
Op-Ed: Going Remote to Stay Close By SVG Staff
Thursday, July 2, 2020 - 11:16 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
It's been a busy year so far at Lawo, albeit for different reasons than originally anticipated. While all hands were on deck to ready the equipment for major sporting events in the US, Japan, Europe and other parts of the world, covid-19 brought the world to a grinding halt. Or so it seemed.
Quite a few deadlines had to be met despite the pandemic to allow broadcasters to stay on air or to go full steam as soon as sporting events resume. This has allowed the team to confirm that the solutions designed for remote production are also perfect for deployment and remote commissioning.
Lawo's belief in manufacturer-agnostic industry standards and its active contribution to leading organizations helped pave the way for AES67, Ember+, and ST2110, without which remote (remi, at home) production would be unthinkable. First applied on a massive scale in 2016, in France, this production approach is now in the process of going mainstream. And there is more to remote than meets the eye.
Factory acceptance tests, network and system configurations, improvised, yet professional remote workstations, product demonstrations and training, gear updates The Lawo team has been able to work through the lockdown and social distancing scenario, delivering an awe-inspiring series of real-life solutions in the face of adversity-thanks to the visionary adoption of IP technology over a decade ago.
Putting two and two together to come up with an effective strategy for each individual case was no doubt the main ingredient. Rather than having to find out to what extent the equipment installed on the client's premises would tolerate remote access, Lawo engineers merely had to devise ways of interacting with clients and allowing them to both control devices from afar and monitor how they responded, obviously in real-time.
VPN connections played a part, but so did remote desktop and video conferencing software. Control software for the Power Core units (VisTool), mc consoles series (mxGUI) and other devices (HTML) that provide virtual hands-on access to whatever clients are interested in have been around for a while.
An important consideration was how to allow operators in different parts of the world to see what was going on-simultaneously and interactively. This was solved for the world's first factory acceptance test for the Norwegian broadcaster NRK, which went so well that it was repeated only days later for other gear.
Although the communication software varied, each remote project brought more refined solutions to the table. For WDR in Germany, for instance, which was to be in charge of broadcasting the (now rescheduled) European soccer championship, Lawo's V__remote4 was used as eyes and ears for the specialists in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Desktop-sharing software was all it took to allow operators in Rio de Janeiro to control and configure V__matrix C100 blades in Rastatt (Germany) during a virtual training session, which started out with four Globo engineers but quickly attracted ten more.
In the light of the above, remotely configuring NEP USA's new SS4 OB truck, and configuring and factory-accepting two full-IP OB trucks in Germany from Belgium and the Netherlands, almost pale in comparison, even though they were successful remote deliveries in their own right.
Other examples include virtualizing MCRs and on-air studios in the US, Colombia, Europe, Ghana and many other countries-all from the homes of Lawo team members who managed to put the distanced engineers of the various broadcasters in firm-and safe-control of their operations.
Channel 9's new green-field project in Australia, for its part, was configured from six different countries and vastly different time zones: Norway (north of the Arctic Circle), Jordan, Germany, Switzerland, the USA and Canada. That particular Lawo team not only prides itself on using its SMART telemetry solution for real-time status updates along the way, but also on the fact that over 50 tons of CO2 were saved in the process, because nobody was allowed to go on-site.
Audio engineers will probably argue that the absolute highlight is Lawo's Mix Kitchen solution for its mc ecosystem, which can be controlled from any place in the world with a decent internet connection-even using a smartphone as a 4G personal hotspot.
The ingredients for the above have been in place all along. Someone just had to put two and two together. The idea came to fruition during a remote product demonstration involving one console in Antwerp (Belgium) for real-time control of its sibling in Groningen (The Netherlands), two webcams and a Google Hangouts session. Layer and page switching, fader movements and setting tweaks in Antwerp were immediately replicated by the console in Groningen. How much more remote can you get to stay close to your customer base?
Oh and, 2020 is a very special year for Lawo. But the team decided that the 50th-anniversary celebrations in different parts of the world can wait until social mingling is deemed safe again. They will likely be even more exuberant when the Lawo team has had time to reflect on what it managed to accomplish in-as the saying goes-interesting times. For now, most of them are busy assisting Lawo users with viable solutions based on existing Lawo technology.
CLICK HERE for detailed descriptions of a series of successful remote configurations, acceptance tests, demonstrations and training sessions.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Catgut Sound Owner and Production Sound Mixer Chris Welcker, CAS, has built a career at the intersection of music and film. A former musician and composer, Welc...
07/04/2026
SDVI Corporation today announced the next generation of its Rally media supply chain management platform, introducing a redesigned orchestration engine that rep...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's leading streaming television channels, at NAB 2026 will be launching new Studio services to help content ow...
07/04/2026
Ikegami USA has chosen NAB 2026 in Las Vegas as the launch platform for new additions to its range of broadcast-quality television production equipment. These w...
07/04/2026
April 19, 2026, Las Vegas Kiloview, an innovative provider of AV-over-IP technologies, will showcase its latest broadcast IP solutions at NAB 2026, presenting...
07/04/2026
Bitmovin has announced support for Server-Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI) across its playback products using HLS interstitials, enabling more advanced ad-supported s...
07/04/2026
Synamedia is unveiling AI by Quortex at The NAB show, a just-in-time AI plugin framework that applies intelligence only when needed across video processing, dis...
07/04/2026
Cuez will showcase four additions to its cloud-based newsroom, rundown and automation platform at NAB Show 2026 (April 18 22, Las Vegas, Booth N1867):
Cuez ...
07/04/2026
CueScript to Showcase Innovations at NAB that Add Mobility Options, Ease Editing...
07/04/2026
Barix Extends Transport Options for Multi-Engine IP Encoder
Brie Clayton April 7, 2026
0 Comments
New for NAB, Barix adds SRT and RIST support to Mult...
07/04/2026
Elite Media Technologies Selects Interra Systems' BATON File-Based QC Soluti...
07/04/2026
Tightrope Media Systems to Debut Cablecast LiveBridge for Simultaneous Streaming...
07/04/2026
Cuez Brings Four New Innovations to NAB 2026: From Story-Centric Newsroom to Ope...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Designed for synchronized multi-stream playback, low-latency delivery, and real-time analytics, MATCH introduces a unified viewing experience for sports broadca...
07/04/2026
Berklee Students to Honor George Martin with Performance of Original Scores The orchestra, led by associate professor Xander Rovang, will perform several work...
07/04/2026
THE GAA CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE BACK WITH A BANG
LIVE AND FREE TO AIR ACROSS ALL RT PLATFORMS
The Sunday Game and The Sunday Game Live return on Sunday 12 April
L...
06/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
06/04/2026
From high school sports all the way up to the major leagues, building high-quali...
06/04/2026
Quickplay, an AI company for the media and entertainment industry, has been accepted into the Advanced tier of the TwelveLabs Ecosystem Partner Program. Quickpl...
06/04/2026
Grass Valley has announced the Future Playmakers Program, a global initiative to...
06/04/2026
El l der de operaciones impulsa la producci n en estudio mientras encuentra insp...
06/04/2026
The ops leader helps lead the charge in studio for the Spanish-language broadcas...
06/04/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
06/04/2026
The National Hockey League (NHL), in partnership with Verizon and the New Jersey Devils, today announced the opening of the NHL Innovation Lab powered by Verizo...
06/04/2026
Rock League, a new professional curling league, has announced that ESPN+ will stream its inaugural 2026 season for fans in the United States. The first Rock Lea...
06/04/2026
Advanced Systems Group has announced the appointment of Andrea (Andy) Cummis as Vice President of Systems Design and Engineering. In this role, she will lead de...
06/04/2026
Backed by Bolt Ventures, the venture brings Bryson DeChambeau, Grant Horvat, and...
06/04/2026
With this environment we can start that collaboration even earlier because we ca...
06/04/2026
Like the immortal lives of vampires, some stories never really end. That's t...
06/04/2026
As podcasting continues to evolve, growth increasingly means building beyond aud...
06/04/2026
Multiband dynamics plug-in enhanced
California-based developer FSK Audio have released a significant update for their innovative multiband dynamics processo...
06/04/2026
Share official & user-created full-rig presets
IK Multimedia's latest TONEX update makes it possible for users of the popular amp and effects modelling ...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Dalet Showcases Dalia Agentic AI and End-to-End Media Workflows at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Dalet, a leading technology and...
06/04/2026
OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business Hub located in NAB Show...
06/04/2026
Proton to Demonstrate 3D Application at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Yet further creative potential unleashed through innovation in ...
06/04/2026
Autoscript Highlights Voice-Driven Prompting and PTZ Solutions at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Experience Autoscript Voice, PTZ prom...
06/04/2026
Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Sho...