Sony to Unveil New Networking, Cloud, Imaging and Virtual Production Tech at NAB Show
Sony announced its plans for NAB Show 2024 on Wednesday, with demos covering remote and distributed production, capture, monitoring, audio, cloud, and virtual production. The NAB Show takes place April 14-17 in Las Vegas.
“NAB Show continues to be an opportunity for our brand to actively engage with the community and champion the latest technologies and workflows,” said Theresa Alesso, President, Imaging Products and Solutions Americas, Sony Electronics. “In recent years, we’ve prioritized improving innovations that are helping connect, reimagine, and streamline our customers’ efforts. We are committed to enhancing the benefits of IP, capture, cloud, and virtual production, which are changing the way our industry does business.”
Remote and Distributed Production
Sony’s Networked Live portfolio is an ecosystem designed to enable production resources to be optimally connected, used, and shared, regardless of location to facilitate remote and distributed production through on-premise and cloud hybrid solutions, the company said. It is comprised of three core applications: Contribution, Remote Production, and In-House Production.
Updates in this area include new V1.1 functionality for the NXL-ME80 LAN/WAN media transport appliance, expected summer 2024. This will allow the device to work as a receiver alongside the CBK-RPU7 remote production unit, in a private 5G communication environment. The firmware will also increase the channels in Ultra Low Latency mode and offer support for 24P format.
Additionally, the M2L-X software-based switcher will be exhibited at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) booth (West Hall – W1701), as a part of a live cloud production solution.
Cloud
Creators’ Cloud, Sony’s suite of cloud-based platforms and apps, supports individuals and enterprises with many versatile components, which can be used separately or together for increased power.
Ci Media Cloud, Sony’s collaboration and media management service, has added new ways to streamline production workflows and strengthen non-linear editing collaboration. A new integration with Marquis’ Medway provides automated ingest from Ci into Avid systems. Ci has significantly expanded its media processing capabilities with the addition of Colorfront Transkoder directly into the platform. Ci is also officially launching Ci Workflow to support fully automated visual effects (VFX) pulls.
A new PC-based PWA-RX1 software application will be demonstrated, with planned availability this summer. The application will inherit Quality of Service (QoS) functionality of the PWS-110RX1A, offering stable, low-latency, high-quality, live video streaming, with the use of Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) hardware. Although the PWA-RX1 can be used without the cloud, pairing it with Sony’s C3 Portal (C3P) cloud gateway service further enhances its workflow feature sets through additions such as SDI output. In related news, in addition to Teradek, LiveU, and TVU Networks, C3P can now be used in combination with Dejero and Haivision.
Monitor & Control[2] ver. 2.0.0, an updated offering for Creators’ Cloud for individuals will be previewed and is scheduled to be released May 2024 onwards. For filmmakers shooting short films, and documentaries with a small team, it will provide multiple additional features including a Multi-Camera Monitoring function, for iPadOS, which provides up to four cameras, full screen display function for monitoring, de-squeeze display function for anamorphic lenses, and a Focus Map monitoring display function.
Capture, Monitors, and Audio
Sony’s imaging portfolio, comprised of a full range of production solutions including cameras, monitors, and audio, continues to expand and offer new possibilities. For the NAB Show, Sony is announcing an integrated-lens pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera, BRC-AM7, with built-in AI analytics. Highlights include a high-quality 1.0-type CMOS sensor for 4K 60p image performance, AI-enabled PTZ Auto Framing options, and seamless integration with Sony’s system cameras and switchers, as well as color matching with Sony’s ecosystem. The new PTZ camera is expected to be available in early 2025 and a prototype will be on display at the show.
Sony’s Cinema Line of cameras has been enhanced with updates to the FX series, which will be exhibited at NAB, alongside BURANO, the high-end, CineAlta digital cinema camera, which is now available.
Sony’s series of PVM pro monitors (PVM-X3200, PVM-X2400, PVM-X1800) will be shown featuring v5.0 firmware, expected by this summer. Updates include simultaneous high dynamic range (HDR) and standard dynamic range (SDR) video production, HDR optimized functions including automatic 4K/HD SDI settings, detailed black brightness settings, and support for interlace mode. Additionally, a new monitor controller prototype, BVMK-R10, planned to be available fall 2024, will be on display at NAB Show demonstrating its illuminated buttons and small menu screen, optimized for use in outside broadcast (OB) trucks and studios.
Updates in the pro audio space include the DWA-F03D, an expandable adapter which connects to Sony’s DWR-S03D slot-in receiver to create a lightweight solution ideal for field audio recording, which is expected to ship in the summer 2024.
Also new to the show will be two additions to Crispin’s CORE product family of adaptable options for automation. Crispin CORE Assetbase offers customers a central asset management tool via a single sign on. Crispin CORE Record and Prep Manager is a browser-based tool that allows users to view, schedule, and control all available ingest and prep resources.
Virtual Production
The upcoming version of Sony’s Virtual Production Tool Set will be on display. A compilation of resources to help improve pre-production and on-set workflows, the Tool Set includes additional camera compatibility, camera setting synchronization between the VENICE digital cinema camera series and Unreal Engine, and the ability to manage virtual cameras using a tablet.
Also in their booth is Sony’s Crystal LED VERONA display which brings quality and efficiency to in-camera VFX applications, the company said. It features a new Deep Black and Anti-Reflection Surface Technology and an easy-installation 1:1 cabinet design. Cinematic 24p content will demonstrate a real-world workflow based on ETC@USC’s recent short film project EUROPA which utilized the Virtual Production Tool Set to connect pre-production with on-set shooting in a color-managed workflow. In addition, 60p visuals will demonstrate multi-camera switching in broadcast environments.
Sony will be in Booth C8201 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
