Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1277960
Summer 2020 – LOCAL695.ORG 11 NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS TRAINING Network Crash Course: Essentials of Audio and Video IP Networks by Laurence B. Abrams A new class offered by Local 695 called "Network Crash Course: Essentials of Audio and Video IP Networks," has been in high demand, with eight sessions conducted in just two months. Instructor and Production Sound Mixer James Hunt designed the course to prepare more members to work with the kinds of networks that Local 695 Audio and Video Engineers are already installing and operating in nearly every area of film and television production, whenever audio and video signals need to be redistributed over copper, Wi-Fi, cellular networks, or the internet. James explains that "for film & episodic productions, AoIP (Audio over IP) allows the Sound Mixer to develop truly creative solutions while maintaining complete control of their system. RF receivers can be hidden close to set, while the mixer sets up near video village. Multiple program feeds can be duplicated as needed and pulled off of any nearby network switch. The multitrack rig is reduced to a small laptop that can be placed anywhere convenient. The only cable to coil at the end of the day is a thin fiber- optic cable." On live broadcasts such as the Oscars or the Grammys, James describes how an entire performance group or orchestra can be offsite, and even miles away. "Dark fiber paths from your network provider can transmit more than sixty-four channels of Dante or AES67 audio from anywhere they have infrastructure. On the Oscars, we use a fiber-optic network that terminates in a wiring closet beneath the middle of Hollywood Boulevard, tying together the Dolby, Jimmy Kimmel, the International Press in the parking lot behind El Capitan, and all the media on the red carpet. Likewise with the Grammys, Local 695 members set up a fiber-optic network to connect across the sprawling Staples Center campus, providing pre-show, post-show, press feeds, and special performances anywhere the producers deem fit. On a production as spread out as LivePD, where multiple cities and control rooms were all providing input to the same broadcast, we used a solution from Unity to send low-latency audio over the public internet for multi-channel audio and intercoms." In this new age of social distancing, James says, "We're finding the increased flexibility and reach of IP Technologies to be indispensable in our new workflows. Local 695 Video Engineers and Video Assist Technicians are using H.264 cloud services such as QTake and Sienna Cloud to allow encrypted remote viewing of takes and dailies for an almost unlimited number of local and remote users on a multitude of devices. Solutions from Unity and LuciLive enable broadcast quality multi-channel audio over the public internet. While cloud-based production switchers like vMix and Livestream enable multiple video villages to be set up far from the set, off the stage, in the office, or even at home. Audio console manufacturers across the board are releasing network protocols to control their products remotely, such as Lawo's R3PLAY and Calrec Assist." Effective usage of IP networking allows us to be more flexible and more efficient in a wide variety of production applications and opens the door to new ways of working. This training helps more of our members master the core framework and principles that lie beneath all of these audio and video networking environments. This training was funded with support from Liz Campos and Alex Weyman at the IATSE Training Trust Fund. Keep an eye out for future announcements about more Local 695 training opportunities like this.