Mo-Sys Engineering, a global leader in real time camera tracking and remote systems, is proud to announce a collaboration with Panasonic. The AW-UE150 and the Mo-Sys StarTracker module will empower AR and virtual studio graphics by together creating engaging content with natural depth and changing the perspective of the virtual background.

Previously planned to launch at NAB, the webinars will be co-hosted by Panasonic and Mo-Sys and will showcase the new Panasonic AW-UE150 - a 4K, wide-angle lens, PTZ head with absolute camera tracking for AR and virtual studio application. With Mo-Sys StarTracker, the venue or event is no longer restricted to a fixed camera position and can be more creative using the PTZ head on a jib, crane or a dolly for unlimited camera motion.

Polygon Labs, an innovative creative studio pushing the boundaries of interactive data applications and visual branding, has today launched two work at home service initiatives, Creative Hub and Training Lab.

A cost-effective, multi-disciplined, on-demand broadcast design and developer subscription-based service, Creative Hub allows news publishers and broadcasters to book any size project for virtual studios, augmented reality, branding, real-time graphics packages, interactive story-telling graphics, video walls, multi-screen tickers, downstream channels, using a flexible utilization plan with no blackout dates. The subscriber simply purchases a number of creative service hours per month and uses them as and when desired.

Training Lab is the company’s new expert remote training service, which specialises in Vizrt real-time graphics, workflow solutions and products for channel branding, template creation, virtual production, data visualisation and interactive story-telling.

Pixel Power is hosting a massive personalised customer engagement programme with a series of over a hundred one-to-one online meetings over the next six weeks. The aim is to replicate the best and most important aspects of a tradeshow - conversations with customers about their projects and how our technology can help.

“Listening to our customers’ needs is at the heart of what we have always done at Pixel Power – it’s why we are trusted to deliver on what we say we will”, explained James Gilbert, CEO, Pixel Power. “At this time of global lockdown and with all tradeshows either cancelled or postponed, we wanted to find an alternative method to replicate those confidential one-to-one meetings between our customers and technology colleagues”

Scale Logic Enterprise Support Services

In these difficult times all of us need to save money on our support contracts, and our partners at Scale Logic have all the answers.

Scale Logic have decades of experience in helping clients extend the life and investment of their servers, storage and networking.

They make it easy for IT managers and CFOs to save time and money!

Scale Logic offer customised SLAs to reduce IT maintenance spending by 50% -70% compared to OEMs and will deploy OEM certified engineers who are often the same engineers used by the OEM manufacturers.

They can increase your savings with other services including buying back equipment you no longer use and by sourcing new and/or factory refurbished equipment to expand your capacity and performance, including legacy products.

From breaking news, elections and politics, to the latest live coverage of eSports gaming tournaments and sporting events, WASP3D is a leading global provider of end-to-end real-time broadcast graphics solutions for live production workflows. Headquartered in New Delhi with offices located around the world, WASP3D’s technology solutions seamlessly integrate real-time broadcast graphics for livestreaming, OTT, television and professional AV workflows, with hundreds of installations in more than 40 countries globally. Visually enriched elements including augmented reality graphics, virtual sets, touch screen presentations and video wall graphics using design, data integration, management and automation tools are developed for clients via custom installation packages with AJA Corvid 88, Corvid 44, and Corvid 24 I/O cards at the core.

In WASP3D’s live production workflows, each Corvid card hosts up to eight simultaneous input and output streams, making the cards an ideal solution for graphics playout servers and channel-in-a-box systems. Corvid provides workflow flexibility with multi-format I/O support and configurable input and output sources for separate fill and key channels. AJA’s open SDK allows for custom Corvid control to align with graphic playout server requirements. Leveraging AJA’s video I/O expertise with Corvid, WASP3D saves money and produces integrated products for market quicker than competitors.

Polar Graphics, a UK leading distributor for the broadcast, post and pro-AV industries, has announced the appointments of Alexandros Galanos and Christopher Stone to further enhance ongoing business growth.

Galanos joins Polar Graphics as a product support specialist with responsibility for providing technical liaison with resellers and end users as well as support for product demos. Prior to Polar Graphics, Galanos was at Tyrell as a senior engineer with extensive experience in technical auditing, installation, workflow design, and technical support.

Stone takes on the role of technical sales manager, responsible for advising resellers and end users of the best product fit from the Polar Graphics product range for their specific workflow and providing full, first-hand guidance through the entire purchase process. Before his arrival at Polar Graphics, Stone was EMEA and APAC director of business development for XenData Ltd.

Polar Graphics Managing Director Peter Rowsell said, “Alexdandros and Christopher are seasoned professionals who bring a wealth of industry experience to their respective roles and I am delighted to welcome them both. The hands-on knowledge and decades of experience they possess will be of great benefit to our customers and is a clear indication of the ongoing expansion of Polar Graphics’ business.”

Galanos said, “Polar Graphics has a long and enviable reputation as a first-class distributor, and I look forward to using what I know to the benefit of the company and its customers.”

Stone echoed Galanos, saying, “With 40 years of experience around the broadcast world, I believe I am very well-placed to guide Polar Graphics customers, traditional and new, through a process that identifies the best product fits for their operation and, even more specifically, for their world region.”

Both appointments are effective immediately.

To underline its strengths in moving users from legacy architectures to software-centric, fully virtualized solutions for multi-platform playout and graphics production, Pixel Power is launching major new versions of its core software technologies: Gallium Workflow Orchestration and StreamMaster Media Processing. Gallium 3.0 and StreamMaster 2.0 each add significant enhancements covering usability, operational efficiency and connectivity through widely recognised standards.

Through its functional-block architecture, the Gallium workflow orchestration platform allows system architects to build carefully tailored solutions to meet precise customer workflow requirements. Version 3.0 adds more than 50 enhancements with significant new functionality and usability improvements. That includes both live and file-based open and closed subtitling; audio watermarking; live, scheduled and delayed recording and scripted configurable triggering of external systems. In line with Pixel Power’s policy of supporting open systems in a flexible way, these triggers can use REST, UDP and XML based integrations.

Pixel Power’s media processing platform, StreamMaster, also sees a significant new version which adds capabilities that are driven by real-world requirements. StreamMaster 2.0 adds UHD support; uncompressed I/O over SMPTE ST-2110; OP47 and SMPTE 2031 subtitle insertion and flexible recording of the main output, input sources or clean feeds including playback whilst recording. As well as scalable multi-channel master control playout, Gallium and StreamMaster can readily be configured to produce fast turnaround live content for VOD distribution, for example for catch-up and time-delayed channels, while retaining the flexibility to change elements of the output such as advertising.

FOR-A Corporation of America today announced PBS39/WLVTTV, part of Lehigh Valley Public Media based in Bethlehem, Penn., upgraded its control room last August with a FOR-A HVS-2000 HANABI video production switcher and ClassX broadcast graphics system. The new equipment has improved the on-air look of the station’s original programming as well as its live production workflows.

For example, the HVS-2000 can load and playback graphics from the ClassX, so the TD can access them during live productions. As a result, PBS39’s graphics designer does not have to be in the control room for “routine” productions. “When I saw how well the two integrated together, plus the price, it seemed like an obvious choice,” said Andrea Cummis, chief technology officer.

The ClassX also supports the use of RSS feeds for updating election results and other data in graphics, a feature that was not supported by the station’s older graphics system. Cummis said the system “worked great” for local primary election coverage last year, but she is looking forward to using the system to its full potential for Election Night in November.

Astucemedia, a pioneer in immersive experiences, live production, graphics, and data management software, today announced that Darin Crosby has joined the company as its Chief Operating Officer (COO). Crosby has decades of experience guiding the development and marketing of broadcast and AV technologies — and particularly advanced data-driven broadcast graphics — for leading suppliers to the media and entertainment market. Crosby is now at the helm of the company's expansion across its software engineering, quality assurance, tech support and creative services departments.

"Darin's incredible wealth of experience with broadcast graphics technology will be invaluable to Astucemedia as we continue to bring to market sophisticated solutions for immersing viewers more fully in live news and sports," said Alexandre Leclerc, president at Astucemedia. "Broadcasters recognize the engagement impact that graphics bring to high-value content, and they are looking to Astucemedia for solutions to manage the creative aspect and the high-end data integration."

Scale Logic, the global leader in advanced media workflow solutions, announced today that it is embarking on a new agreement and relationship with industry veteran Polar Graphics, a leading UK-based manufacturer’s representative for the broadcast, post-production, and professional audiovisual industries.

Under the newly forged partnership, Polar Graphics will begin managing Scale Logic's entire European sales operations, making it responsible for penetrating European markets and providing comprehensive sales management of Scale Logic’s products and services. With this new partnership, Scale Logic, which currently boasts many of the world’s top brands as clients, will be able to mirror its already tremendous global success.

Furthermore, the Polar Graphics partnership will also see a highly scaled expansion of the Scale Logic European team, enabling Scale Logic to make significant and further inroads into the European market.

ChyronHego today released for shipping CAMIO® 4.8, the newest release of the company's award-winning MOS-driven graphic asset management system. Serving as an end-to-end, all-software solution for multiplatform news content creation, production, and playout, CAMIO gives designers, producers, and directors the flexibility and functionality to bring engaging stories to air efficiently. Enhancements to CAMIO 4.8 simplify quality control, add greater control over saved items, streamline media rendering across linear and nonlinear production, and significantly extend the capabilities of CAMIO's popular Replication feature.

"With its template-based and story-driven workflow, CAMIO strips away layers of complexity, empowering both new and experienced producers to fulfill creative elements for any digital canvas," said Teus Groenewoud, vice president of product and technology at ChyronHego. "New features within CAMIO 4.8 simplify day-to-day tasks for these users while further optimizing the system for distributed teams and making it even easier to ‘create once, publish many' in a hub-and-spoke graphics workflow."

Polar Graphics, a UK leading distributor for the broadcast, post and pro-AV industries, has taken a stand with one of its longest serving partners Bluefish444 for ISE, taking place at the Amsterdam RAI from 11-14 February 2020.

Bluefish444 is a manufacturer of the professional video industry’s highest-quality uncompressed 4K SDI, ASI, Video Over IP & HDMI I/O cards. Bluefish444 also offers IngeSTore Server, a recording appliance supporting SDI, HDMI, NDI, RTP/RTSP and SMPTE IP capture, suitable for any live production workflow in the AV market.

Polar Graphics Managing Director Peter Rowsell said, “Although I have been personally visiting ISE for a dozen years, 2020 will mark our first participation as a co-exhibitor. It will be an excellent opportunity to further expand our business and that of our valued partners.

“We represent a range of products that are ideal for the AV market, and as the world’s largest pro-AV show, ISE is the ideal venue to discuss our entire product range while featuring one of our most relevant product partners.”

Alongside a focus on Bluefish444, Polar Graphics representatives will be on hand for discussions on other brands represented: Apantac, Cinedeck; Imagine Products; MagStor; Mediaproxy; Stardom; StorageDNA; and Studio Network Solutions (SNS).

Bannister Lake played an essential role in providing Canadian broadcast and online audiences with live election results during the Oct. 21 national election. In addition to providing the editorial tools to producers, Bannister Lake enabled decision desks and graphic operators to identify key races, declare winners, and organize graphic playlists. The company also devised and implemented on-set touchscreen mapping widgets and social-media solutions.

This marks the 18th time Corus Entertainment's Global Television Network has used Bannister Lake solutions to drive election coverage. Elector software was used to aggregate and manage election results and populate graphics that were rendered by four different engines: HTML5, Avid/Orad, Ross XPression, and Vizrt. This provided Global Television with multiple options to visualize election results and present them in exciting new ways. Graphics appeared as full frame, as part of the broadcast's unique video wall, as regional L-bars, as augmented reality elements, and as online winner cards that were tweeted out.

The broadcast's touch-enabled HTML5-based widgets proved to be a distinctive storytelling device. The solution allowed hosts to blend real-time data with demographics information on electoral district maps and walk viewers through trends and analysis. Since the solution was built entirely in HTML5, editorial and cosmetic changes could be executed quickly without reliance on other hardware or software systems.

"Having Bannister Lake data available on various endpoints meant we had maximum flexibility to tell the election night story," said Gerry Belec, director news technology and operations, Global News. "Once again Bannister Lake ensured that both our editorial and production teams had the data and the tools to execute a great election night broadcast."

Dutch megastar Marco Borsato recently played a stream of sold out record breaking shows at De Kuip stadium in The Netherlands. The set included a huge scale canvas in the form of a 1,000 square-meter LED screen. To power the impressive visuals needed for this event, Michael Al-Far of MalfMedia and Jo Pauly of Visual Solutions turned to disguise servers to provide the power. Six disguise vx 4 and four disguise gx 2 media servers played key roles in the innovative production driving the video content and facilitating real-time IMAG grading of the live feed and the integration of Notch VFX and multicam AR in the massive main screen graphics.

Marco Borsato consistently has been one of the most successful and biggest grossing artists in the Netherlands in the last twenty years. For the 2019 shows, Marco specifically requested that the starting point for the De Kuip shows would be the level of last year’s Sportpalais concerts where the team first introduced cinematographic content. “As an artist and photographer Marco felt the time had come for him to be involved in every step of this exciting project, so we had creative freedom, but he had the final say. Together with Set and Lighting Designer Carlo Zaenen we created the content book in which we outlined the look and feel of every song.” says MalfMedia founder Michael Al-Far.

“Marco Borsato was adamant that the live feed would be treated to fit better in the cinematographic content,” Michael notes. As a result, MalfMedia approached Lewis Kyle White to apply his vast experience in IMAG grading for live shows on this project.

The outdoor show posed a number of challenges: starting in daylight and transitioning to night; a canvas that was by some measures the largest screen ever used for an arena rock concert; the IMAG live feed embedded into the content and not shown on side screens; and a set list of 37 songs that all needed to have the same standard of quality.

Underlining the importance of its solutions business, Pixel Power has added two new product specialists to the team. Tanya Schurawel and Toria Farrell both come direct from broadcasters, and will use their unique insights to help customers develop optimised solutions for automated production, graphics and playout.