Learn more about Vizrt HERE

The Thunderbay 4, like other OWC products, stands out for its robust build quality. Constructed with an aluminum chassis and drive sleds, it provides a sense of durability and reliability. It supports up to 96 TB of storage and offers flexibility with RAID configurations, including RAID 0, 1, 4, 5, 1+0, and JBOD. Users can either purchase the enclosure pre-configured with drives or opt for an empty unit to add their own. The system connects via Thunderbolt 3/4 and includes a pass-through port for additional device connections, making it suitable for a range of professional workflows.

Jordan highlighted the convenience and efficiency of the Thunderbay 4. The unit connects directly to the wall with no power brick, operates quietly except for the sound of spinning drives, and achieves impressive speeds, delivering over 1 GB/second in RAID 0. The installation process is straightforward, taking less than ten minutes to mount drives onto sleds and secure them in the enclosure. Jordan emphasized the importance of using all mounting screws to prevent vibration, ensuring stability during operation.

In his experience, the Seagate Iron Wolf Pro drives proved reliable, aside from one drive arriving defective—a situation quickly resolved by the retailer. Jordan praised OWC’s consistent quality, noting that this is the fourth or fifth RAID system he has owned from the company. He recommended using SoftRAID to configure the Thunderbay 4 as RAID 5 with macOS Extended (Journaled) for optimal performance and data protection.

Jordan concluded that upgrading from Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3, combined with a high-quality enclosure like the OWC Thunderbay 4, offers a significant performance boost. For those seeking a versatile and durable RAID solution, the Thunderbay 4 is an excellent choice, especially when paired with reliable hard drives like Seagate’s Iron Wolf Pro series.

Read the full review by Larry Jordan HERE

Learn more about OWC Thunderbay 4 HERE

Learn more about OWC HERE

Learn more about Kiloview here!

Learn mor about the Kiloview P3 Cellular Bonding Encoder and Modems here!

Check out his review here!

Learn more about LiveU Solo here!

The Pro-Blade Station is intended for a specific scenario, but it may have broader applications.

What SanDisk created was an infrastructure around a custom enclosure for NVMe drives which they've called a 'Pro-Blade SSD Mag'. These are refined metal-covered sticks with 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB capacities that completely encapsulate the NVMe module.

These then use two access mechanisms, the first of which is Pro-Blade Transport, a single blade that connects to USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 ports and can transfer data at a rate of 20Gbit/s.

The Pro-Blade Transport with a Pro-Blade Station SSD Mag inserted is thought to be connected to a data capture device, possibly a digital camera. Once data has been written to the Mag, it can be detached and connected to a computer via the Pro-Blade Station.

It can accept up to four Mags at once and then transfer the data to the computer at up to 40Gbit/s using Thunderbolt 3.

What you get for your money is an SSD transport system that protects the drives and delivers them to the computer working with the data in an easy-to-manage package.

SanDisk PRO-BLADE Station: Design

The SanDisk Professional Blade Station is built to the same high standards as the rest of the SanDisk Professional hardware we've seen.

The Pro-Blade Station is probably over-engineered in this context because it is unlikely to be handled roughly or have heavy weights placed on it.

However, it is designed to match the Transport and the Mags, and they may be subjected to rough handling or abuse in everyday use. The Mags are rated for a 3m drop and 4000lb crush force by SanDisk, but they don't appear to be waterproof.

Because of the shape of the Mags, they can only be used in one orientation, and once inserted into Pro=Blade Station, a small LED above the slot indicates that they've been recognized, and this flashes when they're in use.

Multiple transfers can be initiated when four Mags are connected at the same time, but they will not be any faster than if the contents were copied individually due to the speed limit imposed by Thunderbolt bandwidth.

SanDisk PRO-BLADE Station: Performance

What's difficult to deny is that the Pro-Blade Station and SSD Mag combination is extremely fast over Thunderbolt 3 or 4, using the 40Gbit/s pathway.

We achieved 3,072 MB/s reads and 2600MB/s writes using CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4, making this the fastest external Thunderbolt SSD we've ever tested.

However, the OWC Envoy FX external SSD isn't far behind these figures, and the limiting factor to speed is Thunderbolt bandwidth rather than the drives themselves.

The corresponding Transport component does not support Thunderbolt and instead employs USB 3.2 Gen 2x2. While this will work with cameras that support USB 3.2, very few support Gen 2x2, as this is a USB standard that was never widely adopted. Most cameras with USB support 5Gbps Gen 1 mode, which has a transfer speed of 500MB/s.

It's understandable that they used USB because so few cameras support Thunderbolt, but it does highlight that the performance in this solution is weighted towards the transfer and editing end of the process rather than the capture point.

While the concept of creating an elegant workflow from camera to editing system is appealing, there are aspects of this solution that contradict the rapidly changing landscape of external SSD storage.

Soon, 4TB will seem insignificant, and cameras and other capture devices will need to support file systems other than FAT32 in order to connect to 16TB and larger drives.

Read the full review from TechRadarPro HERE

Learn more about SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE HERE

Learn more about SanDisk Professional HERE

Join them as they open the box and explore the contents, including the camera itself, accessories, and unique features. Witness the sleek design and attention to detail that BirdDog is known for, as we showcase the 20x optical zoom lens, Sony Exmor R™ sensor, and the innovative 360° Mohawk Tally for easy camera identification.

They also highlight the removable silicon numbers, LED screen, and the practicality of the Fixed Mounting Holes, Tripod mounting holes, and Base DIP Switch located on the camera's underside. Throughout the video, they provide detailed information and demonstrations of the BirdDog P120 Camera's features, giving you an insight into its capabilities and potential applications.

P110 and P120 set a new benchmark in format support, connection flexibility, and picture quality, with excellent lowlight performance. Housing a Sony Exmor R back-illuminated sensor and BirdDog’s custom NDI® silicon, P110 & P120 offer four output options including NDI®, SDI, HDMI for live production work, and UVC USB for connecting to Zoom & Teams. Output multiple flavours of NDI® including Full NDI®, NDI®|HX2, and HX3, as well as other options including SRT, h.264, and Cloud Connect. It even supports FreeD output for AR/VR workflows. There’s also an OLED display to show the IP address, 360° degree mohawk tally, filter thread, and free Auto-Tracking available. And yes, the cameras support NDI® 5 natively.

Watch the full video HERE:

Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
0:10 - Unboxing the BirdDog P120 Camera
1:23 - Exploring the Accessories
2:25 - Exploring the BirDog P120 Camera
2:34 - BirDog P120: Camera design
3:16 - BirDog P120: Lens and Sensor
3:34 - BirDog P120: OLED Display Screen
4:04 - BirDog P120: Ports & Connectivity options
4:24 - BirDog P120: Mohawk Tally
4:41 - BirDog P120: Camera Numbering System-SIlicon Number Inserts
4:57 - BirDog P120: Camera Mounting Options
5:25 - BirDog P120: Conclusion and Teaser for Upcoming Testing and Demo Videos

Learn more about BirdDog P120 HERE

Learn more about BirdDog HERE

It all started many years ago with a webcam and special live-streaming software (YouTube didn't support live streaming at the time). In the morning, he would place the webcam in the makeup room with the model, and then he would take the same camera and move it to the studio to show the photoshoot. All through one camera, and the cool thing was that people stayed online the entire day, interacting, sharing ideas, and chatting with each other and me. Due to time differences, some people dozed off, but it was a fantastic experience.

His internet speed at the time was about 0.5 up (if the wind was blowing correctly). He is now surfing the internet with a blazingly fast fiber connection of 160/160 and… he is still live streaming.

One webcam has evolved into four cameras inside the studio, plus one for me behind the desk. During the live stream, viewers can also see my desktop via another input device, as well as picture in picture screens of various sizes. Of course, people can interact, and we are simultaneously streaming live on Facebook and YouTube, where people can directly interact.

He has a pretty nice setup for his live streams. Their HDMIs are fed into an RGB minilink, which is connected to an external screen to display the previews. Wirecast is running on his MacBook Pro, and he is also using an external monitor for the comments and the YouTube studio preview. It works perfectly and he is extremely adaptable, but he can't show retouching on my laptop while Wirecast is running without experiencing live stream issues when he use more demanding plugins.

Enter the YoloBox Pro.

So, what exactly is the Yolobox pro? In short, you can eliminate all other hardware (except the cameras) and stream directly from one device. Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Well, a lot is possible these days, so why not, and let's be honest, having one small device that does it all sounds absolutely amazing, so he couldn't wait to start testing.

3 HDMI Inputs
To begin, three HDMI sources can be connected. This was the first issue he had with the YoloBox Pro.
But there is a simple solution. For their Digital Classroom setup, he uses a Magewell capture device for his iPad/Desktop, and the YoloBox Pro also has a USB input port, so he tested the Magewell with a 1080P camera, and it worked flawlessly, as did his iPad and Desktop. This means you can work with four different sources, which should be more than enough for most people.

Zoom Meetings
Since the Pandemic, we've done more online than ever before, and many meetings are now held online rather than in person. However, as a teacher, he frequently encounter issues with streaming services for clients. Some clients are fine when we stream via YouTube on their account, but sometimes they are also asked to use dedicated software, and some of them are extremely limiting, often requiring only a webcam and, if you're lucky, your desktop. But don't worry, the YoloBox pro can output its video stream not only via HDMI, but also via a USB output port, and…yes, it works in Zoom, Teams, and other similar applications.

Effects
Of course, effects are required during a livestream, and the YoloBox Pro does not disappoint. You can choose from a variety of fade effects, create "custom" overlays, change the borders and backgrounds within the Picture in Picture screens, and even overlay score cards, social media comments, and other content. They have a wide range of options that should be more than enough for everyone.

Guests
One of the features Frank likes about Wirecast (but have yet to use) is the ability to invite a guest. You can simply send them a link via the built-in Guest module, and the guest will only need to click there during the live stream to join you. If you want to travel light while still having access to the internet, you could use this function to use 1-2 extra phones as cameras; just make sure you disable audio on those phones if you don't want them to be mics.

Audio
Of course, audio is extremely important, and the YoloBox Pro recognizes this. Frank likes it when you can set up audio correctly, and while there is no support for plugins like a compressor/limiter or de-esser, you can set up audio per input, use delay per channel (nicely done), and even use an auto follow method.

MultiCast
The YoloBox Pro also allows you to stream to multiple services at the same time. Furthermore, you do not need the YouTube live stream studio to be open (to go live) with the internal software, which is a huge benefit; you can also use the RTMP service option if you want to do something other than the included services.

Green Screen
Maybe you need it, maybe you don't, but it's awesome that it's a one-box solution that works flawlessly.
Simply place a green piece of paper or whatever you want behind you and choose a cool background, and you're there.

Comments
This function is Frank's absolute favorite. People frequently ask questions during the live stream; with the YoloBox Pro, you can choose to display the comments in the live stream. And the selecting and deselecting works flawlessly. Frank always recommend not showing every comment; some people, if you know what he means, can't handle the option to share their "opinion" during a live stream, and editing it out later is often impossible. Fortunately, selecting the comments is extremely simple.

In Conclusion
Frank absolutely adores the YoloBox Pro; it's incredible to think that with just one device, he can go live during events, trade shows, in the middle of a location shoot, and while traveling with the RV; as long as he has Internet, he is ready to go (using his phone as a hotspot). If you want complete and simple streaming, but also the ability to stream from most locations, the YoloBox series is ideal, with the Pro providing the most connections and options.

Read the full review from Frank Doorhof HERE

Learn more about YoloLiv YoloBox Pro HERE

Learn more about YoloLiv HERE

As is typical, the M4250 switch line contains a plethora of models. In this situation, we're looking particularly at the Netgear M4250-9G1F-PoE+ (GSM4210PD) AV Line. It contains a total of ten ports (9x 1G, 1x SFP). There are 8 POE ports with a total output power of 110W.

Netgear M4250-9G1F-PoE+ Specifications

Netgear M4250-9G1F-PoE+ Highlights

The M4250 switches' standout feature is their PoE+ capability, with 8 PoE+ ports capable of 30W per port and a total PoE budget of 110W. The switches are also pre-configured for standard audio and video signals, but they provide an AV user interface for customizing with port-based profiles. These profiles contain audio (Dante, Q-SYS, and AES67) and visual (NVX, AMX, Q-SYS, NDI, and Dante) choices. There are also audio/video/control mixed profiles available.

When using several M4250 switches, NETGEAR's IGMP PlusTM technology enables automation in connecting them together, as well as with M4300 and M4500 switches. The M4250 switches additionally provide a separate AV web-based GUI interface for more customized AV installations, as well as color-based AV profiles that can be applied to various ports. Furthermore, all models of the M4250 switches share a common Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching engine and provide a distinct IT web GUI, console, telnet, and SSH that is consistent with other NETGEAR M4300 and M4500 series products.

Audio Video Bridging (AVB), an industry standard for transmitting multimedia across a network, is supported by the M4250 switch. AVB provides superior synchronization and reduced latency and is frequently used when extremely low latency is required, such as during live performances. AVB compatibility is available as an option on all AV Line M4250 switches.

Aside from AV, the M4250 switches can also be used in common IT applications such as midsize Enterprise campus networks, IoT, and IPTV.

The M4250 switches are backed by NETGEAR's ProSAFE Limited Lifetime Hardware Warranty and include 90 days of phone and email technical support, as well as Lifetime Technical Support via online chat and Lifetime Next Business Day hardware replacement.

Interface

They provide industry-standard management options, such as a CLI, the main NETGEAR IT web interface, SNMP, sFlow, and RSPAN, as well as the NMS300 management platform, which includes centralized firmware upgrades and bulk configuration support.

The NETGEAR AV Line of M4250 Switches' user interface has been designed to be clean and intuitive, making it simple for audio/video professionals to operate and adapt the switches to meet their individual demands. The AV user interface provides a variety of customization choices via port-based profiles, including audio and video settings as well as combination audio/video/control profiles. These profiles are accessible via the dedicated AV web-based GUI interface, which has been simplified to ease in navigation and comprehension.

In addition to the AV user interface, the M4250 switches include an IT web GUI, console, telnet, and SSH, like with other NETGEAR M4300 and M4500 series products.

In comparison to the AV-based GUI, which provides the settings that an AV engineer would wish to change, the IT Web GUI enables for more detailed setup of the switch and its integration into the network as a whole, especially during installation. This facilitates switch management and configuration, ensuring that audio/video professionals get the most out of their M4250 switches. Overall, the M4250 switches' clear and intuitive UI makes them a user-friendly and effective alternative for audio/video professionals.

Final Thoughts

The Netgear M4250-9G1F-PoE+ is a new switch tailored to audio/video pros. It features a total of 10 ports (8x 1G PoE+, 1x 1G, 1x SFP) and 8 PoE+ ports with a total output of 110W. This switch includes support for AVB (Audio Video Bridging) and a specialized AV web-based GUI interface with port-based profiles for audio, video, and mixed audio/video/control signals, making it well-suited for audio/video applications.

Learn more about NETGEAR M4250-9G1F-PoE+ (GSM4210PD) HERE

Learn more about NETGEAR HERE

The NDI Marketplace features a list of some of the major businesses that make authorized NDI products. The products come from manufacturers like NewTek, Panasonic, Canon, BirdDog, PTZOptics, Sony, JVC, HuddleCamHD, Marshall, Datavideo, Ikan, Magewell, Teradek, Kiloview, Deltacast, Netgear, and vMix. They also include PTZ and box cameras, mobile applications, video switching software, encoders and decoders, displays, audio solutions, graphics, and more. OBS, XSplit, Chyron, Vizrt, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom are a few more firms that he is aware of that produce goods for the NDI ecosystem but aren't included in the NDI Marketplace. He is not sure what constitutes a piece of software or equipment as a "official NDI product," but off the top of his head, he is aware of what the term refers to.

There are various solutions available in most product categories, particularly on the acquisition end of the workflow, NDI video cameras, virtual meeting services, and NDI encoders receive a lot of attention. Microsoft Teams is used for acquisition along with Canon CR-N500 PTZ cameras in my own NDI workflows.

The workflow considerations for the NDI video switching system that is utilized to mix, stream, and record a program are equally as significant as those for the NDI capture equipment. Whether the inputs are SDI, HDMI, or NDI, I utilize vMix for my software video switching, streaming, and recording requirements.

Decoders are essential for transmitting live video to a venue's projectors and monitors. With a BirdDog Play that took 11 months to arrive, he is still testing it out. When I need to power a projector, a comfort monitor, or more displays at a venue, he is hoping it proves to be a workable substitute for streaming video through SDI.

Managed Network Switch

A managed network switch is frequently given less attention than the other components that make up an NDI workflow. This may be due, in part, to the fact that learning new skills can be scary for many producers. We are already expected to have knowledge of video cameras, switchers, live streaming, audio, and over-under cable wrapping. How are we going to learn how to effectively manage the sophisticated network requirements of NDI?

The solution is simple: start with switches from the Netgear M4250 AV range. If you require any additional justification for narrowing your search to the Netgear M4250, you only need to check out the NDI Marketplace to notice that it is the only product available under Network Products. Yes, you can set up other managed switches to work with NDI workflows, but you will need to negotiate a network management user interface, which varies based on the manufacturer and type.

AV User Interface

The Main UI and the AV UI are the two UI choices for the Netgear M4250. Setting up an NDI network is simple with the AV UI, and you can even use the same switch for both segmented internet and NDI traffic. If you have knowledge and expertise with networking, you might be able to set up your NDI network on a separate switch by following the instructions in the Networking Best Practice-White Paper and looking for an old version of the "NDI Network Guidelines." Ultimately, employing an alternative solution will result in a small peer base for support because the Netgear M4250 is the de facto standard that the industry is adopting.

The other difficulty with using the two documents to configure your switch is that while they will help you disable jumbo frames and QoS settings, you will still need to make choices for the majority of the settings covered in the "Networking Best Practice-White Paper," such as selecting between Reliable UDP, Multipath TCP, Single TCP or UDP with Forward Error Correction. Because it discusses all of the possibilities rather than suggesting one as the default and instead leaves it up to you to choose the best solution for your use case, this probably goes beyond what most video professionals are comfortable doing.

Bandwidth

You should think about bandwidth, port segmentation, and port-based profiles when choosing an NDI switch. In an NDI workflow, bandwidth is crucial since you don't want your video to be dropped or delayed since it is priority traffic for you. If you use too much bandwidth, the network may get overloaded. The majority of business networks, including shared website hosts, are over-prescribed to the point that they anticipate each connected user to occasionally utilize a modest amount of bandwidth. Checking email, adding a few pictures to a social media post, and looking up better cookie recipes don't need a constant flow of bidirectional traffic. The user experience won't be significantly impacted if a little latency is added because the network is saturated. Because of the sustained throughput needs of NDI video and the burst needs of data traffic, it is best  practice to segment your NDI traffic from your data and internet connection.

NDI bandwidth requirements range from 16Mbps for an NDI|HX 1080 60p signal to 350Mbps for a full NDI 4K 60p signal. NDI uses a protocol called Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) for multicasting. This is different from unicasting, which is a 1:1 connection, and broadcasting, which is 1 to every other host on the network. Broadcasting works in theory but will quickly flood a network.

Only the hosts that want the video stream will receive it with multicasting, so you're not sending video signals to a video camera that is also broadcasting and has no use for incoming video signals. To enable multicasting, the switch must support IGMP snooping and IGMP querier. Some implementations perform the snooping and querier functions on separate switches, but the Netgear M4250 has both, making implementation much easier. Netgear's IGMP implementation is known as Netgear IGMP Plus.

You should also avoid using an unmanaged switch on an existing network because all you are doing is connecting devices to an already configured managed network that may or may not work for your NDI workflow. The worst part is that while this may work fine in internal testing at your studio on your own network, when you take it to a client location, hotel, or conference center, you are at the mercy of the network restrictions.

If you want to ensure that your NDI network operates reliably, you must manage it yourself. When he first started working with NDI, one of his first big lessons was that he didn't have to rely on the network of the location he was working at for my NDI devices. This is a good thing, because working with hotels to get a simple internet connection for a hardware webcast encoder that couldn't browse to a website and accept the terms of service or enter a password was already frustrating. He eventually gave up on hardware encoders and switched to laptop-based encoders with vMix software.

Netgear M4250 Line

There are over a dozen different models in the Netgear M4250 line. Desktop, 1RU, and 2RU rackmount options are available. Each switch is equipped with its own processor, RAM, and IEC connector, as well as an internal power supply.

The GSM4210PD Desktop and GSM4212P 1RU retail models include 8x gigabit Ethernet POE+ (30W) ports, 1x or 2x gigabit SFP ports, 20Gbps or 24Gbps switching capacity, and a total POE+ budget of 110W or 125W. His Canon N500 PTZ cameras consume up to 19.6W of POE+ power, so these entry-level switches could power five or six cameras. There are additional models in the M4250 POE line for higher input and power budgets if you need to power more cameras.

When using the more power-hungry Canon N700, BirdDog P4K, or Panasonic AW-UE150K POE++ cameras, the minimum requirement is changed to an M4250 model, which supports 90W POE++ and has a higher power budget. The GSM4212UX model is similar to the GSM4212P but supports POE++ power with a total budget of 720W and a switching capacity of 60Gbps.

The GSM4248UX 40-port POE++ model with a 2,280W budget and three IEC power connectors is at the top of the line, with models with even higher power budgets, with 24 and 40 POE ports.

Read the full article from Streaming Media HERE

Learn more about NETGEAR M4250 Switches HERE

Learn more about NETGEAR HERE

Wirecast Gear 4K is an easy-to-use, all-in-one live video streaming and production solution. No need to build your system from scratch, start streaming in minutes with a flexible platform, preconfigured and built specifically to run Wirecast and handle professional 4K video productions. Just connect your cameras and start producing and streaming your events.

Ian is the founder of the Confident Live Marketing Academy and is the host of the Confident Live Marketing Podcast. He helps entrepreneurs to level up their impact, authority and profits by using live video confidently. He's the founder of Seriously Social - a blog focused on live video and social media tools. He’s an international speaker, trainer, teacher and consultant. He has a passion for making the techno-babble of live video and social media marketing easy to understand. As well as being a geek, husband, and dad to two kids, Ian is also a professional singer and lives near Manchester in the UK.

Watch the full video HERE:

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:19 This review is different
0:59 Unboxing
1:33 Different versions of the Gear 3
1:51 Problems
2:52 Loud fans, beefy hardware
3:15 Wirecast Pro - pros and cons
4:07 Beefy Hardware Part II
4:44 Loading up Wirecast Pro
5:20 Creating our first scene/shot
6:03 Stock video library
6:43 Transitions
7:15 Live streaming and multistreaming settings
10:44 Multiple audio tracks and streams
11:49 Testing live-streaming
12:13 Who is the Wirecast Gear 3 for?
13:06 My thoughts

Learn more about Telestream Wirecast Gear 4K HERE

Learn more about Telestream HERE