In Broadcast - September 2016 - 30


30

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 6 - Issue 9 | September 2016

InStudio

Bringing Out The Best
For Belgium Broadcaster

Thanks to Blackmagic Design, a versatile multi-purpose radio and television studio at
RTBF is delivering on its promise of catering for a range of daily programming...

W

ith five radio stations and three
television channels, Belgium's
public broadcaster, Radio Television
Belge de la communaute Francaise
(RTBF), delivers a wealth of daily
programming to the country's French
speaking population.
As with other broadcasters around
the globe, RTBF has seen major shifts
in how its audiences engage with its
channels, in terms of devices accessing
stations, as well as viewing on demand.
Responding to these changes
came in the form of an innovative,
multi-purpose studio that enables
programming to be broadcast live on
any or several radio and television
channels simultaneously.
Creative Perspective
Olivier Waty, Head of Technological
Development at RTBF, says that
Blackmagic Design equipment was
integral for not only the studio's
creative purposes, but also its
operational
requirements:
"The
project stemmed from a visual radio
perspective; how could we add
high-quality video into our existing
radio productions, without adding
complexity into the existing workflow.
We started by mapping out how we
could integrate visual news reports
into existing radio programming. It
was soon clear that we could expand
this, and facilitate a much wider
offering using a dedicated studio
space.
"It had to be extremely versatile in
order to allow us to produce the wide
range of programme; from magazine

and lifestyle shows, news bulletins, talk
shows as well as more intimate face
to face productions. However, at the
same time, the technical production
for any of these programmes had to
be achieved with a team of only three:
a radio technician who manages the
'traditional' radio elements such as
jingles and microphone management,
a vision mixer for switching, and
another person in charge of the
editorial content.
"Whatever type of programme we
are producing in the studio, highquality video production is a very
important factor, particularly video
for a radio programme, as we need
those who are used to listening, to
immediately engage with the visuals
and ensure they feel comfortable with
the new content."

Workflow
Waty adds: "All content production in
the studio is handled through a video
production workflow built around
Blackmagic's Smart Videohub 20 x 20
for signal distribution, and the ATEM
2 M/E Production Studio 4K, which
delivers a professional programme
mix. For preview monitoring, we rely
on the Blackmagic Audio Monitor,
SmartScope Duo and SmartView
monitors, giving the vision mixer
and editorial lead extensive preview
monitoring capabilities to ensure that
the visuals are not only great quality,
but also in context with the production.
"A Teranex standards converter is
also included as part of the production
unit, to enable the team to integrate
content
from
Olivier Waty,
Head of Technological other sources in
Development at RTBF the
programme
mix. The Teranex's
processing power
is an extremely
important element
in
maintaining
the
studio's
flexibility in terms
of content, as it
gives us the ability
to include sources
in any format into

RTBF's multi-purpose studio

a report. All we need to do is run the
signal through the Teranex to bring
it into consistency with our in-house
standard."
"Given the restrictions we have in
terms of technical staffing, automating
as much of the production process,
in line with our existing workflows,
was essential. Through an innovative
web interface, the video technician is
able to use the ATEM's API to control
camera functions as well as visual
effects such as picture in picture,
to add a more professional feel,
without the need for additional team
members."
Automation
"This studio automation runs in
conjunction with software developed
in house by RTBF's development team
(DEVTEC), which uses events taking
place in the audio environment to
trigger video elements to complement
what is being broadcast. So, for
example an interview taking place in
the studio for a radio show will trigger
a video signal, so those watching
online can immediately see the
interview taking place," says Waty
"DEVTEC has also built bridges
between our newsroom computer
system
(NRCS),
our
content
management system, where all prerecorded video clips are stored, and
both broadcasting environments. If
a journalist is presenting a news item

on a radio programme and wants to
illustrate the story, they can access a
video in the NRCS, and the automation
software will ensure the clip arrives
into the broadcast environment in the
right format, and the audio is extracted
and sent to the radio system."
Waty sums up: "This 'double
destination' process is truly innovative,
and combined with the Blackmagic
Design infrastructure, RTBF has an
extremely flexible studio environment
capable of producing full scale
programming across radio and
television.
The ease of use and the speed to
air that the team have been able to
achieve has already led to editorial
staff choosing the studio to broadcast
breaking news, so it's clear that this
type of multi-purpose automation
will play a major part in RTBF's studio
development in future."

Video production workflow on
Blackmagic's Smart Videohub 20 x 20
http://www.inbroadcast.com https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk/products/atem https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk/products/blackmagicaudiomonitor https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk/products/smartvideohub/workflow
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast - September 2016
