CREATION
July 2017
production processes, Terence
Teng, managing director for Asia-
Pacific, IHSE, highlights that IP
enables workflows to become more
production-focused. He explains:
“As content is handled in the cloud,
physical interfaces are removed in
favour of IP transmission and con-
nectivity. Accessing content and
moving it via the cloud therefore
enhances efficiency and encour-
ages collaboration.
“It is now viable and common
for studios and editing suites to be
created in which dedicated servers
are replaced by general-purpose
PC-based servers, workstations
and shared software. It is a way
of sharing physical resources; in
fact, this is a trend that major
post-production houses have
adopted through the use of KVM
(keyboard, video and mouse)
switching systems.”
The current limitations of
cloud services, however, include
bandwidth availability, and the
cost of cloud storage, Grass Valley’s
East points out. “Media needs to be
uploaded as well as downloaded,
and the transfer speeds will have to
improve, especially with the need
for 4K/UHD production.
“There is no doubt that cloud
production is here to stay, but it
will not happen overnight, and
people are looking very closely to
see how efficient it can be. Right
now we are at a point where the
cloud is used for specific situa-
tions, though we certainly are not
Designed to
automate the
VoD process,
the iTX On-
Demand from
Grass Valley
enables media
operators
to deliver
VoD content
to multiple
platforms in
advance of
playout for
pre-recorded
programmes,
or to reduce
the turnaround
time of a live
event.
ready to move all operations —
especially the hardware — outside
the traditional workplace.”
Security and privacy also re-
main an overriding concern for
many media companies, especially
considering recent hacks target-
ing companies in the broadcast
and media industry. “Although
a number of cloud security and
data management entities cur-
rently exist, these recent hacks,
as well as a string of others across
the globe have slowed the accept-
ance of cloud-based production
and post-production in the media
and entertainment industry,” says
AJA’s Button.
In turn, Button highlights that
the industry is starting to embrace
a standards-based approach to
IP production workflows, which
ensures the ability to transfer
large file sizes while reducing
security concerns for producers.
He says that broadcast IP is de-
signed to comply with emerging
industry standards to ensure “the
least latency possible”. Although
broadcast IP workflows use IP
as a means of transmission and
communication, he adds, it can
also be controlled carefully across
private networks to ensure a level
of security and predictability.
Despite both IP and cloud
potentially simplifying the de-
livery process of 4K/UHD con-
tent to consumers, the majority
of broadcasters in Asia are still
broadcasting in HD. HDR, which
17
Deluxe Entertainment
has installed IHSE’s
Draco tera S6 KVM
switches to enable
console switching
between different
workstations.
can be integrated alongside HD,
and which can introduce new
opportunities for broadcasters to
bring more compelling content
to viewers, is as yet, not widely
deployed. Hence, in order to
support multiple formats, AJA is
offering its FS-HDR converter/
frame synchroniser, which not
only creates HDR solutions for
4K/UHD content, but also for HD
workflows.
Designed to meet the HDR
and wide colour gamut (WCG)
needs of broadcast environments,
the FS-HDR features conversion
of 4K/UHD materials and camera
sources to 4K/UHD HDR. And in
scenarios where delivery of 4K/
UHD might not be possible, the
FS-HDR will enable delivery of
rich colour and a wide
range of luminance
settings for HD HDR
content.
Following the rise
of multi-platform view-
ing, traditional post-
production workflows
will also need to in-
clude workflow auto-
mation so that content
can be distributed to
any destination. For
instance, Grass Valley
is offering its iTX On-
Demand for automated
video-on-demand
( Vo D ) a s s e t
pr