In Broadcast - October 2013 - 36


I N T E R N A T I O N A L

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 24 - OCTOBER 2013

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InSTUDIO
®

Lawo And Formula 1 – A Winning Mix
Videe builds lightweight flyaway rig for Sky F1® coverage using Lawo’s V__pro8...

T

36

he 2013 Formula 1 Grand Prix
season has seen Sky raise
the stakes on its TV coverage
with a high quality and exemplary
product. Along with HD pictures,
the broadcaster has introduced
‘mosaic’ viewing – a choice of
nine video options and features
that are under the viewer’s control.
Sky has also extended viewing to
PCs, tablets and smart phones.
Part of this ambitious push was
the appointment of Italian broadcast
and satellite transmission specialist
Videe as main broadcast contractor
for Sky Italia, to handle coverage of
the entire 2013-2015 seasons’ races.
Videe’s F1® involvement began
with a tender document issued by
Sky Italia, detailing the equipment
requirements and requiring costing.
Having been involved in many major
sport events of the past few years
– including the FIFA World Cup,
Olympic Games, UEFA Champions
League and Five Nations rugby
championship – and having
therefore gained a remarkable
know-how, Videe’s credentials were
good. With the contract secured,
work on the setup began.
“This cutting edge project,
planned and tested with Sky Italia
management – particular thanks
here to Mr Riccardo Botta and
Mr Tiziano Mantovani – is special
because we need to keep weight
and volume as low as possible for
international shipping – more weight
equals greater cost,” said Bruno
Mercuri, Videe’s CEO & Founder.
“The system needs to operate around
the world in different locations and
situations, including some of the
world’s most demanding broadcast
environments.”
To deal with the extreme
temperatures of some circuits, Videe
requested four air conditioning
units for the MCR to keep the air

temperature down, and its robust
selection of equipment ensured that
there were no technical dramas. For
the audio, this included a 32-fader
Lawo mc²56 MkII 16-16C-0 mixing
console, equipped with three DSP
boards, giving 144 DSP audio
channels. On the video side, Videe
entered the race with a Lawo
V__pro8 video processing device,
providing all the tools needed for
live broadcast production. This 1RU
unit offers frame synchronisation,
format conversion, colour correction,
audio de-embedding and metering,
among other functions. All signals
can be combined through its
internal 8x8 video and 384x384
audio routers.
Videe’s relationship with Lawo
began at the 2007 IBC show, while
shopping for equipment to ﬁt out its
ﬁrst HD OB truck: “We were looking
to buy another manufacturer’s
console, but we stopped off at Lawo
and never went away,” Mercuri said.
When the Videe team did leave, it
was with an mc²66 console.
“We shoot the X Factor talent show,
using the HD OB van equipped with
the Lawo mc²66,” he added. “Then
we usually use it to shoot football
matches during the winter season
in Italy and Europe.
“We started to work on the F1®
project on September 2012 when
we ﬁrst received the relevant bid
information from Sky. We won the
bid during the last days of November
2012 and had a very short time
to complete the integration,”
Mercuri continued. “That system
is now working around the world
to produce the images for Sky Italia.
“We have one control room,
the MCR, to receive the main
signals from FOM (Formula One
Management Limited) to integrate
with signals from our cameras, EVS/
Avid and graphics video systems,

TM

Lawo mc²56 in operation for F1® coverage

and to send it via EBU ﬁbre-optic
link to Sky Italia headquarters.”
For its audio, Videe headed
straight back to Lawo. The mc²56
MkII uses Virtual Studio Manager
(VSM) from L-S-B Broadcast
Technology’s as its superordinate control system. It is also
accompanied by a Lawo V_pro8
Video Processor for embedding
and de-embedding the 5-1-channel
surround audio in the video stream.
Weighing in at 2,500kg and
requiring just a few hours to
configure, the flyaway system
provides Sky Italia with the MCR
for all of its live F1® coverage – 95%
of the broadcast content is created
live, from the Grand Prix venue. “It
is a very compact installation with
an extremely small footprint. The
audio requires just a single rack
and a single console, and with the
V__pro8 video processing unit of

Level Magic II - Managed Loudness.

1RU, the audio/video combination
results in a comparably low weight,”
Mercuri said.
“Lawo knows what a broadcaster
needs, and we found a perfect
team with a lot of knowledge and
patience that helped us through
this process, giving us important
assistance in any circumstances
in which we might require it,” he
concluded. “Also, with Lawo/VSM/
LSB solutions, we are a step ahead
in conﬁguring and managing our
systems. Innovation is essential for
us, and Lawo deﬁnitely responds
to our needs.”
After having won the contract
and delivered the goods for Sky
Italia’s F1® coverage for 2013 to
2015, Videe hopes that Sky could
continue to succeed and to commit
with Videe in the future – with Lawo
in pole position for its audio and
video work.

EBU R128
ITU.1770-1/-2/-3
ATSC A/85
ARIB TR-B32

/jungeraudio

raudio

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