Live Streaming Audio Sources Standardized by Lawo Solution in CBC/Radio-Canada Deployment
CBC/Radio-Canada, Canada's national public broadcaster, has implemented a new system to standardize and prepare a wide variety of nonstandardized audio sources from different live venues for digital streaming. This setup, which relies on two instances of the Lawo HOME mc² DSP app, allows the broadcaster to manage complex audio processing tasks such as audio channel remapping, gain adjustments, adding off-tube commentary, and downmixing 5.1 surround sound to stereo 2.0.
Each instance of the HOME mc² DSP app provides 40 shuffling mixers, enabling CBC/Radio-Canada to accommodate up to 80 streaming events simultaneously. This setup aims to create a consistent and standardized 2.0 audio stream suitable for airing on multiple digital platforms, including their own outlets and third-party services like YouTube.
The primary use case for the audio shuffling function of the Lawo HOME mc² DSP app is to correct nonstandardized audio sources from live-event venues for airing on digital outlets. The system also offers dynamic scalability, allowing the broadcaster to scale up and down the number of audio streams that can be processed simultaneously beyond the limitations of previously used hardware devices.
The HOME mc2 DSP app's CoMixer function enables the team to instantiate 40 audio shufflers per app instance. Each shuffling instance provides Digital Signal Processing (DSP) functionality for level changes and other tweaks. This flexibility allows CBC/Radio-Canada to instantiate processing channels for sports and entertainment events, press conferences, and simulcasts.
CBC/Radio-Canada sought a flexible SMPTE ST 2110-based solution to replace legacy, single-purpose hardware. The solution, which also includes scripts for XCS mixing cores and mapping files for the VSM control system, modifies nonstandard audio content, including operations such as audio channel remapping, gain adjustment, downmix, and mono summing.
Two VSM panels have been created, each displaying up to 40 mixes. This setup offers the required agility, as stated by Jaime Thomas, supervising technician of digital presentation at CBC/Radio-Canada. One app offering as many shuffling instances as needed can be controlled using VSM, providing the required agility for this complex setup.
Frédéric Dorion, project lead at CBC/Radio-Canada, praised the economy and dynamic scalability of the HOME mc2 DSP app. The broadcaster chose to host its two HOME mc2 DSP instances on separate servers for redundant operation, ensuring reliable operation for live events.
The resulting stereo stream is passed on for use downstream, such as AWS Elemental encoders, for smooth streaming to various digital platforms. The Lawo HOME mc² DSP app is frequently used for university sports, government news conferences, and Olympic events, demonstrating its versatility and effectiveness.
- CBC/Radio-Canada uses two instances of the Lawo HOME mc² DSP app to manage complex audio processing tasks for digital streaming, such as channel remapping, gain adjustments, and downmixing.
- The HOME mc² DSP app enables CBC/Radio-Canada to accommodate up to 80 streaming events simultaneously, thanks to its 40 shuffling mixers per instance.
- The primary purpose of the audio shuffling function in the Lawo HOME mc² DSP app is to correct nonstandardized audio sources from live-event venues for airing on digital platforms.
- The CoMixer function in the HOME mc2 DSP app allows CBC/Radio-Canada to instantiate 40 audio shufflers per app instance for sports, entertainment events, press conferences, and simulcasts.
- CBC/Radio-Canada sought a flexible SMPTE ST 2110-based solution to replace legacy hardware, which includes scripts for XCS mixing cores and mapping files for the VSM control system.
- Two VSM panels have been created for the new system, each displaying up to 40 mixes, offering the required agility for this complex setup.
- The stereo stream produced by the Lawo HOME mc² DSP app is passed on for use with AWS Elemental encoders for smooth streaming to various digital platforms, demonstrating its versatility and effectiveness in university sports, government news conferences, and Olympic events.
