< PreviousTHE COST OF AI TRAINING “There are many clever applications of AI to media assets, but most of them require some level of commitment to train the ma- chine learning engines in order to provide useful and repeatable results,” Montero says. “This is a cost that should be consid- ered—if your system needs to recognise lo- cal and regional politicians, not Bollywood or Hollywood movie stars, you will need to dedicate staff to the analysis, review and correction of the learning engines. Once trained properly, these engines can reduce labour and greatly enhance the speed to market of monetised assets and versions.” Dalet’s Kirchhoff er also underlines the need to train, pointing out that you need the experts in each media fi eld – “in other words, your very own users” – actively and mindfully performing the correct feed- back loops that will fi ne tune the models to better augment and enrich your most essential data sets. “If you try and perform this task outside of the production process, prepare for huge expenses,” he warns. “Constant and rigorous fi ne-tuning needs to be a fl uid ac- tivity in the normal, everyday workfl ow.” The Dalet Media Cortex is a SaaS service with a pay-as-you-go model. Dalet says the software Cortex orchestrates combinations of cognitive services, fi ne- tunes the models, versions the data sets, aligns them with customers’ taxonomies, and eventually surfaces the results at vari- ous levels of the Dalet application stack to provide actionable insights and real value to the users and to the organisation. “Providing the right insights, in the right toolset, with the right context, Dalet Media Cortex helps content producers, owners, and publishers across news, sports, programs, and radio operations make the most of their media assets, become more productive and focus their time on creative work,” says Kirchhoff er. Tedial has applied machine learning to its SmartLive sports and live event production assistance software tool. “Our AI application employs speech- to-text and video recognition algorithms to support the automatic creation of clips during live events, the automatic creation of highlights and assembling those clips, and the automated distribution of highlights in packaged ‘campaigns’ to social media,” he explains. “We’re using ML in our metadata engine which underlies these operations and enables sports and live event broadcasters the ability to triple the number of highlights and revenue generating assets that are manually built in a live program today.” The Flow MAM plat- form from EditShare “AT TIMES WE HAVE SO MANY ASSETS COMING IN THAT WE CAN OFTEN MISS THE DETAILS OUR TEAMS NEED TO CREATE BETTER CONTENT” Hans Douma, vice president, operations, Primestream TECHNOLOGY / MEDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT 30 / JULY 2019www.digitalstudiome.comA SPECIAL REPORT FROM DIGITAL STUDIO WITH AUDIO MONITORING, PROCESSING AND ROUTING INCREASINGLY TRANSFORMED INTO VIRTUAL WORKFLOWS, DIGITAL STUDIO FINDS OUT IF IT’S THE END OF THE PHYSICAL CONSOLE AUDIO CONSOLES Insights: Industry leaders weigh in Case Study: How a community radio took their on-air station digitalSPECIAL REPORT / EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION JULY 2019 / 33 www.digitalstudiome.com Audio is often regarded as the poorer cousin of video. But as broadcast quality has made the jump from HD to UHD to 8K, there is consumer expectation that the quality of audio keeps pace as well. Audio-over- IP, used by radio stations so far, is now being adopted by broadcasters. For broadcasters’ demand of high performance, versatility and interoperability with other devices, AoIP provides more fl exible replacements and off ers greater capacity, fl exibility and multicast possibilities. The transition to AoIP not only reduces costs for broadcasters but also enhances workfl ows. It’s been boosted by the wide acceptance of AES 67 standards which allow interoperability between diff erent systems without sacrifi cing performance. The cost of entry to networked audio (aka AoIP) has continued to decline, as our contributor Adrian Pennington points out, leading to its increased adaptation in the industry. Today, AoIP can be seen across a wide range of products – from mixing consoles to processors to intercom. At this year’s NAB, Wheatstone – an early adopter of AoIP – unveiled a virtual TV audio console designed specifi cally to complement news production automation workfl ows. Yet as Calrec product manager, Pete Walker says in our report - the change to IP won’t happen overnight. “Just as the change from analogue to digital took many years, this will too. For many broadcasters, hybrid systems consisting of AoIP and proprietary networks will become a stepping stone before total IP workfl ows take over.” MAKING SOUND SENSE DIGITAL STUDIO’S JULY 2019 SPECIAL REPORT ON AUDIO CONSOLES DISCUSSES THE NEW PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS THAT ARE DRIVING BUSINESS IN THIS EVOLVING SECTOR Lawo MC2-56 Dual Fader Reach out to your target audience daily – advertise on digital studio eNewsletter – for more information contact us today!SOUNDING OFF Virtualised products are helping broadcasters transition to an IP environment, and evolving traditional audio production roles in the process By Adrian Pennington one are the days when a console was required to simply mix audio. Consoles are now integral components on wider networks with adaptable workfl ows and shareable resources, using open standards and established networking technology. COTS-compatible products designed around an IP backbone and the fi nalisa- tion of the SMPTE ST 2100 professional media over managed IP networks stan- dards suite, has increased the previously slow pace of adoption. The AES67 standard has further bolstered device interoperability and the cost of entry to networked audio (aka AoIP) has continued to decline. It’s the combination of ST 2110 with AES67 which is giving broadcasters the confi - dence to move into AoIP. “We’ve been seeing a steady migration to AoIP for some time, for all the reasons that IP overall has been fi nding its way into broadcasting,” reports Dee McVicker, marketing director for Wheatstone. “It’s a much more cost-eff ective, effi cient way to manage and move media around and there’s no doubt that IP will be important to broadcasters going forward. Anyone who is planning a new facility, OB truck or studio is considering AoIP.” She continues, “ST 2110 certainly makes that migration to IP from HD/SDI much, much easier because it provides for G separate audio and video streams. This gives broadcasters far more fl exibility in being able to mix and process audio or to add more channels in the case of immer- sive audio.” SMPTE 2110/AES67-compatible products are also enabling a much more fl exible migration plan in that audio can be migrated over to IP without having to migrate video at the same time. Audio is often the fi rst to make the switch over to IP as a result. IP STANDARDS ROLL OUT Interest in AES67 is defi nitely growing with each project,” says David Glaubke, director, global communications, Harman Professional Solutions. “Radio customers have been much more enthusiastic about AoIP, with a wider range of AoIP formats having been used historically. Dante off ers a simpler immediate solution with the easy to use discovery and patching system but AES67 feels like it will take over for system wide installations.” It helps that AES67 is specifi ed as the audio transport standard in SMPTE 2110-30 because it’s a well-established set of protocols that manufacturers have implemented in their AoIP systems, so they don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Most, if not all, major AoIP systems are AES67 compatible. Calrec has three new virtual products: the RP-1, VP-2, and Type-R. All are IP- “JUST AS THE CHANGE FROM ANALOGUE TO DIGITAL TOOK MANY YEARS, THIS WILL TOO. FOR MANY BROADCASTERS, HYBRID SYSTEMS CONSISTING OF AOIP AND PROPRIETARY NETWORKS WILL BECOME A STEPPING STONE BEFORE TOTAL IP WORKFLOWS TAKE OVER.” Pete Walker, product manager, Calrec SPECIAL REPORT / MARKET FOCUS www.digitalstudiome.com34 / JULY 2019based and designed to help the fi rm ex- pand our customer base into new, smaller broadcast markets. Wheatstone recently debuted its SwitchBlade appliance for the WheatNet- IP audio network, which includes AoIP logic control, SIP connectivity and codec bandwidth optimisation for sharing studio operation and programming between facilities, sports venues and other sites in separate locations. That said, argues Glaubke, “there’s no real necessity to jump into an IP solu- tion. The benefi ts of doing so need to be weighed against the cost of transition, involving a diff erent mindset and skillset of the broadcast engineering teams. Tra- ditional baseband is still fi t for purpose for many installations and customer’s needs so there will be a continued debate in the business and the hybrid approach will continue for some time.” Calrec’s product manager, Pete Walker agrees that the change to IP isn’t going to happen overnight. “Just as the change from analogue to digital took many years, this will too. For many broadcasters, hy- brid systems consisting of AoIP and pro- prietary networks will become a stepping stone before total IP workfl ows take over. Calrec has a suite of ‘gateway’ products that interface between Hydra2 and the IP domain and provide a clear upgrade path to the latest native IP products, so broad- casters can choose to make the move when the time is right for them.” Establishing connections between AES67 devices is still a complicated pro- cess requiring engineers to access web ap- plications served by each device to confi g- ure audio transmitters and register them to receive streams from other devices. The solution could be the Networked Open Media Specifi cations (NMOS), a set of protocols developed by the Advanced Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx Media Workfl ow Association (AMWA) aimed at standardising discovery and connection management and covering video as well as audio in a uniform way. The fi rst stage of its rollout, IS-04, is device discovery, along with some basic connection management. NMOS allows IP media connections across a network to be managed from a central server, reducing reliance on individual web applications served from each device. Its successor, IS-05, will provide an even richer set of features. While Harman continues to study the protocol without yet adopting it, Wheat- stone says it’s done extensive work to allow WheatNet-IP stream management under NMOS. “By using NMOS, the same control system that manages video stream con- nections can be used for audio streams, simplifying work fl ow complexity by treating all streams the same way,” says McVicker. VIRTUALISED WORKFLOWS The introduction of IP also means that the parts of a mixing system do not have to be in the same room - or even the same build- ing. The control surface, the I/O and the mix engine can be thought of as indepen- dent. Instead of heavy metal on-premises the trend, as elsewhere in the industry, is toward virtualisation. “Broadcast consoles are not just audio desks, but routers,” says Walker. “In fact, the ability to route signals from any point to any other point quickly and effi ciently is key to the success of a broadcast console.” This does though have implications for the role of the audio mixer and audio engineering team. “Most broadcasters tell us they aren’t ready to give up their physical surfaces entirely,” McVicker says. “We’re seeing a Lawo’s matrix mul- tiviewer provides support for 4K/UHD, 3G, HD and SD compressed and uncompressed formats SPECIAL REPORT / MARKET FOCUS www.digitalstudiome.comJULY 2019 / 35 lot of interest in our virtual consoles as ad- juncts and extensions to a physical board. A multi-touch virtual mixer can be identi- cal in setup as a physical board, and mirror its operations so that setting the fader on one automatically sets the fader on the other. We’re fi nding that virtual work- fl ows essentially mobilise the production process, and in many ways, adds to the usefulness of a physical mixer. There are very real operational benefi ts of being able to carry a laptop onto a remote location, load up the audio mixer on a multi-touch screen interface, and then start operating it as if you were still in the studio – and, in fact, actually controlling the console in the studio.” Virtual workfl ows aren’t limited to just the mixing console. Audio monitoring, processing and routing, as well as control for that audio, whether it’s turning on a mic or setting IFBs, can also be trans- formed into virtual workfl ows. “As we saw in the recording indus- try where touchscreens were initially embraced as replacements to physical consoles, engineers and producers found they simply couldn’t work as effi ciently without knobs and faders,” says McVicker. “The key is how well that virtual interface is wedded to the hardware and the AoIP. All of that is possible because we now have advanced AoIP systems, which give us access to automation systems, hardware inputs, etc. through just about any surface or control interface we want.” In a virtualised audio networking scenario, the key to the mixer becomes the ease of use of the interface. As Glaubke observes, “The challenge will be using one manufacturer’s interface with another manufacturer’s virtual audio process- ing and whether this will give as rich an experience as using an interface and audio network from the same manufacturer.” In order to quench the demand for more content without compromise on quality broadcasters are adopting remote work- fl ows in order to maximise the productiv- ity of their facility, capture more sporting events, and all at a minimal cost. Walker says Calrec’s RP1 is designed just for that reason. “It eradicates the three major hurdles of latency, transport and control, to allow remote events to be mixed from a central- ised broadcast facility,” he says. GREATER AUTOMATION The whole trend also enables audio mixing functions to be automated, to combine producing and mixing seamlessly. There are many ways and reasons to automate mixing functions from audio-follows- video GPIO triggers for fast action camera cuts, to headless operations with fully integrated studio automation systems “The industry has been slowly mov- The Dual Fader Panel option for Lawo’s IP-based mc²56 MkIII console supports up to 144 faders (pictured left and right) Lawo’s A_UHD Core is a software- defi ned IP audio DSP engine Calrec VP2: its virtualised mixing system which has no physical control surface Calrec’s ImPulse core is a very powerful audio processing and routing engine with AES67 and SMPTE 2110 connectivity SPECIAL REPORT / MARKET FOCUS www.digitalstudiome.com36 / JULY 2019better known consoles is the Dimension Three, which is an AoIP console surface. In April it introduced the virtual Dimen- sion Three audio console, a multi-touch mixer UI that interfaces to all the major production automation systems. “We believe that standalone virtual mixers like this are going to play a bigger role in production automation workfl ows because they give operators the right amount of control over the automation process without all the inconveniences of a physical board,” says McVicker. Wheatstone also introduced the IP audio networked Strata 32 IP audio console that packs 64 channels into a 40-inch frame. It’s compact enough to fi t just about any- where – news room, sports venue, remote van – but provides access to all resources in the network through a touchscreen interface with menu for adjusting EQ, dynamics, setting talkback, confi guring ing toward more and more automation in recent years,” McVicker says. “Many advanced audio consoles have automatic mic mixing so that the console will auto- matically bring up only those mics that are being spoken into, for example. Most can automatically crossfade between inputs, as the video switcher or automation system cuts or dissolves between video sources. Automation is incredibly impor- tant for being able to handle both what’s happening in production fl ows and volume now but also what we might see up ahead in terms of more channels and immersive audio.” There are many good reasons to use high levels of automation in mixers in the correct implementation. Robotic cameras in news are highly successful and audio automation is a natural accompaniment to this. Harman has sold a number of headless consoles for exactly this type of application. “A complex production, sport or light entertainment, will always benefi t from an experienced operator capable of react- ing to and anticipating the unforeseen,” Glaubke adds. “The possibility to augment the operator with automation for struc- tured parts of the show such as a band or group of mics using console features such as VistaMix automatic multi-microphone mixing. Confi dence is only going to increase in these automated systems as their complexity and capabilities increase and they prove themselves as good as a human.” ROUND-UP OF LATEST IP AUDIO PRODUCT STUDER , a Harman brand, falls into two categories: Vista for TV production and Glacier for radio. “In both product ranges it is the ease of use for the operator that re- ally makes them stand out,” says Glaubke. “We off er many unique operating features, such as Vistonics and Fader Glow, but ul- timately the consoles are intuitive, so easy to use, giving a high degree of immediate feedback, so quick to use and navigate in pressure situations.” WHEATSTONE makes the AES67 compat- ible AoIP system, WheatNet-IP. One of its The Gateway AoIP - Calrec has a suite of “gateway” products that interface between Hydra2 and the IP domain mix-minus feeds and more. CALREC’S consoles range from 48-channel compact but powerful systems to multiple console networks. It recently launched a native IP range of consoles, Type R for Radio and ImPulse, a scalable, multi- console DSP core. All its latest native IP products are NMOS compatible. The ability to easily manage discovery and connection in a manner akin to Hydra2’s plug and play nature is imperative when setting up IP workfl ows. So much so that Calrec has devised ‘Connect’, a browser- based stream-management tool that can manage IP streams from third-party equipment alongside Calrec’s IP products. Whether it’s NMOS, mDNS, AES70, or SAP it displays this information, acces- sible via a browser, in a way that facilitates interconnectivity and eliminates the need for detailed networking knowledge on the part of audio engineers. “WE’VE BEEN SEEING A STEADY MIGRATION TO AOIP FOR SOME TIME, FOR ALL THE REASONS THAT IP OVERALL HAS BEEN FINDING ITS WAY INTO BROADCASTING,” Dee McVicker, marketing director, Wheatstone SPECIAL REPORT / MARKET FOCUS www.digitalstudiome.comJULY 2019 / 37 Community radio station Radio Aalsmeer, in The Netherlands, has taken their on-air studio digital with a new mixing console and “virtual radio” software solutions from Lawo. The main studio installation consists of a 16-fader Crystal surface powered by a Lawo Compact Engine. Value played a big part in the selection of Crystal, according to Lennart Bader and Niels Tenhagen, self-employed broadcast professionals who began their respective careers volunteering at Radio Aalsmeer. Funds for the renovation came from generous donations by Rabobank and Schiphol Airport, so a keen eye was kept on costs. Tenhagen says that at the start of their project, they “visited trade shows like IBC, and the Lawo Crystal quickly became our favourite. We love the clear design and quality engineering. Value played a big part in the selection of Crystal RADIO AALSMEER PUTS LAWO CRYSTAL ON AIR Literally, every knob and button can be programmed.” “We felt the Lawo Crystal off ered the best value for money,” Bader adds. Radio Aalsmeer’s playout system and studio computers make use of Lawo R3LAY VSC Virtual Sound Card software, which provides 8 “virtual sound card” instances for each Windows computer to allow direct exchange of audio between PC workstations and the Ravenna/ AES67 studio network. Another Lawo software product, R3LAY VPB Virtual Patch Bay, provides the station’s main switching matrix. “VPB has turned out to be super versatile and even allowed us to add additional analogue in- and outputs,” says Bader. “Via the Ember+ protocol, we programmed a custom GPIO solution for tally lights and a multi-function color strip. Even our doorbell is Ember+ powered!” The team is very happy with the new studios and Lawo equipment. Says Tenhagen, “We are extremely proud of what we’ve achieved. It is both very functional, and beautiful!” Lawo designs and manufactures pioneering network, control, audio and video technology for broadcast and post production, as well as live performance and theatrical applications, developed in Germany and manufactured according to highest quality standards at the company’s headquarters in the Rhine valley town of Rastatt, Germany. Lawo’s line of physical and virtual radio solutions include ruby, sapphire, sapphire compact and crystal mixing surfaces, the Power Core mixing engine, Crystal Clear and R3LAY Virtual Radio Mixers, and advanced VisTool GUI- builder software, all designed to provide more capability for less cost. Lennart Bader and Niels Ten- hagen of Radio Aalsmeer www.digitalstudiome.com38 / JULY 2019 SPECIAL REPORT / PRODUCT FOCUSBrio is the most powerful and compact digital broadcast audio console in its class. It has a comprehensive broadcast feature set to support a wider breadth of broadcasters, and the same market-leading levels of quality and customer support which Calrec is renowned for. Brio36 is 892mm wide with a 36 dual-layer fader surface, while Brio12 is only 484mm with with standard trims, and just 430mm with Calrec’s slim trim option. Additional expansion I/O slots are fi tted, while the Brio36 also has I/O built directly into the rear of the console. With lots of delay resource, dynamics, integrated talkback, and multiple monitor outputs, Brio is broadcast- ready with no compromise or workarounds. Wheatstone has launched a virtual TV audio console designed specifi cally to complement news production automation workfl ows. Virtual Dimension Three is a multi-touch virtual console with 64 faders onscreen that seamlessly interfaces into major production automation systems, including those by Ross Video, Grass Valley and Sony. As a standalone user interface into the WheatNet-IP audio network, Virtual Dimension Three can be used with any PC touchscreen or touchscreens connected over the audio network. Similar in feel and function to the popular Dimension Three hardware surface, Virtual Dimension Three includes familiar buttons, knobs and multi-touch navigation for adjusting EQ curves, fi ltering and other custom settings. Virtual Dimension Three comes with a rack-mount mix engine to handle mixing and processing as part of the WheatNet-IP audio network, which provices direct connectivity into major production automation systems. CALREC BRIO WHEATSTONE VIRTUAL DIMENSION THREE THE MARKET LEADING PLATFORM FOR THE BROADCAST AND PRODUCTION SECTOR IN THE MIDDLE EAST REACH MORE THAN 40,000+ INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS SPECIAL REPORT / PRODUCT FOCUS www.digitalstudiome.comJULY 2019 / 39 Next >