Taking IBC2014 By Storm...

3D Storm is NewTek official Master Distributor in EMEA. The company distributes solutions for live video production, including TriCaster, 3Play and LiveXpert. Following a stand tour at this year's IBC, BFV caught up with Bruno Lesté, LiveXpert Product Manager at 3D Storm.

BFV: Firstly, how was IBC for you this year? Do you feel the show is expanding with each year that goes by?

BL: IBC 2014 is the place to meet for video professionals and manufacturers. Video trends evolve over the years and so at IBC we feel that the audience has grown and the audience's interest has evolved towards the new generation of video production. IBC was a successful event for 3D Storm, with our own booth in Hall 7, showcasing the full line of LiveXpert products for the first time.

LiveXpert was a major talking point for 3D Storm this year. What advantages do you feel it brings to production workflows?

LiveXpert is a very complete line of products, with a large variety of applications addressing broadcasters, sports producers, small production companies or events organisers. LiveXpert helps overcome several common barriers. Our main goal is to provide solutions to simplify the set-up of a live production, to bring smart tools to solve situations that previously needed multiple pieces of equipment and to keep the prices for such products as low as possible.

The benefits of products like LiveCG Broadcast and LiveCG Football will be familiar to sports fans across Europe, as augmented reality and graphics have become part and parcel of broadcasting. How do you fight off what must be quite fierce competition in the marketplace?

LiveCG Broadcast offers an incredible ratio features/price that has no competition on the market. LiveCG Broadcast is an intuitive production system, giving the ability to broadcast dynamic graphics directly from an Excel spreadsheet or from social networks. Today, producers cannot afford to spend hours in training, in configuration etc. LiveCG Broadcast provides smart tools to produce more video, with high quality content, within an affordable budget.
LiveCG Football is the perfect example to show how a product is developed based on users' requirements. The latest version we showcased at IBC included some new tools to handle all the graphics needed in a football game live production, to be displayed on the stadium's big screens. With LiveCG Football, sports live production will never be the same.

FingerWorks is a particularly interesting product, as it seems more and more platforms are becoming touch-friendly. Is it safe to say touch is now an established aspect of the industry? What advantages does it give TV sports analysis, for example, when compared to alternative methods?

When we think product, we think users. When you develop a solution, it is crucial to consider who will use the product and how it will be used. The most powerful technology receives low interest if it can only be used by a few people. Journalists' value remains in their perspectives and analysis, not in their dexterity in using tools. FingerWorks is a very intuitive solution, conceived to bring the focus on the effects and free users from technology barriers. The main power of FingerWorks is to hide the technology behind the ease of use.

TalkShow was the big news on the NewTek stand. How does it improve on the traditional video calls that European viewers will be more familiar with? Can it ever replace the immediacy and convenience of tweets or text messages in terms of audience engagement?

Most of the broadcasters around the world (not to say all of them!) have already tried to insert Skype calls in a TV program, by using DIY solutions with what could be available in the market to capture the VGA screen of a PC. Most of the time it resulted in problems with audio and video quality and tour de force in order to manage all the calls. TalkShow and Skype TX is the perfect technology combination to turn around all the difficulties.
TalkShow is an amazing tool for broadcasters to enrich the audience experience and engagement. A mix of Skype calls and messages from the social networks will enlarge the possibilities for TV programs to catch the audience and be more interactive.

Read the article in BFV online.

(IT/JP)