Quicklink, the leading global provider of hardware and software solutions for video and audio contributions, has announced the opening of their US office, following immense growth for the company in the region.

Dejero has been key to US Sports Network FOX Deportes’ ability to keep its station thriving during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the broadcaster to vacate its Los Angeles headquarters and quickly move to a ‘work-from-home’ workflow. In under a week, FOX Deportes was able to deploy a temporary production control room (PCR) in the garage of its director of operations. They also installed seven mobile broadcasting flypacks at the homes of key on-screen reporters, all centering around Dejero technology for the creation of top quality live video content.

Dejero and private wireless network specialist, Rajant, teamed up to provide a robust wireless network blended with cellular connectivity to support the coverage of the 2020 US presidential election for broadcasters in Washington, D.C. This combined connectivity solution eliminated potential signal drops and communication gaps, allowing news organizations to transmit live video of this momentous occasion without worrying about the possibility of cellular network congestion.

LiveU, a leader in live video streaming and remote production, has played a pivotal role in the live coverage of the US Presidential Election. With a mix of LiveU portable transmission solutions, including its flagship HEVC units, bonded LU-Smart app, and LiveU Matrix, the company’s IP contribution and distribution solution, around 700 broadcasters from around the world were able to provide comprehensive live news and updates of the highly publicized election worldwide.

Apantac, an internationally recognized manufacturer of multiviewers, video walls, extension and signal processing solutions has debuted its latest Universal Scaler for the openGear Platform; the OG-US-5000.

The OG-US-5000 is a UHD bi-directional Universal Scan Converter/Scaler that has a built-in loop-out of SDI or HDMI, with genlock. It supports both HDMI 2.0 and 12G SDI inputs and outputs.

Densitron, the global leader in innovative Human Machine Interaction (HMI) and display technology, has announced the immediate availability of its acclaimed Intelligent Display System (IDS) platform as a fully managed service. Intended to make the system more cost-efficient during a period when there is increased pressure on budgets, IDSaaS (IDS-as-a-Service) is based around the same solution and services, but at a fixed monthly cost.

Cinegy, the global leader for broadcast playout software in the cloud has announced a new partnership with New Hampshire-based US Broadcast, a broadcast distributor that uses its channel marketing and technical skill sets to tailor sales for the North American market.

US Broadcast CTO Eric Pratt said, "US Broadcast is currently busy aiding resellers and customers with the technical challenges of connecting video and audio workflows, using our expertise in IP video and remote production to solve their problems. Lately, we’ve had an increase in enquiries with customers looking for help bridging the distance between contributors and production and we’re finding Cinegy’s software-based solutions are particularly relevant at this time.”

disguise, the solution specialist for creative and technical professionals to imagine, create and deliver the world’s most spectacular live experiences— released r17.1, an update to its award-winning software, coinciding with the launch of a six-month free licence for its Designer software.

Built with disguise’s community of artists and technicians at its heart, r17.1 dramatically enhances the augmented reality (AR) workflow so that its community can produce incredible experiences with ease. With the release, disguise also hopes to help creative studios and production houses access the market opportunity presented by AR with the solution for delivering spectacular and immersive visuals.

The significant workflow improvements introduced in r17.1 enhance the ease of use for specialists delivering AR experiences with disguise, making it a more compelling option for use in projects for broadcast, esports and live contexts such as corporate, education, virtual environments and concert touring. As viewing figures surge, it becomes increasingly important to have the right tools available to create AR easily and efficiently and elevate ‘at-home’ viewing with thrilling visuals. 

The Future Group, provider of live photo-realistic virtual production system, Pixotope™, has revealed its key involvement in the stunning production and delivery of the NFL’s ground-breaking Super Bowl LIV, mixed reality pre-game presentation. The complex, seven-minute production combined live action from multiple moving cameras with augmented virtual stages and graphics. The 2020 Super Bowl was watched by an estimated domestic audience of 100 million people, plus international viewers.

The Future Group provided six installations of its virtual production platform, Pixotope, along with essential technical expertise to liaise with all other aspects of the multi-faceted production.

As an opener to the Super Bowl LIV, NFL planned to reveal its “100 All Time Team”. They approached fan experience company– coincidently named, The Famous Group – to design and choreograph the pre-show content. The brief was to celebrate the history of the sport and the contribution of those 100 players and 10 coaches, using graphics, historical film and live shots of attendees. The Famous Group looked to achieve this through extensive use of mixed reality virtual elements, and selected Pixotope, with expertise from The Future Group, as their technological solution.

The complexities of such a project cannot be overstated. Multiple virtual assets such as stages and screens needed to be designed to exactly match the stadium environment to which they would be augmented. Cameras needed to be tracked in real time and have their lenses aligned so that the virtual elements would be generated at precisely the right angle to accurately match real-world positions. Lighting needed to be measured so that it could be simulated in the virtual world to ensure correct shadows and highlights.

In-stadium screens, which would show the augmented content to the crowd, had to be accurately marked out in the virtual scene so that they could be blocked out to avoid visual “feedback”. All this had to take place under precise time control to synchronise with the voice-over and contributing performers in the stadium.

Pixotope product specialist, David Stroud, was part of a team of experienced mixed reality technicians, helping to specify and install the required technology, and bring together all the constituent departments. The Future Group team were involved from the outset, initially collaborating using a shared virtual project to provide technical assistance for The Famous Group creatives. Then later, the team positioned themselves at the Hard Rock Stadium, Miami FL, where the main event would take place 11 days later.

David Stroud recalled, “Although the virtual scene had been set up “offline” from scans and measurements from the stadium, there are inevitably adjustments that can only be done on site. We used our Pixotope virtual production platform to receive images and tracking data from each of the cameras, one of which was a Skycam “wire-camera”, and augment onto those the virtual elements designed by The Famous Group. This allowed everyone to see the results in real time, making adjustments and improvements as we rehearsed the show in the days leading up to the Super Bowl.”

Stroud continued, “We helped the camera operators visualise how the preshow would come together, as understandably, they were more used to following the unscripted action of a football game than reacting to very specific time cues. Pixotope has the capability to continuously output the final result, even while editing the graphics – a great tool for directors following rapid changes and updates because it’s always live.

“We also worked closely with camera tracking specialists SMT, and in fact, we were able to improve our data exchanges to further perfect the virtual camera motion. And we worked with both the broadcaster (Fox) and the companies providing in-stadium displays to ensure the very highest visual quality possible.”

Andrew Isaacson, Executive VP Business Development for creative agency The Famous Group affirms, “Needless to say, the best creative ideas rely on solid technological platforms and expertise to deliver them. This could not be truer for a live event on the scale of The Super Bowl. We needed to know, without any shadow of a doubt, that what we planned would be delivered faultlessly, accurately and to the highest quality. This is why we chose Pixotope as our platform for delivering cutting edge mixed reality for the Super Bowl.

“Having used Pixotope on previous productions, we know that the system, and expertise from The Future Group, allow our creative ideas to be unleashed to the great benefit of our clients like the NFL. We look forward to working on many more productions with Pixotope.”

All hardware was provided by Quince Imaging and camera tracking was completed by SMT. The final mixed reality sequence can be viewed online, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqXBKweKQ9U

Following the announcement that Chase Jarvis will headline the 2020 event, The Photography Show and The Video Show has revealed five more inspiring speakers who will take to the Super Stage when it returns to Birmingham’s NEC from 14-17 March. Once again commanding some of the industry’s most influential photographers and filmmakers, the UK’s largest photography and moving image co-located event is also set to welcome Susan Meiselas, Gavin Free, Ross Halfin, Juno Calypso and Brooke Shaden.

Following Chase’s talk on Saturday 14 March is renowned documentary photographer, Susan Meiselas. As a member of the prestigious Magnum Photos since 1976, Susan is best known for her coverage of the insurrection in Nicaragua and her documentation of human rights issues in Latin America. Looking back over four decades as an award-winning documentary photographer, she will share fascinating insights into her most recent projects, her approach and life through photography.

On Sunday 15 March, award-winning cinematographer and the co-creator of The Slow Mo Guys, Gavin Free, will present two sessions at the Super Stage. The popular duo have amassed over 13 million subscribers on YouTube, achieving fame with everything from viral videos of bursting balloons to in-depth explanations of how a high-end slow-motion camera works. In a rare European appearance, Gavin Free will let visitors into his life as an incredibly successful YouTuber, the career steps that he took to get there, and his passion for his subject matter. He will discuss what goes into making and distributing this kind of content, the tech involved, how he keeps the ideas coming, and what it's like to have online video as your career.