NBC builds its network HD facilities for Today and tomorrow
Jan 1, 2007 12:00 PM, BY MICHAEL GROTTICELLI
Set the stage
A new set was built for “Today” in about six months. It provides a wider look that includes Daktronics LED panels displaying native HD graphics. Variable lighting presents segments in a variety of colors.
A Calrec Sigma digital audio console (with Bluefi n DSP technology) is used in the network’s new 2K audio control room, which feeds taped segments to "The Today Show's" Studio 1A.
The physical move was one of the more challenging aspects of the switch to HD. The cast and crew moved four times between different outside sets (some from the Athens and Torino Olympics telecasts) while construction was completed. The TV audience never noticed a disruption.
With the new HD infrastructure, anything is possible. A second production studio, used for special segments, is located directly above the main studio. It has been reconfigured from existing guest room space and is seamlessly tied into a single overall production system. This enables operators in one control room to access equipment installed in the other.
Using new HD protocols, camera operators working with Sony HDC-1500 HD studio cameras shoot for 4:3 audiences while framing all of the action for HD viewers. The show employs 12 Sony HD cameras in all, six in the main studio and six for ENG shooting. The number of handhelds required fluctuates, so NBC uses special Sony HDLA-1500W camera sleds that allow the cameras to be changed from studio to handheld use quickly and easily.
“Today” shares edit suites located inside the building's digital production center. Facilities are spread between the news, sports and entertainment divisions and include Avid Technology and Apple nonlinear editing systems, EVS HD servers used as playback devices, and graphics and CG systems from Avid.
Going live with HD
The network's mobile and online divisions also receive the SD and HD feeds, from which they produce custom content. The signal is uplinked live from the 30 Rock location to affiliates across the country. Terrestrial WNBC-DT and analog audiences receive their RF signal from an antenna on top of the Empire State Building. Redundant SD and HD transmission facilities are located there, along with Thales digital and Larcan analog transmitters.
The video servers employ a time delay for the different time zones, giving the network the ability to update the Central, Mountain and Pacific times after the East Coast feed has been broadcast in the event of late-breaking news.
Storage is also a concern when producing and broadcasting in HD. NBC uses Avid Unity systems with multiple terabytes of capacity for archival.
A sound plan from the start
When the decision was made to transition “Today” to HD, there was no question that the audio accompanying the 1080i pictures would be in 5.1 channel surround sound.
The main control room's Sony MVS-8000 HD production switcher is used for a variety of multilayered effects during the live show and also for pretaped segments.
The challenge was moving the show's sound from its current stereo broadcast. The network carefully considered the differences between the sound of talent in the studio and the live concert series, which is broadcast from outside on the plaza or from inside Studio 1A.
All of “Today's” audio is broadcast in 5.1, including the concert series and studio segments that are mixed discretely for surround. Content originally produced in stereo is processed for 5.1 and integrates seamlessly with other show elements.
A Calrec Sigma digital audio console (with Bluefin DSP technology) has been installed in the new 2K audio control room, which feeds taped segments to Studio 1A. The console at 30 Rock is connected — via a Calrec Hydra system — to a multichannel input on a Calrec Alpha 100 console for Studio 1A. Stereo segments are imported via a Linear Acoustic upMAX or a Dolby DP564 box.
The Alpha console creates the main 5.1 broadcast mix. The console also handles live studio and plaza mics for talent and the crowd, commercial playback in stereo or 5.1, and the multichannel audio from the brand new music room. A 48-channel Digidesign D-Control console produces the surround music mixes of the concert series.
A Dolby LM-100 system fed from the Alpha's center channel assures an accurate dialog level, while several M&K 5.1 speaker systems with bass management provide accurate monitoring in both the broadcast and music mix rooms. A 96-channel Pro Tools system rounds out the show's mixing and recording facility.
The six-channel program output on a Calrec Alpha audio console merges audio signals with the HD video and metadata via Miranda processing equipment, where a downconverted and downmixed feed is made for SD.
A solid foundation for “Today” and tomorrow
With the “Today” transition, NBC created an all-digital, totally redundant production environment that can be conformed to produce and broadcast any type of SD or HD content and is totally agnostic to the particular studio being used. On any given morning, once “Today” is finished taping, technicians can go in and quickly reconfigure the main studio to produce a show that looks and operates differently, such a news show or a sports special.
This comprehensive design strategy ensures that the network gets the most value out of the technology employed and provides it with a great foundation for the future.
Michael Grotticelli regularly reports on the professional video and broadcast technology industries.
NBC UNIVERSAL STAFF
| NBC Universal | |
| Dave Lazecko, director of studio systems | |
| Jim Starzynski, principal engineer, advanced technology | |
| Larry Thaler, vice president, engineering | |
| “The Today Show” | |
| Keith Barbaria, technical manager | |
KEY TECHNOLOGY
| Apple Macs with FCP software | |
| Avid Technology | |
| Deko graphics Media Composer Adrenaline NLE Unity storage solution |
|
| Barco projection cubes | |
| Calrec | |
| Alpha console Sigma digital audio console |
|
| Daktronics LED panels* | |
| Digidesign ICON console with D-Control | |
| Dolby DP564 surround decoders | |
| Evertz Maestro virtual monitor software | |
| EVS servers | |
| Grass Valley Trinix HD router | |
| Linear Acoustic upMAX channel surround-field synthesizer | |
| Miranda Technologies signal conversion gear* | |
| M&K 5.1 speakers | |
| Pro Tools plug-ins | |
| Sony | |
| HDC-1500 HD studio cameras LCD Monitors* MVS-8000 HD production switcher |
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