April 4, 2023
3 min read
This Q&A series discusses the future of live video production and broadcast through conversations with innovators leveraging Panasonic’s KAIROS platform.
GlobeStream Media is a full-service production company delivering innovative and engaging live streaming, event AV, and video production services to companies and organizations of all sizes. The company recently partnered with USA Softball to live stream the GOLD National Championships. To deliver high-quality visual content for at-home viewers and streamline the remote production process, GlobeStream turned to Panasonic’s KAIROS platform.
Why is it important for you to have access to the latest broadcast technologies?
It’s important for us to keep a pulse on industry needs and the best solutions to meet those needs, which as we all know, are constantly changing. Having access to the latest broadcast technologies allows us to deliver the most visually stimulating and engaging video content to customers and their in-person and virtual audiences. If we’re not holding the audience’s attention, we’re missing the mark. That’s why we’ve adopted Panasonic’s event AV solutions.
Which Panasonic solutions are you leveraging? How are you using them?
Most recently, we worked with USA Softball to live stream the GOLD National Championships using technology from Panasonic Connect. For the preliminary games held in Mustang, OK, we set up four AW-UE40 4K/30P Ultra Quiet PTZ Cameras across four fields, each camera set up behind home plate and remotely managed. During the preliminaries, there was a single production tech on-site to set up the cameras and manage any technical issues. Cameras were connected to a bonded-cellular router, with the video streamed via SRT back to our control room in Dallas, where we added a score bug and then live streamed the games live through USA Softball’s website.
During the 16U and 18U tournament finals at OGE Field at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Sports Complex in Oklahoma City, we setup three AG-CX350 4K Handheld Camcorders (high-home, first base, and third base), as well as three AW-UE40 4K/30P Ultra Quiet PTZ Cameras (center field and one for each dugout). We leveraged the SRT streaming capabilities of each camera to send high-quality video feeds from the stadium in Oklahoma City back to the KAIROS KC100 IP platform in our Dallas control room. When combined with KAIROS’ integrated support of camera tally and camera control over IP, this remote integrated production workflow allows us to streamline multi-camera event coverage.
With the EasyIP Setup Tool Plus on the AW-UE40, we were able to manage the cameras on each field with limited staff. That allowed our production team to devote their attention elsewhere, and it simplified our processes on the backend. The on-site camera operator connected the Panasonic cameras via ethernet to send the feeds back to our control room, where we could live switch the show using KAIROS.
What drew you to KAIROS?
GlobeStream Media has been involved in producing live content for quite some time. When we looked into expanding our capabilities to support sports production, we knew we wanted a live streaming platform that could support and ingest feeds directly. KAIROS does just that through its support of Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) protocols, which gives us added flexibility for bringing in and controlling how video feeds are used.
Another reason we were drawn to KAIROS is because of Panasonic’s scalable, integrated IP ecosystem which supports camera control and camera tally over IP. This is critical for us in remote production because it enables a wide range of cameras, including the AW-UE40 and AG-CX350, to be easily integrated into one control environment. This is huge.
Lastly, the MacOS support for the “KAIROS Creator” software is a game changer for us because it’s easy to use, integrates seamlessly into our Mac-based production environment, and gives us the creativity to add layers, transitions, and much more to our live event productions.
