MG ALBA, which manages and operates Scottish Gaelic language channel BBC ALBA in partnership with the BBC, has chosen a Streamstar X4 Live Production Studio to extend the creative resources available at and from its Stornoway headquarters. The new system will be used primarily for broadcast and online coverage of remote location events.
"We identified the Streamstar X4 as an efficient alternative to traditional outside broadcast vehicles,\" says Uisdean MacLeod, MG ALBA's Operations Manager (Technology). "It provides a lot of creative production facilities in a chassis the size of a small suitcase. The core unit plus control keyboard and the necessary add-ons such as touch screen monitor and cameras can be transported easily to site and integrated quickly compared to traditional methods. Operation is via an intuitive user interface which gives our staff access to a very wide range of audio and video features and effects."
"Streamstar has taken the whole business of mobile video production to an entirely new level in terms of affordability, versatility and portability,\" adds CJP Broadcast Managing Director Chris Phillips. "The X4 provides all the capabilities traditionally associated with a no-compromise production gallery but on a platform that is easy to control and extremely compact. When combined with latest-generation robotic cameras, it allows a small team of just three or four people to achieve high quality results that compare favourably without the cost or complexity of a traditional OB truck. The entire system can be taken to site in a car and installed within just a few hours, or less for an experienced crew arriving at a familiar venue. Power is direct from standard mains."
Occupying just 2U, the Streamstar Live Production Studio comes complete with a 1 terabyte solid-state video recorder with ISO multichannel capture, slow-motion and freeze-frame playback, character and graphics generator, vision switcher, picture-in-picture and split-screen effects and automated switching modes, an audio mixer, video and audio editor, and multiview video monitoring. Model X4 internal video processing is 4:4:4:4 ARGB at 50 or 60 frames per second. Four HD-SDI/IP stream/NDI inputs plus an HDMI input are provided. Outputs are HD-SDI/HDMI/NDI/RTMP/TS, providing all the standard formats required for second-screen outputs as well as traditional broadcast infrastructure and IP streaming.
