PORTLAND, OREGON, September 9, 2014 – As the largest full-service HD and 4K production facility in the Pacific Northwest, every day is unique for Microsoft Production Studios. With three sound stages, three audio rooms and numerous editing suites among its 65,000 square feet located on the Microsoft headquarters campus, the impressive facility is well-equipped to accommodate multiple in-house projects while providing rental space to outside productions. Thousands of productions and events are created in the studios each year.
As with any advanced video operation, audio is an integral part of the overall workflow at Microsoft Production Studios. In mid-2013, Microsoft Production Studios engineering team began to investigate how an audio over IP networking solution could transform the possibilities in their production operations. After consulting with Audinate’s team in Portland, Oregon, the MPS team recognized they could deliver multi-channel across their existing Cisco network switch fabric, while providing greater flexibility with the Dante networking solution.
“The transition to a Dante audio over IP environment just keeps generating steam, and I don’t see any end in sight,” said John L. Ball, systems engineer, Microsoft Production Studios. “It’s turned into a situation where it’s about who can think of the next cool idea on how Dante can transform and simplify our production while maintaining tight synchronization, and ultra-low latency to reduce the time and complexity for setting up the gear and sessions. We’re working toward a total networked environment for audio, communications and eventually video. Dante is core to making this easy by making every step a significant timesaver in setup, integration and network programming.”
Dante was initially installed to support in-store audio experience at Microsoft retail stores. Ball uses the software based Dante Virtual Soundcard to stream audio to a Symetrix Edge router, enabling playout of unique audio channels from PCs across multiple retail zones.
Microsoft Production Studios then upgraded its RTS ADAM intercom systems, which are integrated with Dante. This has vastly simplified the ease of use of the intercom communications across the greater Microsoft campus, ensuring production teams can reliably move audio between the studio and any remote location. Microsoft expanded the system with a multi-vendor interoperable Dante solution including RTS Intercom, Shure ULX-D microphones and Yamaha CL5 mixing consoles. The system was then extended by integrating Focusrite RedNet 6 MADI bridge units to an existing Grass Valley Miranda audio/video router.
The newest network expansions to incorporate Skype feeds and support multi-lingual feeds are perhaps even more impressive. Ball recently purchased Dante-enabled Studio Technologies Model 215 Announcer’s Consoles to control and distribute live programs in multiple languages simultaneously. His first project with the Model 215 units supported an Xbox Live broadcast from a gaming event in Germany, monitoring feeds over the Dante network and streaming the program in English, German, Italian, French and two Spanish dialects. “The cool thing about this application was using the actual video edit rooms as voiceover rooms,” said Ball. “We just connected the Studio Technologies gear and the Shure microphones right to the Dante network in each edit room. We used to have to run analog cables and connections all over the floor between multiple rooms to support this kind of event before. But now, using Dante for this configuration, it takes less than 30 minutes and a network connection to be off and running. We save at least a day and a half of work in setup time alone.”
The MPS team continues to discover new creative use cases to take advantage of Dante’s integration into PCs. With the Dante Virtual Soundcard, they broadcast on-air interviews via Microsoft’s product called SkypeTX: Microsoft Production Studio’s network two-way communications with Skype users, and translate those feeds into the broadcast and production world. By replacing analog audio I/O systems with Dante Virtual Soundcards, this has reduced infrastructure and complexity for both live and taped productions across broadcast and corporate applications.
“The original SkypeTX box required two cables in and out to bring it into the intercom environment, and then we had to transport it to audio control and convert it to digital just to get the broadcast signal out,” said Ball. “To enable talk-back, we’d have to convert it back to analog and basically reverse the entire workflow. With Dante, I can connect the audio and intercom in all IP digital, with no analog degradation. We simply capture the audio from SkypeTX, put that on the Dante network and feed our audio rooms for broadcast and production purposes. Dante is enabling a more modern means of communication with exceptional ease of use.”
Dante continues to be an integral part of Microsoft Production Studio’s future. Ball is now in the design phase of complete Dante network upgrades for all audio control rooms in the facility. Moving forward, Ball ultimately expects to upgrade their network infrastructure to a 10Gig pipe to enable the existing virtual LANs, or VLANs, to essentially to extend the Dante network and its production capabilities far beyond Microsoft’s Redmond campus.
About Audinate
Audinate revolutionizes AV systems to enable our customers to thrive in a networked world. Audinate’s Dante media networking technology has been adopted by the leading OEM manufacturers and has become the standard and dominant networking technology in the professional audio/visual industry. Dante is used extensively for live performance events, commercial installation, broadcast, recording and production, and communications systems. Audinate offices are located in US, United Kingdom and Australia. Visit www.audinate.com for the latest news and information on the company. Dante is Digital Media Networking Perfected.
Dante is a trademark of Audinate Pty Ltd, Audinate is a registered trademark of Audinate Pty Ltd. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
