I recently had the pleasure of speaking to Corey Behnke, co-founder and producer at Live X, a full-service production company based in New York, to find out more about how Live X relies on Haivision technology to deliver high quality remote productions for its clients, including the United States Golf Association (USGA). A keen technology enthusiast, Corey shared his thoughts on SRT, remote production, and more.
Haivision: How did you first hear about Haivision?
Corey: We’ve been using Haivision Makito video encoders and decoders for about three years, but it was what I refer to as the “OG” event, a panel discussion at the 2018 NAB Show for SRT with Haivision, the NFL, ESPN, Microsoft, and Azzurro, that really got me interested. After watching the presentation, I distinctly remember telling my creative producer and head of production at dinner that night “I just saw the future of our company; we need to start using this technology as soon as possible!” Shortly after that, we invested in the equipment and, within a matter of months, we were deploying it for our remote production of the 118th USGA Amateur Championships in Pebble Beach, California.
Haivision: Can you tell us more about the USGA Amateur Championships?
Corey: Yes, for the Amateur Championships, the USGA wanted live, multi-camera coverage of the commentator perched above the 18th green, while additional wireless cameras covered the golf action at key locations. There was no one from our team on the ground in California as we were able to run it entirely remotely from our MCR in New York at a fraction of the cost of a regular OB production. With our new equipment (Azzurro TX and Pin Bridge equipped with Haivision Makito X video encoders and decoders) we successfully transported live low latency (sub-500ms) audio and video feeds over 3000 miles, from six live synched camera feeds. We did everything that we usually do onsite, from controlling cameras to mixing the audio live, but completely remotely. It was pretty epic and last year we successfully repeated the exercise for the 2019 Championships in Pinehurst.
Haivision: What has been your experience with Haivision solutions?
Corey: I’ve used a lot of different video encoders in the past, in fact, I’ve always loved the idea of trying a video encoder shoot-out! We use Haivision Makito video encoders more and more and I love the fact that they have native support for SRT. SRT adoption is on steroids right now which makes using Haivision very appealing. As production people, we use whatever solutions are best of breed, that’s what our clients expect. The Makito video encoders are just that; the UI is simple and easy to use, they offer extremely low latency, and are always rock solid and reliable. These products are mainstays in our studio. We also use the KB Mini encoder/transcoder for some of our workflows and it’s just a workhorse. It’s ridiculous how good it is!
Haivision: What about SRT? You’re clearly a fan!
Corey: It’s true! We had our first SRT moment during the US Open, it really opened our eyes to what SRT could help us achieve. An important point and what I think what people don’t understand is the cool thing about SRT is that it really works. If you work really hard to get really good quality audio and video in, you’ll be rewarded by using SRT compared to other technologies that don’t really deliver. In our set up for the USGA for example, the quality was so good, it was as if I was in the OB truck, rather than 3000 miles away in New York. SRT wasn’t simply a substitute technology; it was a substitute workflow. The point is, with SRT I didn’t have to sacrifice the show for the technology which is often the case with new technology that isn’t 100% reliable.
In case you missed it, Corey shared his unbridled enthusiasm for the Secure Reliable Transport protocol for remote production workflows in our recent webinar, Broadcast Reimagined: SRT – The Simple Solution for Your Remote and At-Home Workflows.
