IBC 2016: Lawo on the Ball Again With KICK 2.0 Sports Mix

Audio production for live sports coverage made another move at IBC 2016 with the release of Lawo’s KICK 2.0, advancing automated control for close-ball mixing of major sports events. The company extended the capabilities of its patent-pending ball-tracking technology for close-ball audio pickup for such sports as soccer, rugby, and American football.

The system provides transparent sound and excellent “kick-to-noise” ratio, significantly reducing crowd noise. It also ensures a consistent audio level without noticeable fades, enabling seamless inclusion in a broadcast mix and delivering a mix that is 100% repeatable from match to match and remains highly accurate even after 90 minutes of play.

With an intuitive graphical user interface for easy adjustment of all parameters, including placement of microphones, their polar patterns, and microphone prioritisation, KICK is available as a software-only solution for productions using Lawo mc² mixing consoles and also as a hardware-bundled solution for productions using consoles from other manufacturers. In addition to the mixing automation, the 2.0 version of KICK can be supplemented with Lawo’s new motorized microphone stands, which are remotely controlled by the software and allow the mics to automatically follow on-field action.

KICK 2.0 requires a standard host PC (running Windows 7 or Windows 8) for the host application and an HTML5-capable browser for the user interface. An optional Lawo mc² Micro Core hardware processing engine is available for interfacing micro core to third-party consoles via MADI and RAVENNA/AES67. The mc² Micro Core can be controlled by a variety of external studio control systems, as well as Lawo’s touchscreen mxGUI software, suiting it for smaller automated applications where external control systems trigger operation — such as automated newsrooms. Other applications include small routing with DSP processing, as found in installed sound systems.