Every year, the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating presents IMAGE and MediaNews with an extraordinary challenge: deliver professional broadcast coverage across seven weeks, three continents, and multiple venues. Their solution is a 100% NDI-based workflow that enables a lean 11-person team to produce 173 hours of live content while moving their entire setup weekly. This innovative approach—combining portable flight cases, custom encoders, and software-driven production—delivers international-quality broadcasts while significantly reducing equipment weight, shipping costs, and setup time.
Some of the most significant numbers behind this travelling production.
Challenge
Long-time collaborators IMAGE and MediaNews face the daunting task of producing high-quality figure skating coverage while navigating a grueling international schedule and technical limitations.
The production follows a relentless weekly rhythm: arrive Monday, set up Tuesday, rehearse Wednesday, broadcast Thursday through Saturday (8-13 hours daily), then relocate to the next international venue on Sunday. This nomadic workflow demands equipment that can be rapidly deployed, operated consistently, and packed efficiently.
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The challenge was how to organize a production spanning three continents, with no stop until the end: a true round-the-world circus.
Andrea Miglio, Director of IMAGE
Unlike senior competitions with larger budgets, the Junior Grand Prix requires delivering professional broadcast quality with more limited resources. The production needs to simultaneously output three distinct feeds: a main program with graphics and commentary, a clean international feed, and a dedicated graphics feed for the venue’s LED wall, all while maintaining broadcast standards.
Technical constraints further complicate matters. The venue’s LED wall requires zero-latency video, making remote or cloud production impossible and necessitating full on-site production capabilities. For venues in Bangkok, Ankara, and Wuxi (China), traditional OB vans aren’t practical, requiring a more portable solution that doesn’t compromise on quality.
NDI offers the flexibility IMAGE and MediaNews require to setup a professional-looking production.
Solution
The production team built their solution around NDI technology. This season’s packed calendar required three production setups. MediaNews’ OB Van covered the European stages, while for the Bangkok, Ankara, and Wuxi (China) events, the team utilized a unique “control room-in-a-flight case” solution.
The NDI-based production strategy focused particularly on minimizing the size and weight of equipment shipped, saving on both shipping costs and environmental impact.
The flight cases were equipped with:
4 Dell 3930 Rack Workstations: Each powered by Intel i9 9900K processors, 64 GB RAM, and Intel X520 10Gb network cards.
1 Lenovo P3 Ultra Workstation: Used for commentator operations, both on-site and remote.
A 10 Giga-bit main network infrastructure.
Simplified production workflow diagram.
This modular solution offered many technical advantages and unlocked new options for the production team:
Single-cable network architecture: The team ditched complex SDI cable arrangements for a streamlined single-cable IP-based network. This simplified connectivity dramatically reduced setup time and improved signal reliability across venues.
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With NDI, instead of dealing with the complexity of multiple SDI cables, you just run a single 10 Gbit fiber from the live production control room to the skating rink. Around the rink, several network switches, interconnected via 10 Gbit links, connect all the cameras and additional equipment, such as producer workstations and various decoders for distributing audio and video signals throughout the venue. It's fast, reliable, and incredibly efficient.
Roberto Musso, Technical Director at NDI
Software-based flexibility: y replacing traditional hardware-based workflows with software-defined tools, the system gained a new level of agility and scalability. When a broadcaster requested an additional language stream, the team didn’t need to add physical hardware or worry about running out of SDI outputs; they launched another instance of OBS Studio.
NDI enables this kind of flexibility: every output is just another stream on the network, not another cable or port. Whether adding a source or delivering a new destination, expanding the workflow is a matter of configuration, not infrastructure.
Thanks to its IT-based architecture, NDI removes the hard limits of traditional video systems. Adding capacity or redundancy becomes a software operation, not a logistical challenge. This paradigm allowed us to respond quickly, adapt continuously, and scale without friction.
Infinite configuration possibilities: Combining Viz Vectar Plus and LAMA eliminated the limitations of traditional SDI hardware, opening endless configuration options for live productions.
Directing every show in real-time has never been easier.
A Professional Bond Forged in Innovation
The long-standing professional and personal relationship between Andrea Miglio, director and owner of IMAGE, and Roberto Musso, Technical Director of NDI and CEO/CTO of MediaNews, is rooted in mutual respect, creativity, and a shared passion for pushing technological boundaries.
Andrea recalls:
“I first met Roberto in 2000, when I joined the team at Sailing Channel, a thematic TV channel. Roberto had literally built the entire infrastructure, studio, playout system, and post-production rooms. Even back then, he was inventing creative technological solutions, often going beyond what was considered possible at the time. I remember during the 2000 America’s Cup, Roberto devised a system to transfer interviews from Auckland to Milan overnight, so we’d have fresh content ready to air the next morning. We eventually lost touch for a while, but reconnected shortly before the COVID pandemic and started working together again. Roberto and I have a relationship built on mutual respect, we never step on each other’s toes when it comes to our areas of expertise.”
Roberto adds:
“Andrea is a tsunami of ideas, with deep expertise as a director and a producer. Every time he calls me about a new project, he presents it as a challenge and gives me complete freedom in the technical approach. Once production is underway, I often hear him say, ‘With a traditional setup, this would have never been possible.’
Sometimes, when he proposes something particularly ambitious, I tell him it’s not feasible. He just smiles at me and says, ‘Yeah, right. See you next week, you’ll figure something out.’”
Outcome
The NDI-based workflow delivered exceptional results across both technical and creative dimensions. Over seven weeks, the 11-person team produced 173 hours of live broadcasts, reaching more than half a million viewers—all while maintaining professional quality and overcoming the logistical challenges of a constantly moving production.
The simplified connectivity of NDI dramatically reduced equipment weight and complexity, generating substantial cost savings in international shipping while improving reliability through fiber optic connections. This proved especially valuable for venues with long cable runs where traditional copper connections would have been impractical.
For Director Andrea Miglio, NDI’s most significant impact was on creative freedom. “I remember asking, ‘How many sources can we use?‘ and Roberto replied, ‘Think of a big number, now square it’. That’s the kind of freedom we’re talking about.”
This removal of traditional hardware constraints transformed how the team approached production decisions. Rather than limiting creative options, NDI expanded possibilities, allowing them to enhance storytelling with multiple daily interviews and varied visual approaches.
“For this season, I proposed not one remote guest per weekend but three per day—and with NDI, adding a remote guest is just ‘do it.’ You don’t need to add extra equipment,” explains Andrea. This flexibility enabled the team to implement impromptu creative decisions without technical delays or equipment adjustments.
The technical simplicity of NDI also freed the production team to focus on storytelling rather than equipment limitations. “Instead of dealing with the nightmare of SDI cabling and synchronization, with NDI, you just add another network switch. It’s super easy to change, reconfigure, and add creative layers,” notes Andrea. This streamlined approach allowed for ultra-low latency between remote and on-site elements, making the international production feel seamless despite spanning multiple continents.
Most importantly, NDI provided the operational agility to respond instantly to changing requirements and venue conditions.
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NDI is like a friend—it never says no. When the client wants another output or screen, we can simply add it. It's flexible, scalable, and the backbone that makes our innovative workflows possible.
Andrea Miglio, Director of IMAGE
Sometimes, production stations need to be set up in the most unassuming places.
Delivering a large-scale event with a global footprint is no small feat. This was the challenge for MMG Events when tasked with producing a four-day diversity and inclusion festival for the insurance sector spanning 26 countries and reaching an audience of over 60,000. Using NDI technology at the core of their setup, MMG delivered a highly reliable, flexible, and innovative solution that exceeded expectations.
Challenge
Ryan Majchrowski, CEO of MMG Events, faced an extraordinary task: producing 150hybrid and virtual sessions that spanned four days and ran around the clock. Each session needed to be live-streamed across six concurrent channels and made available on-demand within minutes. Coordinating AV teams across 26 countries required rigorous signal testing and onboarding to ensure seamless integration of hybrid and virtual components.
Adding to this complexity, MMG needed to prepare over 600 presenters for their virtual appearances, ensuring they were familiar with the environment and technology. With an audience of more than 60,000 attendees, the event demanded flawless reliability, stable connectivity, and robust redundancy to mitigate potential disruptions.
“Live only happens once — redundancy is key,” emphasized Ryan. This principle guided MMG Events’ approach to ensuring every layer of the production was secure, scalable, and adaptable to the demands of such a dynamic event.
Trust the system: a member from MMG oversees the event from afar.
Solution
To overcome the event’s multifaceted challenges, MMG Events implemented a meticulously designed workflow with NDI technology at its core. The preparation phase included months of planning and extensive onboarding programs for AV teams and presenters. Using video content and live testing sessions, MMG ensured all signal flows were proven and optimized well in advance of the event dates.
Using the Cvent platform as an endpoint allowed all live sessions to be available instantly. MMG Events also brought in a full edit team working in the background to overwrite the recordings with fully edited content at a very fast pace.
During the event, MMG deployed over 200 NDI signals across their network. This setup provided exceptional flexibility, allowing signals to be redirected anywhere within the studio. Monitoring was centralized using NDI Studio Monitor, combined with:
AtomosShogun screens to display extended desktops.
Proactive monitoring allowed the project manager to follow all onboarding, watch streams go live, and identify and address technical issues before they could disrupt the live event.
MMG Events needed all hands on deck to manage this four-day-long livestream.
Signal transmission from the hybrid London hub featured multiple layers of redundancy:
Primary transmission: Atomos Shogun over cloud-based SRT.
Backup path: Microsoft Teams for secondary transmission.
Failover system: Atomos devices pre-configured with RTMP stream info to take over streaming in case of issues.
The team also used Atomos Ninja Ultra devices to encode and pass through NDI signals. This approach allowed real-time validation of signal quality while ensuring smooth processing. Combined with triple-layer backups for internet and power, MMG built a rock-solid production environment capable of handling any challenge.
NDI enables MMG Events to combine the best features of products from brands like Atomos and BirdDog.
This workflow demonstrated how NDI can enhance flexible products. Atomos monitors, such as those from the Ninja and Shogun lines, are typically used in filmmaking studios. However, they can also function as NDI encoders or decoders, confidence monitors, or even visual signal testers. These monitors were well-equipped to meet MMG’s specific requirements for a live stream of this scale.
We love working on the R&D with Atomos Products and hope many more see the capability of their products in new ways!
Ryan Majchrowski, CEO of MMG Events
An NDI-based Workflow
With over 200 NDI signals in use, the setup offered unmatched flexibility and redundancy:
Monitoring and control: NDI Studio Monitor, Shogun Screens, and BirdDog Flex devices allowed the MMG team to monitor all incoming signals, detect issues proactively, and ensure smooth stream transitions.
Redundancy at every level: The system incorporated triple-layer backups for signal processing, internet connectivity, and power. Atomos Shogun devices served as backup RTMP encoders to ensure seamless failover streaming when needed.
Versatile signal inputs: MMG leveraged tools like vMix, NDI Webcam Input, and Atomos Ninja Ultra to encode and process NDI signals.
Simplified diagram of a small part of the setup used by MMG Events.
Outcome
The event concluded with outstanding success. Of the 150 sessions produced, only two encountered minor technical issues, both of which were resolved within seconds. All live sessions were made available for on-demand viewing within minutes, ensuring attendees could access content without delay.
Client feedback underscored MMG’s exceptional delivery: “Our experience with MMG was seamless from start to finish. MMG was extremely organized and proactive, providing clear directions and prompt support throughout. Their responsiveness made a significant difference in our collaboration.”
MMG were a pleasure to work with throughout. Ryan goes above and beyond to collaborate on as many areas of the event as possible. Their expertise is always concise and actionable, making executing such a large-scale event like this a smooth experience.
Shannon Donnelly, Senior Account Manager at Cvent
In addition to the glowing endorsements, MMG’s approach delivered measurable benefits:
Redundancy-driven reliability: Triple-layer backups for power, internet, and signal paths ensured uninterrupted performance.
Near-perfect uptime: Only two sessions faced minor issues, both resolved in seconds.
Rapid turnaround: On-demand content was available within minutes of each session’s conclusion.
NDI is one of the most significant technology changes in the last decade for AV production. It’s a game-changer for delivering seamless, global events.
Ryan Majchrowski, CEO of MMG Events
Every year, the Federazione Italiana Motonautica (Italian Powerboating Federation) hosts the Motonautico Hydro Grand Prix in Italy in partnership with Motonautica Boretto Pro. This time, the live broadcast NDI-based workflow featured a game-changing addition: a camera wirelessly connected over Wi-Fi to the director’s OB van.
Challenge
The Motonautico Hydro Grand Prix has been running for 62 years and is the second stage of the UIM Powerboating World Championships. The intense competition features high-speed boats racing around 1.5 Km circuits along the river Po, posing a challenge for the MediaNews team, responsible for setting up the multi-camera production to broadcast live on Facebook.
The main issue in productions like this is that we need to set cameras very far from the OB Van that runs the whole show. In some events, cameras can be somewhere like one kilometer away. We needed to wire a long extension of fiber cable, with a lot of people in the middle. It’s really not an ideal situation.
Roberto Musso, MediaNews’ CEO/CTO and Technical Director at NDI
The team has been producing the event for many years, and even though the transition from traditional SDI setups to an IP-based workflow already brought much more flexibility and control over the production, having to connect cameras that are far away from the operation center in a rough, wild environment still presents some drawbacks:
Slow installation: the crew could take longer than 3 hours to set up the furthest cameras.
Unsafe setup: fiber cables and gear set up over such long distances are constantly exposed to the elements and the public, increasing the chances of damaging the workflow and jeopardizing the connections.
Costly investment: Some cameras must connect over 700m, representing many expensive cable rolls and logistics expenses.
Before: a fiber cable that spread over 200 meters
Building upon the success and efficiency of the NDI-based setups used in the last three years of the event, Roberto Musso, MediaNews’ CEO/CTO and the Technical Director at NDI, decided to tackle these challenges by taking the setup one step further and harnessing the power of Wi-Fi.
Solution
Before the racing weekend started, Roberto and his team set up the usual multi-camera workflow. But this time, they decided to test one new connection: a +150m-long camera connected wirelessly over Wi-Fi. This experiment was only possible due to the recent introduction of 60 GHz Wi-Fi, as Roberto explains:
“With 60 gigahertz, you can get much more bandwidth than previous versions. We’d been trying to run NDI over 5 Ghz, and the jittering always caused some frame drops. But now it was the right time to give Wi-Fi another go.”
The test runs worked out so well that the production’s director felt confident using the wireless setup for the entire live streaming over two days without redundancy connections.
Simplified diagram of the live production setup.
According to Roberto, the Wi-Fi point-to-point connection was able to deliver an NDI 1080p50 feed while performing above all expectations:
There were no frame drops throughout the livestream.
There was no significant difference in latency when compared to the cameras connected by fiber.
The feedback speed was comparable to the fiber connections.
Even though the setup used for this edition only featured one Wi-Fi connection, the results were so good that the team plans to use point-to-point Wi-Fi connections in many of their live productions. And Roberto expects many productions to start doing the same:
“When production teams see this setup performing to the standard of a fiber cable connection, it becomes a no-brainer for anyone to implement similar setups in their live productions.“
With the 60 GHz point-to-point Wi-Fi connection, the MediaNews team was able to keep all the differentiating features of NDI — like bidirectionality, instant discoverability, tally support, metadata transport, and PTZ control — while gaining the flexibility and ease of setup of wireless connections:
Setup time was significantly shortened from roughly three hours to about 15 minutes.
The production teameliminated the costs of transporting and handling over 500 euros worth of fiber cable.
The event’s audience and staff never came into contact with cabling and gear.
With wireless connectivity becoming more common in these setups, production teams will gain more flexibility than ever. The low power consumption of NDI means cameras and network switches could all be powered by nothing more than a portable battery.
Connecting in real-time over wireless creates new opportunities for indoor and outdoor live productions involving big audiences as wireless setups become even less invasive to the public.
Part of our goal as live production teams is also to be able to broadcast the events to a larger online audience while not interfering with how the audience is experiencing the live event. When we join the capabilities of NDI with the seamlessness of Wi-FI, we get a near-invisible setup.
Roberto Musso, MediaNews’ CEO/CTO and Technical Director at NDI
To herald the European launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 in 2019, video game company Activision enlisted Gamereactor to produce and deliver a special e-sports event whose workflow was based around NDI video connectivity technology and BirdDog’s encoder/decoders.
No one can tell it better than the experts on the field. Video courtesy of BirdDog.
Challenge
It was inevitable that expectations would be high surrounding the 15th instalment in the Call of Duty series when Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 was scheduled for 2019. But those expectations extended far beyond the game itself and meant, for example, that the online launch event had to be seamlessly well-produced and professional.
To deliver this event, Call of Duty developer Activision engaged the services of Gamereactor, a Scandinavian online media network covering video games in multiple languages. The primary challenge facing the Gamereactor team was to deliver ten Playstation 4 console feeds into a live production computer enabled with vMix live video streaming software, as well as a live camera from the stage that was to be used for interviews throughout the event.
It's setup time before the gamers take their seats. Image courtesy of BirdDog.
Solution
Gamereactor’s technical team faced a choice: traditional routing with SDI converters and a beefy machine, or a sleek, modern, all-IP solution.
With time tight and expectations high, they opted to leap ahead. For the production and live-stream, the Gamereactor team opted to base its workflow around NDI technology and a total of 11 BirdDog Mini encoder/decoders, which were designed around BirdDog’s custom NDI silicon chip.
The Play-by-Play Solution
– 11× BirdDog Mini units—one for each of the 10 PS4s plus one for the stage camera.
– All HDMI signals went into BirdDog Minis, then encoded over full-bitrate NDI onto a central Ethernet switch.
– A single Cat‑6 cable brought all streams into a vMix live-production PC.
– vMix handled live switching, picture‑in‑picture, overlays, and streaming—all with sub-frames of latency.
Dóri Halldórsson, who at the time of the project was a Video Editor & Content Creator for Gamereactor, explained the thought process behind the decision.
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We had the option of going old school and buying a bunch of SDI converters, converting all those HDMI signals to SDI, and then getting up a more powerful computer to handle it. But clearly the best option was to embrace the future and go with NDI, which is what we did. And this approach saved a lot of headaches.
Dóri Halldórsson, Video Editor & Content Creator, Gamereactor
Simplified production workflow diagram.
Outcome
This wasn’t just a press event; it was a case study in IP-first live production, showing the gaming world that broadcast-grade streams don’t require broadcast-grade hardware. It highlighted how NDI simplifies multi-source workflows, fosters adaptability, and provides high-quality output without technical debt.- – Rock-solid broadcast: Zero-major dropouts. – Rapid setup: Plug-and-play with no extra processing load. – Scalable architecture: Simple to add more sources or re-route. – Mega impact: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4set the record for Activision’s best-selling digital debut, beating even CoD WWII.
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Being able to view in proxy before we cut to the actual full HD source gives us a lot of sway in computing power and we can do other resource-heavy stuff besides just taking in the video sources.
Dóri Halldórsson, Video Editor & Content Creator, Gamereactor
The athletics program at Harvard University relied upon a traditional baseband infrastructure for its video requirements for many years. But more recently, the Multimedia & Production department has been overseeing a gradual migration to IP via the use of NDI® video connectivity technology to benefit from greater flexibility and easier control at-distance.
Challenge
With the largest athletics program in the US National Collegiate Athletic Association, Harvard University has a significant video requirement that includes the production and transmission of nearly all home games – amounting to about 300 broadcasts per year. Historically, the Multimedia & Production team depended upon baseband video along with fiber optic and copper cable between facilities for camera and audio feeds, but in recent years there has been a gradual shift towards the use of IP-based technologies.
“We’ve really started relying more on IP technology, such as Dante for audio and NDI for video. Our goal is to rely on NDI more and more, and the best way to do that is just using cameras with built-in NDI.”
Imry Halevi, Assistant Athletic Director for Multimedia & Production
In the past, the department had its usual SDI cameras connected to NDI converters and run into the various control rooms. For 2023, the team opted to go one stage further and utilise cameras from BirdDog with built-in NDI capabilities.
Solution
For the latest stage of its IP journey, Harvard University athletics department has invested in several A200 and one P200 NDI PTZ cameras from BirdDog, supporting NDI High Bandwitdh.
“We’ve purchased a few of the [A200 Weatherproof NDI PTZ] cameras, which allow us to mount them permanently at our facilities and control them remotely”, said Halevi.
“We can sit at our control room and remotely control these cameras, get the feeds into our switcher and into our replay system while placing our commentators wherever they need to be on campus.”
Halevi is enthusiastic about the benefits of native NDI and the combination of the connectivity technology with BirdDog hardware. Further equipment purchases, which would have the effect of extending the use of NDI around the athletics facility, are under consideration: “We’ve just purchased our first P200 camera and we’re looking at the 4K line and definitely some of the Mini decoders to connect to more of our monitors around the facility.”
NDI® video connectivity technology was an integral part of the workflow when ATX Event Systems and WiFi Joe delivered the streaming production of last year’s Consensus cryptocurrency conference, which took place at seven venues situated in Austin, Texas.
Challenge
Dealing with variable IT infrastructure across multiple venues was among the challenges confronting ATX Event Systems and WiFi Joe when they began working on event plans for the 2022 edition of Consensus. Described as a showcase and celebration of all things crypto – including blockchain, Web3 and the metaverse – the conference called for effective streaming from a total of seven venues in the Texan capital of Austin.
While they were able to liaise with the city of Austin to use existing underground fiber at some venues, many of the older buildings lacked effective IT infrastructure. This contributed to WiFi Joe’s decision to deliver internet to these venues via point-to-point microwave links.
With an available load-in window of a mere 27 hours, it was imperative that the primary connectivity solution be easy to deploy and offer rock-solid reliability.
Solution
Faced with these challenging conditions, the two companies determined that the use of single cable NDI® video connectivity built into the BirdDog P400 cameras would be ideal in achieving a rapid set-up time.
From WiFi Joe – which specialises in building and deploying affordable, high-quality wifi networks for events, venues and arenas – Ralph Muellen commented: “What was really helpful with the BirdDog cameras was that all we had to do was run one cable, which does power, remote PTZ control, audio and video. In terms of how many cables and boxes we had to move, it was so advantageous [logistically].”
Outcomes
The combination of NDI® with BirdDog – two brands that have enjoyed a long and productive technology partnership – proved to be perfect for this demanding event. In addition to the P400 cameras, the event companies utilised BirdDog Cloud for central control of the distant sources, which allowed operators to be positioned at the most convenient location in each case.
ATX Event Systems’ Anthony McCoy recalled: “We needed something that would enable us to be as flexible as possible – be everywhere and anywhere at any time so we figured that BirdDog Cloud would be a perfect tool. [It meant we were] able to give our clients a zero latency feed very quickly; for example, if they needed to see the main stage at the Austin Convention Center or what’s happening at another venue, we could give them those feeds using the BirdDog technology extremely quickly. We’ve been using BirdDog quite a bit for the past two years and they’ve become an integral piece of most of our shows
ATX Event Systems’ Anthony McCoy
The athletics program at Harvard University relied upon a traditional baseband infrastructure for its video requirements for many years. But more recently, the Multimedia & Production department has been overseeing a gradual migration to IP via the use of NDI video connectivity technology to benefit from greater flexibility and easier control at-distance.
Discover complex on-campus productions. Video courtesy of BirdDog.
Challenge
With the largest athletics program in the US National Collegiate Athletic Association, Harvard University has a significant video requirement that includes the production and transmission of nearly all home games – amounting to about 300 broadcasts per year. Historically, the Multimedia & Production team depended upon baseband video along with fiber optic and copper cable between facilities for camera and audio feeds, but in recent years there has been a gradual shift towards the use of IP-based technologies.
“
We’ve really started relying more on IP technology, such as Dante for audio and NDI for video. Our goal is to rely on NDI more and more, and the best way to do that is just using cameras with built-in NDI.
Imry Halevi, Assistant Athletic Director for Multimedia & Production
In the past, the department had its usual SDI cameras connected to NDI converters and run into the various control rooms. For 2023, the team opted to go one stage further and utilise cameras from BirdDog with built-in NDI capabilities.
BirdDog A200s are the main tools of choice for the Harvard team. Photo courtesy of BirdDog.
Solution
For the latest stage of its IP journey, Harvard University athletics department has invested in several A200 and one P200 NDI PTZ cameras from BirdDog, supporting NDI High Bandwitdh. Here’s an overview of the workflow:
BirdDog A200 (weatherproof) units were permanently mounted outside courts and fields, offering full PTZ control and streaming directly over Ethernet to the control room.
The P200 camera added versatility for indoor coverage and flexible angles.
All feeds went straight into the switcher and replay system—controlled remotely from central locations.
Commentators were liberated from fixed positions; they could be anywhere on campus and still tap into live feeds
The production team can control cameras remotely. Photo courtesy of BirdDog.
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We can sit at our control room and remotely control these cameras, get the feeds into our switcher and into our replay system while placing our commentators wherever they need to be on campus.
Imry Halevi, Assistant Athletic Director for Multimedia & Production
Outcome
By bypassing SDI converters and embracing native NDI PTZ cameras, the Harvard Athletics team optimized production pipelines, unlocked remote operations, and fortified their capacity for live, high-volume broadcasting.
In doing so, the team has replaced decades of legacy infrastructure with a future-focused, scalable, and cost-efficient IP architecture. The result? More agility, fewer cables, lower support burden, and production capabilities that span the entire campus. – 300 broadcast-ready games per year, now delivered via simplified IP infrastructure.
– Zero converter boxes between camera and network, reducing hardware failures.
– Fully remote-operated cameras, enhancing flexibility and staff efficiency.
– Built for real-world use: A200 units survive weather, streamlining outdoor sports like soccer, field hockey, and rowing
An effective workflow that produces professional broadcasts. Photo courtesy of BirdDog.
Challenge
Butler University in the US has put itself in the vanguard of the global esports revolution with the creation of a dedicated new Esports Park. To ensure plug & play connectivity and high-quality live production, the university has settled on a combination of NDI video connectivity technology and NewTek media production equipment.
Located in Indianapolis, Butler University today encompasses six distinct colleges: Arts, Business, Communication, Education, Liberal Arts & Sciences and Pharmacy & Health Services. In recent years, thanks in no small part to a student-led initiative, it has also become a leading player in the growing esports movement with its varsity esports teams participating in a number of prominent tournaments.
For the latest stage in this journey, Butler has developed a first-of-its-kind Esports Park featuring a 7,500 sq ft facility with 40 gaming PCs, gaming consoles, a virtual reality area, cafe and community office spaces. Tthe identification of suitable, high-quality broadcast production systems became a priority from day one.
“Our facility required adaptable livestream technology which was easy to understand and use.This was especially important given our efforts to host various livestream competitions while also providing students with hands-on production experience and learning opportunities.”
John Lacheta, Manager of Facilities and Operations
Solution
Butler University decided to go for efficiency and flexibility and selected a solution based around NewTek media production equipment and NDI technology. Specifically, it is using the NewTek TriCaster TC1 video production platform and NewTek 3Play 3P1 sports video production solution, along with three NewTek NDI|HX PTZ cameras.
While the TriCasters make it possible to connect and switch between multiple cameras used to film esports competitions, NDI – which is supported by all NewTek products in the workflow– allows users to connect devices such as cameras, microphones, intercoms, and lighting through Ethernet cabling, as well as providing two-way communication, all without having to set up complicated custom networks
Initially, the Cranfield team used a TriCaster Mini with NewTek TalkShow VS 4000, an NDI-enabled multi-channel video calling system designed to simultaneously connect up to four remote guests in real-time. But to increased demand and the highly enthusiastic reaction to the new production environment, the university team has now upgraded to NewTek’s premium TriCaster 2 Elite, which supports the most updated versions of NDI and provides extra functionality and capabilities.
Outcomes
The new installation has fully satisfied the facility’s requirement for quality and flexibility, and equipped Butler University with the tools to host major esports events, like BIG EAST Esports championships, held in Butler’s esports park in March 2023. This event showcased the university’s new facility and the live production capabilities enabled by the combination of NDI technology and NewTek’s equipment.
“The flexibility of this system allows us to support a plethora of events of different shapes and sizes,” he says. “The agility of the NDI standard plays a massive role in how we can shift from classroom to open play and live event modes quickly and with intent. Given that we host so many high-profile esports events, it was necessary for us to have the technology that could easily ingest a magnitude of virtual signals and tie them all into a network quality product for our fans and players. TriCaster with NDI did just that – all while not requiring an intense production set-up.”
Nathan Duke, Manager of Esports Programs and Facility Operations
