NAB NY 2017: EVS S-CORE Set for U.S. Debut, Brings New Insights to IP Workflow

The goal is to simplify production with the same quality as with SDI

EVS hits NAB New York on the heels of an IBC effort that saw the introduction of a product that will help broadcast engineers better manage IP-based networks, as well as continued movement forward on such initiatives as using machine learning to improve production efficiencies.

“The EVS innovation team has already shown [the power of machine learning] in the different tests that they are doing, and there is a wow effect,” says Sebastien Verlaine, global marketing and communications manager, EVS. “But, in the end, we need to make sure it is useful for customers, [who] want us to speed up and simplify the production process so that they can focus on the creative and storytelling side of the production.”

EVS S-CORE will be on display at NAB New York this week.

SVP, Marketing, Nicolas Bourdon reports that the EVS innovations team is incorporating artificial-intelligence engines into existing products to better understand how content is produced and what decisions are made during that process.

“The goal is to know the type of actions the director is focused on, what kind of replays are selected, and then reproduce the same attitude as the director,” he says. “It can assist with the direction of the events and do automated highlights and packaging for the postproduction and social-media teams.”

One of the highlights at the NAB New York exhibit will be S-CORE, a new way to help experts in broadcast engineering more easily visualize and understand IP-based workflows. S-CORE MASTER is a live-flow–routing system for deployment within IP-based live-media–production workflows.

The system uses SDN control methods, enabling users to manage latency-sensitive live media more easily, and also gives engineers better visibility across a network and the ability to communicate with entire IP infrastructures at once. This removes operational roadblocks from new-technology deployment and creates a more efficient overall workflow. In addition, it lets operators monitor entire networks. They can service aspects of the facility to maintain the system and ensure fast, efficient delivery of live content around any infrastructure.

“S-CORE is a good move for us as we are entering into IP and have native support of SMPTE 2110,” says Bourdon. “But an EVS network consumes a lot of endpoints in the IP fabric, and, to guarantee the same level of reliability we have with SDI, we need some simplicity in terms of the configurations. We came up with our own solution so we had 100% control and could give our customers the guarantee that, at any moment, they can know where the IP workflow is on the IP fabric. And [it makes] the IP workflow simpler. It is the first in a product line focusing on IP orchestration and routing.”

A key aspect of it is that it does not require a new way of working for those who have a strong understanding of baseband operations.

“We really wanted to make people working in SDI today feel as if they are in the same environment, and so they won’t see a difference,” says Bourdon. “We want to make it as straightforward as possible, and there will be additional components down the line.”