Loop Productions delivers concurrent live sports streams with NewTek NDI
Specialising in the sports industry, Loop Productions has long-standing working relationships with some of the biggest names in global sports broadcasting and sports organisations, including: BBC Sport, Sky Sports, Eurosport, World Snooker and the Professional Darts Corporation.
Loop Productions Director Nick Oldfield
Loop Productions needed to find a solution that allowed the team to provide its clients with the service and professionalism of a full outside broadcast set-up, with multi-cameras, graphics, audio and action replays, at a fraction of conventional outside broadcasting cost. For example, when Loop Productions started working with the World Bowls Tour, it required a reliable “all in one” vision mixer, graphic server and encoder to produce custom-made live productions.
“After researching the market, we discovered that NewTek’s technology suited our needs perfectly. NewTek also shares a brand vision similar to our own; to provide a streamlined, end to end service, which revolutionises live production practices,” explains Nick Oldfield, Director at Loop Productions. Since then, the live streaming specialists have employed a number of NewTek’s flexible solutions into its workflow including: TriCaster Advanced Mini SDI, TriCaster Advanced 860, LiveText software, NewTek 3Play and NDI, NewTek’s royalty free video over IP production technology.
NDI creates interconnected production workflows and removes routing constraints. This has revolutionised the way Loop Productions produces two sports matches simultaneously. By combining its TriCaster 860 and TriCaster Mini across the NDI network, the team can assign 12 SDI inputs for both matches and dramatically reduce deployment costs. Loop Productions also now has the ability to provide original on-screen graphics for clients via the NDI for Adobe Creative Cloud platform that enables real-time, renderless playback and preview over IP right from the timeline.
Loop Productions’ extensive investment in NewTek’s versatile, compact and cutting-edge IP network technology has been one of the reasons for its success and the acquisition of rights to stream numerous internationally recognised sporting organisations, including PDC Darts, World Snooker, Rugby Football League and Matchroom Boxing. As well as content for international broadcasters and rights holders including BBC Sport, Sky Sports and IMG; and content for global brands such as Lavazza, Heineken and Wembley Stadium.
“Traditional, complex and expensive live production costs is a thing of the past. NewTek’s revolutionary vision of allowing compact, powerful and highly adaptable production over an IP network has changed the production game,” concludes Oldfield. As a result, Loop Productions will live stream in excess 5,000 hours this year alone through each of its NewTek TriCasters. The majority of its fly pack set-ups include NewTek kit, and the team will travel across Europe, Asia, and the United States producing both live and packaged content.