EMERYVILLE, Calif.—Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has launched Virtual Truck, a cloud-based remote production solution for live sports, music, corporate events and other video productions.
“The Virtual Truck is a great example of cloud production democratizing live production and opening the field to a new generation of professionals,” said ASG president Dave Van Hoy. “It’s removing the barriers imposed by location-bound, costly legacy hardware.”
Leveraging ASG’s Virtual Production Control Room (VPCR), Virtual Truck supports multi-camera production, switched live in a control room environment. Virtual Truck’s software-defined workflows mirror traditional production methods, which makes it possible for operators to use familiar control surfaces, said ASG chief cloud officer Claudia Souza.
Helping to make Virtual Truck a reality is the availability of high-bandwidth IP transmission for IP-encoded contribution of on-site camera feeds into ASG’s cloud environment. Cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) offer robust compute and storage technologies to support Virtual Truck, it said.
Virtualized video and audio production solutions from television industry vendors like Vizrt, Gallery Sienna, Audinate, Telos, Solid State Logic and Grass Valley are helping to make cloud-based live video production a reality, it said.
The initial ASG Virtual Truck offering relies on public-, private- or hybrid-hosted solutions and features a 44-input, 8 M/E switcher; eight channels of replay; a flexible HTML5 or dedicated graphics station; 64-stereo, 44 bus return and AES67 compatible audio. A fully configured multi-channel beltpack and IFB comms for cloud-to-site and site-to-cloud communications rounds out the Virtual Truck technology complement, ASG said.
“Our virtual, live production solutions offer greater flexibility and cost savings than traditional on-the-ground broadcast components,” said Van Hoy. “While we recognize that there are still live events that require physical trucks, we are providing a cost-effective and flexible alternative solution that addresses the needs of live production.”
Tech-focused production services and solutions company Surella is ASG-s first camera and contribution truck partner. The company provides bi-coastal HD and 4K camera and support vehicles built to integrate seamlessly on site with ASG Virtual Trucks, it said.
Delivering content for customers or private viewing stations for clients is seamless, requiring no additional satellite uplink. Broadcasters and streamers can simultaneously deliver multiple program versions and streaming formats to standard distribution outlets like YouTube, Facebook or a CDN, ASG said.
The ASG team provides support from initial setup to full deployment and ongoing maintenance. “Our best-in-class Cloud Team includes experts who’ve pioneered the industry’s transition to software-defined workflows,” said Souza. “They have extensive experience engineering, integrating and deploying cloud-based systems for high-performance environments.”
Besides bringing live video production within the reach of more users, Virtual Truck also reduces the carbon footprint of remote production, the company said.
More information is available on the company’s website.
