Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

TVBEurope - Tying Remote Production Together

22/02/2021

22 February 2021

SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email

By Lewis Kirkaldie, head of product management, Cinegy

The key elements for remote production and delivery have been in place for a while. The ability to handle high quality content in real time, on standard IT hardware on premises or in the cloud is well established.

But the individual elements of storage and processing do not make a workable system. The challenges brought about by the pandemic has called for the rapid rollout of solutions which work reliably and securely.

Technology has stepped up to that challenge. In particular, the maturity of two open standards - SRT and WebRTC - has made broadcast-quality contribution and distribution links practical.

SRT is the secure, reliable transport protocol, which pretty much says what it does. It is a means of transporting content over the public internet with low latency, minimising the effects of jitter and bandwidth changes. It is built on UDP, so is familiar to developers, and the SRT Alliance publishes an open source technology stack.

SRT uses dynamic stream management to get high quality at low latency, which needs two-way communication alongside the content. That means at least one party is directly internet connected, so it is good for contribution circuits to a broadcast centre or, indeed, to the cloud.

Cinegy has considerable experience in helping major players migrate to the cloud. Indeed, over the last few months we have helped a very large, very well-known US cable network migrate its primary playout to the cloud. As is so often the case with companies that have found the secret sauce they do not want their competitors to find out too much I cannot tell you which broadcaster, but you will have heard of them.

As I said, SRT is a great way to build contribution circuits over relatively low bandwidth. That is particularly important in cloud implementations, where getting the content in and out can be a big cost. At Cinegy we have found that demonstrating we can control bandwidth and therefore ingress and egress charges goes a long way to reassuring finance directors.

SRT is a powerful tool but it is not the solution for everyone, which is where WebRTC comes in. Again, the name tells the story: WebRTC provides real-time communications - including high quality video - from a web browser. It is part of HTML5 so it is available in all modern browsers, and can be built into bespoke applications. Perhaps the best-known tool which uses WebRTC is VMix, which is a complete and surprisingly sophisticated cloud-based production system. By using WebRTC it works peer-to-peer, so you can remote produce from anywhere.

The downside is that WebRTC will vary frame rate to ensure a constant video stream over the given bandwidth. Producers have no real control over what frame rate each contribution will appear as, but that apart it, too, has found a real place in live and as-live remote production. That the open standard - developed by Apple, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla and others - was ready to go in 2020 is a huge bonus.

Collaborative tools, of course, have been connected directly into production systems for some time. What we now have is the ability to develop new workflows which suit the new mood of social distancing. At Cinegy we have been working for some years with a major UK entertainment show (again I cannot name it, but it is very, very popular) which needs a large number of short video packages each week, for incorporation into the main live broadcast and for the spin-off shows. Editors access shared storage on Cinegy server racks and file the finished packages into the playout section.

The 2020 series had the same need for content, but social distancing meant that editors and producers worked from home as much as possible, rather than in the production offices. So we were called in to adapt the infrastructure for remote ingest and downloads. Most importantly, we had to develop the security protocols and management of firewalls which would allow the very sensitive content to be available for remote editing and review, at no risk of piracy.

I could quote many other applications, where proven web-connected broadcast tools are now being used in the heat of premium production. At least partly in response to the pandemic, you can now build practical remote production and

delivery pipelines, based on the latest open source tools, with a technology partner that understands the real issues of secure and cost-effective content flow.

Tags

remote production , IP workflows , cloud playout , broadcast automation , WebRTC , SRT , pandemic broadcasting , TVBEurope , Lewis Kirkaldie
LINK: https://home.cinegy.com/about/news/289-tvbeurope-2021-tying-remote-pro...
See more stories from cinegy

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

29/04/2026

Churchill Downs Racetrack Lifts Curtain on New Big Board Ahead of Kentucky Derby Week

It was a delicate job in a 150-year-old venue laden with traditions. Begun at th...

29/04/2026

How the MLS Innovation Lab Enhances Everything From Athlete Performance to Production to Ticket Sales

In annual event, the league gives startup companies the opportunity to prove the...

29/04/2026

Save the Date: SVG Venues & Teams Summit Travels South to Miamis Kaseya Center on Aug. 12

Panel discussions, networking, and a facility tour will take place in the renova...

29/04/2026

The Cast and Crew of Conbody VS Everybody Have Each Other's Backs for Life

(L-R) Derek Drescher, Coss Marte, and Syretta Wright have each other's backs. (Micheal Hurcomb/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival) By Veronika Lee Cla...

29/04/2026

Free Tilt EQ plug-in from Techivation

Combines EQ and harmonic distortion Techivation's latest release is a simple EQ designed to offer quick control over a source's overall tonal balanc...

29/04/2026

Expressive E launch the Osmose CE

Two new MPE controllers announced Expressive E caused quite a stir when they released the Osmose, making the sort of expression that was once reserved for p...

29/04/2026

iZotope RX 12 is here

New modules & enhanced machine-learning The latest version of iZotope's flagship restoration suite is now available, and now offers over 50 tools design...

29/04/2026

Surgeon Dr Jasmina Kevric wins 2026 Les Murray Award

Surgeon Dr Jasmina Kevric wins 2026 Les Murray Award 29 April, 2026 Media releases Australia for UNHCR and SBS are proud to announce that Dr Jasmina Kevric...

29/04/2026

YEP Spotlight: Julissa Padilla

Some people stumble into their passion. Julissa Padilla walked straight into a film vault. For her, entertainment was never just about the movies themselves. It...

29/04/2026

Clear-Com Promotes Brian Grahn, Ben Turnwell to Expanded Roles

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

The CW Unveils Major Streaming Deals with ESPN and Roku

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

Clear-Com Announces New Roles for Brian Grahn and Ben Tur...

Clear-Com has appointed Brian Grahn as Market Outreach Manager of the Americas and Ben Turnwell as Business Development Manager for EMEA live, expanding their ...

29/04/2026

Reduce Workflow Complexity with nxtedition at MPTS 2026

nxtedition is bringing its range of consolidated production tools to MPTS 2026, with new developments spanning transcription, editing, graphics and AI-assisted ...

29/04/2026

Telxius taps Synamedia to unlock seamless global multi-CD...

Quortex Switch to boost the streaming experience for Telxius customers, reaching millions of viewers worldwide Synamedia and Telxius, the leading global connec...

29/04/2026

freispace and Projective Announce Joint Showcase of Integ...

freispace, the leading ERP-as-a-Service platform for media and entertainment production, and Projective, a leading provider of post-production collaboration tec...

29/04/2026

DHD Celebrates 30th Anniversary at 2026 NAB Show

DHD reports strong interest in its broadcast audio product range, exhibited at the April 19th-22nd NAB Show in Las Vegas. The event attracted a claimed 58,000 a...

29/04/2026

Student Spotlight: Alan Catz

Student Spotlight: Alan Catz The Argentine film and game composer talks about working on League of Legends, receiving Berklee's BMI Award, and the lifelon...

29/04/2026

Jay Jennings Builds the Worlds You Hear on Screen

Jay Jennings Builds the Worlds You Hear on Screen The supervising sound designer behind A Minecraft Movie, The Meg, Letters from Iwo Jima, and dozens of other...

29/04/2026

Paramount Will be 49.5% Foreign Owned After WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

NAB Show 2026: AI, Vertical and BPS Dominate Broadcasters' Discussions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

IAB Tech Lab Announces New OpenRTB Attributes

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

VEON and Kyivstar Fulfill Commitment to Invest USD 1 Billion in Ukraine over 2023-2027 Ahead of Schedule

29 Apr 2026 VEON and Kyivstar Fulfill Commitment to Invest USD 1 Billion in Ukr...

29/04/2026

U challenges stars and their dogs to compete for Wagging Rights

Rhod Gilbert, Harriet Kemsley, Kae Kurd, Sara Pascoe and Vicki Pattison to take part in brand new series on free streaming service U London, 29th April 2026: F...

29/04/2026

Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a Sky Original documentary series from BAFTA-winning Mindhouse, coming this summer

Wednesday 29 April 2026 Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a Sky Original documentar...

29/04/2026

Sky announces upcoming documentary series The Lie That Exposed The Truth

Re-examining the case of Ellie Williams and the wider story of grooming in the town of BarrowWednesday 29 April 2026 Sky announces upcoming documentary series ...

29/04/2026

Jennifer Garner to lead an all-star cast in new Sky Exclusive summer escape The Five Star Weekend, coming to screens this July

Wednesday 29 April 2026 Jennifer Garner to lead an all-star cast in new Sky Exc...

29/04/2026

'SUPERNOVA: GENESIS' Reached a Peak Audience of More Than 6.5 Million Viewers on Netflix

Back to All News SUPERNOVA: GENESIS Reached a Peak Audience of More Than 6.5 Mi...

29/04/2026

dB Sponsors College Sustainability Week

Students and staff from Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge ran a 4.5km course around the roads of Cambridge as part of their annual programme of sustain...

29/04/2026

Listen to the birds sing! Experience mother nature in a seven-hour radio marathon

The Dawn Chorus airs Sunday 3 May from midnight to 7am on RT Radio 1 and RT ly...

29/04/2026

April 28, 2026

Jin-Quan Yu elected to the National Academy of Sciences Yu is recognized for his pioneering work in synthetic organic chemistry. April 28, 2026 LA JOLLA, CA S...

28/04/2026

Sound for the NFL Draft Show Balances Often Conflicting Goals

The audio team for the entertainment event must blend speech intelligibility with full-range music reproduction while considering the broadcast Last week's...

28/04/2026

Pac-12 Releases New Primary Mark Ahead of 2026-27 Season

The Pac-12 Conference has released an updated primary mark and logo as the starting point of the new league's brand identity. The mark was soft-launched acr...

28/04/2026

DP World Tour to Become First Professional Sports Organization to Use Amazon Leo Satellite Connectivity

The DP World Tour and Amazon Leo have signed an agreement making Amazon's lo...

28/04/2026

Pixellot and HELIOS Announce Automated Hockey Shift Video Integration

Pixellot and HELIOS have announced an integration that automatically converts full-game hockey video into individualized shift videos for each athlete, without ...

28/04/2026

Daktronics Installs New LED Video Display at Asheville Tourists Ballpark

Daktronics has partnered with the Asheville Tourists to manufacture and install a new LED video display. The installation was completed in late 2025 and is now ...

28/04/2026

Eutelsat and PCTV Renew Long-Term Video Distribution Partnership in Mexico

Eutelsat has announced the renewal of its partnership with PCTV, a content aggregation and distribution company in Mexico and part of Megacable Holdings, for co...

28/04/2026

Gary SouthShore RailCats Install New Daktronics LED Display at U.S. Steel Yard

Daktronics has partnered with the Gary SouthShore RailCats to install a new LED video display at U.S. Steel Yard, replacing the previous Daktronics display inst...

28/04/2026

Telos Alliance and College Radio Foundation Award Omnia.11 Processor to Wright State Universitys WWSU-FM

Telos Alliance and the College Radio Foundation have announced that WWSU-FM of W...

28/04/2026

Inside the Mix: A1s Florian Brown and James Deason on Golfs Biggest Broadcasts

Golf viewership is growing. The 2025 Ryder Cup drew five million viewers in the UK, a 45% increase over the 2023 event. The US Open was the most streamed golf e...

28/04/2026

The CW Network Acquires Exclusive Broadcast Rights to WWE NXT Premium Live Events

The CW Network and WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), have announced t...

28/04/2026

NAB 2026: AIMS Wins NAB Show 2026 Product of the Year Award for IPMX

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced that the Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) suite of standards and specifications has been named...

28/04/2026

NAB 2026 SportsTechBuzz in Review: A Look Back at the Big News From 150+ Companies in Vegas

The 2026 NAB Show is in the books and the show once again served up a cavalcade ...

28/04/2026

Gray Media, RAJ Sports Launch New Womens Sports RSN in Portland - Rose City SportsNet

Gray Media and RAJ Sports have announced Rose City SportsNet (RCSN), a new netwo...

28/04/2026

Spotify Reports First Quarter 2026 Earnings

Today, we announced our First Quarter 2026 earnings, starting the Year of Raising Ambition with strong momentum across the business and continued innovation acr...