NewTek technology enables Medoc Marathon coverage

Bordeaux-based production company Bro’duction was again enlisted to facilitate web TV coverage of this year’s 42km Medoc Marathon. Bro’duction head of production, Luc de Tienda, made use of an extensive arsenal of broadcast equipment for the coverage, including NewTek’s live multi-camera video production and streaming system, TriCaster.

De Tienda first encountered TriCaster ten years ago and highlights some of its key benefits as follows: “The set-up is incredibly easy for a new user of TriCaster. The number of staff needed in the production room is reduced, and communication is therefore enhanced and more efficient. With other systems it would have been impossible to produce this live show with the budget and the amount of systems that we actually used.”

In terms of the demanding Medoc Marathon coverage, “we were looking for a system that would mix all camera sources and ensure a high quality live stream without any hazards.” TriCaster, affirms de Tienda, provided the answer.

Integration in the production workflow was seamless, including with Canon XF 305 SDI cameras, with a mix composite source as a spare. The stream set-up on Dailymotion, meanwhile, was described as fast and intuitive. A computer was configured in order to feed the social platforms with delayed information. Bro’duction plans to include more viral communication in their production next year, as new generation of TriCaster includes an exclusive real-time publication on social media function.

On the actual event day, TriCaster was the centre of the production, receiving content from two cabled cameras in SDI and two cameras with component input. The satellite connection was in SDI, and 3D SDI connections from Aviwest were added to send the feed to Dailymotion following a simple Flash encoding. Meanwhile, the audio was mixed with Follows.

This year, Medoc Marathon Web TV was seen by 22 000 viewers on the day of the race, drawn from 127 different countries. Subsequent to the live show, the Web TV reached 170,000 views via content recorded with the TriCaster and edited after the event.

De Tienda sums up: “The visionary persistence of TriCaster pays off today. The future is there for events organisers who do not have the [required] conditions to be broadcast on television.”