DTV Audio Group's Webinar: Sound Is Joining the Move to Production in the Cloud Virtualization in live production is being driven by the COVID lockdown By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Thursday, September 3, 2020 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
A large and rotating cast over nearly 2 hours during the DTV Audio Group's Next Steps in Production Virtualization webinar underscored how quickly and comprehensively remote sports production has embraced the cloud and also illustrated how complex and uneven that uptake can be, particularly when it comes to audio. The online event, which took place on Aug. 19, was focused on the trend toward the virtualization of at-home live television production and how the coronavirus pandemic has served to accelerate this trend. The next logical step, according to many participants, is to move the entire production - including sound - into the cloud.
The webinar participants reflected the range of stakeholders in this migration. They included manufacturers Grass Valley, Telos Alliance, Dolby, Solid State Logic, and Lawo; services providers ranging from integrators (Advanced Systems Group) to cloud-services provider Amazon Web Services. From the content side were Activision Blizzard Sports and Starz/Lionsgate; from the operations side, PAC-12 Networks and Skywalker Sound.
The webcast was broken into three chapters: the Evolution of Complete Production Solutions in the Cloud, Realities of Working in the Cloud, and the Future of Audio Tools in the Cloud.
Audio Aims To Catch Up With Video DTVAG Executive Director Roger Charlesworth established the tone of the event, stating that the industry had been surprised at how quickly video had moved into the cloud but that audio had been lagging in that same migration.
We're looking at what the implications are for audio in the cloud, he stated, noting that video has seemed to integrate cloud-based operations sooner and more smoothly. A lot of production under COVID has had to be virtualized, and how does that affect audio?
Mark Stephens, lead, media and entertainment, global segment, Amazon Web Services, enumerated the cloud's advantages, noting that virtualized functionality, from servers to routers, can be spun up and spun down fast and as needed, and you're not paying for [unused] capacity, while [remote-production] trucks are high-capex, often site-idle, and cannot handle bursty' workloads.
Stephens also emphasized AWS's Elemental MediaConnect, a high-quality, secure-stream, real-time transport service for live video and audio.
Mike Cronk, VP, core technology, Grass Valley, detailed the company's recently launched GV Media Universe, an array of elastic virtual-world applications and microservices, such as replay decks and switchers, powered by the Agile Media Processing Platform (AMPP).
At DTVAG webinar on cloud production, Grass Valley's Mike Cronk discusses GV Media Universe with Lawo's Lucas Zwicker, Pac-12 Networks' Glenn Stillwell, DTVAG's Roger Charlesworth, Amazon Web Services' Mark Stephens, and Advanced Systems Group's Dave Van Hoy,
In the physical world, he said, you have to ship and then rack and connect via a router. We can do all this in the cloud.
However, Cronk also noted the chronic issues of latency and synch as audio moves back and forth between the cloud and endpoints during live productions, which shadows efforts to virtualize its handling, as well as current limitations on processing, such as audio compression.
From an audio point of view, we're still in the early stages, he said, analogizing the present migration to the cloud to how dedicated hardware migrated to computers. We're still in that continuum, which is moving towards [software as a solution] and the cloud. We recognize that there's a lot to solve, and it's a bigger task than any one company can handle.
Frames vs. Samples Dave Van Hoy, president, Advanced Systems Group, an AV systems integrator, focused on the practical challenges as ASG has helped sports networks optimize remote operations under COVID lockdowns. Explaining the crucial difference between the two domains, he noted video's frame-based form vs. audio's sample-based format, the latter not well-adapted to cloud operations, he contended.
But, importantly, he said that, although the extreme and literal at-home nature of major networks' remote production at the moment is a work-around, it could become a model for smaller operations. These would benefit from being able to access services and functionality via the cloud, instead of renting or investing in the hardware for it.
We're finding clients below the major-network level, Van Hoy said, speaking over an image of ASG's System Solution Diagram, a schematic of 17 virtual and hardware components that can be linked in a cloud environment. They need routing and video switching and comms and ways to do graphics and to bring in [remote] contributors. Finding all the pieces that can work at a reliable level has been an interesting process.
For audio, some of those pieces are Reaper multitrack audio software; Unity, a comms software solution designed for use in a cloud environment; and NewTek's Network Device Interface (NDI), a royalty-free software video standard that is frame-accurate and suitable for switching in a live-production environment.
Glenn Stillwell, senior audio engineering and operations manager, Pac-12 Networks, outlined an example of a signal path for audio using a Behringer X32 mixer - the continued need for physical faders for audio was a recurring theme - and NDI as a basic transport in conjunction with vMix's software-based video switcher and a Unity 4-wire comms system.
We're starting small; we're not doing the Super Bowl right out of the
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
01/06/2026
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...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
DTV Audio Group's Webinar: Sound Is Joining the Move to Production in the Cloud Virtualization in live production is being driven by the COVID lockdown By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
