Chyron looks to open door to new markets with graphics offering for NewTek TriCaster
Long known for its wide-ranging presence on high-profile sports telecasts, Chyron has set its sights on the rapidly growing college and second-tier sports market with the release of ChyronIP for the NewTek TriCaster.
“[ChyronIP] helps us get into a marketplace that we have not had a major presence in in the past,” says Bonnie Barclay, chief marketing officer, Chyron. “We are known for sports throughout, but this allows us to get to a different level of sports [properties] with NewTek — be it the college market or sports like soccer and lacrosse.”
The 2D and 3D character and graphics generator is essentially a carbon copy of Chyron’s widely used Lyric PRO software, offering key and fill signals via the TriCaster network interface, which gives producers two Full HD or SD live full-motion channels of Chyron graphics without tying up any of the TriCaster’s video inputs. ChyronIP for TriCaster is a self-contained system housed in a compact lightweight chassis and is quickly and easily integrated with either the TriCaster 8000 or TriCaster 455. In addition, Chyron offers training for TriCaster users unfamiliar with Lyric Pro.
“It is basically plug-and-play,” says Barclay. “The operator obviously has to know Lyric, and we have training for that if they don’t, but the ease of use of Chyron systems has always been a staple for us anyway, so we think it will be a very quick learn.”
In addition, those companies or production teams already working with Chyron graphics systems can deploy ChyronIP to bring any existing Chyron graphics into their productions.
“I think we’ve offered the best solution in this space, and I see us getting into a lot more college-sports [business],” says Barclay. “Plus, this is at an unprecedented price point for us, which is huge. It allows a lot more people who would not have been able to get Chyron quality in the past to access that.”
Engaging broadcasters with zeebox partnership
Chyron also announced that it has integrated its ENGAGE second-screen and social-TV platform — launched at the NAB Show in April — with the zeebox companion app and website. The partnership allows broadcasters to access zeebox from within their existing Chyron graphics systems.
ENGAGE gives broadcasters the ability to add viewer interactivity — such as votes, polls, and tweet battles — into their live news and sports programming, along with call-to-action graphics and infographics. Meanwhile, the zeebox app gives broadcasters a single program-based destination where fans can chat, share, and interact. According to Chyron, combining the two eliminates the need for custom integration while allowing broadcasters to maintain their routine production workflows.
Within the Chyron graphics workflow, the zeebox companion app becomes another layer of informational graphics, driven by the newsroom rundown or by the live-sports-graphics team using the same tools they rely on for daily production. The second-screen graphics are created in Chyron’s Lyric graphics-creation software, share the same look as the station or group’s on-screen graphics, and are fed by the same sports data that feed on-air programming. Users can also decide on-the-fly which graphics go to air and which graphics go to the second screen.