AVIWEST, a leading provider of video contribution systems, announced today that the Vattenfall Solar Team recently equipped its solar car convoy with AVIWEST's AIR Series ultra-compact HEVC bonded-cellular transmitter and QUAD CellLink four-modem antenna during the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Thanks to AVIWEST's equipment, fans could follow the largest solar race in the world in real time. The race was held in October 2019, starting in Darwin, Australia, with the finish line in Adelaide. Amber Technology, AVIWEST's partner and Australian distributor, helped to ensure a smooth deployment and Dutch media company Stream My Event was in charge of the live video production feed that was streamed to the Vattenfall Solar Team's YouTube and Facebook channels.

The Bridgestone World Solar Challenge is a 3,000-plus km solar car race across Australia's deserts, involving teams comprised of tertiary and secondary students from over 30 countries.

Blackmagic Design today announced that LA based event production company No Static AV (NSAV) used an Ultra HD live production workflow featuring URSA Broadcast cameras and ATEM switchers to deliver in house AV and IMAG for the annual Baby2Baby fundraising gala, which raises millions of dollars for the nonprofit and the children living in poverty that it serves.

Held at the 3Labs event space in Culver City, CA, the Baby2Baby gala brings together celebrities, entrepreneurs and philanthropists, and the evening hosts the top chefs in Los Angeles, an exclusive auction and inspiring program, all while honoring this year’s Giving Tree Award winner, Chrissy Teigen. Past honorees include Amy Adams, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Garner, Kerry Washington, Kate Hudson, Drew Barrymore and Jessica Alba.

With no shortage of AV deliverables, NSAV used its mobile production unit featuring a custom made flypack designed specifically with the Baby2Baby gala in mind. The unit relied on several Blackmagic Design products, including four URSA Broadcasts complete with URSA Studio Viewfinders, four Camera Fiber Converters and four Studio Fiber Converters for fiber connectivity between the cameras and switcher, an ATEM 1 M/E Production Studio 4K and ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel for live switching, and a Smart Videohub 20x20 router to distribute content throughout the venue. NSAV also used an ATEM Camera Control Panel for remote camera control and Teranex AV standards converter for on the fly conversions.

NSAV praised the image quality from the URSA Broadcasts and the ease of use of the live production gear. The URSA Broadcasts were used for IMAG and the content was also recorded in camera in 4K and in 1080 at the mobile production unit. Camera Fiber Converters and Studio Fiber Converters were necessary for fiber communication between the cameras and the switcher, giving the team real time control of all camera aspects, and the ATEM Camera Control Panel allowed NSAV to properly adjust color correction, shading and shutter speed during rehearsals and the live show.

Magewell has announced a versatile new conversion product that seamlessly brings together the worlds of IP-based streaming and baseband AV presentation equipment. The new Pro Convert H.26x to HDMI multi-protocol, SRT-compatible streaming media decoder will make its first public appearance in stand 8-G475 at the ISE 2020 exhibition in Amsterdam.

While earlier Pro Convert models transform professional AV signals to and from NewTek’s NDI® AV-over-IP technology, the new Pro Convert H.26x to HDMI decodes a standard H.264 (AVC) or H.265 (HEVC) compressed video stream into a high-quality HDMI output for connection to baseband monitors, projectors and switchers. Supporting a wide range of streaming protocols for maximum source compatibility, the low-latency decoder is ideal for applications including multi-site video distribution between corporate, educational and church campuses; remote production; surveillance monitoring; digital signage and more.

The Pro Convert H.26x to HDMI is Magewell’s first product to support the SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) open source protocol. Enabling secure, resilient, low-latency video delivery over unpredictable networks, SRT ensures high-quality streaming experiences even over the public internet. Magewell is a proud member of the SRT Alliance. Other supported protocols include RTSP, RTMP, UDP, RTP and HTTP streaming.

Following the appointment of Matthieu Straub as the company’s technical and operational consultant to France and the Benelux countries in the summer of 2019, FilmLight is delighted to announce that it has now established a permanent presence in Paris. By sharing premises with ARRI France, FilmLight is developing a strong hub for creative and technical knowledge and events.

The hub will host the first of FilmLight’s Colour Day workshops in 2020, on 28 January. One of the advantages of sharing the centre with ARRI is that it underlines the seamless workflows from camera to finish, using the BLG format for render-free viewing and creativity. The BLG grading metadata is stored in the ARRIRAW and QuickTime headers, ensuring the content and its look are permanently linked.

The Paris Colour Day on 28 January, aimed at creatives and technicians in production and post production, will see FilmLight’s workflow specialists, Straub and Thomas Eberschveiler unveil new FilmLight tools. Attendees will also hear from guest colourist Stéphane Azouze about his collaboration with directors Anastasia Mikova and Yann Arthus-Bertrand on the recent award-winning documentary ‘Woman’. Finally, colour scientist Florine Bel will share her image expertise and discuss her work developing film aesthetics, colour spaces and conversions.

The shared space has already hosted successful events, including a workshop day for DITs. Led by Straub, with guest speakers from Netflix and from post house Mikros, the group discussed the latest developments in colour space management and workflows. ARRI’s presence allowed the discussion to include ARRI Looks and how they can be incorporated into FilmLight BLG post production. In the demonstration area, they featured an ARRI ALEXA camera feeding Prelight and Daylight software, allowing the delegates to experiment with look development and make comparisons between standard and high dynamic range colour spaces.

Explaining the importance of bringing together creative artists and technicians, FilmLight’s Matthieu Straub said “My background is as a digital image technician, and I know how directors and cinematographers are increasingly relying on DITs to find technical solutions to their demanding creative requirements. “Our intention is to use our demonstration and meeting space here on the Rue René Boulanger to be a place where we can encourage the sharing of knowledge and experiences, to help the French cinema industry achieve ever greater things.”

CVP, one of the UK’s leading production solutions providers, will be providing hands-on experience with some of the latest kit to reach the UK market at this year’s BSC Expo 2020 (Friday 31st January to Saturday 1st February, Battersea Evolution, London).

Featuring a set inspired as a homage to the BSC’s 70th anniversary, the showcase at BSC Expo will allow customers to compare like-for-like options and to get hands-on with the equipment they are interested in — along with all the necessary accessories — to find out how their creative desires can be best fulfilled.

No working day is ever the same for Freelance Technical Director Lutz Conneus. In any given week, the Hamburg, Germany-based professional can be found developing a live stream workflow for a local public broadcaster, live streaming an indie band’s concert to YouTube, or supporting AV for a corporate launch event. A live production chameleon, he’s able meet a range of live streaming and AV needs using a small arsenal of AJA gear, including the HELO H.264 streamer/recorder, the Io 4K audio and video I/O device, and the Ki Pro Ultra Plus digital recorder, among other tools. 

The final ISE exhibition in Amsterdam before the show’s move to Barcelona is shaping up to be a big one for video capture, conversion and streaming innovator Magewell. Exhibiting in stand 8-G475 from February 11 to 14, the company will feature the global debuts of new products alongside the first ISE showings of several recently unveiled solutions.

Making its world premiere at ISE 2020, the ultra-compact, power-efficient Eco Capture SDI 4K Plus M.2 card captures 4K video at 60 frames per second over a single-link, 12G-SDI interface for use with popular AV software applications. Four additional models in the Eco Capture family will also be shown, as well as the company’s popular Pro Capture series of PCIe cards and USB Capture line of external capture devices.

Magewell will also showcase the industry’s broadest range of low-latency NDI® hardware converters to help simplify the transition to AV over IP for both integrators and end users. The Pro Convert family now offers six NDI encoder models and two decoders, including the recently-released Pro Convert for NDI to HDMI decoder for transforming NDI streams into high-quality HDMI baseband outputs.

Broadcasting cardiology procedures has the potential to save a life by educating medical professionals and students on the latest new technologies and advancements in the field. To broadcast surgeries to cardiologists around the world, the Taiwan Society of Cardiology (TSOC) relies upon video production services delivered by King Communication, a Taipei City-based specialist in broadcasting and livestreaming content for medical facilities, sporting events, concerts and conferences. Since 1986, King Communication has delivered live video production services for clients across Taiwan, including Da Vinci Robotic 3D medical recording, Taiwan SBL sports broadcasting, the Taiwan Society of Cardiovascular Interventions and the PGA of Taiwan. To streamline broadcast and livestreaming workflows, King Communication depends upon the power and reliability of a range of AJA gear used throughout production chains.

To assist in the TSOC’s mission to promote patient care, research and education in cardiology, King Communication provides full live production services including filming, recording and broadcasting HD content for medical professionals, interns and students across Taiwan and internationally. Live TSOC cardiology procedures are filmed and broadcast to demonstrate surgeries that require new technologies and the latest cutting-edge medical equipment. Throughout production workflows, a range of AJA Ki Pro devices are tapped for recording and backup recording; KUMO 1616 and KUMO CP are used for routing; FS1-X manages frame synchronization; and FiDO-2R and U-TAP SDI are leveraged to transfer video signals from medical devices, pending the specific project requirements.

Magewell will launch a powerful new model in its Eco Capture family of ultra-compact, power-efficient, M.2 video capture cards at the upcoming ISE 2020 exhibition in Amsterdam. The high-performance Eco Capture SDI 4K Plus M.2 captures one channel of 4K video up to 4096x2160 at full 60 frames per second over a single-link, 12G-SDI interface. The new card will make its global debut in stand 8-G475 at the event, taking place February 11-14, 2020.

Ideal for use in small and embedded systems where full-sized PCIe slots are not available, the cost-effective Eco Capture family offers systems integrators and OEM developers a robust capture solution with low power consumption for space-constrained applications. The low-latency Eco Capture devices feature a high-speed PCIe 2.0 bus interface with an M.2 connector and measure just 22x80mm (0.87x3.15in), matching the M.2 2280 size specification.

The new 4K 12G-SDI model joins four existing Eco Capture M.2 configurations: a single-channel model that captures 4K video at 30fps via an HDMI interface; dual-channel models that capture HD and 2K video over HDMI or SDI; and a quad-channel HD/2K model with SDI inputs. All five Eco Capture products also support up to eight channels of embedded audio per input.

Sony Imaging Products & Solutions Inc., Sony Mobile Communications Inc. and Verizon joined forces with NBC Sports to test how 5G can change the way live sports broadcasts are captured and produced. During the Houston Texans vs New England Patriots football game at NRG Stadium on December 1st, 2019, a camera person from NBC Sports captured video of the game on the field using Sony’s PXW-Z450 shoulder camcorder. The video was streamed through Sony’s prototype transmitter box and Xperia 5G mmWave device, via Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network to a production room in the stadium.

The test proved that 5G-connected cameras can be a reliable and beneficial option for future live sports broadcasts. Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband’s low latency and high bandwidth combined with Sony’s mobile device, video, and encoding expertise enabled low-latency high-quality video to be transmitted in near real time to producers. The test showed the potential for remote production teams to be located anywhere, regardless of where the game’s taking place. Furthermore, 5G’s essentially instant wireless connectivity means that cameras can be untethered, allowing for more creative camera positions and angles throughout the game and reducing set-up time and costs required for camera system integration.