EVS’ C-Cast Powers Bol d’Or Media Delivery Platform

EVS, a provider of live video production systems, has implemented its media delivery platform, C-Cast, to power an exclusive app for the Bol d’Or FIM Endurance World Championship in France, which took place in April.

The FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) appointed EVS to deploy its near-live media delivery and distribution technology, C-Cast, to monetize live content by creating an extended media application for broadcast and non-broadcast organisations – including the BMW Motorrad France and Honda TT Legend race teams.

The tablet compatible iOS app’s entire media delivery workflow was reliant on the HD live broadcast infrastructure offering live streaming on FIM-TV. The EVS C-Cast multicam media delivery infrastructure comprised:

• IPDirector production asset management suite in the OB truck for creating and selecting highlights and logging AV clips.
• C-Cast agent in the OB truck for automated, on-the-fly, multi-angle clip/media processing, including transcoding in H.264 lo- and hi-res along with logging information for central cloud storage. Any clips created by IPDirector or the LSM (used for the live broadcast production) could be instantly made available in a cloud database in the most appropriate format.
• C-Cast central, a web server giving access to all multi-angle clips, exclusive sequences and highlights to decide what should be delivered to end users and in which format.

The users of the new app were fourfold. The BMW Motorrad France and Honda TT Legend race teams could review specific camera angles and follow their motorcycles on the track switching seamlessly from one camera to another. “Being able to review otherwise inaccessible content is a huge benefit for us,” said Ian Wheeler, Communications Manager at BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent. “The app enabled us to import interesting clips or highlights as proxy files on a dedicated FTP site for further race analysis with the riders at the end,” he added. In this case, proxy files were available in the H264 file format (2.5 Mbps).

Getty Images had an agreement with the FIM to provide official and rights managed video available for agencies on their website. “We were contracted by the FIM to provide exclusive video sequences and download services through our web library,” said Eugene Cariaga, Commercial Director, at Getty Images. “Through the iPad app, we could browse and make our selections. The content was then pushed to our FTP portal by EVS along with additional metadata to describe each clip, the clips were then sent to our digital platform www.gettyimages.com .” In total more than 50 hi-res video highlights have been provided to Getty Images, all available for download less than one hour after the live broadcast.

“Our work with EVS not only benefits BMW Motorrad France, Honda TT Legend and Getty Images, but also major sponsors of the event such as DHL. They were given access to key video sequences pre-selected by the FIM, and could use the application to review, select and order clips with the sponsor’s branding,” explained Maria Möller, TV manager at FIM. “By using C-Cast we can provide end-users with new ways to consume content through a range of platforms, putting us at the forefront of cutting- edge broadcast technology.”

“The unique advantage of EVS’ integrated technology is the speed of the media processing and delivery to end users. Based on live broadcast infrastructure and live content management tools such as IPDirector, EVS is the only technology provider to offer instant live content with rock-solid reliability,” said Luc Doneux, EVP Sports. “EVS is constantly collaborating with sports federations, rights holders, producers and broadcasters to seek out ways to maximise the use of our widely deployed EVS live production infrastructures in line with ever-changing media globalisation and media consumption habits,” concluded Doneux.