Introduction
With the media and entertainment industry quickly shifting towards a remote, cloud-based infrastructure, our ingest workflows have had to adapt quickly. As trends and innovations grow, cost-effectiveness, efficiency and remote capabilities are proving to be the overarching priorities for many in the industry.
Post-production workflows rely on the ability for real-time logging, recording and editing, meaning that content can be captured and made available for review almost instantly. With this capability embedded into our modern workflows, whether on-site or remote, the production process is significantly sped up and helps teams to stay productive and accountable. Live Logger was created to address these challenges, but on review, it appears it can contribute to much more than just logging and editing.
Live Logger’s Intended Purpose
The Cinedeck team developed Live Logger to tackle the ongoing struggles that many remote teams face when monitoring traditional multiview productions. It’s specially designed infrastructure excels at logging and recording live feeds, providing metadata and timecode information, while also supporting the post-production process. Production workflows are famously demanding on the professionals that use them daily, working with intense and highly dynamic content distribution methods across projects.
While a huge part of this demand lies in the logging, editing and overall management of the content itself, the demand for multiviewer technology is just as prevalent. What many people don’t realize is that both of these specialisms often operate on the same interface features. With this in mind, it appears that Live Logger has another approach to efficiency – as a multiviewer, providing a welcome alternative to the expensive and complex solutions that would otherwise be needed to achieve the required results.
The Rise of the Multiviewer
As explained, Live Logger was originally designed to be a platform that can log content, load markers and edit from a remote space – but the features that this provides has shone a light on its capability to perform as a multiviewer. Since its release, Cinedeck customers are using Live Logger differently than expected, using its interface features to assist remote producers in monitoring the production process. Many customers are using Live Logger as a multiviewer to watch the production unfold, monitor its progress, add notes and comments and oversee the workflow from a remote point of view. With Live Logger’s infrastructure built for remote-accessible content logging, it can connect to multiple different servers in remote locations across the globe.
This makes Live Logger ideal as a multiviewer for multicam productions that would have otherwise required a substantial financial investment for a video wall. On seeing the alternative uses for Live Logger, the cost comparison is significant and certainly makes sense compared to dedicated multiviewer systems. Another feature to consider in multiviewer workflows is the flexibility and versatility that this style of content distribution requires. Live Logger is unique due to the flexibility of its interface, which not only allows for remote operation across multiple devices but is also versatile in its application across all styles of content workflows. Particularly with the growing demand for multiviewer capabilities in production settings, this new and innovative application of Live Logger reveals an ongoing need for accessible multiviewer solutions.
Challenges and Considerations
Using Live Logger as a multiviewer is undoubtably exciting, particularly for existing customers, as it has the potential to address issues besides remote logging and edit management. However, there are a few challenges to consider when using Live Logger for its multiviewer purpose.
Live Logger may lack specific features found in dedicated multiviewers, due to the fact it was not originally designed this way, but this can also be a benefit in itself. While multiviewer solutions are usually a significant financial investment, vendors may not require all of the intricate features they offer, and therefore Live Logger could provide a suitable alternative to a multiviewer solution. Of course, Live Logger may also require additional hardware or software for certain functionalities for the same reason, and regular updates and compatibility issues might arise that could present security issues in the future. Having said this, with customers already using Live Logger as a multiviewer solution, there is always the possibility of developments to its existing technology. As Live Logger naturally evolves, there is potential for these challenges to be addressed.
Conclusion
Live Logger was not originally designed for multiviewer capabilities, but its use as a multiviewer reveals an existing demand for this technology in the M&E industry. The usual technology that would be required for the monitoring and maintenance of a multicam production are often not cost effective, even for a video wall solution, which would be central to the post-production workflow.
As our customers are already proving, Live Logger has the potential to provide a suitable alternative to these ongoing financial struggles in the multicam production space. Multicam productions are benefiting from remote, cloud-based solutions on a daily basis, with much of the workflow shifting to the cloud, and fast. Vendors are quickly realizing that costs need to be carefully addressed as part of post-production, and using Live Logger as a multiviewer is a big part of this. As our industry continuously develops and changes, technology such as Live Logger will likely have the upper hand in the cost-efficiency and remote-capabilities for our workflows.
To explore Live Logger and learn more about how the Cinedeck Ingest product line might benefit your workflow, visit the Live Logger product page, or meet the Cinedeck team at NAB Show in Las Vegas from April 6-9, booth SL3929. Beat the queue and book a meeting.