BroadcastPro Middle East - June 2011 Issue

Technology inTelligence for TV, film and radio

issue 12 | June 2011

PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ

READY

REVIEWDPA mics in real life situations

VFX AnImAtIonReal Image talks 3D

IntERVIEWNETIA boss outlines Middle East strategy

CoLUmnOn-line media in the region? Not so much

MBC ditches tape for its high-profile HD launchMBC ditches tape for its high-profile HD launch

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solutions for each project. The staff of well qualified and trained engineers and technicians come together to produce significant and high quality engineering work.

Today, FGC dominates the broadcast Systems Integration business in Saudi Arabia, and is rapidly growing in its other business of General Contracting and Telecom Value Added Services (VAS).

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BroadcastPro ME’s web site has a new look. Visit broadcastprome.com

For the latest news, follow our tweets @BroadcastProME

PublisherDominic De Sousa

COONadeem Hood

Commercial DirectorRichard [email protected] +971 (0) 4 440 9126

ADvErtisiNgsales DirectorRaz [email protected] +971 4 440 9129

group sales ManagerSandip [email protected] +971 (0) 50 459 2653

senior EditorVijaya [email protected] +971 (0) 50 768 3435

CirCuLAtiONDatabase and Circulation ManagerRajeesh [email protected] +971 (0) 4 440 9147

PrODuCtiON AND DEsigNProduction ManagerJames P [email protected] +971 (0) 4 440 9146

DigitALwww.cpilive.netwww.broadcastprome.comwww.cpidubai.com

DigitAL sErviCEsDigital services ManagerTristan Troy P Maagma

Web DevelopersJerus King BationErik BrionesJefferson de JoyaLouie Alma

[email protected] +971 4 440 9100

© Copyright 2011 CPI. All rights reserved. While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

This month is a very emotional and humbling one for the BroadcastPro Middle East team as we look back at how much we have accomplished this past year since we launched last July. It took us a lot of courage to launch a broadcast magazine at a time when the market was hit by the global recession but today, I can proudly say that BroadcastPro ME is one of the most successful titles in the CPI stable.

Key to that success has been your faith in us. If the Arab production and broadcast industry did not support the launch of an alternative publication, we would not have been this successful.

Perhaps my most satisfying experience has also been working with a team that has respected the sanctity of editorial space and worked together

with me to build a product that aimed at maintaining the highest editorial standards. We firmly believed that if we had a good editorial product, the revenues would flow, and we are happy to say that our strategy has worked.

A year down the line, we can proudly point to the milestones we have achieved on different levels. On the one hand, we have exclusively featured some of the most high profile players in the Arab broadcast industry including Dr. Abdulaziz Khoja, Minister of Information and Culture, Saudi Arabia and Mohammed Al Marhouby, Director General of Engineering, Oman MOI.

Several major players like Saudi MOCI’s Dr. Riyadh Najm, and twofour54’s Hasan Sayed Hasan have authored guest columns for us. We hosted our first workshop for

the industry along with Dolby and hope to work more closely with partners to bring more training events to the region.

More importantly, we have had a finger on the pulse of the industry bringing the latest news accurately and reviews to you before anyone else. Despite having achieved a lot, we admit we have only just begun our journey.

We still have many promises and commitments to keep to this industry, and miles and miles to go before we sleep. We hope you will continue on this journey with us so we can together work towards building a production and broadcast industry par excellence in the Middle East.

www.broadcastprome.comsubscribe now

Vijaya Cherian, Senior Editor, BroadcastPro Middle East

Published by1013 Centre Road, New Castle County,Wilmington, Delaware, USA

Head OfficePO Box 13700Dubai, UAETel: +971 (0) 4 440 9100Fax: +971 (0) 4 447 2409 Printed byPrintwell Printing Press LLC

Welcome

CoverAndy Palmer, Group Director of Technical Operations, MBC

NETIA Content Management System

Manage increasing volumes of digital and media assets

Empower media delivery to multiple platforms, in multiple content formats

Increase ROI by optimizing operational costs and monitoring

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3 June 2011 | www.broadcastprome.com |

VFX sensationReal Image produces 3D sensation for young viewers

in this issue

JUNE 2011

20

5 news Harris MESA expands; Pay TV potential not reached in Arab world; wTVision at President’s Cup; Zeiss workshop in Dubai.

14 CoVeR stoRY Tech director Andy Palmer talks about the upgrades at MBC Group for its HD launch on July 1.

28 ReView David Thirion tests two DPA mics at a Dubai event.

14

4028

32 teCh updates Specialists look at monitoring.

40 inteRView NETIA boss talks about the

company’s Middle East plans.

42 CLoud - iii Andy Davies about applying cloud infrastructure to broadcast.

48 Guest CoLuMn Online media remains weak in the Middle East: Ismail Patel.

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wTVision recently provided a complete on-air graphics service for the President’s Cup to Abu Dhabi Sport and Live, its OB production arm. The solution, which was provided to the end user included a live-to-air demo service of wTVision’s SportVU tracking system, which was used for the first time in the UAE to deliver more accurate and detailed on-air graphics, such as heat maps and distance covered.

“During the President’s Cup final, we provided all the statistics and player data we generally provide during the UFL Etisalat League games and other UAE competitions throughout the year,” commented Glenn De Maeseneer, who recently moved from wTVision’s office in Brussels to Dubai as Middle East sales manager.

“However, as an extra service for the President’s Cup, we presented a live-to-air demo of our sportVU tracking system. This tracking system allows you to gather more profound data on a player’s and team’s performance. It can show you the speed of one player, his

distance covered and the team’s positioning throughout the game. This helps viewers gain more knowledge about their favourite team’s player’s performance and helps coaches evaluate their tactics and a player’s individual performance. This data was, at the same time, automatically streamed to our SportStats CG SW system from where we generated the graphics to show the information on-air.”

By keeping track of the players’ movements during a game, the sportVU system is able to process data such as distance covered, the speed of a player or a team and its positioning during the game.

wTVision also used Football Stats CG, a product that allows for the entire operation to occur, from the data gathering integration to the on-air graphics playout system.

Harris expands Mesa servicesHarris’ Middle East and South Asia (MESA) office has begun a recruitment drive to expand its operations and improve its support services in the region, BroadcastPro ME has learnt. The company has also expanded its Dubai office, which now includes customer demonstration and training areas.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Harris MESA roadshow that began in Dubai and toured other countries including Doha, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, Said Bacho, vice president of Harris MESA told BroadcastPro ME that the company has combined its resources, and reorganised its team to serve the region more cost effectively and productively.

“We have resources in Dubai, Beirut, Delhi and other cities in India. We recently hired a manager for Turkey, and now have a structure that enables us to share our resources between different countries within MESA,” added Bacho.

Harris MESA has also created a pre-sales team led by David Jamieson, who joined the company recently as Head of Solutions and Emerging Business. Jamieson will work out of Dubai from July and said he will look to bring “more skill sets into the mix including solution architects and new product specialists to expand support activities in the pre-sales phase”.

By the end of June, Harris MESA is also looking to fill three key positions including a Product Specialist to handle its servers, automation and asset management markets, a Bid Manager for its transmitters and a Marketing Communications Assistant.Watch the full video interview with David Jamieson on www.broadcastprome.com/category/videos/

President’s CuP goes to air with wtVision

ricky GHai appointed ceo of eros diGitalAfter reporting Ricky Ghai’s exit from Abu Dhabi Media (ADM) last month, BroadcastPro ME has learnt that he will join Eros International’s digital arm as CEO from July 2011.

Eros Digital is the digital and new media arm of Eros International, a major integrated Indian film studio. Ghai will be based in Eros’ operating offices primarily in India, as well as the UAE, UK and US.

Ghai joins Eros at a strategic period as the company is presently embarking on a huge project aimed at digitising its 2,100-strong film library, which will assist the company in monetising its intellectual property. Digitisation of content will enable Eros to deliver its content across web, mobile and other new media platforms. It will also enable Eros to easily access the entire Indian diaspora across the world, as well as domestically in India.

Speaking about Ghai’s appointment, Kishore Lulla, executive chairman of Eros said: “Eros Digital will be an increasingly large contributor to Eros International Plc’s growth over the medium term and the appointment of Ricky is a statement of our intent in this arena. We are already involved in cutting edge developments in the digital sphere, including the full digitisation of our extensive movie library. I am confident that Ricky will add greatly to our existing digital momentum.”

Ricky Ghai, CEO, Eros Digital.

Pic from another game shows player comparison.

De Maeseneer recently moved from Brussels to Dubai as wTVision’s ME sales manager.

The roadshow in Turkey and below, Said Bacho.


Pronews

first Gulf baGs us $3.5 Million project in ksaSaudi systems integrator First Gulf Company has secured a US $3.5 million project to connect all of Saudi TV’s channels to its new archiving centre. The project was awarded last month and is scheduled for completion well before CABSAT in February.

The SI also delivered three OB vans, one of which was a 16-camera OB van to the state broadcaster last month.

Mediacast appointed Middle east Master dealer for newtek

MediaCast has been appointed Master Dealer of NewTek products for the UAE, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The deal was signed by 3D Storm (NewTek Europe), NewTek’s EMEA distributor.

Speaking about the deal, Peyman Dadpanah, business director of MediaCast said: “NewTek technology increases live video production and saves time and money – benefits we will capitalise on in today’s environment.”

MediaCast will distribute the latest products of the Tricaster Family, including Tricaster 850 and Tricaster 850 EXTREME, an advanced portable live production system, the 3Play, LightWave 10 and Speed-edit.

sabco Media confirMs radio launcH in oManSabco Media has confirmed that it will launch a new English-language radio station called Merge 104.8 in the coming weeks. The team that will run the channel’s daily operations has also been hired. The new radio station will carry a mix of young and contemporary music but will retain a local flavour to cater to Oman’s local as well as expatriate population.

Dubai-based systems integrator Qvest Media FZ LLC has been contracted to provide the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi with a new, high-tech audio network from Riedel for the transmission of audio signals.

The 22,000 sqm mosque, which can accommodate 40,000 worshippers, required more than 50 loudspeakers to be installed at the mosque, the minarets and the courtyards. Now, the mosque has upgraded its audio network with Riedel technology in order to transmit the microphone signals with

the best possible sound quality and with zero delay.

The upgrade will include a new, real-time audio control system that is based on a fully scalable Riedel RockNet 300 infrastructure. This will be deployed at the mosque’s audio control room to ensure interference-free distribution of microphone signals.

Ten remotely controllable RockNet microphone line-in modules will, in the future, provide the option of handling a total of 80 incoming signals.

Ten RockNet line-output modules also have 80 outputs,

which are used for output to the audio console. To ensure perfect transfer of the audio signals, Qvest Media is also supplying additional RockNet in-line repeaters that allow a completely interference-free connection distance of up to 300 metres.

The technical crew of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque will install the individual components over the next six weeks. During this phase, however, there will be no interruptions to the mosque’s operation, as the systems will be integrated outside the main prayer times.

QVest Media PerfeCts audio at sheikh zayed MosQue with riedel

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi can accommodate 40,000 people.

Peyman Dadpanah.

6 | www.broadcastprome.com | June 2011

Pronews

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Dubai-based production solutions provider Eclipse Staging Services has invested in a large Sennheiser KR-400 system that comprises a total of eight KL21MA subs and 16 KK-400 tops, which can be used as a single large array or four compact systems.

Speaking about the reason for the purchase, Eclipse CEO, Mark Brown said: “When Ryan Burr from Sennheiser Middle East and Dave Wooster from Sennheiser UK took me to a demo of the KR400s in a line array configuration, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing - and seeing. The boxes are tiny, but they sound very impressive. And when I heard the price, I decided to purchase them for the new season starting in September.

“The speakers and powered subs can be used as speakers on sticks, or as a full line array and when you work in the conference market, as we do, speakers are to be heard and not seen, so the KR400 was an answer to a prayer.”

The KR-400 is the first of K-array’s Redline that incorporates a system specifically

designed for hanging larger configurations, as well as being able to use it as a small, discreet, portable system. The 21” sub and dual top configuration of 24 x 3” drivers in a line array format ensures that there is some serious punch, whilst maintaining a crisp and fresh top end.

“I think that the designers of this array are taking corporate sound issues seriously and reacting to what they hear from companies like us in a positive manner. This is truly an inspirational moment in the development of sound systems,” Brown added.

Eclipse already has a comprehensive inventory of audio equipment, as well as lighting, video and staging solutions. The inclusion of the KR-400 systems is another feather in its cap.

nMl represents d’san corpProfession AV solutions distributor, Nicolas Kyvernitis Electronics Enterprises (NMK), will represent D’San Corporation and its products across the region from now on. D’San Corporation’s products include both speaker timers and wireless cue lights, which are regularly in demand by the Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing and Exhibitions (MICE) industry.

booMtown launcHes online arMDubai-based production house Boomtown Productions has launched BOOMTOWN 2.0, its digital content production arm. The new arm offers a range of e-production services including branded online content, digital strategy consultation, rich media digital banners, webmercials, mobile video apps and corporate site videos.

news corp ups stake in rotanaNews Corp has raised its stake in Rotana Group, owned primarily by Prince Alwaleed to 14.5% for $35m as it seeks to boost its presence in the Middle East media market. News Corp, which first took a 9.09% stake in Rotana in May 2010 for $70m, exercised half of its option to double the stake to 18.2% and is retaining the right to exercise the rest before November 2012.

baHrain sports cHannel Moves toHd broadcastsBahrain TV’s sports channel has begun test broadcasts in HD. Acting director of Bahrain Radio and TV Corporation Ali Al Rumaihi said the move is “part of a development strategy to upgrade satellite broadcasting and keep pace with cutting-edge digital revolution”.He added that the HD broadcast is part of an ambitious project led by Bahrain’s Information Affairs Authority (IAA) to promote the country’s media.

Pay TV could potentially achieve a much higher subscriber base in the MENA region with a better pricing strategy, according to Technosat owner Irshad Contractor, who recently secured a deal with MBC to broadcast the network’s HD bouquet on Technosat set top boxes (STB).

“If you look at successful pay TV markets like the US, the UK, India and China, you wonder why it has not been so successful in the MENA region. 95% of our boxes are used free-to-air and this market is taking close to a million STBs a month. If it’s a 10 million STB market every year and the total number of connected homes with Pay TV is not even a million, where

are the rest of the 9 million going? It is going to FTA and this is a market where people can afford to pay. In India, 90 million homes pay for pay TV because on an average, they pay about US $6 dollars a month. I believe if the pricing is about $10-15 a month, there would be a lot of scope to increase the number of pay TV viewers because there are about 50 million receivers connected in the MENA region presently,” he said.

Contractor has licensed MBC’s HD channels for his new ICHD platform, hoping this will be the catalyst to drive the number of connected homes.

“Our objective is to build an infrastructure first to the connected homes and then, let the content operators join

us gradually. Our target is to have one million connected homes in the first one or two years and then, keep growing. Content operators would then be able to charge a small amount for their share in the region. $10 a month should be a good basic package.”

Read our full video interview with Irshad Contractor on www.broadcastprome.com /category/videos/

sennHeiser Me supplies eclipse staGinG services witH k-array kr400 systeM

tecHnosat boss says pay tv potential not reacHed in Mena

Irshad Contractor.

Mark Brown, CEO of Eclipse.


Pronews

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Its excellent directivity and improved off-axis linearity ensure a clear and natural sound recording, whether you are in the studio or outdoors. Its RF circuitry means that it is virtually immune to damp and condensation.

Part of the flexible MKH 8000 series, just add the MZD 8000 and it is a digital mic.Sennheiser Middle East

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More than 100 professionals from the Middle East still photography and production market gathered last month at Colonia Studio, Dubai for a workshop on lenses conducted by distributor Advanced Media Trading in conjunction with Carl Zeiss.

Earlier this year, Advanced Media was appointed distributor of Zeiss lenses in the UAE.

The workshop, which aimed to educate attendees on the generic aspects of lenses and also demonstrate some of the Zeiss lenses in the market, is one of many

training events conducted by the distributor in the UAE.

Kaveh Farnam, CEO of Advanced Media explained the rationale behind becoming a Zeiss distributor earlier this year and conducting such a workshop.

“When DSLR became quite popular with videographers, it was clear that video manufacturers would also come out with a competing product that had a progressive format but with a codec that did not do extreme compression like the DSLR models. Just as we anticipated, Sony came out with NEX-3 and immediately after, launched the NEX-5, which supports both AVCHD and MPEG-4 formats and comes with the E-mount. This mount is from Zeiss. As a distributor of Sony cameras, I pre-empted the launch of a more advanced model from Sony that would be progressive and with E-mount for the video market and we anticipated that Sony would work with Zeiss yet again. This is the reason I approached Zeiss to become its distributor in the region.”

Surely enough, as predicted,

Sony released the NEX-FS100 Super 35mm camcorder, and worked with Zeiss.

More importantly, Zeiss also has a range of lenses that appeals to the professional photography market and this is important for Advanced Media, which sells high-end equipment to this market.

At the workshop, attendees were exposed to different lenses from Zeiss including a cost effective range of DSLR lenses recommended for those with lower budgets, while its CP.2 lenses deliver greater flexibility by introducing interchangeable mounts that allow the lenses to be used with a wide range of cameras from traditional cine to HDSLR systems.

“With the NEX-FS 100, you get a camera that is a little under US $6,000. This is a Super 35mm camera with options to mount different lenses and this makes filmmaking easy for low budget filmmakers also.

“Furthermore, if you want more lenses, you could either opt to buy two CP.2 lenses or buy a whole package of five DSLR lenses for US

$9,000. Both lenses have similar optical properties. The CP.2, however, comes with a housing that gives greater flexibility for video shoots while the DSLR lenses work just as well although they are a lot more compact. At a workshop like this, it is easier to show people the different kinds of lenses and enable them to talk to experts about what options would suit them best,” explained Farnam.

Lens workshop in Dubai attracts camera pros

The Carl Zeiss team led the workshop at Colonia Studio, Dubai.

Kaveh Farnam, CEO, Advanced Media.


Pronews

Around the world, media server systems manufacturers have been delivering servers with more ingest and output channels than before. Our Broadcast Servers World 2011 report, published in May, revealed a trend towards the provision of more channels per chassis than in the past. Traditionally, most servers have often tended to be a ‘one in and one out’ channel configuration, but manufacturers are seeing a trend towards typical users needing a more capable server in a single chassis.

Formerly, they would stack more servers in an equipment rack to replicate and build out capacity, whereas now they seem to seek more capacity in a single server. This may, in fact, be a concern rising from the growing need to handle more varied encoding and decoding in the same workflow. Almost every major brand appears to have adopted this strategy, re-configuring their product lines in the past year to accommodate the trend,

Media servers provide more channels

Douglas I. Sheer is CEO & Chief Analyst of DIS Consulting Corporation.

or perhaps even setting it, by adding this choice of multi-channel servers to their line. Among such brands offering larger-channel capacity multi-channel servers are EVS, Grass Valley, Omneon/Harmonic, DVS and Harris. But, other brands are also following suit. The report data shows that the average installed media server chassis has four inbound (ingest) channels and eight outbound (play-out) channels, respectively.

The new research study, Broadcast Servers World (BSW) 2011, was conducted, largely by on-line data collection methods, this winter, worldwide, and collected over 1,100 end-user responses from within five geographic regions – USA, Europe, Middle-East/Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas – and four vertical user segments – Broadcast, Cable, Production/Post and Institutional –and sorted the data accordingly.

From a server applications standpoint, BSW 2011 shows that despite a stronger

than usual proclivity for specific server uses such as Editing, VOD/.NVOD and News, most professional users listed Combined Use (53%) when asked about their main application for their servers. This goes to support the fact that many servers today are being deployed in facilities in a centralised manner and serving multiple purposes in the typical workflow.

It is not uncommon to see their place in a workflow re-configured in the same day, somewhat of a departure from earlier periods. Combined use has always been strong as a choice, but this strengthening shows that customers have to be flexible in their server uses.

This is an interesting development in that servers had become quite commoditised as their prices fell during the recession and the previous trend had been to streamline and make servers more affordable to retain customers. Furthermore, however counter-intuitively, workflows have tended to require different servers at varying intermediate points in the signal flows, leading us to expect a furtherance of the use of smaller more specific servers rather than larger more capable ones. Larger storage capacity, outside of the server, a simultaneous trend, has also suggested smaller servers would be desired. PRO

Media server applications owned/installed all regions and segments

Combined USe

playoUt & delivery

ingeSt

SportS/live eventS

newS

prodUCtion/poSt

media management

digital Cinema

video on demand

arChive/Storage

web internet

editing

ad inSertion

ColoUr CorreCtion

0 10 20 30 40


PROTRENDS

MBC Group’s ambitious plans to launch a High Definition (HD) version of its free-to-air (FTA) bouquet on July 1, 2011, has meant making significant technical changes within its Dubai facility. For one, the move has seen the broadcaster bring forward its tapeless, file-based workflow strategies and undertake corresponding investment in equipment.

“We’re going on air with seven HD channels on July 1 on a new satellite, offering MBC 1, 2 and 4, together with MBC MAX, ACTION, Drama and Alarabiya in HD to our audience, and we have had to bring forward some of our investment in tapeless workflows to meet this challenge,” explains Andy Palmer, group director of technical operations.

“There are already several tapeless workflows in progress at MBC in order to provide HD and we will build on that in the next 18 months to ensure that everything is file based. Recently, we moved the whole of the post production process and compliance editing into a file-based environment.”

As part of this transition, the broadcaster also elected to make strategic shifts in its transmission control, ingest and media management areas from solutions presently installed at its facility to others that it claim provide greater operational efficiency and functionality in a cost-effective manner.

Unwinding with MBCTechnical preparations are under way at MBC for the launch of the network’s HD bouquet on July 1. BroadcastPro ME brings you the details from Andy Palmer, group director of technical operations at MBC


PROEXCLUSIVE

The Group recently renewed its automation and server solutions; it replaced its existing Harris ADC automation system with Neptune playout automation from Pebble Beach Systems (PBS) and also migrated from the SeaChange platform to Omneon Spectrum.

“We were primarily looking for additional functionality on the automation side and there are a lot of modern automation systems available today that allow for easy media movement and media management. Neptune has helped us put our first toe in the water without having to invest in media asset management immediately although we are in the middle of an RFP process for a MAM solution as well,” explains Palmer.

Solutions from three major players were initially assessed and one was discounted early in the process because of concerns about reliability. Following extensive on-site evaluation and operational preference, Neptune was ultimately selected, says Palmer.

“When you narrow down to the two major players in the field, it comes down to the system the people will prefer to work with; technical functionality at that point becomes a given. We examined the market and ended up looking at both Pebble Beach and Probel. Our automation staff preferred Pebble Beach because of the functionality and the training and they were more comfortable with it so we went with it,” Palmer explains.

Neptune, therefore, sits at the heart of the MBC system workflow providing intelligent ingest, playout and fully file-based workflow management. It also provides a sophisticated content management facility.

Included with Pebble Beach’s Neptune automation is its Anchor media management functionality. Together, the solution features a total of seven playlists to play out a mix of server-based and live programmes. It also comes with a redundancy configuration that includes seven active parallel backup chains, with some mirrored devices. The system includes three preview lists.

“We’re going on air with seven HD channels on July 1 on a new satellite, offering MBC 1, 2 and 4, together with MBC MAX, ACTION, Drama and Alarabiya ... and we have had to bring forward ... our investment in tapeless workflows to meet this challenge”Andy Palmer, group director of technical operations, MBC.


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Putting Sound in the Picture

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207x270_CPI_DUBAI.indd 1 25/05/2011 17:45

Samir Isbaih, who project managed the operations for PBS in Dubai says the company’s “highly developed Anchor content management functionality was one of the major factors influencing the sale”.

“Anchor is responsible for media movement between servers and the near online storage. It restores any media required for the playlists which may be missing from the server but is available on the near line storage, and also allows rule-based media movement of files between partitions on the near line storage.”

At MBC, Anchor Media Management manages transfers between two Omneon servers (newly installed as part of this project), near line storage with multiple partitions, low res management and a deep archive library.

In addition, transmission, ingest and preview processes are controlled from 11 client workstations.

Explaining the choice of Omneon transmission servers, Palmer says: “We bought an Omneon Spectrum server for transmission. This is what we are using now and will use in the future when we are fully tapeless. We chose this solution and our HD file format to give us maximum flexibility and to launch more channels more cheaply in the future.”

The present workflow sees Neptune interfacing with Broadcast Master traffic and ingesting media onto Omneon Spectrum servers from tape or a live feed. Metadata is also imported and generated at this point. Once material has been QC (Quality control) passed by the operator, Neptune’s automated content management passes the transmission-ready clips to nearline storage, whilst those requiring editing are transferred to different folders on the same storage for further manipulation before being passed as transmission-ready.

Schedules are loaded automatically, with Neptune prioritising the restore to the main and backup Omneon servers based on the material which is required on air soonest.

To date, PBS claims to have provided operational training to more than 40 operators at MBC, while engineering training was carried out last month.

TECH SPECS Two identical Omneon Spectrum servers, one main, one backup Eight VTRs controlled by Sony protocol 1 512x512 Probel router Seven Vizrt Content Pilot template-based graphics engines 14 NVision switchers 7 DigCart audio devices Low res management Near line storage device Archive Library


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In addition, the UK-based company adds that both online and on-site support is being provided regularly to the end user.

“We have a very interactive relationship with the end user, both from our headquarters in the UK and in the form of onsite visits to undertake commissioning and training,” says Isbaih.

From July 1, the new installation will enable MBC to offer its free-to-air HD bouquet to viewers through Technosat set top boxes (STB) as part of a deal it signed with the STB dealer two months ago. The deal, however, is not exclusive. The Technosat HD STBs were chosen because they are the most affordable in the market with state-of-art advanced technology for the HD satellite reception, and the first of its kind in the MENA region.

This workflow also incorporates Vizrt Content Pilot template-based graphics, DigiCart audio devices from 360 Systems, NVision mixers, and an interface to MBC’s electronic programme guide (EPG).

MBC was so impressed with the solution that it has ordered a Neptune Lite automation system to be installed in a test area at the facility.

Palmer confirms the order. “The team at Pebble Beach Systems has been

exceptionally helpful and friendly throughout the process, and owing to our excellent working relationship, together with the advanced content

management functionality that Neptune offers, we have elected to place an order for an additional Neptune Lite automation system which we plan to install later this year in our test area. The current Neptune system will actually go on air controlling the playout of all of our SD channels in mid-June prior to the HD launch. Commissioning is already completed and the final training sessions are going on as we speak.”

Pebble Beach says the whole solution is scalable. In fact, the company foresees working further with MBC in the future.

“We anticipate a contract to increase the channel count to 12 in the next few months. MBC may also choose to upgrade to Pebble Beach Systems’ next generation Marina automation as its HD service progresses,” says Isbaih. PRO

“We anticipate a contract to increase the channel count to 12 in the next few months. MBC may also choose to upgrade to PBS’ next generation Marina automation as its HD service progresses”Samir Isbaih, regional manager Middle East, Pebble Beach Systems.

Samir Isbaih at the MBC facility in Dubai.


PROEXCLUSIVE

Real Image Production has recently made several strategic moves aimed at giving it a greater international presence while also enabling it to focus on developing 3D stereoscopic animation projects from its home base in Dubai. BroadcastPro ME looks at a work in progress

VFX SENSATION


PROANIMATION

Production and post production firm Real Image is one of the few companies in Dubai to embark on 3D stereoscopic animation projects in the region. It is presently in the process of developing a five-minute 3D stereo animation video for Dolphin Energy.

The corporate video, which is aimed at creating awareness about Dolphin’s energy initiatives while entertaining young viewers, is being created to have a cinematic look and feel, according to Aiham Ajib, creative director and CEO of Real Image.

“This is our fifth 3D stereo project,” says Ajib. “When we were working our first project, we had

the opportunity to learn from the masters of 3D, which is the production house in Los Angeles that was involved in the production of Avatar. It was a TV commercial. They were in charge of the production while we did the post production. I was on set the whole time to ensure that there would be no hitches in post. Since then, we have worked on a handful of 3D stereo projects successfully including a TVC for Dubai Bus.”

In this case, the brief was to produce a corporate video for Dolphin Energy for young minds. Real Image was responsible for translating the client brief into a 3D audio visual experience.

“This process normally includes creatively developing the base storyline before structuring it into a storyboard, shooting board, characters design, and narrative. Much of the creative process happens at this PREP stage before we proceed to realise our ideas on film or animation. For this project, we have been very ambitious and gone for a cinematic look and feel, which is a lot more difficult to achieve because it requires more skill and more time unlike the standard TV animation series but with each 3D

Scenes (left and above) from the Dolphin Energy project.


PROANIMATION

project, we have been pushing the boundaries. We have not taken the standard approach. There’s a lot more attention to detail. If you look at the skin tones of the character and the way lighting has been applied to each scene, they are very film like and make the characters look real and believable.”

While many of the rules remain the same for all formats, 3D is “more fussy”, adds Pierre Nayagam, head of post production at Real Image, implying that producing 3D requires greater care at the creation stage to ensure that the viewer has a pleasant experience.

“3D stereo production is completely unforgiving in that both images being projected to each eye must be the exact representation of each other aside from the perspective shift that occurs naturally due to the separation of our own eyes. The fact that everything must be perfect makes stereo 3D an arduous task at best. A colour shift in the picture or a slight rotation on one camera which would, otherwise, not be noticeable could render the audience thinking they are cross eyed, or worse, make them queasy,” Nayagam says.

Creative director Ajib adds that the one big and “real rule changer regarding 3D stereo which we consider during PREP is whether we want a visual element to stand outside the screen or inside the screen which, in turn, allows us to control the audience’s attention to specific elements in the film”.

Although Real Image does not have any 3D specialists on board, Ajib says his team has learnt

the rules of 3D through trial and error. “There are several dos and don’ts which we have had to learn through trial and error and there’s no greater teacher than experience. Since then, we have become laboriously disciplined in crafting and perfecting our 3D work.”

Real Image presently has about 50 staff members. Fourteen years ago, the company launched its operations in Dubai primarily as a post production house but over the years, it has become a complete solution provider for production and post production services including 3D stereoscopic film and animation.

“Our team includes production crew, art directors, animators, editors as well as film directors. In addition, we also have a whole range of equipment to support our services,” explains Ajib.

In this case, as we walk into Real Image, we see more than 18 members of the team working on various elements of the Dolphin Energy project. In one corner, two artists create 3D models of Dolphin Energy’s plants from snapshots taken from different angles; a third artist puts finishing touches to a falcon, while a fourth creates the desert landscape and another works on the sea. We see various artists working on different elements of the characters in the film, who are mainly a father and his son. One artist works on modelling the characters and other animates the father and the son while still another works on perfecting the boy’s hairstyle and we see elements being added to a fish bowl in another corner.

“To an outsider, this looks like a puzzle and it is but we have a very sophisticated though complex pipeline, where each person is responsible for different parts of the project, and once the different pieces of modelling, texturing and animating are done, we bring them all together.”

Real Image has also always claimed to be a Maya user and most of its work over the years has been created with this software.

“It’s always been Maya although some bits and pieces are being done on 3D Max. But we also have a large hardware and software resource centre including a powerful render farm to deliver

“When we were working our first project, we had the opportunity to learn from the masters of 3D, which is the production house in Los Angeles that was involved in the production of Avatar”

“The one real rule changer regarding 3D stereo which we consider during PREP is whether we want a visual element to stand outside the screen or inside the screen which, in turn, allows us to control the audience’s attention to specific elements in the film”Aiham Ajib, CEO, Real Image.

An artist creates a 3D model of an energy plant based on snapshots.

Aiham Ajib, CEO, Real Image.


PROANIMATION

Tel: +966 1 219 0888 Fax: +966 1 219 1888 P.O.Box 25560, Riyadh 11476, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The First Gulf Company For Supplies & Contracting LTD (FGC) was established in 2001. The company has diversified into many industries such as Electronics, General Contracting and Trading. Over the past years, the company has built a good reputation supported by highly qualified professionals.

The Company was formed to create its business with a commitment to quality

in order to provide the ideal solutions for each project. The staff of well qualified and trained engineers and technicians come together to produce significant and high quality engineering work.

Today, FGC dominates the broadcast Systems Integration business in Saudi Arabia, and is rapidly growing in its other business of General Contracting and Telecom Value Added Services (VAS).

extremely high quality visuals in HDTV in stereo with Discreet Logic Smoke as our backbone suite. Besides the Dolphin Energy project, we are also rolling out a number of other stereo projects so we ensure our equipment can keep up with the work we are doing. Every two years, we upgrade all our hardware. We have worked with Autodesk and Boxx distributor MediaSys for many years now to provide most of our post production solutions,” adds Ajib.

Even as Real Image readies itself to deliver the five-minute video in a couple of weeks to the client, the company is also bidding for projects in Canada through its newly launched Canadian office, which is presently manned by three people.

In fact, we see an artist modelling a scientist at the Dubai office.

“We are working on a pilot project now that I intend to sell to broadcasters in Canada and the North American markets. We have hired

international script writers, who work with children in Canada to support us on this project,” says Ajib, adding that US $300,000 has already been invested in the project.

“We are making a 26-episode series of 11 minutes each for this project. People wonder why I’m making products for an international market. The truth is, we have proved ourselves time and time again in this market but we have noticed that broadcasters do not have enough budget here to support the quality we provide. Unfortunately, quality costs money and I cannot really create cheap products to suit lower budgets. Canadian and North American markets have budgets that match the high quality of work we do so we have decided to set up office there as well.”

By taking the lead in the market to produce 3D animation and expanding to different markets, Real Image is hoping that he can generate enough revenue to reinvest in the Middle East. PRO

NEW LAUNCH

Real Image opened an office in Canada recently. The company is presently developing an animation series of 26 episodes for the Canadian market. US $300,000 has been invested in the project so far. Script writers who have worked with children in Canada are creating the script for this series, which features a scientist as the protagonist.


PROANIMATION

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Recently, I was covering the Red Bull X-Fighters, a dirt bike freestyle competition, at Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) in Dubai.

For this adventure, Dubai-based distributor Melody House offered to let me test two microphones from DPA: the new Shotgun 4017 mk2-R and the FMK 4071 omni pattern lapel microphone.

You can imagine the scene at JBR that weekend: crowded, noisy and full of

Sound test Location sound recordist David Thirion gives us his take on two DPA mics he tested recently at the Red Bull X-Fighters competition in Dubai

excitement as this event – wherever it happens – tends to draw a large crowd.

I wondered how the DPA Short Shotgun would cope in such a noisy environment, where we would need to do quick interviews, follow the host around during the event and complete all of the other usual activities generally done on those shows. Before entering deeper into the details, let me tell you what the general set up for this gig was.

We were mainly shooting on the Canon 5D MK2, so for that camera I had a PSC Mixer, a Sound Devices HDD recorder with CF cards for back up; two Lectrosonics wireless microphones systems and a PSC boom pole. The Sound Devices was set up as a two-tracks recording platform. Pretty simple and straight forward, if you ask me.

The ShoTgun 4017 mk2-R: First of all, I am a Sennheiser MKH series man. I have always used them and will always love them. But when I was offered the DPA mics to test, I was very keen to try them out because I’d heard a lot of good things about the Danish art of building microphones.

We first followed the designer of the track just before the first part of the event started.

The easiest way of doing this is with a shotgun at the end of a boom. Hearing the tonal balance for the first time, I was very happy with what my ears heard as it sounded clean and it sounded clear.

The frequency response from this mic is DPA 4017.


PROREVIEW

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Fresh…

70Hz to 20KHz. Now I realise that this microphone frequency response starts at 70 Hz so it means that half the job is already done for me (noise can sometimes be created through mechanical transmissions by handling the boom pole – these noises are often found in the region of 30 to 60Hz). This would be my first good point to note about the 4017 mk2-R.

Another impressive factor to mention here is its weight. At 71g, this is the lightest shotgun microphone on the market at present. It is remarkable, and I mean that!

I began to appreciate it when I had to swing it all day on the edge of a fully extended 12 foot boom pole for 30 minutes at a time. It makes you realise what those few grams saved might be worth if you do swing a lot on the job.

Then came the test of directivity. It is an interference tube described as a super cardiod polar pattern. And it seems like it when you have a look at the polar pattern diagram in the box. But to me, it actually sounds more like a hyper cardiod. In a way,

“I began to appreciate [its weight of 71g] when I had to swing it all day on the edge of a fully extended boom pole for 30 minutes at a time” David Thirion, location sound recordist, Dubai.


PROREVIEW

I was pleased with that result, especially in terms of off axis rejection. But there is always a danger with that: on very fast and busy shots where you have to follow somebody on the move, you could lose that good sound pressure level we love so much and, therefore, you could lose your subject because your microphone is too tight. But you need to try it. It might suit your needs more then others.

Now, if you take a look at the microphone itself, you have the possibility to roll off a bit more with a rotary switch that clicks when engaged. I believe it is a -3dB at 120Hz.

Another great feature is the +4dB switch boost at 8KHz. I tried it on the Red Bull

X-Fighters but it wasn’t exactly the best situation to try it out as it was replete with dirt bikes going crazy around us. So I won’t say much more about it as it wouldn’t do justice to the mic. But I assume it would be a great ally to have in a recording studio environment if you want that extra crispiness of guitar strings noises and so on.

In terms of accessories, I was very happy to see that this microphone comes with its own Rycote Windjammer and Wind Cage set (and I am talking about the new Rycote sets, not the old ones). It is very light too and worked very efficiently even in windy conditions.

To conclude, the 4017 mk2-R is a very well designed and well-built microphone.

It provides a very good tonal balance under a lot of different acoustic conditions. I would recommend this microphone for professional use on the field as well as in a studio.

The Fmk 4071 LapeL: In this case, we clipped one lapel to each of the two TV hosts (Alex and Dannie) we were following around. Like most location sound productions today, our gear needed to be wireless especially our lapel microphone systems.

So for this gig, I had my two Lectrosonics. On Alex’s, I plugged the DPA FMK 4071 and on Dannie’s, I used the one I am very familiar with, the Sanken COS 11D PT.


PROREVIEW

I didn’t really know what to expect because at manufacture, this microphone is apparently already pre-equalised for speech clarity. I turned the transmitter on and waited to hear Alex’s first few words through the DPA... The result? In a word, confused! Yes, I could hear that this mic was pre equalised for speech purposes but I found it quite tinny.

And it was on a man already, I cannot imagine it on a woman!

Compared to my COS 11 which is very velvety and round in the low frequencies, the DPA seemed a bit all over the place. It could take the punch though.as its Max Sound Pressure Level before saturating the head of the mic or clipping is quite high.

Now, I always find it is more difficult to test out lapels; they are microphones that, when placed on people, don’t really reflect realism as you would hear from a microphone at the end of a boom.

In fact, the lapels are always so close to the mouth that the ratio between direct sound from the source and the surrounding environment is completely off scale.

No lapel mic I have ever tested has sounded completely natural!

Besides, I have worked with a Sanken for more than seven years now so I have come to appreciate that it has a lot of benefits.

Despite the fact that I wasn’t so keen on the sound of this microphone, there are some good things to say about it:

The first is the strength of the cable. I can’t count how many times people have broken my other microphones by trying to be helpful in removing the mic by pulling on it. By the time you’ve reached them, it is too late and the damage is done!

DPA seems to have solved this problem by making the shield of its microphone out of

Kevlar. How clever is that?! I did try to break it. I pulled on the little fella but it was quite solid; it didn’t move!

Another very positive approach from DPA is its use of a MicroDot connector. You go on the job with your lapel and you can adapt it to many wireless brands on the market today by just unscrewing the connector and replacing it with the one you need. So you can fit Audio Technicas, Audio Ltd, Lectrosonics, Zaxcoms, Sonys, Sennheisers and many others too.

In terms of accessories, I have to say, again, this is very well equipped. I love the fact that this microphone set comes with four different types of stickers: a miniature concealer that you can sew on for an underneath clothing application, a small windjammer, a small mesh for pops and three pods to hide the mic into the knot of a tie. This is amazing. No doubt all of the other brands would charge you substantially for such accessories.

It’s too bad though that I wasn’t as impressed with the sound of this lapel as I was with the Shotgun.

To conclude, it’s not that I don’t like this lapel mic but I have got used to working with another brand and it would take a while for me to get used to a new lapel microphone.

Despite that, what I had in my hand for the Red Bull X-Fighters’ Competition was a superior product, well thought out and well designed. It could very easily get you out of all sorts of trouble with all of the accessories delivered with it. DPA is a very strong brand and certainly seems to have its ears tuned to the needs of the industry. PRO

David Thirion is a Location Sound Recordist based in Dubai.

“In terms of accessories, I have to say, again, this is very well equipped. I love the fact that this microphone set comes with four different types of stickers: a miniature concealer that you can sew on for an underneath clothing application, a small windjammer, a small mesh for pops and three pods to hide the mic into the knot of a tie”David Thirion, location sound recordist, Dubai.


PROREVIEW

www.riedel.net

from Vegas

New technologies are bringing both issues and opportunities to Middle East media, broadcast and production industries. Consumer demand for HD, 3D, and 1080p services bring new business opportunities, with scope for new channels, new subscriptions, and demand for new content production. Advances in new distribution technologies bring revenue opportunities for multi-platform delivery and development of new media services.

Where organisations are considering major new investments in equipment to support all the emerging opportunities, there can be concerns about the potential return on investment. Whether the organisation is equipping a new studio or OB van, or setting up an entire new HD

channel, they expect their new system to be reliable, high quality, and extensible so that issues of obsolescence are avoided.

SyStem reliabilitySystem monitoring is an intrinsic part of any professional operation. It is important to keep track of both the correct operation of the equipment in the production, broadcast and transmission chain, as well as the condition of the signals being processed. For example, users need to set up, monitor, and change signal paths in their routing and infrastructure systems, change over to a backup path when upgrades are in progress on the main processing workflow, and finally, take action when faults arise.

Fortunately, user-friendly control and monitoring tools are widely available to

assist users of large and small systems to precisely understand the status of their system at any time, regardless of complexity and distance. Users with in-house system integration experts available may choose to base their control and monitoring on network-oriented protocols such as SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol).

However, it is often best to use a control and monitoring solution that has been designed specifically for broadcast and production applications. Solutions are available that can show an operator the status of any piece of equipment right down to an individual module in a frame, allowing, for example, a fault in a remote (unstaffed) location to be identified and a signal path changeover to be actioned immediately.

As monitoring tools can assist users to understand precisely the status of their system at any time, regardless of complexity and distance, they are an intrinsic part of every media organisation today

New signal processing and monitoring technologies


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Signal qualityAvailability of large HD consumer displays has led to greater sensitivity amongst viewers for high quality pictures. Blu-ray disc and HD games have set expectations for the quality of HDTV services. HDTV production is expensive, and often it isn’t possible to engage in multiple production cycles, so it’s important for acquisition, post-production and studio distribution to be right first time.

Technologies to help reduce the costs of HD services include format converters, such as upconverters, which enable SD content to be upconverted to HD. Such converters will include aspect ratio conversion, to enable older 4:3 material to be viewed as 16:9 HD. The best quality upconversion processing is motion compensated, where lines from interleaved SD fields can be projected into the HD output, resulting in double the resolution of linear upconverters.

Many organisations have access to a wide range of signal processing modules which handle analogue and digital audio and video distribution, analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue conversion, video decoding and encoding, frame synchronisation, audio conversion, subframe remapping, digital proc amp control, gamut legalisation, and format conversion for mixed SD/HD facilities.

Key to management of signal quality are signal monitoring tools, which automate

processes which otherwise would require a dedicated human operator. It’s important to monitor not only the quality of the video images from ingest to transmission, but also other critical issues such as multichannel sound, multiple language tracks, accuracy of content scheduling and delivery, and management of metadata including closed captions, subtitles and content advisory ratings.

longevityWith technology moving so quickly, many organisations are cautious about new equipment investments. Although it may appear to be a cost saving to buy only what is needed for today’s SD/HD services, most equipment manufacturers offer signal processing and production equipment that supports all formats from SD up to 1080p (3Gb/s).

Even if you don’t require 1080p today, most manufacturers have designed equipment that can be purchased as HD, and then later upgraded via new software to support new 1080p standards in the future. This way, the issue of obsolescence is solved and the customer has confidence that they can embark on new services when the time is right for their business. PRO

Paola Hobson is senior product manager for conversion and modular at Snell.


PROTECH

Production typically requires working in the best practical image quality possible.

This is desirable as the content will likely go through one or more stages of transcoding or re-encoding, which has the potential to significantly degrade quality.

Maintaining quality during editing will eliminate visible quality loss during rendering. It is critical to maintain quality when considering how the material might be used in the future. Think about how poor the old, upconverted clips from the 1960s look when cut into an HD programme! How will HD material look when it is upconverted to Ultra-HD in the future, considering our experience with SD to HD upconversion?

Encoded content for production and playout in master control

The compression level for clips that are used immediately for playout (such as ads and bumpers) needs to be about twice the data rate of the distribution path. This minimises artefacts due to cascading compression. As master control systems now deliver content for different delivery mechanisms, such as DVB-T, cable, satellite, OTT and the Internet, it is important to review these delivery systems and find the highest common denominator.

System designers often make two types of storage systems based purely on compression formats when discussing production and playout. This was most likely done out of workflow habits from

tape-based cart machine playout systems. This is no longer necessary.

Multi-format server systems are common today, playing out content stored with various flavours of compression without transfers or re-encoding. This keeps quality higher, and allows facilities to quickly reconfigure workflows and signal flows at any time.

Content that was once encoded for use in production, then transcoded to use a playout server, can now be used directly on the playout server system. This process skips a transcode step, removing one layer of generational loss.

The need to re-encode to a “playout data rate” is diminishing since bandwidth and storage capacities continue to rise. The multi-format server is as much the enabling force behind this capability as the improvements in storage systems.

File-based workflows continue to grow in popularity. The ability to send production-grade material direct to the air server delivers another key benefit in

Selecting the right compression format for different types of content and content usage is often a huge challenge, says Andy Warman and Stan Moote

“Multi-format server systems are common today, playing out content stored with various flavours of compression without transfers or re-encoding. This keeps quality higher, and allows facilities to quickly reconfigure workflows and signal flows at any time”

Andy Warman (left) and Stan Moote (right) from Harris Broadcast.


PROTECH

Produc'on Ingest/Edi'ng -‐ Low Compression

Playout Only Ingest -‐ Higher Compression

OTA, Cable, Satellite -‐ Highest Compression

Figure 1 – RAID-601 storage used for both production and playout accommodates both high and low compression rates

QC. Material sourced directly from the production system is air ready. A transcode or re-encode does not occur, rendering another QC step unnecessary.

Accessing content during ingest is often needed, and true shared storage makes this possible — i.e., a single, online storage system connected to all ingest, editing and playout devices.

The system must provide assured bandwidth at all times to make certain that users can remain productive in the event of drive, connectivity or storage controller failures.

Operators that take advantage of new storage techniques, such as RAID-601, no longer need to scrimp on edit bays or worry about uncontrolled archive operations slowing production. RAID-601 high-performance storage systems provide exceptional content storage protection with no access restrictions, as well as 100-percent mirroring for true redundancy and its associated bandwidth protection.

This level of storage protection combines RAID-6 protection (two drive failures per logical disk) with RAID-0 to stripe the data across multiple RAID-6 logical disks.

This increases system bandwidth and adds RAID-1 real-time mirroring to provide bandwidth protection. Ultimately, this ensures that the full power of the storage system is available, even if a drive, logical disk or storage enclosure fails.

This approach to protection provides a new level of operational reliability, putting the focus squarely on usage rather than risk management.

In summary, seriously consider using a storage, ingest and playout system that can handle different types of compression formats and bit rates. Content used for production will not be as compressed as single-use content.

Additionally, the storage system must be able to play out both types of content based on the compression format used for storage. The result is a system that can cope with legacy material, handle playout and production-oriented compression, and is prepared to enjoy improved image quality using native production material played direct to air. PRO

Andy Warman (left) is responsible for Server, Storage and Editing products while Stan Moote (right) is VP at Harris, focusing on optimising workflows.

“Operators that take advantage of new storage techniques, such as RAID-601, no longer need to scrimp on edit bays or worry about uncontrolled archive operations slowing production. RAID-601 high-performance storage systems provide exceptional content storage protection with no access restrictions, as well as 100-percent mirroring for true redundancy and its associated bandwidth protection”

OTA, Cable, Satellite - Highest Compression

Production Ingest/Editing - Low Compression

Playout Only Ingest - Higher Compression


PROTECH

How successful have you been in the Middle East and North African market? We achieved almost 20% of our revenues from the Middle East and North Africa area in 2010.

In which areas have you been most successful? Would you be able to mention any specific projects?Our greatest successes are primarily on the radio side, with our main customers being public or national broadcasters. NETIA has about 20 to 30% marketshare in this area in the MENA region.

We have done recent installations in Algerian Radio, Shems FM, Tunisian Radio, Egyptian (ERTU) radio, the Ministry of Culture and Information in Saudi Arabia, National Oman Radio, and in Ethiopia to name a few. We will soon be deploying some more content management solutions with new customers in MENA. You have been a major player in the North African belt. Will the political turmoil affect your business? The political situation right now in MENA is making business a bit tricky as most projects were accepted by the end of 2010 and now may be delayed.

Do you have any special plans to fortify your position in the Middle East? Will you consider opening an office here or adding more sales staff to look after this region?We currently do not have any plans to open offices in the MENA area as we are developing long-term partnerships with local dealers and system integrators. Our local partners include First Gulf, Bawan IT, Thales, Salam Mediacast, Jamal Jaroudi Group, BFE, Heat in Jordan as well as AVTM in Morocco.

Also, NETIA became part of GlobeCast

almost three years ago and our solutions are now being distributed by the GlobeCast office in Beirut. It is actively developing business in this part of the world to provide its existing clients with a complete solution, including NETIA products, that covers all aspects of content management from ingest to delivery through the GlobeCast satellite and fibre network. This is on an international level. We are very committed to investing in training them on our products and solutions and they, in turn, have great knowledge of their markets and are close in proximity to customer sites.

Netting profitsChristophe Carniel, CEO of NETIA shares details of the company’s success and its plans for the MENA region with BroadcastPro ME


PROINTERVIEW

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What are some of the challenges of working in the Middle East and how have you addressed them?The challenge for NETIA in the Middle East is to find the right local distributors, who are able to sell our new NETIA CMS Content Management Solution and broaden their NETIA portfolio, in order to serve TV or media groups.

CABSAT provides a big opportunity. Our participation at CABSAT is very important and plays a great role in maintaining our presence, meeting with our customers, and demonstrating our new solutions.

Our sales strategy in this region relies

on strong and established relationships between our sales team, our local dealers and our existing clients. Our reputation in MENA is solid and we have often won contracts based on referrals and word of mouth.

Are there any unique elements you try to incorporate into your solutions specifically for this market?One of our unique selling points or differentiators in MENA is our offering of the UNICODE standard, meaning that we can adapt the GUI of our software to any language or dialect. We have also adapted our user manual into Arabic.

As a content management specialist, what do you see are some of the upcoming trends in the market and how are you looking to address them?We have noticed a convergence in the need to access, repurpose and share archives easily between radio and TV broadcasters in the Middle East. For patrimonial/historical archives, we have been contracted to develop systems that allow historical national radio archives to be merged with video archives and other video content for television broadcast. So this convergence sets the pace and will accelerate growth and development of our CMS solution for managing their archived content. PRO

“The challenge for NETIA in the Middle East is to find the right local distributors, who are able to sell our new NETIA CMS Content Management Solution and broaden their NETIA portfolio, in order to serve TV or media groups”


PROINTERVIEW

After looking at the history of cloud computing and current technologies that can provide cloud services to businesses, this issue will explore how we can apply these technologies to broadcast applications.

Last month, we looked at the importance of virtual machines and how they have enabled a new public utility of cloud-based computing. This new utility has transformed the way IT companies deploy applications hosted on x86 server architecture allowing them to quickly deploy new software and services. More recently, vendors of broadcast technology have extended their use of the x86 Intel server architecture as they move towards workflows based on files. In the early days, it was back room systems such as Traffic and Scheduling that made the most use of an x86 architecture. As Moore’s Law holds true and IT servers become ever more powerful, many of the

Clearing the cloud - III

broadcasting tasks, which historically have been handled by unique proprietary DSPs, are now able to be carried out, using software, on standard IT servers. If we look at the entire workflow of a typical publisher-broadcaster, we will find IT servers running applications at every stage of the workflow. Let’s now examine some of these key areas in more detail.

IngestBase band is always going to be a problem for a cloud-based platform. The whole point is that the cloud-based platform uses standardised interfaces such as CAT5 and IP, not broadcast specific standards such as SMPTE 424M. However, the direct ingest of media as files is now common place; this effectively negates the need for a conversion from the base band material. If baseband is un-avoidable, then products equipped with Sony’s e-VTR interface and protocol allow a stream to be sent directly from the tape

onto a network. Even live feeds coming in from live news or sports events can be accommodated. More recently designed DSNG vans and OB vehicles can deliver live material by utilising IP delivery protocols. Often today when these signals get to the broadcast centre, they are converted to a base band SDI signal but this is often only to satisfy the needs of other legacy equipment. In a total cloud-based system, this wouldn’t need to happen allowing the live signal to remain as a stream.

transmIssIonEven the complex functionality of a traditional broadcast chain including the video server, presentation, logo gen., graphics and ARC can be replicated exactly using software running on a generic x86 server. The so called channel-in-a-box systems have already shown this concept to be true. There are even broadcast vendors selling solutions

In the last part of this series, Andy Davies looks at how we can apply cloud infrastructure to broadcast applications


PROCLOUD

today, which as well as providing channel in a box services, also carry out the live encoding of the DVB transport stream (TS). This removes the requirement for the traditional PCI-based conversion cards and allows the software to be deployed in a virtual machine or to put it another way, in the cloud. Instead of a channel-in-a-box, we get the channel-in-the-cloud. The output from such devices is no longer coax cable and a BNC connector but rather uses standard routed IT infrastructure to deliver the encoded signal using UDP or RTP over IP. We start to now see the emergence of a “stream-based workflow” enabled by the underlying file-based workflow. It is the next logical step as the broadcast industry moves towards a generic base for its platforms. The broadcast chain becomes file-based or stream-based from end to end eliminating inefficiencies and enabling agile deployments.

The standardised agile channel-in-a-box software that we just described above can now be cloud hosted and created in an instant by broadcasters that have invested

in the technology. Think about a TV company that has just secured permission to transmit some major sporting event, perhaps, winning the rights from another competing broadcaster. This channel will need to create additional channels quickly and with minimum cost to ensure a credible return on investment. Today, this would be a major problem to any TV channel in this situation. They would have to ask themselves if they can afford the physical deployment of hardware? Can the services be built in time? Do they have the space to house the equipment in their existing buildings? What will happen to the new channels if they don’t manage to retain the rights in future years?

Using a stream-based workflow that can run on virtual appliances and provisioned using cloud technologies, this would be a much easier exercise. With our channel-in-the-cloud, we can use the online environment to order a new channel with just a few mouse clicks and a credit card.In the same way that the IT professionals we described in our previous article were able to create new MS Exchange servers

in a few clicks, so it can be with broadcast professionals, creating a new channel by configuring options from the channel-in-the-cloud web site including aspect ratio, HD or SD, HD format, closed or open subs and RTP/UDP steam delivery point. After going through this process, the new channel can be automatically configured, provisioned, deployed, installed, tested and be ready for use within a few minutes of leaving the online checkout. This automatic provisioning uses the same data centre automation technology first utilised by Amazon to transform their business and enable innovation. The broadcaster’s operators would be able to access their thin client GUIs within minutes of the order being completed to start the work of uploading content, scheduling the channels, managing content, compliance editing, QC and ultimately controlling and monitoring transmission.

UplInkExiting the cloud infrastructure as a real time MPEG2 or MPEG4-encoded DVB-compliant transport stream delivered over RTP/UDP over IP, the stream-based workflow can be extended even to the uplink site. Already, broadcasters are delivering to their uplink providers using routed MPLS networks even though they may sometimes be unaware of it themselves. Through this type of routed infrastructure, the uplink site itself is effectively in the cloud and can receive DVB streams sent via RTP/UDP over IP for re-mux or uplinking directly to satellite.

Unprecedented levels of redUndancy and economIc dIsaster recoveryThe implication of cloud connected uplink sites is the ability to simultaneously route packets to two geographically separate uplink sites. These packets could be provided by virtual appliances dual hosted in two separate cloud domains which might be physically located in

“We start to now see the emergence of a stream-based workflow enabled by the underlying file-based workflow. It is the next logical step as the broadcast industry moves towards a generic base for its platforms”


PROCLOUD

different continents. Even total loss of a broadcaster’s primary facility would not result in any significant loss of service. Every “thin client” attached operator would be simultaneously updating both cloud domains keeping them perfectly in sync. In the event of a total facility loss, operators would only need to get access to the internet to continue their day to day operations. An entire cloud-based broadcast operation could be running in a disaster scenario from a handful of downtown coffee shops with good connectivity (and good coffee obviously)! For broadcasters wanting economical Disaster Recovery (DR), the second cloud domain doesn’t even need to be active, simply springing to life when required. The decision to spring to life can even be automated based on the loss of other services. Cloud resources are only paid for when they are consumed and then are usually billed by the second. The astounding thing about this approach is the ability to have disaster recovery that you

only pay for when you need it. Contrast that approach with today’s prohibitively expensive DR sites; sites that, although necessary, are often not implemented due to cost and return on investment issues.

system IntegratIon 2.0The technology, software and hardware to provide the above services and solutions already exist today. This is no pipe dream based on theoretical hyperbole but is rather based on a set of technologies that are already in use, implemented and well tested in isolation. So why don’t we see large scale cloud-based channel playout centres today?

The missing link at the moment is not some crucial piece of technology or fundamental constraint that needs to be overcome although there is work to be done in some areas. The missing link today is a next generation approach to systems integration that will bring these isolated technologies together into a coherent whole; systems integration 2.0 if you will.

There are already systems integrators that are leading the way in this field. Fuelled by their recent successes in implementing file-based workflows, they are armed with the network design capability, the deep SOA knowledge and the detailed understanding of software development to lead the next generation of systems integration into a future of stream-based workflows. PRO

Andrew Davies is business development manager at TSL Middle East.

“Cloud resources are only paid for when they are consumed and then are usually billed by the second. The astounding thing about this approach is the ability to have disaster recovery that you only pay for when you need it”


PROCLOUD

Despite all the good news that has been coming from the Middle East regarding next-generation networks, superfast broadband and greater competition, this provides only a skewed picture of the overall region.

According to Informa, household broadband penetration of the Middle East is at a meagre 11.35% and more than half of those connections are either 1Mbps or below. Hardly broadband!

In contrast, direct-to-home satellite TV (DTH) is, by far, the dominant means for the dissemination of media across the populace. Legal or illegal, free, pirated or paid, DTH has carved out for itself an irreplaceable position of mass media platform of choice for the vast majority of people in the local language, Arabic.

A presentation by satellite broadcaster MBC at Informa’s Broadband World Forum in March revealed striking issues facing the regional online content industry, including:* A little over 1% of online content is in Arabic although Google maintains it is 2%* Poverty and illiteracy rates are high, rendering broadband unaffordable to many* Infrastructure is poor, resulting in lower penetration, across the region

Even companies that sought to challenge the status quo in the relatively wealthy and educated markets of the UAE and Saudi Arabia have recognised that traditional multichannel TV – especially the free-to-air (FTA) segment – is here to stay in the long term.

Broadband operators such as STC and Etisalat, for example, have acknowledged

the dominance of satellite TV by developing hybrid set-top boxes that allow both DTH and IPTV content to be delivered over their networks to users.

The TV industry is set to get even stronger with the ongoing switch from analogue to digital TV services. The governments of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq, Bahrain and Qatar as well as countries in North Africa have outlined their strategies; some are already implementing them.

There are multiple reasons given for why digital TV will strengthen the regional TV industry. One of them is that digital TV signals require less bandwidth, which means more channels can be delivered across a wider area. As a result, broadcasters can cater to the rural and more conservative segments of the Arab population as well as the outgoing westernised youth, with channels serving the needs of both. Another benefit of digital TV is that it can support more features than analogue, paving the way for interactive multimedia services.

This has left providers of local online media engaged in an increasingly uphill battle to woo media consumers away from the big screen. With the Westernisation amongst the Arab youth growing far more rapidly than the development of Arabic content, the prospect of Arabic content winning is not the question that is being asked; rather it is whether investment in Arabic content can prove to be profitable in the long run at a pan-Arabian level.

Current efforts in the Arabic-content production industry are going by largely

unrecognised, which is unhealthy for the development of the local online market. Even then, the little activity that there is, remains fragmented, with individual start-ups popping up across the region, notably in the UAE and Jordan.

But because there is no clear vision as to how this segment can be developed, it appears the status quo will not be significantly reformed anytime soon. All of this is coupled with the threat to the nascent industry from online video services from the likes of US Internet giants such as Amazon, Netflix and Hulu, which would undoubtedly buy up or at least undermine the little that is being offered by Arabic content studios.

The failure of local online services is a sign of the overriding power of traditional TV in the Arab world. The biggest evidence for this is advertising: the nascent Arab ad market for online services is miniscule compared to TV advertising spending. Informa believes two significant factors are inhibiting online-ad spending: compared to TV, broadband has a smaller reach; and there is little online Arabic content to advertise.

Thus with local content still overwhelm-ingly restricted to the big screen, it is no surprise that TV – not content per se – is still king in the Middle East region. PRO

Ismail Patel is a Broadband and Internet Analyst with Informa Telecoms & Media in London. He tracks operator performance, analyses regulatory issues and comments on other strategic developments in the MENA region.

As long as TV is strong, online media will be weak in the Middle East


PROGUEST

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BroadcastPro Middle East - June 2011 Issue

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