Virtual corporate

• Features

• 08/02/2022

Corporate giants like Microsoft, Sony, Panasonic, Canon and many more have adopted IP-based technologies like NDI as a standard protocol for AVoIP applications, with an increasing number of offices around the globe pivoting investment into such capabilities.

The aim is to allow them to convert unused space into fully-equipped virtual event production facilities. Doing so has not just reduced their dependence on external virtual studio service providers, but has also allowed for enhanced ability to create and stream hyper-personalised content to their target audience at will. Additionally, organisations have also noted greater control over key operational factors such as health and safety of staff and personnel, cost of production, and the ability to collaborate with colleagues across the globe using different platforms.

“As long as you have a strong network, NewTek and NDI can support any kind of virtual event,” asserts Rohan Tadke, NewTek’s country manager for India and SAARC, as he describes how a rather compact, portable and efficient system can equip organisations with the ability to produce and stream high-fidelity broadcast-quality virtual events.

“No matter what organisations want to broadcast – whether educative, seminars, townhall meetings, product launches, conclaves, award ceremonies, company all-hands and everything in between – it can all be achieved with one system,” he assures.

NDI is a free protocol for AVoIP that allows distribution of high-quality low-latency audio, video and metadata over existing standard networks in real-time, freeing users from hardware constraints. There is also a high-efficiency option called NDI|HX that includes an easy way for devices to find each other on a network.

With NDI being brand agnostic, users can gain access to a completely free software workflow for live virtual event production by simply combining NDI capabilities with engines like OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) which allows for screen recording, video capture, video editing, and the ability to design and switch between several different templates called ‘scenes’.

Plus, free-to-use NDI tools like the NDI Virtual Input allow users to assign any NDI source on the network as an input in OBS, the scope of which extends from high-end PTZ cameras to Android/ iPhone devices using an NDI app. Additionally, platforms like NewTek’s Live Call Connect affords seamless collaboration with individuals outside of the network or those using different communication platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Skype, etc.

Tadke references organisations like Infosys and Goldman Sachs who have equipped their facilities across India with NDI-enabled NewTek systems to fulfil their corporate communication and partnership developments exigencies.

He states, “One of the most crucial aspects that makes cost of ownership far more viable than regularly seeking out virtual studios on rent, is the fact that anyone can operate and manage our high-performance and durable systems with just a bit of basic training. The ease with which one can utilise our high-quality systems drives significant return on investment, which can be achieved in the matter of a few events.”

Elsewhere in Asia, Ideal Systems recently commissioned a nextgeneration NDI-based TV studio facility with 4K live production and streaming capabilities that they designed, built and delivered for leading, public-listed wealth management fintech company, iFAST Corporation.

The extensive studio is built in what was formerly a large conference room at iFAST’s office in Singapore; and houses multiple sets including a large chroma key green screen set for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) productions, in addition to a news set containing a 5m wide production-grade LED videowall; with all the studio cameras being NDI 4K and all the networking and production systems based on the latest NDI 5 technology from BirdDog and NewTek.

“The iFAST TV studio is likely a world first insofar as supporting end-to-end 4K over IP from camera, through production and live-streamed securely up to 4K to the viewer, with zero legacy SDI equipment or cabling used in the entire facility. By utilising NDI and Live Call Connect with the NewTek TriCaster 2 Elite, we were able to dramatically reduce the complexity of the solution architecture for technically complex productions such as featuring multiple video calls from platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams in live interviews, while making the backend production systems easier to and more efficient to operate by the iFAST TV production team,” informs Ideal Systems CEO Fintan Mc Kiernan, revealing that iFAST now creates and streams highquality content to over 520 companies and more than 10,000 wealth advisors who use their B2B platforms.

While experts the world over do testify to NDI’s capabilities within the online event eco-space – it isn’t the only technology that users rely on to meet virtual production needs. SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) is a popular Internet-based open-source, low-latency transmission protocol based on H.264/H.265 compression scheme, which was jointly created by Haivision and Wowza. SRT relies on its ARQ (Automatic Repeat Request) anti-packet loss error correction mechanism to assure safe and reliable high-definition video transmission and distribution under different Internet environments and between multiple locations. The technology is said to have recorded an impressively low-rate of failure / non-performance, making it an attractive choice for users who do not operate on closed networks like LAN.

On the other hand, SDI (Serial Digital Interface) is a family of digital video interfaces that has been around for several years, and has for long been trusted with transmission of high-quality AV content over co-axial/fibre-optic cabling. Several iterations over the course of time have resulted in SDI now evolving to 12G-SDI and 24G-SDI, both of which support higher resolution, frame rate, and colour fidelity, providing four times or more the bandwidth of HD and carrying 12Gbps or more data, thereby making it ideal for 4K60 or higher formats that are standard for virtual event productions.

Separately, legacy technologies like RTMP (Real Time Messaging Protocol) also continue to be actively used, especially in locations with limited access to advanced products and technologies.

With multi-platform streaming resulting in the increased demand for discretionary systems that can efficiently facilitate high-quality simulcast of easy to consume engaging content to increasingly fragmented audiences; brands like AJA assure to have expertly purveyed the alcove.

AJA’s general manager for the APAC region, Robert Stacy, affirms, “AJA recognises the fact that the necessity for streaming is now a permanent change within our business ecosystem. Coincidentally, our portfolio of products like the Bridge NDI 3G, Bridge Live, Ki Pro Go, U-Tap HDMI, and Helo among several; allow us to put together easy-to-use, cost-effective, and virtually future-proof high-performance systems that offer extensive production capabilities. Such systems equip our customers with the capacity to seamlessly work with a diverse range of protocols like NDI, SDI, SRT and RTMP, while being assured of the ability to efficiently create and stream personalised interactive broadcast quality content in easy-to-view, easy-to-share and easy-to-store formats like H.264 that is compatible with a wide-range of devices and operating systems.”

Experts believe that virtual production capabilities will inevitably move to IP proficiencies, thanks to an increase in influx of IP-based products. IP-based technologies, in the coming years, will not only become less expensive and easier to implement; but will also be better understood by professionals and clients alike, thereby leading to a dramatic increase the adoption of such technologies.

That being said, while technologies like NDI and SRT are indeed poised to become more ubiquitous in the future; historically resilient technologies like SDI too are expected to stick around as a mainstay in some virtual production environments, with several functional and application enhancements.

Image Credit: Shutterstock.com/Ben Photo