Newsletter from 12/05/2020
Live Sports in the Times of Corona - First Live Sport Events Confirmed
A) German pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland has announced that it will make its ‘Konferenz’ coverage of Bundesliga and second-tier 2. Bundesliga matches available on a free-to-air basis for the next two match-weeks. The decision comes after the announcement that all upcoming Bundesliga matches will be taking place without spectators due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
B) The players and members of training staffs reported by the PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa football clubs have successfully passed the COV-19 virus tests. All the clubs have also got consent for resumption of team trainings and went back to playing.
- We already have the results of all the tests. They are very optimistic. In 800 of those tested, only one test result indicated tentatively an active COVID-19 infection, affirmed in two subsequent tests. However, it had no bearings on the club, because the person was neither a player nor a member of the training staff – said Professor Krzysztof Pawlaczyk, member of the Medical Commission of the Polish Football Association and medical expert of the Ekstraklasa. – We succeeded in early tracking that case thanks to ongoing analysis of our medical surveys. The person has not had any contacts with the players. It only shows that our introduction of sports isolation and daily medical questionnaires makes a good sense. The clubs have to strictly adhere to the procedure until the last games of the season - added he.
C) Two weeks ago it was planned to run the first Dutch Grand Prix for 35 years, and Max Verstappen’s first home Grand Prix in the Netherlands
But with the race was postponed because of the current health circumstances, instead Verstappen and his teammate Alex Albon went on a special road trip to Circuit Zandvoort in two Red Bull Racing RB7s and RB8s. Here is all you need to know: This eye-catching road trip starts by driving out of shipping containers at Rotterdam docks.
https://www.live-production.tv/news/sports/aston-martin-red-bull-racing-go-dutch-road-trip.html
D) Formula 1 myWorld Grosser Preis von Österreich 2020 - 03. - 05. July 2020
Whether and how the "Formula 1 myWorld Grand Prix of Austria 2020" can be held on the planned date depends on further developments and the decisions of the federal government.
https://www.projekt-spielberg.com/en/ticket-station
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MOBILE PRODUCTION
RTBF 100G Network OBVan
According to Olivier Malevez, Project Manager New IP Outside Broadcast at RTBF, the decision to order two identical OB trucks was partially based on the expected possibility to use them as one giant system for major events when necessary. Used as stand-alone trucks, they cover all applications ranging from compact six-camera assignments to big live concerts and sporting events. Both OB trucks can be docked to RTBF’s broadcast building via SDI or IP: “We also wanted the option of using the two OB trucks as additional control rooms on our premises in peak situations,” explains Jean Vanbraekel, RTBF’s Head of Technology Operations and Distribution.
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Full-IP OB Twins Usher in a New Era for Belgium’s RTBF
Masterminded by Geert Thoelen of NEP Belgium and Dirk Sykora of Lawo, the vehicles built by Broadcast Solutions in Germany will be leased to RTBF for eight years. The twins come equipped with a 100Gbps Arista-powered network core (audio, video and matrix) that revolves around Lawo’s V__matrix C100 platform for SDI- and IP-based video and audio input/output as well as processing. A Sony XVS-8000 IP vision mixer provides powerful video control for the 16 Sony cameras. The Sony Live System Manager provides the control interface to Lawo's VSM and NMOS-IS04/05 protocols as required. The LSM allowed Sony to remotely access the Switcher network to configure the IP routing and XVS setups from its engineer's home during the unfortunate events of covid-19 and pan European lockdowns.
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Technological innovation accelerates the "May 5th Shopping Festival"
The “May 5th Shopping Festival” is a brand-new large-scale consumption festival initiated in Shanghai. This live broadcast is the first large-scale event that held jointly by radio and television since the outbreak of Covid-19, its high-level specification, wide coverage, rich broadcast form, and complex system configuration could be defined as an all-round, full-process and full-link technical guarantee. In order to successfully complete broadcast work, and consider the related issues such as epidemic prevention and security. SMT deployed in advance and carefully planned. More than 200 crews worked together to create "Shanghai Shopping" brand. At 19:30 on May 4, the opening ceremony of the "Shanghai International Consumer City Global Promotion Conference" also known as "May 5th Shopping Festival" was launched at the Shanghai International Convention Center. The SMT cloud production system, 8 cameras, and dual audio production system processed the main and standby road feeds with rich pictures and realistic sounds at the ceremony through OB Van, and then transmitted back to the TV directing safely via optical fiber and satellite.
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STUDIO / REMOTE PRODUCTION
Texas A&M Goes IP with Imagine Communications for Integrated Sports Production
The new installation provides for seamless IP connectivity between every field, the studios, the central technical facilities and the control rooms. Central to its success is Imagine Communications’ SNP, widely recognized as the most flexible and efficient standards-based IP media processing platform. SNP enables companies like 12th Man Productions to simplify operations and reduce costs by supporting both SDI and IP networks. A single SNP can support up to eight channels of Ultra HD, 32 channels of HD, or a combination of the two, configured as SDI to IP, IP to SDI or IP to IP. Each FPGA-based SNP has four independent processing paths in a single compact 1RU frame, which can be reprogrammed for different functionality at the click of a mouse. The result is a very dense, extremely flexible broadcast installation that is IP native and sits transparently on the network. “What this project has done is to network every device at every location,” Bacon said. “It means that instead of a fiber carrying just a single SDI feed, it carries multiple bidirectional signals – as many as 32 uncompressed HD feeds. Capacity between venues is no longer an issue, giving us much better utilization of the fiber capacity and allowing us to do much, much more. And because it is IP, should there be an equipment failure, then the network will simply work around it.”
Cultivation in the epidemic | 5G+4K remote production
In this special time, SMT relies on the technical advantages of original large-scale long-distance remote production, based on the larger bandwidth and lower latency of 5G network, which opened up the 4K remote production linkage on the public network and realized an "anytime, anywhere" method of remote production. In 2018, SMT has already made some achievements in the field of remote production including the completion of remote production test for Chinese Football Association Super League, the LPL 8th anniversary (45 km) urban transmission, and the 25-site plus 6-day full-range remote production of Wuhan Military Games. To produce remote production on the public network environment can greatly reduce the threshold conditions for remote production, and effectively saved the energy consumption in the coordination and construction of dedicated lines.
NC State University Revolutionizes Production Facilities with IP Connectivity
North Carolina (NC) State University has transformed its live course production capabilities with a networked video infrastructure, based on the SMPTE ST 2110 standard for connectivity, around its campuses in Raleigh, N.C. Technology from Imagine Communications is at the heart of NC State DELTA (Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications) ― providing a quantum leap in capacity and operational efficiency. The new system uses just 16 fibers to provide extensive networked capability, leaving 20 strands from the original installation free for future expansion. By taking a networked IP approach, the new system gave the DELTA team the capability of 32 x 32 HD signals from each remote building. This is achieved thanks to bidirectional 100 gigabit ethernet capacity across the fiber network.
SPORT EVENTS
TCU’s Horned Frogs Take a Major Leap in Sound with L-Acoustics
or fans of Texas Christian University’s (TCU) Horned Frogs football team, this school year’s Big 12 conference football season was bigger and bolder than ever thanks to the kickoff of a $118M expansion of the Fort Worth campus’ Amon G. Carter Stadium. Among its many improvements, the first phase of this multi-year initiative notably involved a significant upgrade of the nearly 50,000-capacity stadium’s video and audio facilities, including a new L-Acoustics K1/Kara loudspeaker system designed and installed by local integrator Electro Acoustics (EA). According to EA Account Manager Ryan Walker, who has been with the firm for 20 years, the project actually marked the second L-Acoustics system to be installed on TCU’s campus. In 2015, the company installed a highly effective Kara loudspeaker system paired with SB18i subs at the school’s Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium, home to the popular Lady Frogs women’s soccer team.
The Tennis Channel's Live Content Bounces Back with Ross Mobile Productions
The network is partnering with Ross Mobile Productions (RMP), Ross Video’s mobile productions division that offers full-service production packages and rental services. This weekend’s event will see RMP deploying a range of Ross solutions at the venue, including two Cambot robotic pedestals, although it is important to note that both competitions are following stringent safety precautions. They are being held at a private court without spectators or public access, and contain singles matches only. Players will provide their own drinks and towels, and each will be given his or her own set of marked balls for use during the match. Commenting on the event, RMP’s General Manager Stephen Repass is pleased to see some green shoots of recovery, however modest. “It’s been a tough couple of months for sports fans everywhere. We have all missed the entertainment, excitement, and camaraderie of live sports, so I’m pleased we’re in a position to help kickstart the recovery and bring some live action to tennis fans around the world. I suspect it’s going to be a long time before we’re back to anything resembling ‘normal’, and we’re taking every possible precaution, but every event like this must be a cause for celebration and optimism.”
We look back at some of the highlights from the 2020 charity run.
Outrunning a zebra in Tanzania. The Wings for Life World Run is no stranger to providing stunning backdrops, more typically with its Flagship Runs around the globe. But with those cancelled this year due to the latest health situation, all individual runners were left to choose their own path. And few were more striking than that of Baraka Laizer, of the Maasai tribe. Running near Mount Kilimanjaro, he found he had a zebra in his backdrop for company.
SHOW EVENTS
Allman Brothers Band Celebrates 50 with Robe
Lighting designer Chris Ragan utilized over 100 Robe fixtures in his dynamic design for the epic four-hour performance which delighted Allman Brothers and Allman Brothers Band (ABB) fans from several generations and all walks of life. The Brothers’ cult status and their dynamic fusion of blues, jazz and country with their own distinctive rock sound have resulted in their music and influence being relevant long after their first period of ‘glory days’ in the 1970s. Chris has many connections and crossovers with several current members of the ABB, which has been a client for lighting rental vendor BML-Blackbird for 30 years – showing some impressive client loyalty
Want a taste of the future? - Here comes Ars Electronica Home Delivery!
Anyone looking for a taste of the future and who’d like to visit the Ars Electronica Center today rather than tomorrow can breathe a sigh of relief. From now on, Ars Electronica is offering a delivery service! “Ars Electronica Home Delivery” will be sending a range of elaborately composed future visions directly to your living room, kitchen, kids’ room, balcony, or terrace. We’re offering a weekly program that includes guided tours of Ars Electronica exhibitions, excursions to the Ars Electronica Labs, visits to the Machine Learning Studio, concerts with real-time visualizations, Deep Space LIVE sessions, workshops with engineers, and talks with artists and scientists from all over the world. None of this will be pre-recorded, most of it will be interactive, and all of it will be LIVE. An initial two-week test phase is starting on Friday, May 1, 2020, with a concert from the Ars Electronica Center’s “Piano Room”: Maki Namekawa and Dennis Russell Davies will play Ma Mère L’Oye for piano four hands by Maurice Ravel, with Cori O’Lan contributing real-time visualizations. You can experience this and all the other Ars Electronica Home Delivery events live at ars.electronica.art/homedelivery and also watch them again afterwards here.
Hippotizer powers visuals for Cyber-Gen ShockWave Tour
Lighting designer Otto Schildknecht asked Emanuel Jörgner to programme and operate the show’s video and lighting elements. “Because we needed a high performance server, which would ensure all the live notch FX ran smoothly, we chose the Boreal+,” says Jörgner. “The other good reason for choosing the Boreal+ was the fact that we could deform the content with the FX library.” The display setup consisted of a 8m x 2.3m, 16mm pixel pitch LED wall positioned upstage, with alternative configurations for shows in the smaller venues on the tour. “Besides the LED wall, we integrated eight Astera AX-1 PixelTubes on each side of the screen,” explains Jörgner. “In special parts of the show we used the Hippotizer’s PixelMapper to map the video content to the PixelTubes.”
PRODUCTS
EVS acquires Axon
EVS COMPLEMENTS ITS LIVE PRODUCTION SOLUTION PORTFOLIO BY ACQUIRING BROADCAST NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE SPECIALIST AXON EVS strategically expands its global footprint, enabling customers to benefit from the most comprehensive and integrated range of media infrastructure solutions for live productions. EVS, a leading provider of live video technology for broadcast and new media productions, today announces the acquisition of leading broadcast and media network infrastructure specialist Axon.
Riedel Broadens Video Solutions Portfolio With Range of New MediorNet Hardware and Software Devices
The first new hardware innovation unveiled by Riedel is MediorNet MicroN UHD, big brother to the award-winning MicroN media distribution and processing device. Building on Riedel’s distributed and software-defined concept, this new node adds more bandwidth, more I/O, higher resolutions, and more processing power to the MediorNet platform. Close collaboration between product management and engineering teams from Riedel headquarters and Riedel Montreal, formerly known as Embrionix, also brought forth the MediorNet MuoN, VirtU, and FusioN product series. Based on innovative, ultra-dense SFP technologies, these new processing modules and processing hubs complement the intelligent MediorNet signal interfaces and core switches and round out the Riedel video portfolio with full-IP solutions.
Panasonic withdraws from participation at IBC 2020
Panasonic has withdrawn from IBC 2020 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in September later this year. Instead, the organisation is focusing on supporting its partners and customers through its online initiatives, with the launch of its own Technology Experience Zone to help share expertise and information for the industry. “It has been a very difficult decision. As much as we look forward each year to welcoming visitors at this important industry event, we must prioritise the well-being of our staff, partners and attendees. In the meantime, we will focus on creating additional activities and work with partners and industry leaders to continuously develop new content for our Technology Experience Zone, including live streaming, webinars, video podcasts and training. We will further expand our offering and aim to provide online virtual experiences to ensure our customers can stay in touch with the latest news from Panasonic Broadcast & ProAV,” said André Meterian, Director of the Professional Video Systems Business Unit for EMEA.
4K / 8K ARISING
One-year postponement for Expo 2020
His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Airports, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman and CEO of Emirates Group, and Chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee, said: “We welcome the decision of BIE Member States to support the delay Expo 2020 Dubai by one year. We are thankful to Member States for their continued commitment to contributing to a World Expo in Dubai that will play a pivotal role in shaping our post-pandemic world at a time when it will be most needed. “Over the last 50 years, we have sought to build bridges, connections, and partnerships around the world because we believe in genuine collaboration to safeguard the future of all. This swift and overwhelming vote reflects the strength of our international partnerships and truly reflects the positive role the UAE and Dubai play with all countries around the world.