In Broadcast - April 2018 - 31

31

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 8 - Issue 4 | April 2018

InForm

Wheatstone's Virtual Development
Platform For IP Audio Infrastructure

N

ew
virtual
development
platforms like ScreenBuilder
are taking advantage of existing IP
audio infrastructure to transform
how broadcasters manage workflows,
share resources and adapt to change.
Virtualisation isn't an entirely new
concept.
"We've been virtualising studio
functions since the very early days of
IP audio networking, and not just on
the surface... but inside the network,
too. Early AoIP adopters will recall
Wheatstone's Glass E virtual mixer
for the laptop and the introduction of
virtual mixers at every I/O point on
the network with the arrival of our
WheatNet-IP audio network in 2008,"
says Dee McVicker, Wheatstone's
Communications Director.
Virtualising resources instead of
limiting them to fixed hardware makes
sense for a whole host of reasons,
foremost among them the scalability
and flexibility of software. "So far,
though, virtualisation hasn't moved

much beyond single-purpose
use; that is, virtual mixers and
other similar apps have remained
largely fixed in purpose. But
what if you had your own virtual
development platform with the
smarts to do virtually anything
you want to do in the studio?
What if you could determine
what to put behind the glass or
on a button, right down to its
functions and when to perform
those functions based on the
status of a cross point connection
in the network? How useful would
it be to develop your own unique
virtual studio that could not only
take into account all types of user
interfaces, but also be able to assign
the right bus-minus, for example?"
McVicker asks.
With AoIP technology reaching
maturity and new virtual development
platforms such as ScreenBuilder,
existing IP audio infrastructure can
be used to replace rows of bulky news

Infrastructure: WheatNet-IP audio
network by ScreenBuilder

workstations with little more than a
simple tablet and a small mic interface
box.
ScreenBuilder faders, meters, labels,
buttons, clocks, timers, and other
widgets tie into function commands

and elements on the WheatNetIP audio network. Each widget
comes with basic software scripts
for performing simple functions.
For example, faders can be
level adjusted and buttons can
turn on or off microphones. A
Script Wizard lets you do more
customised routines, often as
easily as navigating a checklist of
salvos, destinations and sources.
This is the newest frontier in
virtualisation.
One example of how broadcasters
are taking advantage of existing
IP audio network infrastructure
using virtual development tools
such as ScreenBuilder is shown
in the image. A virtual news desk on
a tablet complete with RSS feeds for
weather, stocks and news combined
with a modified talent interface that
has mic input and headphone jack.
Virtual editing screens such as this
are replacing banks of news editing
workstations in the newsroom.
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://wheatstone.com/ http://www.annova.tv https://nab18.mapyourshow.com/7_0/exhibitor/exhibitor-details.cfm?ExhID=734 https://www.facebook.com/AnnovaSystems/ http://www.annova.tv
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast - April 2018
