The relocation of the famous ITV Coronation Street Street lot, from Manchester’s Quay Street Studios to the 7.7 acre studio and production facility on the Trafford side of MediaCityUK, has brought with it a significant streamlining of signal flexibility, with BroaMan and Optocore fibre distribution devices playing a major role in the new automation system.
Set in a fictional town in the north of England, what has become the world’s longest-running television soap opera is a British ‘institution’, having first been broadcast back in December 1960.
A unique, fully integrated transport solution was conceived by the show’s Technical Manager, Stan Robinson, in conjunction with project engineers Phil Cooper and Nigel Fowler from system integrators TSL. The design was based on meeting all Coronation Street workflow and system requirements.
Earlier, AVC Electronics, who had worked on the previous Coronation Street HD upgrade at the old studios, had been appointed broadcast consultants for the project, and their lead consultant Raz Khan had carried out technical evaluation and system configuration of all equipment to meet these requirements. Installation, testing and commissioning was then undertaken by TSL, the successful bidders, after the BroaMan and Optocore solution had been adopted.
“The broad design was based on the previous set-up in Quay Street with the intention of streamlining, and improving wherever possible,” stated Cooper. “This was carried out using a combination of contemporary technology solutions and TSL’s industry experience, along with the vision of Stan Robinson.”
Robinson had wanted an advanced system that could transport all audio, video and data signals site wide over fibre, from any of the studios or lot. He had been introduced to Optocore by Dan Muchmore of Clear-Com while investigating talkback systems, and invited them to demo their optical transportation system in the presence of Jim Crothers the MD of AVC.
“I needed a solution that was not too taxing for the operational crew – little more than plug and play – and I also wanted a box that when connected by fibre and all the level signals would be there,” continued Robinson.
“The ultimate aim was to come up with a system that increased efficiency, cut rigging time to a minimum and was sufficiently resilient to avoid production downtime; and irrespective of where the box was plugged in on set, the system would be intelligent enough to recognise it.
“Also with fibre we knew there would be no cable length limitations. Since HD-SDI would only travel 50m over the copper cable we had at Quay Street here we could transport HD-SDI from the central apparatus to the furthest point via optical fibre. ”
With active support from the German fibre specialists’ Application Engineer, Maciek Janiszewski, Optocore loaned test equipment to establish proof of concept, with AVC Electronics installing a point to point system in Quay Street to provide single channel floor feeds. “We tested for audio and latency and everything was fine,” reports Robinson.
Thus the BroaMan and Optocore architecture forms the beating heart of the new broadcast network which has been constructed around ten BroaMan Route66 interfaces and two WDM frames. These combine to create one centralised router, feeding the ForA 96 x 128 matrix distribution unit, and forming part of the identification, CWDM and control to the Optocore router.
Instead of having Optocore sockets dotted around the site TSL also noted that by using hybrid camera fibre cables they could have every Optocore point active through the site – simply by patching into the SMPTE 311M network. Robinson explains, “This gives us additional resilience. There are 100 camera points supplying two patch systems – one in the main building and one out on the lot, enabling patching to either Camera Base Stations or the Optocore Router.
“Each gallery has its own stagebox, and we simply wheel it to where we are shooting and plug in to our camera cable network. In effect, the whole site becomes our studio floor.
Phil Cooper explains how TSL had implemented the system. “We knew that the ‘automatic homing’ of the Optocore system – whereby stageboxes will find their home gallery from any live connection point – would be a valuable benefit.
“However,” he added, “the main USP of this Optocore system is the ability to plug a stagebox in anywhere and be connected automatically to the correct gallery or OB van. Upon connection, the system discovers where the portable stagebox is connected and the central Video Router directs the assigned channels to the correct location.”
In addition to video, ITV can also route data and audio automatically since the stageboxes are a multi-faculty resource, which make connectivity available on set, whether in the studios, out on the lot or on location. This includes: Audio sources (boom mics) and monitoring returns; SDI monitoring and sources (from portable cameras or recorder playback); 4wire talkback circuits for boom operators and assistant directors; Router control panels to control SDI monitoring.
There are five production control areas – comprising galleries and OB vans, each with a corresponding stagebox, incorporating Optocore DD2FR-FX and BroaMan Repeat48 rack devices. Having specified a Studer Vista 1 and D21m I/O interface in the two main galleries TSL deployed ten Optocore DD2FR-FX devices to transport native MADI over the fibre network.
The path is configured from the 15 connection points available from the Optocore system, with distribution to the portable stageboxes via the same SMPTE fibre infrastructure as the camera. Each gallery or van has a corresponding stagebox which can be connected to the core routing system (via a wallbox) or taken on location and connected (point to point) to a van – again, using standard camera floor cables.
Wherever the mobile stagebox is connected, the router will recognise the location and automatically patch the signal between stagebox and control room. “The key benefit of this stagebox system is reduction of set-up times,” acknowledges Cooper, and this is critical given the arduous production schedules. “With the exception of the cameras, all other crew equipment can be connected with local cables to a stagebox; so by plugging in one fibre cable they can start using it.”
This elegant solution is a far cry from the traditional routine of connecting many long individual cables to the nearest studio wallbox and then patching every mic signal, audio return, talkback, video and control signal to the relevant gallery or van.
Production on the new Coronation Street set got underway in early January. “We were given a short lead time of just one week of rehearsals at the new site, so everything had to work first time and be operationally easy to use,” concludes Stan Robinson. “We are delighted with BroaMan and Optocore solution, which has offered us an incredibly flexible solution.”
At IBC 2013 this month BroaMan will announce new software for the control and monitoring of all BroaMan units.
Developed from the Optocore Control software 2.21 the new BroaMan software will function with all Optocore devices and is compatible with features well known from that control platform. These include audio matrix, level control / monitoring, network supervision, storage and recall of the configuration set-up to/from PC hard disk, as well as the real-time level display of the individual channels.
In addition, BroaMan has added a routing control for video devices as well as RS-485/RS-422, GPIO and sync settings.
As a result, the user can monitor any single video channel, with software read-outs of power received and transmitted, affecting every fibre transceiver inside the device; it will also display cable length and video signal format.
At IBC2013, BroaMan will be demonstrating the control via Macros triggered by MIDI — showing the ease with which the user can record and recall different setups.
The company has announced that it will also be pleased to demonstrate the new software, together with an entire system introduction, at the customer’s premises.
Amptown System Company (ASC) has taken on a dedicated dealership for Munich based fibre network specialists Optocore and BroaMan. The new partnership, which will be confirmed at IBC 2013 in Amsterdam this month, will see ASC representing both brands in the system integration and live sectors, such as musicals and theatre.
Headquartered in Hamburg, ASC’s ability to provide integrated solutions for media technologies draws on a rich company heritage within the group. Founded in 1973 by Peter Matthes and Ulrich (Uli) Müller as a music store for instruments and large scale sound reinforcement it was this passion for music and technology that sowed the seeds for the birth of ASC in 1990, which soon saw them working on major world famous musicals.
The two men, along with Leif Witte, have subsequently developed ASC into an experienced media engineering system house, which will provide a perfect fit for both Optocore and BroaMan, who respectively provide audio and video communication network solutions.
“As a one-stop shop for consulting, installation, integration and service, we rely on leading international manufacturers such as Optocore and BroaMan to ensure the success of our own projects and the best possible solution for the customer,” says Stefan Thomsen, Sales Manager, ASC Communication Systems.
One milestone which led to the new partnership was when BroaMan provided a fast track custom video network solution to meet a specific broadcast client requirement. This demonstrated that, together with Optocore and SANE technology, BroaMan products would deliver a synergy that offered huge advantages by way of a complete advanced fibre infrastructure for video, audio and intercom applications.
ASC recognised BroaMan’s ability to broadcast video in high resolution and provide scalable, protocol independent, routing, repeating, transport and distribution of multiple professional video signals. Notes Thomsen, “We were eager to assess how BroaMan technical infrastructures could be integrated into future projects and how these solutions would meet challenges for our theatre business, where media networks have to transmit different broadband signals (audio, video and control).”
He concludes, “Both companies provide key technology in the large scale event, live sound business and broadcast. It has now become an industrial standard to run glass fibre for transmitting signals to replace the vast amount of copper cabling of the past.
“We therefore see this new partnership as a logical development. ASC is a system house delivering technical solutions to its clients in terms of media technology, while. Optocore and BroaMan offer the tools to create these solutions; they understand about infrastructure provision, and connectivity to fulfill the installation requirements.”
Summarised Tine Helmle, director Of Optocore and head of BroaMan, “We are excited by this partnership with ASC and the possibilities it offers. They are a long established company, with a great pedigree for delivering high prestige projects. Furthermore they have fantastic outreach and most importantly they completely understand our technologies, and what they can bring to their sophisticated media integrations.”
BroaMan (Broadcast Manufactur GmbH) who provide customised solutions for broadcasters requiring SD/HD/3G video transport or routing, made an auspicious debut at last year’s IBC Show. Twelve months later they are ready to launch several new products in Hall 8.A36.
Having already introduced a series of hybrid video/intercom/data units for Clear-Com, BroaMan is now extending its Intercom range further with a new IC444 SDI device, complete with video sync, aimed squarely at OB vans. This is the SDI-INTERCOM.
The product boasts many advance features including: 4 Line In; 4 Line Out; 4 GPI (with Optocoupler) and 4 GPO (with relays). It also supports up to eight 3G/HD-SDI inputs or outputs, has built-in CWDM and contains auxiliary fibre ports for an Optocore network (or third party fibre protocols).
SDI-INTERCOM also features a new tri-level or bi-level sync board, with RS485/GPIO, which can be used in other BroaMan products, and advanced single channel monitoring features with the latest control software.
The new Intercom-SDI can work in a redundant ring topology or with back-up links with automatic switchover.
BroaMan will also show the Repeat48 WDM for the first time. This unit converts up to 24 SDI or MADI coaxial signals to optical fibre, with CWDM multiplexer. A very simple device, it can be used as a P2P decentralised network unit to run multiple video channels over single fibre strand between two locations or as part of a bigger network to work as a stagebox for more complex routing systems.
Full features include: Up to 24 3G/HD-SDI inputs or outputs; modular design with 2- channel boards; built-in CWDM or DWDM multiplexer; 16 fibre ports for CWDM COM port, Optocore or third party fibre protocols (eg 1Gb Ethernet).
Finally, BroaMan will be presenting a live demonstration of its new software and advanced routing control at the show.
German media and broadcast specialists Studio Hamburg MCI have followed up the installation of four independently-configured BroaMan automatic routing systems for Swedish national broadcaster SVT, by specifying the same brand for an OB van fit-out at NRK in Norway.
This was the first project MCI had executed for NRK and was the result of winning a competitive tender. A BroaMan fibre solution had been in their mind right from the outset, according to project manager, Götz Ahlert.
Explaining the challenge, he said, “The task was to set up quickly, and with a minimum of cabling, a reliable connection between up to four TV cameras and an OB van — connected via satellite to the broadcast centre in Oslo. The BroaMan fibre units are designed to be located in a stagebox on the camera side, and inside the OB truck on the corresponding side.”
BroaMan supplied was a small custom box with an SDI input and a fibre output to house a single camera on one side, mechanically connected to a camera battery on the other. “In that way the fibre connection is made directly with the camera unit without any additional cables or separate boxes — giving maximum flexibility to the operator,” he said.
In addition, BroaMan’s V3R-FX-IC444-SDI — a 4LI/4LO board with four GPIO’s — enables four camera signals to be routed via a single fibre connection to the vehicle and be uplinked to the broadcast centre. Transmitted in the opposite direction a monitor picture can be sent to the camera set, which is required if a speaker is communicating with the studio.
Summarising, Götz Ahlert says, “NRK’s aim was to have a simple and easy-to-operate connection between camera and OB van for distances in excess of 100m — and this is not possible with coax cables. BroaMan provided us with a small, cost-effective solution with the ability to transport video, audio, data and GPIO’s on one fibre cable.”
The new VW T5 vehicle is one of two small OB vans fitted by MCI for NRK which are used for quick news reports, sport and cultural events — one operating in the north of Norway, the other in the Oslo region. In addition to the BroaMan signal transport, the Hamburg company supplied a small video mixer and 16 x 16 matrix, Lawo audio mixer and self positioning satellite system with carbon antenna as part of the contract.
