2 minute read
One of the standout booth presentations of the recent trade show cycle has been NewTek’s showcasing of both its TriCaster 1 Pro live video production system and its new NDI HX3-native PTZ camera.
NewTek’s innovations are always worth keeping close tabs on, and two that have been causing some of the largest waves as the year has unwound are the 1 Pro live video production system and the new — and incidentally world’s first — NDI|HX3-native PTZ3 camera.
Starting with the TriCaster 1 Pro, it’s being positioned as a streamlined live video production system with support for 4K UHD switching across 16 inputs, live streaming, recording, data-driven graphics, virtual sets, media publishing, Live Call Connect video conferencing integration, and more.
Alongside an updated TriCaster 2 Elite, NewTek’s flagship system which has gained real traction on the market in the two years since its launch, both offer integrated flexibility of software and IP networks and the tightest, NDI-native integration. Both units also enable LiveGraphics, LivePanel, and Live Story Creatortools as standard, offering NDI-Teleprompting with automation, Adobe CC based title and motion graphics, and bespoke web-based operator controls
The TriCaster 1 Pro is a welcome addition for the storytellers that need robust remote calling but don’t require an extreme quantity of sources and destinations. Operators can send Alpha Channel through one of the MIX outs, bringing post capabilities closer to live, and also use the powerful chroma-keying on every TriCaster input to feed graphics or real-time 3D creation tools. Both models support the encoding of three channels.
Both TriCaster models offer the latest version of Live Call Connect. This enables easy on-board integration of popular video conferencing applications as native AV inputs; from WhatsApp, Zoom, and Teams, to Discord, Slack, and Tencent. Producers can also turn any mobile device into a live production camera by using the NDI TriCaster Camera App, which is now available, for free, for Android and iOS devices.
In other words, the TriCaster 1 Pro does a lot of what the Elite does, but is aimed at users that don’t require an extreme quantity of sources and destinations. As such, at $21,995, it comes in around $8,000 less than the Tricaster 2 Elite’s $29,9950.
PTZ3
As for the NewTek PTZ3, this is the first camera on the market to feature the latest NDI|HX 3, which performs the neat trick of offering better video with reduced latency compared to previous versions of NDI|HX, but still at a reduced bandwidth than High-Bandwidth NDI.
It’s an affordable, IP-based pan-tilt-zoom camera that delivers high-quality HD video to the network and interoperability with any of the thousands of other applications that already support NDI. Audio connectivity has been ramped up with the inclusion of a professional mini-XLR mic input connection in addition to a line-level mini-jack.
Also featuring PTZ-Preset easing, the camera can move to recalled presets in fluid moves more akin to an operator, rather than the “snap to position” commonly experienced in other cameras, which comes into its own in the fully or semi-automated productions possible with TriCaster systems.
Single cable connectivity means that it can be added into pretty much any workflow with a single ethernet cable for HD video up to 1080/60p, audio, PTZ presets and control, tally, and PoE+. Users can remotely control the camera from any device via NDI, even remotely through NDI Bridge. When combined with NDI Studio Monitor, users can operate the camera through commonly available control devices, even including gaming controllers, reducing the cost of entry into camera control systems.
The camera ships with both ceiling and wall mounts and is available in black or white to better match where the camera is needed, whether that final destination is a studio, classroom, hospital, corporate meeting space, live event venue, or wherever a PTZ is needed.
The price is around $2,795.
Tags: Production
Comments