GSA uses Matrox Monarch HD to broadcast shows

This teaching center at the University of Surrey decided to use this video broadcast and recording device to broadcast the musical Comrade Rockstar live..

Guildford School of Drama (GSA) is the hub of arts and performance at the University of Surrey, one of the most renowned theater institutes in the United Kingdom and, probably, the world's leading musical theater school. This center trains performers and theater artists, and produces some 40 annual live shows that cover genres such as theater, the musicals, dance and performing arts.

For the launch of the musical Comrade Rockstar, written and produced by the same school and performed in the Ivy Arts Centre, the main theater of the GSA, the school worked to broadcast the show, two hours long, live to guests from all over the world.

To carry out this broadcast, the video broadcast and recording device was used. Matrox Monarch HD.

“We had contemplated other unconnected systems, how to add recording devices to our configuration, but we leaned towards the simplicity of the all-in-one solution offered by Matrox Monarch HD. We wanted to eliminate the computer from the issuance process, and having a retransmission and recording device seemed attractive to us, since it freed up other resources and reduced assembly time”, afirma Chris Watling, digital media specialist at the University of Surrey.

Staging

The Ivy Arts Center Theater (18×18 metros) It has a connection panel 48 ports and category 5 to connect cameras and other devices. A JVC GY-HM150E camera is attached to a matrix and other cameras are added as appropriate. The GSA typically sets its cameras to 1080p25 or 720p50 and sets the encoding to Monarch HD.

For the webcast of the musical Comrade Rockstar, GSA used a 4K video mixing console, so he was able to alternate between four cameras and the signal from a Mac Pro computer that was in charge of the graphics and intermediates.

A stereo source was brought from the audio console directly to the video mixing console, who switched to Monarch HD to gain quality in the soundtrack and live vocals.

GSA Webcast Comrade Rockstar Musical Using Monarch HD's RTMP Protocol, approximately 8 Mbps (including high quality audio). The TSP protocol was also used for broadcast inside the building, For example, to the locker rooms, so that the cast could see how the show was progressing without missing their cues. In this case, bit rate reduced to 1 Mbps to ensure broadcast security, since quality was not paramount.

Being the GSA's first and main foray into live broadcasting, They experimented with different suppliers. At first YouTube was thought of, but they ended up choosing HitBox due to the access problems that YouTube posed in Germany..

Recording and archiving

Monarch HD is also used in your theater as a recording and archiving system, using a recording 5 Mbps. The versatile application programming interface (API) Monarch HD was used to easily automate show recording.

Previously, Hard-to-access cameras that were connected to the ceiling grid had to be managed manually for recordings. In addition, All school practice evaluations are also recorded (hundreds every year), which are then archived and shared through class capture platforms and a virtual learning environment (WANT).

At the moment, with the intention of finding a more flexible system that allows capturing class activity, GSA evaluating Matrox Monarch LCS device, which is specifically designed to capture the classes.

With the Monarch HD API, The GSA has managed to automate its broadcast and recording schedules. “It has helped us reveal the mystery of live broadcasting. We no longer need to dedicate a complex computer-based solution to our broadcast setups. We can evaluate broadcast proposals with confidence and security and use the recording features of Monarch HD as an added value. This means capturing and distributing more content with less effort.. It also allows us to leave people who do not master the field of technology in charge of capturing our shows and we can even carry out a basic broadcast ourselves.”, points out Watling.

The GSA is considering using Monarch HD to expand its capacity to provide a live broadcast to the theater lobby for those absent from the theater or even create a viewing area for a second audience, when shows are held in smaller studios with limited capacity and there is huge demand for tickets.