EVS to become backbone of IBC TV from ingest to playout

EVS has provided IBC TV with its live production technology for eight years and with each show has delivered more and more systems for the IBC show’s TV channel. At IBC2016 EVS technology will be powering the whole IBC TV infrastructure from ingest to playout as the channel also integrates infrastructure from the VRT-EBU LiveIP studio project.

IBC TV is the IBC show’s dedicated news channel which delivers content for audiences to watch both online and on screens throughout the RAI Exhibition Centre. It features key stories about the IBC show’s exhibitors as well as event- and show-related news.

Its technical operations will ingest content from multiple sources including cameras both in-studio and on a roaming interview team, the conference itself and online content. In the IBC TV Studio and on its green screen virtual studio, multicam feeds will be ingested directly into EVS XT or XS servers. Remote crews interviewing exhibitors and visitors around the show will be using a single XDCAM to shoot content and then utilising EVS’ Ingest Funnel for the simple import of files in multiple formats. This will deliver content directly to the system’s XStore Production nearline storage and automated workflow orchestration systems for use by the production teams.

Live feeds from the show’s three conference theatres and forum as well as third-party feeds imported from the web will also be ingested into the production infrastructure’s live servers and nearline storage facilities via a high-speed fibre connection. The XT/XS servers will be in an eight in and two out configuration, and be controlled by the LSM remote controller. Content will be managed across the entire production infrastructure by EVS’ IPDirector content management system.

IBC TV will use EVS XTAccess for content transcoding so it can be simply delivered online easily using Digital Rapids’ content delivery system. Throughout post production, two Xedio CEs will be used for quick news assembly while additional software integration will be added for the inclusion of graphics. EVS’ IPLink plugin will also be added to IBC TV’s Adobe Premiere Pro edit stations to enable fast, simple access to content in IPDirector while live events are still taking place. After post production content can then be directly output to the XStore nearline storage.

For the first time IBC TV will also adopt the VRT-EBU LiveIP Studio project’s fully functional IP production studio which relies on interoperability between some of the industry’s leading technology providers including Axon, Digital & Media Solutions (D&MS), Dwesam, EVS, Genelec, Grass Valley, Imagine Communications, Lawo, Nevion, Tektronix, Trilogy and Vizrt. The project is also supported by the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS). The technical setup of the LiveIP studio at the show will be split across three sites – the studio floor and the control room with production staff will be on stand 8.D10, while the data centre with much of the network equipment will be hosted on the EVS stand (8.B90). Hall 13 will then be the home to the content producers/directors who will have control over the LiveIP studio remotely.

“At each show it’s important for us to adopt the latest and most innovative production technology into our infrastructures because IBC is such a central point in the media and entertainment industry’s calendar,” said Sue Robinson, producer at IBC TV. “Having used EVS solutions for a number of years we know that we can rely on its technology for the ingest, management and playout of our content throughout the show.”