Microsoft’s Channel 9 Studio Using TriCaster® and SNS EVO
By Jim Bask
NewTek TriCaster® 8000 multi-camera production system is the video switcher and streaming solution, and Studio Network Solutions (SNS) EVO is the storage solution with Media Asset Management (MAM) that together are the heart of production at Channel 9. All cameras from the three studios feed into the TriCaster, and all feeds are fully archived to the EVO, in addition to other, redundant recording systems. The PTZ cameras for all studios can be controlled by a single operator, also TD’ing at the TriCaster.
Once upon a time, television production trucks were like cruise ships on wheels. They pulled into a sporting event, swaggering with self-importance; fifty feet of gleaming metal pulled behind a pavement-buckling Peterbilt that belched diesel smoke and deafened every innocent bystander within a mile’s radius. Once parked, these production trailers began unloading thousands of pounds of equipment and unspooled miles of cable. Inside one these lustrous fifty-foot beasts, you might find a dozen or more crew members, all working away happily, while the truck sucked down power like a thirsty brontosaurus.
The Big South Conference is one of the trailblazers in college sports-video production, having launched a digital network in 2005 at a time when only the Big Ten Network existed. This summer, the league is looking to keep itself ahead of the game, making the commitment to substantially upgrade its production capabilities.