Using the high-density gateway device for 3G-SDI/NDI conversion, Taipei-based Carry Live, a planner and producer of esports tournaments and content, recently extended its esports production workflow with AJA BRIDGE NDI 3G. Now, its team can deliver more SDI and NDI sources—not for only tournaments and games, but to capture the strategy, reactions, and personalities of the pros competing.
Carry Live’s work is presented across Twitch, YouTube, and other platforms and reaches audiences in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and other Southeast Asian countries. Recent productions include the League of Legends Pacific Championship Series (PFC) Tournament, Valorant Champions Tour (VCTTWHK), Asia Esports Championship, Team Fight Tactics by Riot Games, and the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Tournament. The company also produces original content including Put Up or Shut Up, a talent-scouting show to find new casters with potential for esports.
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Across productions, Carry Live uses a NewTek TriCaster (TC1) as its primary video switcher, but it quickly found it had extended its four physical SDI inputs with I/O expansion taking it to 16 input sources. Broadcast technology advancements and viewer demand were pushing against that capacity. Its team turned to Network Device Interface (NDI), a low-latency, high-performance transport layer designed for real-time applications, to overcome space limitations, extend workflows beyond traditional broadcasting setups, and support remote work.
“In the past, only one or two machines were needed to cover the battle rooms, but it’s not enough today," said Tim Liu, program director at Carry Live. "We may need to capture the reactions of the coaching team during breaks or the individual reactions of each player, which requires an increase in the numbers of cameras and input sources.”
AJA BRIDGE NDI 3G proved the solution to Liu’s challenge, offering high density conversion from 3G-SDI to NDI and NDI to 3G-SDI for both multi-channel HD and 4K/UltraHD. Additionally, with BRIDGE NDI 3G, the team can now separate its computer graphics (CG) processing, previously done on a single machine, onto two machines. It has enabled simultaneous content production and real-time processing. As BRIDGE NDI 3G has a channel specifically for CG with keying and video sources, the Carry Live team can directly output the combined result.
With Carry Live’s setup, two subtitle machines are connected directly to the BRIDGE NDI 3G, going through physical SDI first and then converting to NDI signals before being sent to the switcher. This process enables them to incorporate both the live game and player reactions during playback, just like other live sports events. The BRIDGE NDI 3G has also helped Carry Live enhance its CG graphics and broadcasting quality. Said Liu, “It was almost impossible to achieve that goal with only 16 channels, since League of Legends, for example, is a 5v5 game. There is a video camera to capture each player’s face. BRIDGE NDI 3G has helped us on that front.”
As they focus primarily on live broadcasting, maintaining a stable signal is also critical to Carry Live’s success. “We chose AJA BRIDGE NDI 3G without hesitation, and it’s been a solid decision," concluded Liu. "AJA’s products are known for high quality and stability, and it’s delivered in this respect.”
