We recently had a chat with our distributor Audiopole in France about how they’ve been helping customers with innovative solutions to keep them on-air during the last few months. They highlighted the work they’ve been doing with OB specialists Boîte à Outils Broadcast (BOB).

Headed up by Cyril Mazouer, BOB was responsible for the setup and management of the technical control room for Clique, an entertainment and current affairs programme, broadcast from Paris on Canal +.

Following COVID 19 guidelines, the BOB technical team worked alongside Audiopole to provide live coverage every day while limiting travel with technical staff working safely from home.

Cyril said, “Producing at a distance shouldn’t be synonymous with lower quality. We were able to produce the show with all 14 people on the shoot working remotely from their homes, using our exitsing technologies. The technical choices we made when we built the control room made it easier to set up as a remote production as most of the equipment could already be operated virtually. Clear and reliable communication has always been a crucial element of live production, but it becomes even more important with virtually all staff working remotely.”

Calrec’s Type R console was the perfect choice for this remote production setup and it was used over ST2110. The surface is made up of several blocks of six faders and a large soft panel touchscreen (LSP), all of which were easily installed by the sound engineer over Cat5 POE. Remote control is easily achieved using Calrec’s virtual mixing UI Calrec Assist via Google Chrome, giving access to console features such as aux sends, Automix and monitor feeds. IP latency was minimal.”

Because it’s a Web UI, Calrec Assist can of course be accessed by multiple people on multiple devices so different team members can use it. All the console’s functionality is therefore not only accessible to the Sound Engineer, but also for the technical team to control the audio router, GPIO, Ember +, label transfer etc. The processing rack and its stage box are installed at the venue and controlled in the technical rooms.”

Dave Letson, VP of Sales at Calrec, said, “It’s great to see our partners around the world helping customers to embrace new ways of remote working. Of course, Calrec Assist is designed from the ground up to work remotely, providing clear and easy-to-use Web-based virtual mixing. Indeed, we are now offering online demonstrations to show its capabilities, which you can book here.”

Thanks to marine_martignac on Instagram for the amazing remote working pics!

Looking for a Remote Working Solution?

Recent events have accelerated thinking and stretched our systems. Remote broadcasting has undergone a huge shift and has evolved into remote working and virtualization.

At Calrec, we’ve been working remotely with customers for a long time to create and maintain live broadcasts safely and reliably, but virtualization has since taken on a new pattern. Broadcasters all over the world have been using Calrec’s remote and virtual products to stay on-air by connecting to hardware from remote locations, using portable hardware in remote locations, and making integrated use of station automation systems.

We Can Help.

Calrec Assist is a browser-based interface application which creates a virtual console environment, ideally suited to remote working.

Calrec Assist runs in a web browser on Mac, Windows, and Linux devices, giving comprehensive control for Calrec’s RP1 remote production core, the VP2 Virtual production engine, Calrec’s Type R IP core and other Calrec production consoles. It is cost-effective, saves on space and is flexible, making it ideally suited to remote working.