IBC TV to Put the VRT-EBU LiveIP Studio to Work at IBC 2016
IBC TV will be using the VRT-EBU LiveIP studio production set-up to shoot, edit and produce some of the programs covering the IBC 2016 conference and exhibition in Amsterdam, 8-13 September. IP and IT-based, using open standards, the LiveIP studio has been built at the headquarters of VRT, the public service broadcaster for Flanders in Belgium. It is a collaboration between VRT and the European Broadcasting Union, EBU, with ten technology partners.
IBC TV chose the LiveIP system in response to the huge interest the industry has shown in IP and to demonstrate the encouraging possibilities of IP production. Started in the summer of 2015, the VRT-EBU LiveIP studio is considered the world’s first proof of concept of a complete live production that relies exclusively on IP. This summer, VRT successfully began using this system to broadcast daily, live programming for its children’s channel, Ketnet.
Driven by the VRT Sandbox incubator program and the EBU, and powered by partners including Axon, Digital & Media Solutions (D&MS), Dwesam, EVS, Genelec, Grass Valley, Imagine Communications, Lawo, Nevion, Tektronix, Trilogy and Vizrt, the LiveIP project has developed a complete and functioning IP production studio. Using existing open standards SMPTE 2022-6, AES67/RAVENNA, PTP and OpenFlow, this venture demonstrates a high level of interoperability and bases its efficiencies on the particular strengths of IP, such as remote production and automation.
IBC TV, which delivers stories about industry suppliers and event-related news, distributes content online and on screens throughout the RAI Exhibition Centre. The LiveIP project’s presence at IBC 2016 is being supported by the partners, and by the Alliance for IP Media Solutions, AIMS.
The set-up will be split over three sites connected by fibre to demonstrate the flexibility an IP system can afford. The LiveIP studio floor and the control room where the production staff are based will be on a dedicated booth at the Exhibition. The data centre holding much of the network equipment will be hosted on EVS’s booth, and the IBC TV studio in a separate Hall will have the capability to control the LiveIP studio remotely. The set-up will be on display for visitors at all times, and available for testing when not in use by IBC TV.
Karel De Bondt, Project Manager of the LiveIP project said, “Tremendous momentum exists now behind the use of IP and IT in live production because of the potential benefits of having an environment that can be remote, shared and automated. But a lot of questions remain concerning the maturity of the procedures and equipment.
"IBC TV’s use of the LiveIP set-up will be an opportunity for the delegates in 2016 to see for themselves how an all-IP studio can work. Visitors will also have the chance to talk with technical and production professionals about their own experiences. This is very much what all of us in the project set out to do - explore the potential of IP and IT and share our findings with the industry at large.”
The VRT-EBU LiveIP project recently won the 2016 EBU Award for Technology & Innovation and is shortlisted for the IBC 2016 Innovation Awards, in the Content Creation category. www.ibc.org
