Skehan Communications Augments Production Truck Capacity with Matrox posted: 20/10/2015
Skehan production truck with multi-camera recording system based on the Matrox VS4 quad HD-SDI capture card and the VS4Recorder Pro software
Skehan Communications, a leading video production and transmission company provides multi-camera HD video production, webcasting, satellite uplinks and other unique services to broadcasters, Fortune 500 companies, professional associations and government agencies. Though based in the Washington-Baltimore region, their projects have taken them to many impressive locations from San Francisco to Boston.
Specializing in remote, multi-camera HD field production, the company covers all types of events and shows. Recent events include:
Horatio Alger Association Awards & Induction Dinner
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Holiday Lectures on Science
US Conference of Catholic Bishops Annual General Assembly
ESPN's Baseball Tonight
History Makers & PBS: An Evening With Gwen Ifill
Opera House Live: Dr. John Concert for the Smithsonian Channel
Interludes DC: Jill Scott for the TV One network
OTAKON 2015 Convention of anime' afficionados
The company prefers to own its equipment and facilities so seldom relies on outside sources. Its eight-camera mobile production truck, named Kiwi , is readily adaptable to any kind of HD television production requirement, thanks in part to its multi-camera recording system based on the Matrox VS4 quad HD-SDI capture card and the VS4Recorder Pro software.
The Drive for Change
Before integrating the Matrox-based system into their equipment arsenal, the production truck already had six disc-based media recorders. Then one client had a specific need to record eight camera feeds as well as two program feeds, increasing the requirement to ten recording channels. At a cost of approximately $3600 per recorder, adding the extra capacity with more of the same recorders was not an affordable solution and wouldn't offer the desired operational flexibility and ease of retrieving and moving files around.
VS4Recorder Pro in the foreground - inside the production truck
Mike Skehan, CEO of Skehan Communications was on the lookout for a capture card on which to base a multi-channel HD recording server. The solution had to be financially practical and at the same time not make the operational workflow overly complex.
Plus, Skehan saw the growing need for redundant recordings at varying bitrates using a variety of codecs. He wanted to get the most versatility and efficiency for as small a cost as possible. The company had already transitioned away from video tape recorders (VTRs) to file-based workflows for recording and playback. Now it was time to find a more efficient and affordable solution to meet clients' needs.
Solution Discovered
After exploring several hard drive-based options, Skehan found a few custom recorders that suited the need, but at a cost of about $5000 per recording channel. Then he came across Matrox VS4. The VS4, with its VS4Recorder Pro software and VS4Control feature, seemed to hold the promise of an affordable solution, said Skehan. It had everything needed to record HD video for multiple channels.
Skehan production truck interior displaying the monitor wall - multi-camera recording system based on the Matrox VS4 quad HD-SDI capture card and the VS4Recorder Pro software
When Skehan Communications tackles a show, there are often varying recording needs to be met. The most basic is to record a main program along with a program backup. However, many clients want their main camera, and perhaps others, recorded as isolated (ISO) feeds. This covers them in case of a misstep in the program switching. ISO recordings are also used in post-production to produce varying versions of the event. In the Skehan truck, all recorders have routable inputs, so the VS4 recording server's four channels can be used for any source coming into, or generated by, the truck.
A necessity of recording is the ability to share a common time code across all the equipment. VS4Recorder Pro offers three options for master time code set up - Embedded SDI, System Time, or Time of Day. The system Skehan built uses an external GPS-based time code generator to reference their server's system clock, so every recording has exactly the same time code.
One of the larger shows Skehan Communications has covered is the annual Horatio Alger Awards & Induction Ceremonies dinner held at the DAR Constitution Hall to honor new members. This is an organization of philanthropic individuals whose mission is to promote and fund higher education for disadvantaged students. This remote production typically entails four days of work: two days of set up, a day of rehearsal, and the show day. In previous years, only a few selected feeds could be ISO recorded and that proved inadequate when it came time to edit after the event. This year, ten cameras including two robotics were used and all feeds were ISO recorded. In addition to the ISO recordings, two program recordings were done. VS4Recorder Pro made it easy to meet all the recording requirements synchronously so the show was covered in its entirety without missing anything.
Camera atop a jib platform recording the Horatio Alger Association Awards and Induction Dinner program
Workflow and Benefits
Having four HD recording channels in a networked 4RU server chassis, the ability to record to multiple codecs, in varying bitrates, and the capability to record to a wide variety of storage devices - including to a RAID (redundant array of independent disks) - has made the production process a lot easier for Skehan Communications and its clients. The new workflow, with the redundancy offered by the RAID, provides an added measure of securi
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Skehan Communications Augments Production Truck Capacity with Matrox posted: 20/10/2015 
