Marshall helps GoPro Stream Live Concerts at NAMM
January 24, 2014, National Association of Music Merchants, Anaheim—Marshall Electronics and their MXL division designed and operated the custom streaming broadcast solution from the GoPro stage at NAMM. Marshall provided its live streaming equipment and expertise to stream performances in real time to the NAMM website with their StreamVu products and to the local large screens at the venue from the GoPro Hero3 cameras.
Greg Boren from MXL described the basic setup and the operations. The system for streaming had to be designed and integrated in a short time frame, and centers around the Marshall Electronics IP encoders/decoders. The cameras were set up as wireless and the receivers were placed midway between the stage and the control booth. In open air, the wireless equipment can reach a range of about 150 feet, but this is greatly reduced with a full crowd.
The cameras feed the HDMI signals as serial SDI. All of the equipment and signals are in 720P 60. Panasonic supplied the video switcher, which just processed the video and stage audio. All of the signals are 10 bit. GoPro, which sponsored the stage, provided GoPro cameras to record the performances.
The mobile control room at the site has full A/V control capabilities and all of the setup is geared for best A/V quality. The system integration enables the HD video signal from each camera to be transmitted to Marshall displays and then to a Panasonic switcher. From the switcher, the video signal will go into the Marshall PS-102 Producer Station where the audio and video are converted into H.264 and H.264/MPEG that is streamed to the cloud, and finally to a laptop for stream monitoring and control.
Signals connect from the cameras through 250 feet of custom SDI cables, and everything is in HD protocols. The signals are fed to a dedicated line with 50 MB/s bandwidth, but the video stream is useable at any data rates over 3 MB/s. They tested the signals at 10 MB/s, which is the native bandwidth for the switcher.
One trick for use of the GoPro cameras is to set the outputs to 720P 120 fps rather than the standard 1080P and convert the resulting HDMI to 720P SDI. This resolution is more than sufficient for general consumption and allows the whole system to run in native 720P 60.
The cameras’ video signals were encoded and streamed via Marshall’s PS-102 Producer Station encoder, wireless transport interfaces, and distributed by StreamVu CDN. StreamVu is an affordable and professional service for the origination and distribution of video content. Whether broadcasting concerts, races, political events or a local Little League game, school play, wedding, or spiritual event, StreamVu’s load-balanced system architecture ensures broadcasts scale to nearly limitless size.
The demonstration showed a practical application of live streaming in the music industry. Concerts can be streamed over IP networks to an unlimited number of devices and viewed for free or on a pay-per-view basis. The use of live streaming in concert applications encompasses the wide range of audio/video technologies offered by Marshall Electronics.
MXL is a leading manufacturer of consumer and professional audio products for the music recording, broadcast, post, production, and live sound markets. Additional information on the Tempo USB and all MXL microphones can be found at www.mxlmics.com.
Marshall Electronics Broadcast Division supplies high quality LCD monitors, IP security cameras and servers, distribution, and conversion solutions for broadcasters around the world. Marshall specializes in the development, manufacturing and distribution of high tech electronic products used in a wide range of professional applications. Visit www.lcdracks.com for Marshall’s full line of Broadcast products.
