Create Engage online events specialists adopted KILOVIEW for live streaming video production, including virtual, hybrid or studio-based events, linking remote presenters and live sites.
Create Engage are a small team of event professionals specialising in online events and production. With over 25 years collective experience in live events and streaming between them, they have executed numerous online campaigns and events for clients. All of these have increased engagement, audience reach, revenue and awareness through branded content and customised delivery.
The team’s mission is to enhance physical and online event engagement through digital and internet-based methods. Recently they were involved in a special streaming project and, looking for new equipment, contacted their systems provider Digistor to ask about hardware from KILOVIEW. Create Engage director Luke Hammonds said, “We are passionate about digital video and its impact on business and brand communication.
Modular KILOVIEW
“We had heard of KILOVIEW and the compact devices they develop that are capable of sending and receiving video in pretty much any format over LAN and WAN. As they are also rack mountable and hot-swappable, we were keen to try them out. The need for devices of this type increased hugely during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
At that point they contacted Digistor, who now supply Create Engage with KILOVIEW products for live streaming video production. They suit working onsite for hybrid events, studio-based events or in control hubs for fully virtual events, and are also useful for linking remote presenters and live sites together using IP-based video connections.
In recent months Create Engage has purchased KILOVIEW REN-1 Cards, RD-300 Cards, 1RU Cradles and 3RU Cradles. The cradles are re-usable 1RU or 3RU chassis that hold encoder and decoder modules in custom configurations to support different workflows. All inserted encoding and decoding modules are compatible with SDI/HDMI+3.5mm audio, and the decoding modules support HD or 4K video output. For IP connectivity, all codec modules support SRT, RTMP, RTSP, UDP, HTTP, HLS and other protocols. NDI|HX functionality can be added as an option.
Luke said, “KILOVIEW aligns well with the way we build our equipment packages. We design our encoder racks to be mobile, modular, turn-key systems that can be adjusted to match any any spec, up or down, per event and only require onsite power to be fully operational. Also modular, KILOVIEW rack-mountable cards and cradles operate with the same approach.
Continuous Customisation
“We can slide in whatever size cradle and card combination is needed for the project into a rack system and get it onsite, all pre-configured and ready to go. KILOVIEW is reliable and feels robust enough for 24/7 operation, so we have been confident about relying on it.”
As Kiloview products are rack mountable and the cards are hot swappable, Create Engage can customise their streaming racks to suit each individual project. “A common set-up is to use a REN-1 card to stream to a primary streaming player on our platform, as well as output broadcast PGM (multicast transport protocol) over the LAN via NDI|HX for viewing in another part of the venue or in multi-view,” said Luke. “We then use a second REN-1 card to stream to a backup streaming player.”
REN-1 cards are used for video network transmission, point–to -point interactive connection, network recording and similar applications. They have a flexible plug-in card structure in a rack-mounted frame, supporting multiple channels of SDI/HDMI encoding or decoding cards.
Quite often, Luke’s team will use the configuration above, but add an RD-300 decoding module to a live feed from a remote site as well as another REN-1 card to send feedback to that remote site via SRT. “We access and control the Kiloview GUI mainly via tiny Raspberry PI single-board computers plugged into a monitor, keyboard and mouse, which frees up our laptop stock for other duties,” Luke said.
Service and Support
From the point of view of the create Engage team, Kiloview products and Digistor’s service and support are closely integrated. “The sales team have sound technical knowledge of the products they sell and their service and support is also excellent,” Luke said.
“Digistor’s brands are well curated, so we also rely on them for suggestions on new products that simplify projects, or present a solution to a technical roadblock we might be facing. When I started the Digital and Webcasting Department at Staging Connections -- now Encore Technology -- in 2009, Digistor consulted on the original edit suite build. I have continued purchasing equipment from them ever since.” www.digistor.com.au
