Due to the pandemic, we are seeing that many professionals who do not work in video need to produce quality content remotely.
Ralph Messana*
Due to the pandemic, the way we produce TV, movies, commercials, sports and live events has changed dramatically. Many of these changes will become permanent once producers realize the cost-saving aspects of the changes.
In film, television, and commercial production, the need for remote collaboration has skyrocketed, and production companies need to send content to the cloud to distribute to directors, agencies, and clients to work remotely. It is now possible to distribute 4K HDR content with very low latency to staff located anywhere with a tablet, PC or phone connected.
In live production, remote productions using IP and the cloud are becoming more important every day, as the ability to produce streaming-quality events or television with as few people on-site as possible has become critical.
Robotic cameras are reducing the requirement for camera and graphics operators, CG, and replays are prepared and managed remotely, even the technical director can be at a distance, watching the transmissions and making creative change decisions.
Broadcast Pix has been developing remote production solutions for many years based on our abstract architecture, where all key components exist in an IP network, which can be remote, cloud or local.
Sources such as IP cameras or other networked sources, the switch core, control surfaces (whether physical panels or software displays) and output can be connected to a standard IP network and be in different locations around the world. Physical video inputs or outputs can be connected to the server running the Switcher software or converted to IP at your location.
Our Remote Commander interface is a fully customizable Multiviewer and Control Surface software that can run in any browser on any suitable PC, tablet or phone. Along with our physical Control Panels that are also connected to IP, we can now have a director in Bogotá watching a Multiviewer, a technical director in Medellín with a physical Control Panel, a type of graphics with a custom Software Panel in Buenos Aires and a DDR operator in Miami controlling a single switching engine, producing an event in Mexico City (assuming, of course, that everyone has a reasonable national internet connection in the region of 25 MB/s).
Due to the pandemic, we're also seeing that many professionals who don't work in video need to produce quality content remotely, from aquariums to zoos and everything else, such as government agencies, universities, educators, churches, and corporations.
Many of these users don't have transmission operational training, so a normal M/E type control panel is confusing. This is where our Remote Commander interface comes into play. Along with our media macros, together they can be configured to provide simple interfaces that allow users to produce complete programs at the push of a button. Now we even have a MIDI interface, so a MIDI controller can trigger those macros.
This type of setup can be easily achieved by working with us directly, your reseller or integrator, or many of our products ship with simple templates that can be tailored to the type of content you're producing.
From full-blown traditional TV workflows, to simplified user interfaces designed for specific programs, all based on our abstract network architecture, compelling remote event productions are easy with Broadcast Pix and Remote Commander.
Once users see the quality that can be achieved at an affordable price and with huge savings in travel costs, these changes in workflow will be permanent for many.
Ralph Messana is Sales Manager, Latin America, Broadcast Pix
