Lawo’s Christian Struck on remote production
Posted on: Tuesday 31st of July 2018
As the demands of broadcast audio production continue to grow with the advent of more (and more content-heavy) platforms to support, the call is for workflows to become ever smarter and more efficient. Remote production and automation are perhaps the most salient examples of this tendency, and so it is no surprise to find Lawo Senior Product Manager, Audio Production, Christian Struck highlighting their growing profile as 2018 progresses.
“The three audio production workflow trends with the biggest impact at present are automated control rooms, remote production and automated content creation,” he says. “Used for applications including news production, automated control rooms are driven by systems such as Grass Valley Ignite, Ross Overdrive and Vizrt Mosart. [In this area of the market] we have developed an audio device, mc² Micro Core, that offers a complete mc² console-like feature set and the connectivity via Ember+, RAP and RemoteMNOPL to be remote controlled. It’s basically a full-blown, fully automated console without faders!
“Remote production is mainly driven by sports production. With a focus on large sporting events, we see more and more broadcasters running the production from a distance and using WAN-capable IP products to do so. This trend started 5-6 years ago and is now widespread with IP as core technology giving it an extra push.
“And last but not least, there is the rise in automated content creation. In line with [demands to] create more content with the same or even reduced staff count, while increasing overall production quality, automated mix assist systems can change workflows significantly. For example, at the recent World Cup, Lawo’s KICK audio mixing technology provided the automated closeball mix in all stadiums while a sophisticated automix set-up delivered multiple language-specific mixes from the same desk and operator.”
With many broadcasters experimenting to varying degrees with remote production during the World Cup, this event is already perceived as having been a milestone in the consolidation of production resources. But it’s also becoming apparent in more broadcast permanent installations, such as a recent two-location production hub set-up established by NEP Australia.
Lawo provided technology for audio and video production and control at the facilities, located in Sydney and Melbourne, which are now being used to “run production of different Australian sports on behalf of Fox Sports Australia, with content remotely produced at 29 venues across the country,” says Struck.
A much-expanded version of this article is scheduled to appear in the September edition of Resolution.
Interviewed exclusively for Resolution magazine by David Davies
daviddaviesjournalist@gmail.com
