Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) July 2018 Volume 35, Issue 6 | Page 13

July 2018 NEWS & VIEWS 13

vStudio makes BroadcastAsia2018 debut

Setting up a virtual news studio need not be complicated , as visitors to the APB booth at BroadcastAsia2018 found out .
The APB vStudio , set up by APB and systems integrator Ideal Systems , and hosted by APB news editor Josephine Tan , featured live conversations with some of the most prominent personalities in the broadcast industry . The guests shared their thoughts about the transformation they see taking place in today ’ s broadcast and media industry , some of which you can read over the next few pages .
Going behind the scenes , vStudio is also a perfect example of how easy it is to set up a working virtual studio quickly and costefficiently , said Ideal Systems , which provided the virtual set system for the vStudio .
Aniket Rangnekar , head of live production for Ideal Systems Singapore , explained that the Darim Vision i-studio IS3500 trackless virtual set system is a complete one-box solution that can take in
three SDI + 1HDMI inputs and have one SDI output , while streaming the video to streaming platforms such as YouTube or Facebook .
“ As this is a one-box solution , the set-up and operational requirements are minimal ,” he said . “ With the optional Chromudio green screen with stand , a fully working studio can be set up within 45 minutes .”
Rangnekar added that the system interface is very simple and intuitive , and is meant for inexperienced staff to operate in a very short time . “ The whole concept is to have it self-operated like someone doing a Powerpoint presentation , thus reducing manpower costs .”
The vStudio set-up is also ideal for e-learning , presentations , hous-
The APB vStudio set-up is also ideal for e-learning , presentations , houses of worship , education sector , hospitality — anyone who wants to create multiple videos but with new ideas and locations but in a cost-effective manner .
es of worship , the education and hospitality sectors — or anyone who wants to create multiple videos with new ideas and locations , but in a cost-effective manner , Rangnekar suggested .
“ The customer just needs to be open to new ideas on how they can imagine and position what they want to convey in their video ,” he explains . “ There are virtual set templates already pre-loaded in the
system that users can customise , then script the message accordingly to what they would like to convey .”
Users can also build their own virtual environment and load it into the system . There are also designed templates available for purchase online . With adequate lighting and a cost-effective budget , a small setup can easily be done within a 30- 40sqm space , Rangnekar revealed .
As far as future-proofing virtual sets systems , the advent of so much media currently being streamed online , along with the option of being able to tweak virtual reality ( VR ) sets regularly is already futureproof enough .
“ This is already future-proof as you can have a fresh look of your content anytime , even when you are in the same physical space .
“ Darim Vision does keep on updating its software and provide additional features to the software , so this is definitely a very good and future-proof investment ,” he concluded .
❝ I think the media industry is switching to IP , not only just the studios but also in the field . We feel this trend will continue , and I believe that there ’ s a lot more contribution that is going to happen .
There ’ s also a trend of providing more creative encoding such as HEVC / H . 265 , and other things like satellite over IP and 5G , which are all driving the trend of having more available connectivity to be able to create more content from different locations .❞
— Bogdan Frusina , Founder of Dejero
❝ AJA has been a leader in the high dynamic range ( HDR ) colour space . We ’ ve developed a family of products including our FS-HDR , which is a realtime conversion solution . This is exciting because broadcasters are looking for new and compelling ways to create more exciting content , especially when it comes to sports , and this box allows users to do it simply and in real-time .❞
— Robert Stacy , General Manager , Asia-Pacific , AJA Video Systems
❝ Many media companies come together here at BroadcastAsia to talk about what technology solutions they need to address the growing requirements of their consumers , while looking to overcome the challenge posed by many new entrants that take away their audience share . People are watching less traditional TV and spending more time with OTT or even simple platforms such as Facebook or Whatsapp , so there is now a shift .
Traditional media companies want to stay competitive , but the most important thing is to have a technology refresh — making sure they have the latest technology to reduce costs and simplify the operation of the day-to-day television production .
Our role is to help these broadcasters transition from traditional linear broadcast into digital operations . Digital means a lot of different things to different people , but what it means is getting out of that mindset of just producing content for one use . Instead , everything will be re-used and sliced up in different ways .❞
— Charles Sevior , CTO ( APJ ), Dell EMC
❝ We ’ re seeing that there ’ s a lot of conversion right now — media companies are looking at converting their SDI facilities into IP , which definitely is not going to happen overnight . This is going to be a long process , I ’ d say roughly over five to 10 years . Some countries are going to be faster than others . We see that in Europe where major broadcasters are engaged in this IP transition as well as in North America .
We ’ re just starting to see the transition happening also in the Asia-Pacific market , which is why Embrionix is here at BroadcastAsia2018 .❞
— Denis Pare , Vice-President of Sales ,
Embrionix