Cerebrum platform helps drive production across FIFA World Cup, The Open and Asian Games

Axon Cerebrum was in extensive use for broadcast production during the recent World Cup in Russia

At the heart of numerous major sport productions this year – including the FIFA World Cup for BBC Sport, Wimbledon, The Open and The Asian Games – Axon’s Cerebrum control and monitoring platform has enabled broadcasters and OB companies to eliminate engineering bottlenecks and create efficient unified workflows.

The platform has also enabled them to achieve comprehensive third-party device control available in the service of some groundbreaking IP productions and UHD HDR coverage.

With a user-friendly GUI, Cerebrum provides powerful multi-device control and simplifies complexity to shield operators from ever-changing technologies so that they’re free to focus on the action.

“We chose Cerebrum as the best way to get complete control of the production and simplify the workflow,” commented John Cleaver, director of Dega Broadcast Systems, who was responsible onsite for BBC Sport’s IBC facilities at the FIFA World Cup. “With Cerebrum, multiple operators were able to hit the ground running, and quickly customise the set-up to help them work as they wanted.”

BBC Sport’s extensive IBC facilities in Moscow, which were also designed and built by Dega, deployed the Cerebrum platform to control and monitor GVG routing, processing, MADI audio routing and tally management – all through 12 hardware and 11 software customisable panels.

Cerebrum was also at the heart of BBC Live Studio operations in Red Square delivered by Timeline’s UHD2, the award-winning IP 4K HDR OB vehicle. In addition to delivering coverage of the matches in HD and UHD HDR, Timeline provided a simultaneous UHD Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) output for the BBC iPlayer platform.

Control and monitoring inside the triple-expanding truck were extended to the on-location cabins, allowing the team of operators and editors to share tally and UMD information over the network between the BBC Sport IBC operation, and easily navigate around the many sources arriving from the IBC and Host Broadcast Services. “Cerebrum was able to handle the mix of HD and UHD formats with ease,” said Quinn Cowper, Timeline’s head of vision. “It offers robust control and supports a hassle-free, flexible creative workflow.”

Over recent weeks, Cerebrum has also been deployed by NEP UK for its acclaimed fully-IP production of The AELTC Wimbledon Championships, where it seamlessly controlled and managed a complex IP workflow featuring GVG, Arista, EVS, Phabrix, Calrec and Evertz.  Following the The Open and the Asian Games in Jakarta, the next stop will be the Ryder Cup, where CTV will once again use Cerebrum as the production nerve centre linking together all the main broadcast equipment from numerous manufacturers, to deliver a highly efficient workflow encompassing routing control, tally, UMD, multi-viewers, remote colour balance and camera control.

Visitors to IBC next month will be able to see Cerebrum in action on Axon’s stand (10.A21) and experience its broad range of features and comprehensive multi-device control that make it suited to complex production environments – from mobile, remote, news and live studio production to master control.

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