NAB 2011: NEP Focuses on Nsite Roll-Out

For NEP Broadcasting, the annual NAB show is an opportunity to bring together its engineers and clients, but it is also a challenge, as April is a busy season for mobile-production units.

“It seems like we’ve always got shows throughout that time period, so it’s a challenge to find a truck that we can bring to the show,” says NEP Supershooters President Mike Fernander. “We don’t have anything that’s really not scheduled to work.”

Because NAB draws so many NEP clients, it’s a good chance for the company not only to look at next-generation technologies but also to spend time discussing the applicability of those new technologies with specific clients. Although Fernander is not sure what truck will be on display at NEP’s outdoor booth, one certainty for NEP will be a continuing discussion on 3D.

“3D will continue to be part of what we will present,” he says. “There’s always the question of how people are looking to simplify and bring the cost of 3D production in line. As people continue to evaluate 1080p and its viability, we’ll also look at what technologies are coming down to support that. Finally, a lot of graphics and EVS workflow seem to really advance during the NAB timeline.”

NEP will also use the NAB Show to discuss its new monitoring system, nsite, with clients. Currently, the IP-based monitoring and support system, which logs performance data for every piece of equipment in a truck and transmits that data back to NEP headquarters, is installed in three mobile units and one studio facility, but many clients do not yet know the extent of its capabilities.

“Because we’re still in the development and evaluation phase, most of what we’ve been doing with it has not been visible to our clients,” Fernander says. “We’ve added quite a bit of remote diagnostic access to the system to be able to supplement the effort of engineers on-site, which has been extremely successful. Now the plan is to sit down and develop how we’re going to roll this out across the rest of the fleet and to spend some time with our clients getting more in-depth about what that capability offers.”

NEP also continues to upgrade its fleet and, at the NAB Show, will have details on the newest truck that the company has on the horizon.

“At the show,” Fernander says, “we’ll be in a better position to talk about what it will look like and what it will offer.”