Switchers, Replay and Graphics are always at the heart of the Production Control Room in the heat of the action. If this is where you thrive then IBC will not disappoint with new tools to explore.

Live production systems sit at the intersection of human skill and technological innovation. The muscle memory, skill and experience required to manipulate hardware and software control interfaces with the speed and creative intelligence required to keep pace, without any room for error, should never be underestimated. Live production is a high pressure and potentially high stress discipline. Unsurprisingly then, this is one of the areas where new innovations in software-based systems to help automate processes, particularly with AI, have some of the greatest potential. We don’t believe that AI is going to remove the need for highly skilled human operators any time soon – but it might just give them some new tools to make life easier or to achieve new things that were previously impossible. Time will tell and maybe we will see some of it at IBC.

Vendor Focus

Here are some highlights from vendors that we will be visiting at the show.

Blackmagic Design (Stand 7.C49) have a long tradition of keeping their new announcements to themselves until the show arrives so time will tell whether they reveal any new product announcements in this area at the show. You can however be sure that you will be able to get your hands on their ATEM Television Studio HD8, series of integrated live production switchers that combine broadcast features with portability. These switchers feature broadcast grade control panels with features to support streaming and recording. There is an ISO model that can record all video inputs and can connect to up to 8 remote cameras. These switchers also support live streaming, talkback and optional internal storage. The ATEM Television Studio HD is a live production switcher built into a compact broadcast control panel so it can be used for high-end work while being extremely portable. This means customers can use it in small venues that don’t have the access for equipment racks or broadcast vans.

The Studio HD8 features 8 standards-converted SDI inputs, 2 aux outputs, 4 chroma keyers, 2 downstream keyers, 2 media players and lots of transition effects. Plus it includes hardware streaming, recording, audio mixer, talkback, multiviewer and optional internal cloud storage. There’s even an ISO model that records all 8 inputs for editing work. 

Riedel Communications (Stand 10.A31) are another company that is very fond of on the day announcements but it has already been a busy year, so IBC will be your chance to check out the company’s expanding range of live video production solutions including the recently released RiMotion R10. The RiMotion replay series is part of Riedel’s family of software-based products for multicamera production.

The R10 joins the existing R6, R8, and R12 bundles providing six to 12 HD channels, and the R84 with up to four UHD and eight HD 10-bit HDR channels. RiMotion R10 supports 10 video channels, offering up to eight multi-format camera inputs — including SDI, SRT, and NDI — plus two outputs in a compact 1RU server. As with all RiMotion systems, the server can be combined with mini-PCs to create a simple solution for remote productions — allowing operators to be anywhere.

The Simplylive Production Suite, is a software-driven live production platform running on COTS hardware. It is a modular software solution with a range of application layers including; live switching cameras and video sources, cueing and scrubbing, slowmo replays, controlling audio, or adding graphics, all accessible via a single touchscreen interface.

Lawo (Stand 8.B90) will demonstrate the Graphic Inserter app for its HOME microservice-based platform. The HOME Graphic Inserter app allows users to turn 2D or 3D animated graphics into video streams. Users simply add the URL of their HTML5 graphic, pick the output resolution and specify the required output format. The following output formats are supported: SMPTE ST2110, NDI®, SRT and JPEG XS - at SD, HD, 3G, and 4K UHD resolutions.

AI In Action

One area that was big at NAB and likely to be evident at IBC is the use of AI powered tools that analyze content with a view to delivering new tools within MAM and editing. It seems that most of the MAM vendors now have various takes on this technology; some provide automated clipping of live content to generate assets for breaking news and sports, others are focused on the editing process and specifically finding potential clips from archive based on text descriptions or attributes within other clips on the timeline. It’s a new area that is worth checking out if you have not done so already.

Other Show Floor Highlights

None of them are being very forthcoming about any new product release announcements they may have, but each of the three big names in PCR technology will be at the show… if you are a GV, Ross or Sony fan you will probably be planning a visit and making a list of which bits of their enormous and often all-encompassing portfolio of relevant technology you want to get up close and personal with.

EVS are celebrating 30 years ‘Family & Friends Together For Live’ so expect them to do so by continuing their innovative and prolific expansion & evolution of their increasingly diverse product portfolio, which as ever sits at the heart of so many PCRs.

The list of vendors bringing improvements to existing platforms or leveraging new technologies to bring entirely new offerings to the IBC Show floor is huge. Plan your itinerary carefully and don’t be shy in challenging vendors to answer your personal questions about your specific needs and challenges.

Other articles in this IBC 2024 'Show Focus' series:

The Broadcast Bridge will be at the IBC Show – on stand 8.A52. Please come and see us and share your thoughts on what we do and what you would like to see from us in the coming year.