Grass Valley Going Multiplatform At NAB

Grass Valley is promising “a new paradigm” in video switchers and cameras at this year’s NAB Show in an attempt to leap ahead of its competitors and meet the growing demand for live multiplatform production tools.

“Technology is now enabling nonlinear production, a chance to make the entire production-to-playout process efficient, including multiscreen delivery,” says Graham Sharp, SVP and chief marketing officer of Grass Valley.

Topping the new offerings is the GV Director Integrated Nonlinear Live Production Center, which starts at $35,000 for eight inputs and four outputs. It’s small and inexpensive enough for a wide range of applications and Grass Valley said it will be set to ship at the end of June.

The compact switcher combines touch-screen controls with traditional switcher buttons and T-bar control. It is software based and runs on mostly common hardware components forming a scalable CPU and GPU platform with custom designed I/O technology. It provides virtually unlimited M/E buses, keyers, 2D/3D graphics, localized clip storage and the ability to handle baseband and file-based sources.

“GV Director is a new approach to live production,” Sharp says. “By simplifying the processes — from set-up, to building a show and driving the live production, we have abstracted the complex technology layer, enabling operators to have control of all the components and become more creative. GV Director will get Grass Valley back into the low and mid-markets with a paradigm-shifting product.”

Individual productions (called program packs) can be built offline on a Mac or PC using GV Director compatible software. The software uses the same production engine used by the switcher during the live program with the performance for previewing relying on the processing and graphics power of the Mac or PC being used.

A production can be built creatively (and collaboratively, if desired) with graphics, transitions, multicamera set-ups, data feeds and more—all with no physical constraints as to the number of layers used.

Program designers can mix pre-built or custom-designed effects with media objects, with the knowledge that the program pack can be dynamically updated — even while on-air — with last-minute changes. Elements can be shared between program packs of different productions, so that a branded and consistent “look and feel” can be created.

The program pack is loaded via flash stick and the live show is run on the GV Director panel — a simple 26-button panel with OLED labels, T-bar and 8-inch portrait touchscreen. Six tabs on the touchscreen represent the basic elements necessary to run the show, such as live sources, graphics, effects and file-based media.

Any element (media or transition) can be assigned to any one of the 24 “action” buttons on the panel, including cameras, feeds and graphics for a traditional cut bus, transition effects or as a one-button trigger for a sequence of events.

In this way, complex branding, graphics, and transitions can be created offline and recalled. The switcher can be programmed for dual-feed output of the same program, providing a clean feed as well as a branded program.

Unlike traditional hardware-based production switchers where control panel resources have to be aggregated for each effect, the software-based GV Director eliminates this restriction as there are virtually unlimited live switcher resources available, usually at the push of a single button.

GV Director also makes use of the traditional shot box concept, allowing users to populate the touchscreen as a virtual shot box and call up assets to air either by touching the icon on the touchscreen or by pressing an assigned button.

Two buttons on the GV Director panel serve as “stage” and “take” buttons. Pressing the stage button brings the touchscreen into stage mode (with panel buttons remaining active for on-air switching). With stage mode, users can preview media and transition effects off-air, including replays, graphics placement and timing and live feeds, and then simply take those elements to air.

GV Director also includes basic audio mixing capabilities to handle embedded digital audio and external analog audio, while providing two stereo analog output pairs.

Also being introduced at NAB is the LDX Flex studio camera system, an entry-level offering to Grass Valley’s LDX Series of upgradable system cameras.

The affordable LDX Flex, priced at about $38,000, delivers the identical images and performance — and supports the use of the same accessories—as other cameras in the LDX Series for a single production format. However, it can be upgraded through the entire LDX range from LDX Première to LDX Elite and LDX WorldCam.

Designed as a cost-effective acquisition camera, the LDX Flex provides a wide range of gamma and knee adjustments, a secondary color corrector for two independent colors at the same time, and the choice of fiber or triax camera transmission using all the different versions of the 3G base stations, including the new XCU (eXchangeable Control Unit) WorldCam base station.

“By offering a single format entry point, our customers can buy what they need when they need it, confident that as their business grows, so can their cameras” Sharp says. “It is part of our strategy to innovate in business engagement as well as technology — making cameras software upgradable, provides lots of future flexibility in the product for both us and our customers”

Owners select the level of acquisition format they require. As their production needs change, they can upgrade as required through software updates. The upgrade advances every LDX Series camera to the next camera in the range.

The LDX Series support the following formats:

• LDX Flex: 1080i50, or 1080i59.94 or 720p50 or 720p59.94

• LDX Première: 1080i50/59.94 & 720p50/59.94

• LDX Elite: 1080PsF25/29.97, 1080i50/59.94 & 720p50/59.94

• LDX WorldCam: 1080p50/59.94, 1080PsF25/29.97, 1080i50/59.94 & 720p50/59.94

In addition, the company is introducing the XCU WorldCam eXchangeable Camera Control Unit. Compliant with all Grass Valley 3G Transmission solutions, the XCU concept will serve as the core design for all future Grass Valley base stations to simplify the way live content is produced and delivered.

The XCU is designed around a cradle concept—a pre-mounted and pre-wired cradle which allows for “slide-in” and “slide-out” of the XCU as needed. All connectivity remains in place with the cradle, except for the power and triax/fiber connection.

The cradle stores the previous XCU settings and automatically re-configures the incoming unit to the requirements of the production environment. XCUs are hot-swappable, and each comes with one cradle. Additional low-cost cradles are available separately.

“There are many times when additional cameras are needed in production trucks, and those cameras may come from other trucks in the fleet or be rented. Typically, this would mean moving not only the camera, but the base station as well—not the best of situations,”  Sharp says. “The XCU solves this problem by giving one camera multiple set-up possibilities with the ability to easily reallocate cameras with spare XCU cradles located in each truck and without time-consuming and costly cabling mistakes.”

Grass Valley will also introduce a new software release for its GV Stratus nonlinear production solution. With more than 1,500 seats now sold worldwide, this non-linear production solution delivers improved workflow efficiency by enabling users to work collaboratively and accomplish tasks in parallel.

The company is also launching new strategies for multiple screen distribution and storage at NAB.