Remote Production Forum Draws SVG Community to Charlotte for Behind-the-Scenes Look at New NASCAR Studios Facility

Remote Production Forum Draws SVG Community to Charlotte for Behind-the-Scenes Look at New NASCAR Studios Facility Event spotlighted North Carolina as a center for remote operations By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.

Friday, September 27, 2024 - 10:49 am

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The 2024 edition of the Remote Production Forum in Charlotte, NC, this week attracted nearly 200 sports-production professionals to what has become a hotbed of remote-production operations. Highlighted by a behind-the-scenes tour of the new NASCAR Studios facility, the event featured panel discussions and presentations designed to help sports-media organizations understand the latest developments in remote-production equipment and workflows.

SVG Remote Production Forum attendees toured NASCAR Productions facility in Concord, NC, which opened this year.

On Wednesday evening, NASCAR Productions welcomed attendees to its new state-of-the-art NASCAR Studios facility in Concord, NC. Opened this year, the $53 million, 58,000-sq.-ft. facility adjacent to the NASCAR R&D Center is intended to further NASCAR's mission of providing fans with enhanced content that brings them closer to the sport. In addition to a networking reception with food and drink trucks, attendees were given a tour of technologies that push the envelope in production efficiency, storytelling, and fan engagement.

NASCAR's Mike Zylak (left) and Brian Herbst (center) discuss the new NASCAR Studios facility with panel moderator Ken Kerschbaumer, co-executive director, editorial services, SVG.

The next morning, the conference portion of the event kicked off with a deeper look at the vision behind the facility as well as the content-creation goals. NASCAR's new facility exemplifies the way current and next-generation technologies can come together and create new ways of working. NASCAR EVP/Chief Media and Revenue Officer Brian Herbst and Senior Director, Engineering, Mike Zylak discussed how the facility became a reality and what it means not only to the future of production but also to NASCAR and its rightsholders.

NASCAR remained in the spotlight for the following session, with Zylak and NASCAR Senior Producer, Internal Production, Matt Strickert joining LiveU executives in a discussion of fan engagement and the evolution of their REMI workflows. They examined how LiveU technology addresses NASCAR's production needs and overall business goals as the organization continues to grow.

Next up, in the Remote Production Tech Update session, speakers from TAG Video Services, Panasonic, Canon, and Lawo explored how remote-production workflows allow cameras, lenses, microphones, and replay devices to be controlled via long distances. They covered the challenges in ensuring that operators can operate the gear without compromise and how the new workflows affect product design and functionality.

The Race Control room houses cutting-edge technology that remotely ensures seamless event management and safety oversight at the track.

A remote-production workflow is only as good as the interconnects that allow a production team spanning thousands of miles to work as one. The next panel - comprising representatives from FOX Sports, Broadcast Management Group, LTN, Nextologies, and Tata Communications/The Switch - explored the technologies, protocols, and workflows and how to ensure a smooth remote-production operation.

NASCAR uses one of its broadcast studios to produce NASCAR Inside the Playoffs, which airs on Warner Bros. Discovery's TruTV and streams on Max.

Sony then presented a case study focused on how 5G-powered ultra-low-latency video streaming is revolutionizing the capture and production of live sports broadcasts.

FOX Sports, ESPN, NASCAR, SMT, and Van Wagner have all helped make North Carolina a leader in remote production operations. On a panel titled How North Carolina Became a Hub of Remote Production, leaders from across the state took the stage to discuss the companies' facilities, production goals and challenges, and more.

One of two large control rooms at NASCAR Productions' new facility in Concord

The day closed with a look at importance of the cloud in remote production. The ability to have hardware compute in the cloud instead of at the venue or even in a remote-production hub promises to increase the popularity of remote workflows. Leaders from FOX Sports, WBD Sports, Deloitte Consulting, Grass Valley, NEP VISTA Worldlink, and Riedel Communications discussed how cloud-based production services open up new ways to produce sports content.

The 2024 SVG Regional Sports Production Summit was made possible by Title Sponsor LTN; Diamond Sponsor 10TX by Nextologies, Canon, Grass Valley, Lawo, NEP, Riedel Communications, Panasonic Connect, TAG Video Systems, and The Switch; Case Study Sponsors LiveU and Sony; Gold Sponsors Cobalt, Devlin Design Group, and Vinten; and Event Sponsors AI-Media, AT&T, Beam, Haivision, RED, and Signiant.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/09/27/remote-production-forum-draws-s...
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