Grass Valleys Ian Fletcher takes TVBEurope behind the scenes of its GV Live Presents - Engage 2020 event, which was produced entirely in the Cloud.
By Contributor
Published: November 27, 2020
Grass Valley's Ian Fletcher takes TVBEurope behind the scenes of its GV Live Presents Engage 2020 event, which was produced entirely in the Cloud.
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> Grass Valley's Ian Fletcher takes TVBEurope behind the scenes of its GV Live Presents Engage 2020 event, which was produced entirely in the Cloud.
https://www.tvbeurope.com/production-post/powered-by-the-cloud-taking-a-fresh-look-at-virtual-live-events title=Share via Email class=share-email>
When the pandemic hit in March 2020 and proceeded to become a global health crisis, the lights were turned off in production studios, sports arenas, and venues around the world.
At the same time, all live business events, such as exhibitions and conferences, were canceled - webinars and Zoom calls abounded as the broadcast technology community strived to maintain the critical connections and conversations that drive our industry forward. At Grass Valley, we were intent on maintaining engagement with our customers and partners, whether they were working in their home or office. We created a fresh and innovative approach to keep our customers informed and help establish an air of normalcy during a time that was anything but normal.
Pivoting to the virtual world In March 2020, GV Live Presents was born. At its core, this initiative is about engaging with customers, partners, and industry peers and keeping them engaged. We wanted to deliver a comprehensive debate and vision programme on the key topics driving the TV industry, new product launches, customer case studies, deep-dive product demonstrations, and webinars - entirely on a virtual platform.
The Engage 2020 live newscast that took place in October this year formed a key component of this virtual offering. Our aim was to create a truly innovative and engaging programme, giving customers and partners a vital opportunity to connect with us in the absence of the annual industry gatherings in Las Vegas and Amsterdam.
Making it happen To bring the events to life, we decided there was no better way to showcase the capability of a newly launched, Cloud-based SaaS product - which is ideally suited for live production environments - than to produce a whole live event ourselves.
We used our game-changing GV AMPP (Agile Media Production Platform) Cloud-based production system to run the entire live production for both events. The very same technology that our customers - like esports giant Blizzard Entertainment - deployed to connect with their global audiences helped create our virtual offering. We gave attendees a firsthand look at how this revolutionary approach to live production could seamlessly handle multiple live feeds from various locations worldwide.
Production for the event was spread across seven sites and two continents, with everything from animated graphics, live video feeds, and master control orchestration through to pre-recorded live video feeds, interviews, and panel sessions handled entirely in the Cloud. The new GV AMPP System Dashboard was pivotal to the smooth running of the production, providing an overview of the entire infrastructure deployed to put the live newscast together. It let us bring lots of different components - the main production switcher, multiple clip players, and a secondary mixer - onto the same screen, so we had a clear view of exactly what was happening across the entire workflow.
Taking a virtual, Cloud approach also freed the production team from being in a single physical location. We had a small production crew of three, including the director and technical director (TD), in a Covid-safe environment at the Florida studio, audio and master control were handled from the UK, and clip playback out of Belgium.
Although the TD was calling the shots from Florida, none of the vision processing was done there. Instead, we took the four live camera feeds, and fed them into our GV AMPP 1RU servers, where they were encoded and sent to an AWS datacenter in Oregon - at low latency - over the public internet. Additional feeds were coming in from our offices in Breda, in the Netherlands, Newbury, UK, and Crown Point in Grass Valley, California as part of the multi-camera, multi-person discussions.
One of the live newscast's standout features is the minimal delay between the presenter communicating to panelists at the other side of the world. Although the video feeds of each of the panelists were arriving at the datacentre at slightly different times because they were coming from different parts of the world, GV AMPP automatically time-aligned the feeds and seamlessly managed latency throughout. As a result, the Grass Valley leaders could interact and engage naturally, without any awkward pauses or time lags.
It was quite a complex show for us to pull off, but GV AMPP was flawless. We didn't experience any technical problems during the entire production.
Changing the virtual game Grass Valley not only revolutionised Cloud-based remote production with GV AMPP, we showed that innovative virtual events - when done right - are a real gamechanger and provide an entirely new platform for the industry to connect and communicate.
The GV Live Presents program and the Innovate 2020 and Engage 2020 virtual live events speak to Grass Valley's status as a true industry pioneer; we don't just talk about breaking barriers - we do it. We're excited to show even more innovation in the coming months.
GV Live Presents - Innovate 2020 and Engage 2020 events have been hugely successful, allowing us to connect and engage the media and entertainment community. The two live newscasts drew over 5,0
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
10/06/2026
DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...
10/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager USA, covering Southern California and the Southwest region. Dino joins...
10/06/2026
An 11% decrease in number of global broadcast deals reflects the organization...
10/06/2026
The Women Without Boundaries Awards recognize women whose work is advancing the future of media, broadcast, AV, workplace technology, digital experience, and re...
10/06/2026
Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...
10/06/2026
SES is supporting broadcast distribution of the world's biggest football tou...
10/06/2026
NDI has announced that BirdDog has become the first hardware manufacturer to achieve full NDI 6.3 compatibility across its complete lineup of cameras, encoders,...
10/06/2026
Vince Caputo and Scott Carter, winners of the 2026 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Post Produced Audio have been announced as presenters for the 2026 SVG Advanced A...
10/06/2026
FOX One today unveiled a slate of new product features and enhancements designed to elevate the viewing experience for fans on the official streaming platform o...
10/06/2026
Primary production partners Dome Productions and Raycom Sports once again played...
10/06/2026
The Women in Sports Filmmaking Experienceship is an immersive professional devel...
10/06/2026
The league has expanded its HSAN architecture for the NBA Finals to manage more ...
10/06/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Winter Draft will take place Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at Cosm Los Angeles from 7-9 p.m. PT. The event will strea...
10/06/2026
The University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics Department and Learfield have announce...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has released TR-06-4 Part 8, a new specification for RIST Satellite-Hybrid: Out-of-Band Method. The specification creates a mecha...
10/06/2026
Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, supporting live medical proc...
10/06/2026
A still from The Doom Generation by Gregg Araki (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
By Lucy Spicer
Have you checked out our Sundance Film Festival 101 list yet...
10/06/2026
Get Hands-On with Interfaces & Mic Preamp Brands
If youre after a new interface or preamp, then GearExpo UK is the place to be! Well have a whole host of au...
10/06/2026
November 13-14 2026, The Midway, San Francisco
Following their recent rebranding, MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo) have officially announced thei...
10/06/2026
Debut instrument free for limited time
deFORM is the debut release from newly founded developer ebbandflow, and it's being offered as a free download fo...
10/06/2026
Alone Australia Season 4: Meet the Cast
10 June, 2026
Media releases
WATCH THE TRAILER
Smash-hit survival series Alone Australia drops its highly anticipa...
10/06/2026
DEADLY THEN, DEADLY NOW, DEADLY ALWAYS: SBS & NITV IGNITE NAIDOC WEEK 2026 WITH ...
10/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF advance laser-based drone defense with THORIS LCS Rohde & Schwarz is showcasing THORIS at ILA 2026: A sovereign, end to end counter...
10/06/2026
MAHLE and Rohde & Schwarz develop application for sensor testing of modern drive...
10/06/2026
Production and Development Funding supports the creation of compelling, commercially viable, artistic and culturally relevant South African screen content. Deve...
10/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
10/06/2026
Accedo, Humans not Robots, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have announced the launch of Ecoflow X. Formerly an IBC Accelerator project, ...
10/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced that James Smith has joined the company as General Manager...
10/06/2026
At the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for live medical procedures s...
10/06/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media, and entertainment managed services, today announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform powered by Or...
10/06/2026
Klvr will showcase how venues, integrators and production teams are rethinking disposable battery usage at InfoComm 2026 (Las Vegas, June 17-19, booth #N6311). ...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a new feature, RIST Satellite-Hyb...
10/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/06/2026
10 Jun 2026
VEON's Banglalink Brings Every World Cup 2026 Match to Football...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
How to watch every ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match live on Sky Sports
Where is the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 availabl...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
P RLA brings first-ever Beautifully Clean Oral Care'...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
Sky reveals pulse-pounding first teaser trailer for upco...
10/06/2026
Wuppertal June 10, 2026
Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurovascular ConferenceAt the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Li...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Showcases New Mobile Experience, Collections and Games Vision in APAC
Product
10 June 2026
GlobalSouth KoreaJapan
Link copied to c...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Ready to Join? The Netflix Fan Club Arrives at Cannes Lions
Business
10 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Download all assets
N...
10/06/2026
Chemists snap together complex 3D molecules from highly reactive radicals-without losing their shape Scripps Research team develops stereoretentive radical-radi...
09/06/2026
Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...
09/06/2026
SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...
09/06/2026
EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...
09/06/2026
Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...
Grass Valleys Ian Fletcher takes TVBEurope behind the scenes of its GV Live Presents - Engage 2020 event, which was produced entirely in the Cloud.
