TV Production Centres

The ingest port, which is the gateway to the content, allows all the material to be used to be available for the shared job at the production site. The most common types of both live and recorded, content include: news, exchanges, press agency feeds, movies, series, etc.

The raw material that is ingested is used to create pieces of audiovisual content.

The final edited and finished materials are used for the broadcast and archived.

The central ingest is usually given in a room of the production centre, from where contents are injected into the central system on a large scale.

That known as distributed ingest is the remote input that is carried out by the roles of journalists or editors, as well as from delegations, web or remote sites through data connection.

The central control is the area where the baseband input and output signals in the production centre are received and distributed. In some cases the central control area merges with the central ingest area as they share part of the core of the daily work.

In the case of large production centres, these are separate but interconnected areas that perform the quality control tasks of the audio and video input and output signals from a PPC.

The performance of a programme or content is created in the studios or sets; this can be broadcast live or recorded to be subsequently edited and these studios can be real or virtual.

The mixing of signals in real time is produced in the production control room, which comprises mixing the audio part, the camera control, graphics, video signals, lighting control and the mixing of signals from both the cameras and external signals. All this is produced and mixed to result in the audiovisual content.

Virtual Production (VPX), in which the real and the virtual world are mixed in order to create new scenarios that allow the production of a video event, has become increasingly relevant in recent years.

Virtual Production

This type of production is usually carried out in virtual studios, in which alternative immersive realities can be created that generate virtual spaces with different features to their real counterparts, being able to alter, modify and create different studios by just changing the graphism in real time.

All of this is possible thanks to the installation of a chroma system, usually green, or LED screen, placed in the studio next to sensor equipment, that together with the tracking system allows sending the camaras location on set, as well as the plat/tilt, zoom and focus to a powerful software that receive all these signals and processes them to create the most spectacular, immersive and realistic scenarios.

By installing the Virtual Studios, cost can be sometimes significantly reduced compared to the much more voluminous and less versatile sets.

Nowadays, new forms of virtual production can be undertaken with virtual studios, which offer photorealistic scenarios in real time. Some of the features of these virtual studios with the latest technology may include are:

• Availability of virtual scenery using Unreal technology with pre-designed virtual sets.
• Optional virtual backdrop on walls and ceiling on LED screens, with real elements for the floor.
• Allows RTX, reflections, shadows, AO-Ambient Occlusion, IG-Global Illumination,…
• Integration of Augmented Reality (AR) elements.
• Signal inputs via IP/baseband and integration into virtual XR displays
• 4K/8K TV o cinema cameras
• Live broadcasting or shooting for post postproduction
• Ease of operation control (single operator)
• 16 automated camera movements and positions in real time
• Lighting control via DMX protocol

Extended Reality (XR)

Concept encompassing the various modalities of immersive realities, including virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, as well as any other emerging technology that can expand the user’s sensory and perceptual experience beyond immediate physical reality.

This expansion may include virtual elements overlaid on the real world (augmented reality), the creation of entirely virtual environments (virtual reality), or the combination of both in a unified space (mixed reality), aiming to integrate the digital world with the physical world to offer immersive and enriched experiences.

• Virtual Reality (VR)

Focused on creating a completely digital and simulated reality, operating parallel to our real world. It entails replacing the user’s reality, offering total immersion in a world of infinite possibilities through the use of virtual reality goggles or headsets.

•  Augmented Reality (AR)

Technology that does not exclude our reality but complements it with overlaid graphical information in real-time. Thus, physical elements and real-world scenes are combined on the same plane with virtual elements, on-air graphics, and characters, which can be holograms, without the need for a chroma key. Its implementation involves, like VR, the use of mobile devices or headsets to visualize this virtual layer.

• Mixed Reality

Also known as hybrid reality, it involves the fusion of virtual and augmented reality, combining the physical and virtual worlds to create spaces where both coexist. It consists of alternatives and supplements added to our reality, enabling the creation of immersive worlds with diverse characteristics.

Artificial Intelligence, although it is still at a very early stage given its great potential, it already has multiple applications in different areas and sectors. Thus, Media environment is one of these sectors that will benefit from the application of this technology. Bellow, we detail some of the applications that TSA has the capacity to integrate in its projects, related to artificial intelligence:

• Automated events production through AI, as described in the Sport section.
• Content-assisted cataloguing, which achieves up to 5 times reduction in cataloguing time.
• Speaker segmentation and audiovisual content transcription into text.
• Brand tracking, in the media, to know where the brand appears, with whom and in which context.
• Semantic image search, which will define the way content managers work in a near future, as it will promote work with vectors and images to the detriment of work with text and metadata in current systems, which will be able to see images and understand them.
• Semantic segmentation, with platforms capable of segmenting audiovisual content not because of the production cuts, but by understanding what the speakers are talking about and being able to segment the video by speaker.
• Automatic subtitling and translation. Nowadays, the automatic subtitling is already fully established in many scenarios with very successful rates. In addition, work is being done to automatically translate these subtitles into different languages in real time.
• Post-event content management and highlights editing, which automatically generates summaries of sporting events, concerts, etc. or specific moments searching as well as downloading and/or content sharing, increasing the value of the audiovisual content.
• Content and advertising recommenders and personalisation, so that each user can be offered specific content based on their tastes and preferences.
• Automated metadata enrichment of content.
• Journalist assistants, etc.

In conclusion, tools that help and optimise the work of operators and allow new solutions to be explored.

PAM is a file management system of the media (asset) used for audiovisual production.

Currently, PAM systems are digital non-linear systems that are formed by a database and shared storage which all the clients involved in editing and producing of the television broadcast participate in.

A PAM systemis basically composed of the ingest, non-linear edition, text system and the studio broadcast. All this in a shared and interconnected storage system with the rest of the departments involved in a television broadcast such as the archives (Media Asset Management, or MAM), master control room (Playout) and the exchange of signals with third parties.

The PAM term is often used in the same way as MAM o DAM, or interchangeably

MAM (Media Asset Management)

The MAM is responsible for managing digital media files on the archive side. This type of system manages, organises, catalogues, and archives any type of audiovisual file or asset in distributed and collaborative environments, usually over a long period of time.

Tipically, in broadcast environments, the MAM and archive environment consist of the content management software itself, a shared storage, an HSM and a tape library where copies of content to be preserved are stored.

DAM (Digital Asset Management)

It is the oldest of the three and its development was aimed at organising, storing, and retrieving digital files regardless of their nature, whether they were photos, audio or video files, documents or html files.

Both PAM and MAM are considered subtypes of DAM specialised in video streams, one for production environments and the other for more archival environments.

BPM (Business Process Management)

In broadcast, it refers to a process management system for media companies that orchestrates and automates the various processes in the company.

It is a layer of management that is above the rest of the systems and allows optimising processes, times and operations in order to achieve greater efficiency and competitiveness in all areas.

Traffic System

The traffic system can also be known as a planning system, business management system or BMS (Broadcast Management System). It is a content planning software that is specially useful for TV channels, streaming platforms, OTTs, VoD or web channels.

This software is responsible for programming, traffic, commercial and media rights management, advertising and control of broadcast elements, which allows a greater control over content contracts and their monetisation.

Any produced, edited and finished or live signal, passes through a final control room prior to being broadcast which is the Playout or the transmission control room. This is where the signal, content and quality are checked prior to being broadcast. Normally, the advertising blocks, promotions and canned contents previously prepared in the Advertising Production Centre are broadcast from here. This area uses automation systems with video servers to achieve the best possible quality and efficiency. Any continuity system must be perfectly integrated with the PAM and the MAM.

Depending on their location there are various broadcasting and continuity playout, which can be on site or in the cloud.

The last step in the workflow at a production site is the broadcast itself. This step enables the produced signal to reach the viewer. Depending on the channel, there are several modes of transmission: DTT in the case of traditional open signal linear channels; cable and satellite transmission for international subscribers or signals; and OTT platforms for global consumption.