Broadcast Pix (Booth #SL6424) is bringing a range of new products and capabilities to
NAB 2012, chief among them the news that Video Control Center 3.0 software is shipping. The new version adds functionality to current Granite and Mica systems, including touch-screen control, voice automation, and virtual sets.
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Broadcast Pix Director of Marketing Paul Lara
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"We're very proud of the fact that everything we're showing off in the booth is shipping now," says Director of Marketing Paul Lara. "NAB is well known for promises of 'coming soon' but Video Control Center 3.0 is available as a free upgrade to all our customers and is shipping on systems today."
"Video Control Center 3.0's touch-screen interface is redesigned to make it simple for everyone," he continues. "Screens are customizable, so you can put up only the windows you want." The touch-screen capability runs in parallel with any system that has a switcher or control surface. "Anyone more familiar with broadcast switchers can punch the show the way he wants while someone else can run it with touch-screens," says Lara. "It's not mutually exclusive.
NAB 2012 is also the first time that North American audiences will have a chance to see Mica, which debuted at IBC 2011. "We want people to know that Mica is a complete studio with an exceptional control surface that it makes it easy to create compelling live video," says Lara, who notes that Mica ships with either a
Harris or
Chyron character generator. "It features eight SDI inputs plus seven channels of clips, animation and graphics." Mica is available in four models, starting at $16,900.
Also new to NAB is Granite 6000, the largest Video Control Center, which features an expanded 2 M/E switcher control panel with 24 source buttons per row and two banks of patented device controls to run its built-in 120-hour clip store. The panel has 143 PixButtons, which show file names on the buttons, and up to 22 SDI multi-definition inputs plus seven channels of clips, animation and graphics. Granite also ships with either the Harris or Chyron CG.
Video Control Center 3.0. Click on image to zoom.
Both Granite and Mica systems have been upgraded to Intel quad core platforms running Windows 7. "This enhances file management and greatly enhances system performance and robustness," says Lara. "Producers today expect to be able to switch cameras, call up and play clips, overlay graphics and ingest data from scoreboards, all at the same time. There's a lot more processing power now to do just that."
Broadcast Pix will also showcase VOX voice-activated production. "The participant microphones drive the productions," explains Lara. Also new is the fact that Fluent Rapid CG2, which connects on-air graphics to databases, RSS feeds, and custom action buttons, can now connect to
Daktronics scoreboard controllers and
EZNews titles. According to Lara, "second-generation features" include dual channel for two graphics at once and very fast updates, including clocks by the second.
"Affording better control to producers is an important trend in the industry," says Lara. "It used to be the TD would control the video and maybe set up the picture-in-picture, but somebody else did titles, somebody else played clips. Now it's all in one interface that's easily accessible by a single operator."
The other trend, he notes, is the expansion of video production throughout the facility. "We can have somebody down the hall working on a last minute graphic or a clip or package to insert in the show, and our system alerts the TD that the clip has arrived," he says.
For experienced producers, today's technology makes for a remarkably smooth sailing in video control room. For newcomers and beginners, the technology has never been this easy to learn and use. Broadcast Pix and what it's unveiling at NAB 2012 are part of the larger trend of the democratization of media production.
Granite 6000, the largest Video Control Center, which features an expanded 2 M/E switcher control panel with 24 source buttons per row and two banks of patented device controls to run its built-in 120-hour clip store. Click on image to zoom.
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