Venice live productions tools go to the consumer

Tim Felstead

Author: Tim Felstead

Published 1st March 2015

by Tim Felstead Issue 98 - February 2015

The objective of most studio production is to cost effectively create live or as live television to which audiences will be drawn. During the process of creation, recording into media servers can either be a separate process used only for immediate replay, or can be part of a media workflow serving multiple target audiences in parallel. Rohde and Schwarz have invested heavily in its Venice Media Production Hub to ensure it is able to fulfil the requirements for the latter. A media production hub is a central component of media workflows, managing movements and transformations from one media type to another.
Venice is a multiple SDI input recording channel, multiple file format and video standard media server enabling workflows into post production environments, news systems and delivery systems in both linear and non-linear domains. By allowing inputs from 4K, HD and SD SDI sources to be encoded into formats such as DNxHD, Apple ProRes and AVC Ultra, to name only a few, Venice is compatible with many platforms from other vendors. Digital Production Partnership (DPP) file compatibility is already assured and other variants will be adopted quickly as new standards are created. By implementing a Linux based open architecture Venice easily adapts to the demands of IT based infrastructure. Ingesting from media formats such as Panasonics P2 and Sony\'s XDcam allows immediate check in to Avid ISIS and Interplay in addition to those that are recorded from linear input channels.
Recording of live signals in studio environments therefore is part of a much larger ecosystem supported by Venice based infrastructure. The Venice Play application is targeted at this environment and allows simplified and immediate play or edit while record, typical of live fast action environments such as sports or game shows with live audiences. By adding additional ingest chassis to a central storage system this multiple workflow environment can be scaled up. DVS San architectures support many 10s of channels for live SDI inputs, all of which can be immediately available for other departments in collaborative workflows. Management and workflow process control can be overseen and controlled by third party software layers because Venice and its related systems are built from the ground up as open interoperable solutions. Systems such as Strawberrytm from FlavourSys has integrated with Rohde and Schwarz systems to allow project level collaboration between audio teams, FX teams and editing teams within reliable redundant shared storage environments.
Software codecs and the ability of Venice to handle these back to back on playout timelines also offers considerable transcoding capabilities. In file ingest environments often catch servers are un-governed environments where compatibility with house formats are definitely not guaranteed. Venice offers customers solutions to this complexity by being able to transcode, transwrap and transrate a wide variety of different formats. In an environment where all these processes are occurring in parallel, using a finite resource such as media infrastructure for multiple purposes offers additional return on investment that other systems simply do not offer. Creating outputs for Over the Top (OTT) delivery, allowing forward provision to adaptive bit rate encoders and Content Delivery Networks (CDN) is an essential part of production environments; Venice is already enabled for such integration via its flexible software based FIMS architecture.
Venice fits within a mixed file and baseband environment and offers customers flexible open solution infrastructure that will fit live production and its associated processes both linear and non-linear. As the broadcast and media industry moves towards higher frame rates, newer resolutions like UHDTV and higher dynamic range, Rohde and Schwarz products offer an evolutionary path for customers looking to invest for the future.
You can discover more about these products on www.rohde-schwarz.co.uk

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