovered over and over again. In cases like these, the OBs should get the asset owner, installer and operator involved from the very start to deliver a functional, long-term solution.

complete, high quality cabling solutions. Ultimately, OBs need to urgently rethink their cable management strategy, focusing on more long-term investments and on getting return from these investments. Working with a cable provider and fibre specialist like Argosy on a consultative level will help OB companies adapt the way they invest in and deploy fibre while taking the guess work out of such decisions.

CLOSING THE LOOP It is also crucial to involve a knowledgeable cable infrastructure provider to close the loop and help map out a future-proof solution that can deliver better CapEx, OpEx and ROI. Argosy for example has strong and enduring relationships with quality optical component manufactures and can add immense value to the customer relationship through the use of its onsite R&D facility and of its cable termination facility for the provision of

September 2016 TVTechnology

IP FOCUS

Upwardly mobile Mobile Viewpoint aims to raise the bar for mobile IP broadcasting from the local news desk to the Vatican. Neal Romanek talked with Mobile Viewpoint CEO Michel Bias Bias: “We were lucky with the economic crisis”

s mobile networks have grown in speed and capacity, Netherlands-based Mobile Viewpoint has gone from being a small, niche tech provider to providing wireless IP solutions for the Summer Olympics and video transmission for public services and security firms. Michel Bias started the company aiming to develop 3g for using live video contributions. At the time, Nokia smartphones were used and Michel developed the idea to combine mobile connections. “We were lucky with the economic crisis,” says Bias. “The big guys were looking to save money. Before, they weren’t looking at our products. They thought they were strictly ‘low budget’. But then they started to use us for live broadcast from 2010 to 2011. It started with one local broadcaster, then grew from there.” NEW DEMANDS But will mobile networks be able to handle the demands of higher resolutions and frame rates? “There’s no upper limit,” Bias explains. “It’s already possible to transmit 4K via LTE. And in the Netherlands they have just begun to trial 5g, and more bandwidth will be available. “People want to have smaller devices and they want higher resolutions. We’re making smaller lightweight and more power-saving transmitters. And you’re seeing interest from new sports cameras – you can now get live coverage from the Tour de France while they’re riding without needing extra technology.” Mobile Viewpoint is also benefitting from the

TVTechnology Europe September 2016

technological leapfrogging of some developing countries which are adopting new technologies at a higher level, avoiding the painful evolution that others have had to endure. “We are seeing more and more sales in those regions,” notes Bias. “Pakistan is 4g, for example. And these are countries with many more people. In India every political party has its own channel, and all those channels will have live coverage. And they are not bothered about needing very high quality pictures, so using mobile networks is perfect for them.” WIDENING THE SCOPE It’s a goal of Mobile Viewpoint to widen the scope of what journalists can do. They have done some customised work for the BBC and collaborated on an app for a local broadcaster in the south of the Netherlands. The broadcaster can send a push messages and invite viewers to capture smart phone coverage from the scene of an event. “We put in a lot of effort to help the consumer and make it very easy to use – you can only shoot live if you shoot horizontal not vertical, for example. The new iPhones can make very good images, but people need to be a trained a little bit.” Mobile Viewpoint mobile transmission technology has application outside traditional broadcast too. “We sell a lot of stuff to Vatican TV. The Vatican has very good technology – it’s a closed network - and they are using our technology. We also work on security and sports. In security, there is a growing need for people with

The Live Link H.265 is a wearable transmitter that encodes video at H.265/HEVC and bonds eight combined 3G/4G connections

cameras on their body to record and transmit video. “And we’re also seeing more need for internet streaming for specific events – corporate streaming of a CEO address, for example. Most of the time you bump into firewall technology, but with our tech you can get around that easily.” At this year’s NAB, the company introduced its new HEVC encoding. The company will unveil more innovations at IBC2016: “We will be showing off our new, very small device for things like drones – and a dedicated device for bicycles.” www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

IP FOCUS – COMMENTARY

The great migration: Where are we now? Where are we in the journey from SDI to IP? James Stellpflug, VP product marketing of EVS, gives his take

ith facilities under growing pressure to deliver more content while at the same time needing to cut costs, manufacturers are developing more and more tools that make the high-intensity live production environment easier, faster and more efficient. As the world of content distribution has exploded with more channels, more enriched programming and the introduction of digital platforms as secondary – or increasingly, primary – media consumption devices, it’s important for those content owners to be able to produce the best possible programming with the most effective resources. This is why the migration to IP is so important. There’s no shortage of articles, presentations or product messaging to explain to us the benefits of migrating from SDI to IP infrastructures. Live production is the ‘next frontier’ that will benefit from IP connectivity. Once a migration to IP is complete, the industry will be able to do more, as workflows won’t be restricted by the limits of SDI and other similar signal flow methods. OVERCOMING LIMITATIONS SDI is point-to-point while IP enables multipoint connections. SDI moves data in one direction while IP is bidirectional. As SDI moves one signal at a time, IP can handle multiple. That’s not to say SDI hasn’t served us well for many years. I’ve worked a large portion of my professional life with SDI connectivity and it’s done some outstanding, even revolutionary, things. And from the EVS point of view, and our IP4Live initiative, the move from SDI to IP must be an evolution rather than a revolution. And the importance of this transition isn’t lost on broadcasters or content producers. In a recent survey of broadcasters by Devoncroft, the top five things on the minds of producers are either dependant or reliant on the update of IP-enabled infrastructures. These topics include IP networking and content delivery itself, multiplatform content delivery, file-based or tapeless

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The IP4Live project brings together major broadcast vendors to build a complete IP broadcast workflow

workflows, virtualisation and 4K/UHD. All of these will benefit from the implementation of IP, and that’s why some of the largest technology providers in the industry have come together to form industry bodies such as the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS). The goal of industry-led groups is to accelerate and promote the open standards that broadcast and media companies use to move from SDI systems to an IP-based future – enabling all of the benefits it will bring. And this is where we are with the transition from SDI to IP. There needs to be interoperability between the industry’s leading technology providers in order for any kind of transition to

“Anyone upgrading to any form of IP-enabled workﬂow needs to continue to protect the investments they’ve made in SDI-based technology” take place. This is perhaps best seen when it comes to standards. Collectives like AIMS bring together broadcasters, technology providers and industry standards organisations to eliminate the fragmentation that multiple flavours of IP bring. In addition, these organisations are helping to uncover the real-world use cases and ensure that the standards and recommendations for development will address these needs. The Sandbox+ project run by the EBU and VRT in Belgium is a great example of what can be done in a fully-IP environment. The LiveIP studio - built at VRT’s production centre in Brussels – is a technology demonstration of many of the industry’s leading solution EVS’s James Stellpflug

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providers connected entirely by IP infrastructures. After extensive tests, the LiveIP studio has recently started producing and distributing programming for Ketnet, VRT’s children’s channel. This project is a significant step toward putting the benefits of fully-IP infrastructures into daily on-air production. A STEADY, HYBRID TRANSITION Even though pioneering projects like the Sandbox+ LiveIP studio demonstrate that this is possible, it’s unlikely that any broadcaster will start from scratch and implement an entirely IP-based infrastructure. The step we need to see next – and the step we absolutely will see – is a hybrid approach to the adoption of IP. Anyone upgrading to any form of IP-enabled workflow needs to continue to protect the investments they’ve made in SDI-based technology. While in the long-term, the OPEX of IP infrastructures is lower, that’s not to say everyone should use all of their CAPEX to install it. EVS’ IP4Live initiative was put together to work alongside our clients and customers to show them how the SDI/IP hybrid approach is the best way to a transition. With that in mind, alongside our optional gateway solutions for existing live production servers that connect SDI-based solutions to IP infrastructures, our new product development and upcoming announcements will feature integrated IP-based options. When it comes to IP technology, many people say there is plenty of work to be done. But we’re of the opinion that the work that has been done is of the utmost importance, and has significant value today. SDI is by no means dead. IP-enabled technologies will sit alongside SDI to enhance its operation and connect the live production environment. September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

IP FOCUS – OPINION

All-IP broadcast: It’s when and how, not if For Andy Warmanh, Harmonic’s director of production & playout strategy and market development, the transition to an all-IP broadcast infrastructure is a matter of when and how, not if

e often note how quickly technological changes take place and reshape our world. And the landscape surrounding the transition from SDI to IP is no different. It has changed dramatically in just the past six months. Where once there was uncertainty about what underlying technology the industry as a whole could embrace to move to all IP, now broadcasters appear to have settled on the AIMS approach as the right way to move forward. At the same time, vendors have embraced this direction and have been able to show interoperability with everything from cameras to encoders, and practically everything in between. This is good news for everyone as there is now a clear path guiding the transition and ensuring that broadcasters have compatibility between devices and vendors. How broadcasters will make the move to IP will vary. Generally, they will fit within one of three different groups: ready to make the move to IP now, able to make the move to IP in stages, or still need to wait and see. All three face similar requirements. Move to IP now: • Both budget and location allow for an all-IP system to be built • Currently available technologies are suitable for required workflows • Existing standards and specifications are acceptable • Upgrading systems as standards evolve is acceptable Move to IP in stages: • Budget and location are flexible enough to allow implementation of IP in the workflow • IP can solve some but not all workflow needs • Standardisation has not yet solved all IP requirements

TVTechnology Europe September 2016

Holy shit! This gigantic turtle is swimming into my living room!!

Wait and see: • Budget and/or location restrictions mean SDI remains for the time being • Workflow needs cannot be solved by IP • Standardization work must be completed prior to IP investment Regardless of where a broadcaster is in the process of moving to IP, it has become a foregone conclusion that at some point the industry as a whole will move to all-IP protocols. This shift offers a number of clear advantages. For one, having a single medium for the transport of all media simplifies infrastructure requirements. As a result, there is no longer a separate island for production, news or playout. IP can scale and adapt in a rapidly changing environment. Broadcasters working in the IP realm thus can provision network resources and related compute and storage whenever they need to change a process or workflow, add a new channel, or bulk up to support higher resolutions or higher data rate codecs. Because IP-based systems are aligned both with the move away from reliance on proprietary devices in production systems and air chains and with the move toward COTS computing, cloud and virtualisation, broadcasters are not limited to using resources that are built, managed and maintained on their premises. They can leverage services via the internet, as well.

UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGIES A number of key enabling technologies will allow SDI workflows to work in IP. The simplest method of bridging this divide is to use SMPTE 2022-6, which encapsulates SDI in an IP stream, transporting video with embedded audio and ANC. This is a straightforward approach and fine for simple workflows in which there is little or no manipulation of the stream. In effect, it replicates what broadcasters do in SDI today. Because frame accuracy is a big concern, broadcasters need a timing solution that will work for network-based data flows. Conventional sync and timecodes, and even NTP (network time protocol), do not have the accuracy needed when it comes to syncing IP streams in A/V applications in the way it is done in SDI. SMPTE 2059, which is the broadcast specification for PTP (Precision Time Protocol), supplies what is needed for highly accurate timing purposes. Where there may be various www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

independent audio sources, broadcasters can leverage AES67, which offers a way to transport audio over Ethernet and allows it to work with video. VSF TR-04 then takes the AES67 audio — plus SMPTE 2022-6 with its embedded video, audio and ANC — and leverages SMPTE 2059 for timing. Broadcasters can then work with discrete audio and embedded video and audio to create the desired output. Generally regarded as the desired end goal, certainly for production environments, is VSF TR-03. This approach uses SMPTE 2059 and AES67 in the same way that TR-04 does, but it handles video (IETC RFC 4175) and ANC (IETF draft ANC291) separately. By keeping the video, audio and ANC separate, and by maintaining the ability to sync them, broadcasters enjoy the flexibility necessary to manage many signals without the overhead of de-embedding and re-embedding. It is important to note that the VSF TR-04 and TR-03 technical recommendations are, at the time of writing, in the drafting phase of becoming SMPTE ST 2110. Though the standard has not yet been completed, vendors are not waiting to create

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products and ensure that broadcasters have interoperability. Consequently, a broad range of products based on this standard will be available to the market in the near future.

“Having ﬂexibility in managing audio and video is all very well, but broadcasters also need a mechanism for connecting different devices” MANAGING FLEXIBILITY Having flexibility in managing audio and video is all very well, but broadcasters also need a mechanism for connecting different devices, whether they are hardware or software in nature. SDI relies on knowing what connections can be made — matching inputs to outputs — in order for a system to work. IP networks provide more flexibility, with the potential for making any source available to any compatible destination. To enable management

of connections, NMOS (Networked Media Open Specifications) enables device services (type of inputs and outputs) to be registered and, in turn, allows devices to discover other devices on a network to which they can connect. This model does away with the need for specific connections for specific I/O and the need to know which devices are compatible, and it also enables use of a single medium for the transport of data and connection of devices. A device can register its I/O capabilities with a registration service or, in the absence of a registration service, use peerto-peer discovery to find compatible devices to which it can connect. In short, though it is unclear how long it will take to migrate fully away from SDI, the move to all-IP workflows is upon the broadcast industry, and even now the complexities of this transition are being resolved. The industry has shown unity and a desire to progress toward networkbased solutions. Everyone benefits from all-IP infrastructure and the ability to go to cloud and virtualised solutions in the future. IP is an enabler of new business models, and it will drive business for users and solution vendors alike.

September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

IP FOCUS – CLOUD

From the telegraph to the cloud Ian Brotherston, CEO of content management company TVT, tells how the Press Association was able to move to a new level of journalistic coverage by embracing the cloud

rom the opening of the Forth Bridge in Scotland, the world’s largest cantilever structure in 1890, to the EU referendum debate of 2016, the Press Association has been reporting on news from across the UK and Ireland for the last 147 years. Beginning with reporters filing hand written journals to today’s era of modern multimedia content provision across web, mobile, broadcast and print, PA has adapted to a news industry increasingly focused on the immediacy offered by the internet driven news cycle. However the next iteration of the PA journey is seeing a massive increase in the demand for video. Video footage of breaking news stories is a vital component for both broadcasters and websites in today’s world. With the rapid advancement of electronic news gathering technologies including low cost, yet broadcast ready, cameras and high speed 4G connectivity, PA reporters in the field are able to deliver stories into the workflow within minutes of their being shot. BUILDING A VIDEO NEWS WORKFLOW PA has built its video handling capability in various stages over the last decade, adding in different elements of ingest, transcode, editing and delivery, using products from multiple vendors. The workflow is run by an expert team of editors, but with growing demand, faster news cycles and diversity of individual client requirements, in the middle of 2015, PA decided to work with us at TVT. TVT deployed its ContentSelect platform to transform PA’s video workflows and achieve some outstanding results. “With the production team now using ContentSelect, videos are now taking up to an hour less to transcode and deliver to customers. Video resolution is now full HD and we are able to provide a number of delivery methods to suit our customers,’ says Alex Rothwell, head of video at PA. “As the system is cloud-based, reporters are able to file their footage directly from their phone, tablet or laptop from anywhere in the field.” Rothwell estimates the new system has enabled PA to halve the time it takes to process video. As a content-focused organisation, PA was keen to streamline its workflow process but avoid investing in and having to maintain a

TVTechnology Europe September 2016

TVT’s Ian Brotherston

large in-house IT infrastructure footprint. This approach made the use of cloud a preferable option. As a result, PA chose TVT’s cloudpowered ContentSelect to manage its editorial cycle. This starts with incoming ENG video rushes as well as live video feeds and third party content ingested into the platform, logged and made available as low resolution proxies for viewing and online editing.

“As the system is cloud-based, reporters are able to ﬁle their footage directly from their phone, tablet or laptop from anywhere in the ﬁeld” By utilising this centralised approach, both curators at PA offices and reporters out in the field can perform simple edits with outputted packages automatically transcoded, based on selectable video encoding settings suitable for broadcast and online streaming. The cloud platform also facilitates the creation of metadata through a mixture of automatically generated tags around format, length and source along with expert driven metadata tagging based on the content. ContentSelect is integrated with PA’s video archive

to enable easy retrieval and re-use of content, taking advantage of associated metadata to facilitate searches of relevant content. AWS HOSTING From a technical standpoint, ContentSelect is built using web-scale architectures and, for PA, is hosted on Amazon Web Services. The system is deployed as a single, per client instance with the ability to scale up compute and storage. TVT used a set of interconnecting modules which cover all elements of channel and VOD preparation such as QC, compliance, metadata creation, transcodes and deliveries using either our own modules or via third party integration. However, a crucial element is that the application is delivered in such a way that the offered feature set and even the user interface is relevant to the specific task that the logged in operator is working on which makes it a much simpler and effective process. The system also manages distribution, with PA able to specify content delivery direct to its clients, which include the majority of the UK national press, broadcasters and major online brands. With the migration to the new cloud-based platform complete, PA is continuing its mission to meet the exacting schedules of its customers while giving its reporters more flexibility. www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

IP FOCUS – CASE STUDY

Does IP have to spell PAIN? With his company’s battle cry “SDI must die”, Jan Weigner, co-founder and CTO of Cinegy, wants people to know that the transition need not be fraught with pain – and it might even be easy.

t never ceases to amaze me that there are so many beads of blood popping out on the foreheads of those contemplating a move from SDI to IP. It’s not that difficult people, either to conceive, or implement. So take a tissue, wipe your brow, and get on with it. It’s easy. Those racks upon racks of boxes that have consumed your energy, time, and budget - in some cases for decades - won’t even thank you for the blood, sweat, and tears you’ve invested over the years. Yes, they and their SDI interfaces still work, in many cases quite well, but why continue to haul a cumbersome, and increasingly unforgiving infrastructure into the future when in one IP-based swoop you can expand your broadcast and playout possibilities to near limitless proportions at a fraction of the cost and with none of the grief.

“The key, of course, is to convert tape-based assets into digital media and it is from there that all beneﬁts ﬂow” It may be a slight overstatement to say the path to IP is paved with gold, but it certainly doesn’t have the stumbling blocks associated with SDI, nor does it cost a mint to get there. The revenue generator, however, kicks in once the migration is complete, and it doesn’t take long. TAKING THE FIRST STEP The first step is possibly the most time consuming, and even that is not, in relative terms, too long. It’s simply a case of requiring the majority of decisions to be made up front to determine what tapeless production workflow is best suited to the needs and ultimate goals of a specific organisation. The beauty of this in a software-defined, IP-based environment, however, is that several approaches can be explored simultaneously once a basic office network is established, which becomes the common infrastructure for the entire facility. A lot of the early process is to ensure that you fully understand what you need to change in your live broadcast signalling chain, and to work with an experienced partner who can tell you what you don’t know. Critical parts of your existing,

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Cinegy’s Air broadcast automation software

SDI-based infrastructure need to be replaced and you’ll have to calculate just how much – possibly all - of it should be consigned to the scrap heap, or a museum. It can admittedly be unsettling to get rid of old, faithful matrix switchers, studio mixers, monitoring devices, SDI cabling, etc., but once you’ve done it you’ll wonder why you stayed shackled to them for so long. Because broadcast-quality video signals require full bandwidth, it is important to install a separate broadcast-capable network for video signal distribution. It might even be a good idea to build two or three unicast/multicast networks that can work in parallel, which would provide comforting redundancy. Fortunately, this is very easy to do because such networks can be established and run on standard, off-

“Even non-technical people can be up and running in a couple of days, in some cases hours” the-shelf, IT networking equipment, which is considerably less expensive than what it would cost to achieve similar results with an SDI infrastructure. Moreover, it’s far more easily extended which, let’s face it, you stand a very good chance of needing to do, if not in the near-time, almost certainly in the longer term but not much longer. Then it’s just a matter of getting all signals on an IP domain with the new software gateways and associated devices that are capable of live IP streaming.

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REORGANISING Once that is settled, it becomes a matter of organising the workflow in terms of archiving assets, logging, editing and providing access to all created material, not forgetting ingest and playout. The key, of course, is to convert tapebased assets into digital media and it is from there that all benefits flow. The possibilities for generating new revenue streams from storing, retrieving, and repurposing repositories of content are limited only by the creative or commercial minds charged with developing them. It may sound simplistic, and in some ways it is in an IP world, but educating staff to fully implement and take the best advantage of new working practices is the next, crucial step. In many cases, staff have very little to learn. Even non-technical people can be up and running in a couple of days, in some cases hours. Because most processes and systems will now rely on IT, a lot depends on the in-house balance of IT-centric and traditional broadcast engineers, but for most personnel, whatever their background, the required training is intuitive, and transparent, which makes the SDI to IP transition pretty easy. This is largely because working in an IP environment is so resilient. It can tolerate a certain amount of trial and error. An innocent mistake or misinterpretation will not bring an entire workflow to a halt, or require a system to be brought down to figure out which box has been plugged in backwards. So migrate to IP. You’ll only stop the bleeding once you stop banging your head against the SDI wall. September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

MAKING THE GRADE

Anthony Raffaele: Colouring with the masters Colourist Anthony Raffaele recently worked with the legendary Vittorio Storaro on Woody Allen’s first digital feature, Café Society. He spoke to TV Tech Europe about his career and wishing he’d graded The Matrix.

How did you start out in post and become a colourist? Was it luck or a mapped out plan? After graduating from film school, I ended up working in the shipping department of New York post house Nice Shoes, which had a very good training programme During my eight years there, I learned everything I could about video, film and post-production. I started my journey from shipping to colourist, doing everything from cleaning 35mm film to assisting commercial colourists. At that time I primarily graded commercials and music videos, all working at night.

“We also conformed the picture in Baselight – this was a ﬁrst for us, and allowed direct manipulation of the original camera media where required” When I started, we were primarily working with film on Spirit telecines, then we switched to non-linear colour correction and finally to Baselight. I moved to Deluxe New York for the next six years, where the opportunity arose to grade Blue Bloods, a big CBS show. I had a chance to do a couple of feature films as well, working with cinematographers such as Rachel Morrison, Igor Martinovic, and Dean Cundey. I moved to Technicolor PostWorks New York in 2014. One of the draws of coming here was that they support Baselight, so I jumped at the opportunity. How did you get to work with Vittorio Storaro? I met Vittorio Storaro when we were testing the F65 camera in 4K projection at Technicolor PostWorks. I ended up colouring both the dailies

TVTechnology Europe September 2016

and the final for Café Society. I consider it a huge honour and a lifetime opportunity to work with him. Vittorio was like a teacher, talking about the art, about inspiration and where to find it. Everything from how to frame a picture to why colour temperatures are important. You learn a new perspective from someone who is a master of his art, but is also fun to work with. His team is fantastic too – Will Arnott, the cameraman and the DIT Simone d’Arcangelo, among others. Café Society was a very collaborative way of working and fun. You might think that artists of this calibre would be more stressful to work with, but it was quite the opposite. Tell us more about your experience in grading Café Society. Amazingly, Café Society is Woody Allen’s first digital feature film as director. It’s set in the 1930s, and we created several looks that reflected the major locations, each requiring a distinctive visual style. From his previous experience using Baselight in Europe, Vittorio was insistent that it was the ideal tool for both the dailies and DI. I was delighted that he wanted the same colourist for the dailies and finishing, a preference he developed working for so many years with the master lab timer Ernesto Novelli at Technicolor in Rome. Working with Vittorio this way proved to

be one of the greatest opportunities I’ve ever had. The technical aspects of the process were also uncompromising. Because we worked entirely in the Baselight colour spaces and ACES from dailies through to the final, we never hunted for our looks, we just refined them in harmony with the film as it evolved. We also conformed the picture in Baselight – this was a first for us, and allowed direct manipulation of the original camera media where required.

“Grading features, you create a palette that is more soothing to the eye, so the contrast and saturation are different” What other projects have you been working on recently? I am currently grading three TV shows, all half-hour comedies: The Jim Gaffigan Show, Difficult People and Odd Mom Out. I also have Younger starting at the end of summer. They all have their own look and their own style but none are technically or emotionally heavy. We’re not colouring in ACES or outputting in 4K. They’re mainly HD shows. They’re all lighthearted too, which is nice because you want to laugh for a while between heavy dramas or feature films! www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

You have worked on the film side and also graded commercials and TV programmes. How do they differ? The biggest learning curve was going from commercials to TV as you are having to resist the urge to catch peoples’ eye and create vivid, strong images all the time. Grading features, you create a palette that is more soothing to the eye, so the contrast and saturation are different. It is like learning a different part of your craft, a different language. With film you often have considerably more time to fine-tune the grade, while in TV the turnaround time is much shorter, so you are more likely to make broader, strategic adjustments to the overall look.

It’s not that I don’t have a style. The style is the project I’m working on, collaborating with the cinematographer and creatives to craft a look that suits their story.

to come up with a look. Clients may reference a specific era in history, so you can look into the photography or art of that era to get a basis for what they are looking for and draw inspiration.

How would you define your personal style of grading? It’s certainly ideal to plan the look in advance as with Café Society, but often the clients come in on the day of their session with the cut and only then discuss the look of the film. In that sense, my style is “to be as collaborative as I can be,” to listen and keep my eyes open.

Any advice to someone looking to start a career as a colorist? Go into finance! Seriously, if you are creative then I would recommend that you find a place where you feel you can get the opportunity to follow your instincts. Learn about art history and photography! I’m always looking for inspiration

Who is your inspiration? Over the years I have worked with some great people. In fact every colourist who I’ve worked with has inspired me in one way or another. Each one of them had something special about the way they work. All the colourists I have had the pleasure of working with have helped to make me better at what I do.

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Meet us in Hall 14, stand F21 www.c connectedip.com

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September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

BUYERS GUIDE – AUDIO

Sublime software and cool concepts Noise reduction software and a ‘smart’ concept for delivering audio production are among the developments featured in our roundup of useful audio software by David Davies

he software products and solutions included in this month’s audio buyer’s guide are a diverse bunch – but what unites them is their ability to smooth and accelerate the daily working lives of broadcast audio technicians. In what are increasingly fast-turnaround production environments, time is surely more of the essence than ever before – which means tools that can ease both routine processes and more creative tasks are highly prized. This selection presents some of the latest and greatest solutions. But in what has been a highly innovative period for audio technology R&D, it is only the tip of the iceberg… CONTROL SOFTWARE AND USER-FRIENDLY EDITING Newly introduced by AEQ is ControlPhoenix software, which enables powerful control and management of its Phoenix Studio, Phoenix Mercury and Phoenix Venues audio codecs through IP. According to the company, the equipment can either be part of the same local area network as the PC or workstation that controls them, or belong to remote networks. Local equipment is automatically discovered when the application is launched. For the remote units to be controlled, they need to be reachable and then the user has to identify them by their IP address. Also recently introduced is the AEQ Audioplus advanced automation, management and playout system. A comprehensive set of applications and services designed to provide the necessary tools to carry out any regular task at a radio station, Audioplus provides features including: a broadcast playout system allowing for up to four independent players with intuitive playback controls; remote controlled playout; internal or external object editors; and full integration with AEQ Forum and Capitol digital mixing consoles. iZotope has a distinguished track-record of developing audio software and plug-ins for mixing, mastering, restoration and more. One of its latest innovations is RX 5 Advanced Audio Editor software, which delivers a wide variety of noise reduction and other techniques to improve audio content. According to the company, RX 5 Audio Editor makes it possible to repair, restore and enhance problematic production audio –

TVTechnology Europe September 2016

AEQ’s ControlPhoenix software allows control and management of its Phoenix audio codecs through IP

from plosives to background noise to inconsistent dialogue levels – and dramatically improve sound quality and clarity. When building the latest version, the creators of RX took into account the increased speed in turnaround time and the fact that ‘perfect’ audio recording environments are far and few between. “We focused on creating new features like Module Chain that can process multiple modules at once, and Instant Process, to help broadcasters meet their deadlines,” said Rob D’Amico, director of product management at iZotope. “Additions like De-plosive, Corrective EQ, and Leveler will directly increase the production value of shows that are broadcast every day.”

PLUG-IN INNOVATION Summer 2016 brings plenty of fresh innovation at the plug-in level, not least from US-based manufacturer Minnetonka Audio. The company’s SurCode for Dolby E for Adobe Premiere Pro CC allows users to work with Dolby encoded files in the industry’s most popular editing software. Specifically, the plug-in provides encoding and decoding of Dolby E files directly within Adobe Premiere Pro CC. The iLok protected VST decoder can be instantiated as a real-time confidence monitor, and used for faster than realtime export, says Minnetonka Audio. The encoder is available as a WIBU protected export plug-in in the Adobe Media Encoder export engine.

iZotope’s RX 5 Advanced Audio Editor software delivers a variety of noise reduction and other tools

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wh a. Yep, the impossible just happened.

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BUYERS GUIDE – AUDIO SurCode for Dolby E Encoder and Decoder for Adobe Premiere Pro CC is included at no additional charge in the SurCode for Dolby E Bundle and Master Suite. As a Dolby-certified product, the decoded and encoded audio files from Dolby E for Adobe Premiere Pro CC are compatible with all Dolby Digital branded software or hardware encoders and decoders. Nugen Audio, meanwhile, has announced an upgrade of its Halo Upmix plug-in for upmixing stereo audio to surround. Available in Avid AAX, VST and AU formats, Halo Upmix automates the creation of a stereo-to-surround, downmix-compatible upmix with centre-channel management and spatial density controls. Combining several technologies, including frequency and time-domain energy distribution and neural network artificial intelligence, Halo Upmix enables producers to target various upmix goals, including full stable surrounds, exact downmix matching, and/or full dialogue isolation. The latest version of Halo Upmix adds a new set of algorithms for upmixing from multichannel audio to higher channel counts, including LCR

TVTechnology Europe September 2016

to 5.1, 5.1 to 7.1, and 7.1 to 9.1. The 9.1 option allows the introduction of vertical positioning into the upmix, generating a 7.1.2 (Dolby Atmos) bed track-compatible upmix. This capability provides users with greater flexibility for high-quality archival restoration, content repurposing, postproduction, and sound design.

“Smart production will become a strategy. It uses a creative mix of technologies to reach high quality production results with increased efficiency” Also on show at IBC2016 will be Nugen Audio’s AMB (Audio Management Batch) processor, which is a new solution built on the concept of the Loudness Management Batch (LMB) processor. Through new features such as threaded algorithm processing and multiple processing threads that are addressable for simultaneous parallel handling of files and queues, AMB helps speed workflows.

SMART THINKING For Jünger Audio, the last few months – and indeed its upcoming presence at the IBC trade show – have been dominated by discussion of its Smart Audio concept. According to the company, Smart Audio means investing in simple, reliable and predictable equipment that can automatically deliver audio content while maintaining the high quality that consumers expect. The concept has already been adopted by a number of broadcasters, among them Input Media in London and the ARD Tagesschau television prime time news service in Germany. Alongside intelligent and adaptive processing algorithms, the introduction of Smart Audio allows broadcasters to choose devices that are fully interoperable with others in the broadcast environment and can seamlessly integrate with both playout automation systems and logging and monitoring processes. “Auto-Level, Auto-Upmix, Auto-EQ, AutoMIX, Auto-Loudness, Codec System Metadata Management – the intelligent combination of all these Jünger Audio adaptive algorithms will create the solution that delivers Smart Audio,

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Minnetonka Audio’s SurCode for Dolby E for Adobe Premiere Pro CC allows users to work with Dolby encoded files in Premiere

and program loudness will also automatically match – as expected,” says Jünger Audio CEO Peter Poers. At IBC, Jünger Audio will be showing its full range of D*AP products that can deliver a Smart Audio experience because every device already incorporates a collection of these adaptive processing algorithms. They also employ the Ember+ remote protocol that allows seamless integration with an increasingly wide range of compatible equipment. Jünger Audio’s D*AP range includes naturalsounding products for loudness control, audio monitoring, audio conditioning & metadata management, and Dolby decoding, encoding and transcoding. Among them are the D*AP8 MAP Edition surround monitoring audio processor; the D*AP8 Codec Edition processor that provides a viable replacement for any discontinued legacy Dolby hardware processors; the D*AP4 VAP Edition two-channel voice audio processor; and the flagship D*AP8 TAP Edition television audio processor, which ensures consistency of loudness and sonic ‘character’ across multiple programme sources.

Nugen Audio has announced an upgrade of its Halo Upmix plug-in for upmixing stereo to surround

Speaking to TV Technology Europe about the response to Smart Audio since it was introduced earlier this year, Poers remarks: “Since starting our campaign to promote Smart Audio we are noticing an increasing number of ‘smart’ communication messages and announcements from other companies in our field of business. This indicates that the trend for more sophisticated and efficient production is reaching all areas of media production. In our view, the introduction of smarter, more automated production won’t replace creative processes, but it will allow people working in broadcast to focus and concentrate more on the creative elements and processes instead of dealing with standard procedures that are time consuming and require effort during production. “Smart production will become a strategy. It uses a creative mix of technologies to reach high quality production results with increased efficiency. It changes the relationship between dedicated production tools and processes. It will unify the production for different media sectors (radio, television and online). It is demanding

D*AP4 VAP Edition two-channel voice audio processor: Jünger’s D*AP range includes products for loudness control, audio monitoring, metadata management and Dolby encoding

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a global view to production workflows. Smart Audio and the elements that we have introduced so far are a dedicated part of this trend. The introduction of remote production scenarios will definitely benefit from smart production in general and Smart Audio in detail.” NECESSARY NEXIS The final featured solution is a major launch from one of the giants of the industry. Introduced at NAB 2016, the Avid NEXIS software-defined storage platform enables fully virtualised storage so media organisations can adjust their storage infrastructure mid-project, without disrupting workflows. Leveraging the power of the Avid MediaCentral Platform, Avid NEXIS delivers media storage flexibility, scalability and control for both Avid-based and third-party workflows. Thanks to the platform openness of Avid Everywhere, Avid NEXIS works with all top media creation applications, including Media Composer, Pro Tools, Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, Grass Valley EDIUS, and many more. “In today’s hyper-competitive media environment, business models are in constant flux and media workflows need to be as dynamic as consumer demand,” said Jeff Rosica, senior vice president, chief sales & marketing officer, Avid. “Software-defined storage is more flexible, adaptable, simple, usable, reliable, and secure – all at a lower cost. Avid NEXIS is the first and only software-defined storage platform that provides media organisations the reliability they need to address today’s workflow demands, the scalability for tomorrow, and the technology to take media production further.”

September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

IBC PRODUCT PREVIEW

IBC2016 Product Preview A sneak peek at some of the tech on display at Europe’s biggest TV trade show

4K 4Charity fun run returns to IBC

he 4K 4Charity fun run will return this year as everyone’s favourite IBC hangover cure. Fast becoming an IBC tradition, this year’s run takes place on Saturday, 10 September, at 7am, near the RAI in Amstel Park. Registration for the event is open at www.4k4charity.com. Organisations beneﬁtting from the IBC2016 event include Heifer International, bringing sustainable agriculture to areas with a history of poverty, and Amsterdam charity Jeugdsportfonds, which helps children of needy families with athletics club memberships. Corporate sponsors include Aspera, ChyronHego, Dolby and Xstream. Media partners include NewBay Media Europe and Rapid TV News.

TELESTREAM Telestream takes streaming tech to Europe

elestream’s Lightspeed Live Stream will make its European debut at IBC. Livestream is aimed at bringing broadcasts and OTT together in the live TV space. Telestream says the enterprise-scale live streaming platform was

TVTechnology Europe September 2016

developed to provide OTT content to end users via any device. The company will also be showing Lightspeed Live Capture for the ﬁrst time in Europe. This hardware and software appliance provides

encoding of real-time SD, HD and UHD into common high-quality mezzanine formats, while simultaneously supplying a streaming proxy for each channel being processed. Stand 7.B26

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Enter the IBC2016

Nominate your new product by 31 August to be in with a chance of winning www.newbay-awards.com of

2016

For more information contact Lucy Wilkie on lwilkie@nbmedia.com

IBC PRODUCT PREVIEW EVS

SOUND DEVICES

Live IP from EVS

New 4K plus H.264 recording for PIX-E

isitors to the EVS booth can experience what is essentially an IP-enabled hub, allowing live media flows, with the ability to connect live sports venues, broadcast centre control rooms and consumers. By connecting the live environment, EVS technology hopes to enable better storytelling and an enriched viewing experience. Introduced this summer at high-profile international sporting events, EVS’s C-Next is a live connected tool that reflects the capabilities of the IP4Live strategic initiative from EVS. This contribution network platform

ew recording capabilities for the PIX-E Series of 4K-compatible recording monitors are making their international debut at IBC2016. Video Devices, a brand of video products by Sound Devices, said its PIX-E Series of monitors now features an H.264 codec, with the capability for simultaneously recording an edit-ready Apple ProRes file and a more compact H.264 MP4 file. These new features are available as a free download for PIX-E owners, said the company. With the addition of H.264, an applied LUT is baked into the H.264 .mp4 file and saved via SD card. The master ProRes 4K file

gives remote teams the ability to share ﬁles and metadata content over IP, from any OB truck, broadcast centre or production HQ. EVS will also demo its newgeneration IPWeb – a remote access application that lets users browse and select content no matter where they are. Stand 8.B90

OMNITEK

GUNTERMANN & DRUNCK

Shipping an Ultra XR 4K waveform monitor

10,000m at your fingertips

untermann & Drunck will demonstrate a recently developed KVM extender system supporting 4K resolution at full 60Hz frame rate. The DP1.2VisionXG enables the remote operation of systems and offers uncompressed transmission of DP1.2 signals. With the new DP1.2-VisionXG, ﬁbre optics connect the KVM transmitter at the computer to the KVM receiver placed at the workstation. Users can operate their systems in a 1:1 connection without any latency over distances between computer and workstation of up to 10,000 metres. To ensure high video quality, the new

est & measurement company Omnitek, will begin shipping its Ultra XR test and measurement tool for 4K at IBC2016. The Ultra XR is designed for colour grading, post production and QC in the 4K/UHD domain. Offering ‘true’ 4K/UHD waveform analysis, the Ultra XR provides traditional test and measurement tools - picture monitor, 4K waveform monitor, vectorscope, histograms, BT.709/ BT.2020 CIE gamut charts, sample/pixel monitor, video timing, audio meters and video/ audio/ANC status instruments as standard for SD to 4K resolutions.

TVTechnology Europe September 2016

is saved to the Video Devices’ SpeedDrive without an applied LUT. This is for users who want to record a full dynamic range, log-encoded ProRes master ﬁle for the edit suite and a REC709 H.264 ﬁle suitable for client viewing, said the company. Stand 8.B59

Alongside these, the Ultra XR offers support for 12-bit 4:4:4 SDI input formats in YCbCr, RGB, and XYZ, Wide Color Gamut RGB - ITU-R BT.2020 and high dynamic range inputs - both the ST2084/PQ and Hybrid Log Gamma HDR speciﬁcations. Stand 10.A24

DP1.2-VisionXG system transmits video signals transparently meaning pixel-by-pixel and without any compression. The system can be monitored via network interfaces – either actively via web interface or passively via SNMP. This, claims the company, enables technicians to detect and react to critical conditions before they can affect a user’s work – a feature that is especially important in the timingcritical production of live TV. Stand 1.B10

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PANASONIC

SPECTRA LOGIC Deep storage

New Panasonic 4K’s

wo new midrange 4K/Ultra HD cameras are set to be introduced by Panasonic to take over from its AVCCAM series of professional AVCHD camcorders, bringing the total to five UHD camcorders, including two VariCams and the DVX200. Both new units use 1-inch sensors, with the premium model, the AG-UX180, having a 20x zoom, 0.37-inch OLED viewfinder and 4K/24p or UHD 50/60p recording. The AG-UX90 has a 15x zoom, 0.24in LCD viewfinder and UHD 25p recording. The UX180 is 50/60p switchable and can also deliver up to 120 fps slow motion in HD, and both will offer variable frame rate recording

pectra Logic will be demonstrating its tape and disk-based solutions for archive, backup, cold storage and public, private and hybrid cloud, including the Spectra T950 tape library and Spectra BlackPearl Deep Storage Gateway. Two enhancements to its Verde DPE will be showcased for the ﬁrst time. The Spectra T950 library stores up to 190PB of compressed data

with up to 302TB/h throughput. The BlackPearl Deep Storage Appliance can organise and manage content across multiple locations with a single, cloudbased interface. Spectra Logic will also show its Spectra T380 library and ArcticBlue nearline disk storage. Stand 7.J30

ATOMOS

(2-50/60fps) in HD. The camcorders feature 3.5in LCD touchscreen monitors, built-in ND ﬁlters, ﬁve-axis hybrid image stabilisation, and will record to dual SD memory slots (for relay and simultaneous recording). The UX180 also supports dual codec recording (HD and UHD – but not at 50/60p), cache recording, IR shooting in low light, and both 3G-SDI and HDMI 2.0 output. Stand 11.C45

DEJERO

New HDR features for Atomos monitors

LIVE+ Control simplifies remote broadcasting

tomos is offering HDR on both of its new monitor/ recorders: the Shogun Flame (pictured) and the Ninja Flame. The Flames have 7-inch 10-bit 1920 x 1080 screens with up to 1500 Nits brightness (which also makes them easier to view outdoors). All major log formats are supported: Arri, Canon, JVC, Panasonic, Red and Sony. The €1695 Shogun Flame has SDI and HDMI I/O with bidirectional SDI/ HDMI conversion, XLR audio with controllable microphone preamps and phantom power, LTC and Genlock, and records Raw video from certain Canon

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ejero will showcase enhancements to its LIVE+ Control management system, which aims to simplify live broadcasting from remote locations and transporting recorded content to broadcast facilities over bonded IP networks. The updates enhance monitoring, station administration, and reporting capabilities. These updates are timed with the recent release of version 4.0 of the company’s LIVE+ Core software. This new release will make its IBC debut this year and has added new capabilities to the LIVE+ platform of products including an enhanced congestion control algorithm and faster transport of ﬁles.

and Sony cameras. The €1295 Ninja Flame is HDMI only. Both record Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHR/DNxHD, and 4K/UHD up to 30p or HD to 120p. Stand 11.D25

Dejero will also show the ﬁrst European demo of the SIM module and new modem module for LIVE+ EnGo, Dejero’s compact mobile transmitter. Aimed at journalists and news crews reporting from breaking news situations, LIVE+ EnGo encodes IP video and bonds available networks, including cellular, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and satellite. Stand 12.C56

September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

GRASS VALLEY

VITEC

Grass Valley shows LDX

IPTV for sports venues

rass Valley products and solutions making their EMEA debut at IBC include the LDX 86N native HD/3G/4K high-speed cameras, the direct IP solution for the LDX Series of cameras, the compact GV Korona K-Frame S-series Video Production Center switcher and iTX On-Demand Automated VOD Publishing. Visitors to the stand will also see

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updates to a range of products including GV Node Real Time IP Processing and Edge Routing Platform, GV Convergent Router Control and Conﬁguration System, EDIUS multiformat nonlinear editing software and more. A complete, end-to-end 4K workﬂow will be demonstrated at the show. Grass Valley will also be participating in the IBC Conference programme with Mark Hilton, Grass Valley VP of networking, appearing on two discussion panels. Stand 1.D11

itec is demonstrating the latest updates to its IPTV Sports Venue Solution, designed to allow users at stadiums or arenas to stream high-quality live, on-demand or recorded video over existing IP infrastructure. The company claims this potentially creates a sponsorship inventory by turning every display into a digital asset. Based on Vitec’s EZ TV platform, the IPTV Sports Venue system offers low latency across displays, synchronised playback, scalability, and web-based administrative capabilities.

EZ TV’s architecture provides customers with a system for managing live feeds, on-demand content, and an ‘unlimited’ number of digital signage layouts, claimed Vitec, as well as effectively distributing to thousands of IPTV and signage end-points, PC users, and mobile clients Stand 7.G16

September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

EVENT REVIEW SMPTE’s Richard Welsh hosted the retreat in anti-“Alliance” stormtrooper shirt

The Alliance in retreat In July, SMPTE UK hosted the first ever HPA Tech Retreat in Europe. TV Tech Europe editor Neal Romanek was there

he Hollywood Professional Association (renamed after years as the “Hollywood Post Alliance” – I personally still prefer “Alliance”) has been organising Tech Retreat events in Palm Springs, California since 2012, bringing together top technologists, engineers and craftspeople from the film and TV industry. The retreats, with their comfortable, collegial atmosphere, allow for a degree of frank industry analysis and networking that is lacking at most industry conferences – let alone at the mania and chaos of a big trade show. Spearheaded by SMPTE UK, Britain’s inaugural Tech Retreat was held in the Oxfordshire countryside at Heythrop Park Resort, an early 18th century country house accessible via narrow country lanes where you expect to see T.E. Lawrence’s crashed motorcycle around every turn. HPA Tech Retreat UK featured breakfast roundtable discussions, which allowed delegates heated debates over eggs and bagels on such topics as “The case for a proprietary codec”, “The roll of the colourist from onset to finishing”, “Measuring, monitoring and conversion of HDR, WCG and 4K material in a post environment” and “Now render is becoming a utility, what do you want on-demand next?”. The Tech Retreat also featured an “Innovation Zone” with vendors showing www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

off technologies and services. Among the exhibitors were Avid, Leader, Omnitek, Root 6, Snell Advanced Media, Sony and Sundog. Two and a half days of diverse panel sessions and presentations underlined the impulse for HPA’s name change. What was once considered “post” is now linked to every part of production. Workflows no longer look like a factory assembly line, they look like an orange grove, with multiple processes occurring simultaneously, all working toward a synchronised harvest – hopefully. PLAYING THE GAME The conference discussions were kicked off with a crowd-pleasing panel with the Game Of Thrones post production team. As a warm up, the panel opened with a 10 minute, shock & awe clip of Jon Snow and the Night’s Watch battling the armies of the undead, projected in HDR by a Sony SRX-R515DS phosphor laser projector with a 26 speaker Dolby Atmos sound system on a new RealD Ultimate Screen. The Dolby Atmos sound was deafeningly loud, and I – and people around me – had to put fingers to ears to avoid a nosebleed. When the same footage was screened again the following day, the sound seemed to have been lowered to bearable levels - but that could just have been the result of hearing loss. Other footage shown included an

enthralling concert clip of Imagine Dragons - which captured the chest-pounding expansiveness of an arena show - and 3D footage of Finding Dory and Disney’s Jungle Book reboot, which were jaw-dropping in their brightness, color range and clarity. Game of Thrones is the only TV series to be mixed in Dolby Atmos. The production of the show is as epic as the show itself. “It’s like making ten feature films every year,” said Erik Hansen of HBO’s technical manager, media & production operations West Coast. The post department is involved as soon as the image hits the sensor, with complete collaboration with the DITs on set.

“If you really want to understand what’s coming up next, go to developer conferences, not CES, NAB or IBC” Visual effects and animation workflows were particularly highlighted in the programme with MPC’s VFX supervisor Adam Valdez outlining the production of The Jungle Book, a “hybrid” production shot entirely on a soundstage, with the young Mowgli its only live action character. The London-based MPC team produced 54 animal species with 224 unique variations and 500 variations of plants and set dressing. Despite the near magical

September 2016 TVTechnology Europe

EVENT REVIEW versatility of visual effects technology and craft skill now available, Valdez noted that digital water and digital set building still haven’t been properly cracked. Valdez made it a priority to communicate and collaborate across the production, especially with the Disney production team in Los Angeles. “Weeklies” were sent back to LA from MPC from the start of the show to update the team on the visual effects progress. Pixar’s Cynthia Slavens gave an overview of the production of Finding Dory with insights into the workflows at that Rolls-Royce of animation studios. Slavens was well aware of the privileged atmosphere in which the Pixar team operates: “Hearing about the Game of Thrones schedule, I’m going back to work grateful for the luxurious timelines we have at Pixar.” TO 400 FPS AND BEYOND High frame rates were a big topic of discussion, with new technologies for optimising high frame rate image quality being shown by Real D. The company’s TrueImage processing collects huge amounts of date 150,000 data points per pixel - and reduceds noise and enhances detail in HFR footage. Surprisingly, Pixar has remained cool in adopting some of these new technologies. Slavens noted that Pixar’s animation software runs - and will continue to run - at 24 frames per second only. She added that they are still delivering 2K images to cinemas and have no plans to up the ante to 4K: “The content doesn’t seem to require it.” There were a number of figures thrown around for what will reproduce truly “life-like” motion in high frame rate. Some suggested 400fps would do it. The BBC’s Andy Quested said 700fps was necessary for an image completely free of blur or judder.

Tech companies showed off their wares in the Innovation Zone

L to r: Richard Welsh, Pixar’s Cynthia Slavens, BT’s Kate Wendleboe, BBC’s Andy Quested and HBO’s Steve Beres WHAT’S NEXT? The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has become a kind of benchmark of the progress for new technologies. In a session, “What does the CES show tell us about technology?” Mark Harrison analysed patterns in tech trends, based on CES show favourites. His projections into next year’s CES suggested that the smart car – rather than the overcomplicated “smart home” – may be a focus for the smart tech at the next CES and that the hot media technologies could be immersive audio and voice control. But Harrison warned that searching for ground-breaking technologies at the usual

trade shows may be wasted energy. His final analysis: “CES is a poor predictor of what technology is going to be successful. If you really want to understand what’s coming up next, go to developer conferences, not CES, NAB or IBC.” Many people put together HPA Retreat UK, but the central organising force was Richard Welsh (pictured at top in anti-“Alliance” stormtrooper shirt) CEO of Sundog Media Toolkit and former SMPTE governor for EMEA and Central/South America. If he plans on bringing the HPA Retreat to the UK on a regular basis, he has set a high standard for himself.

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