Dejero transmitters, network aggregation devices and receivers ensured the capture and livestream of multi-cam video from Daimler Truck’s 1,000km record-breaking Hydrogen Run.
A public road approved prototype of the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck completed Daimler Truck’s Hydrogen Record Run, covering the 1,047 km between Woerth am Rhein and Berlin with one fill of liquid hydrogen on 26 September 2023. The goal was to demonstrate that hydrogen fuel-cell systems can be a practical approach to decarbonising long-haul road transportation.
Czech production company Livecast s.r.o was commissioned to deliver video feeds from six cameras covering the last part of the GenH2 Truck's journey into Berlin to its final destination at the Ministergärten green space. The truck completed the run fully loaded with a gross combined vehicle weight of 40 tons under real-life conditions, without emitting any CO2 during the long-haul trip.
The media production of the Hydrogen Record Run consisted of multiple cameras capturing the action including a drone and a vehicle-based camera that followed the truck, plus four further cameras on the ground along the route in Berlin. The equipment was connected to six Dejero EnGo mobile video transmitters.
“Reliable connectivity was essential in order to transmit high-quality live feeds from the six cameras to a large screen at the truck’s final destination, as well as sending feeds directly to the temporary production camp we set up at the same site,” said Honza Strohner, CEO of Livecast.
“Because the Dejero EnGo transmitters were blending connectivity from a combination of six roaming SIM cards from multiple networks, including T-Mobile and Vodafone, we could maintain a stable transport path for the entire event without worrying about network congestion or dropoff. We were able to stream live feeds to a large screen where Daimler Truck held its corporate event, and at the same time record video at a higher bitrate using the EnGo Store & Forward feature. This recording would be especially important for post-production.”
Using Store & Forward meant Livecast did not have to record live feeds on a server for post-production packaging. Instead, the recording was stored at original quality on the EnGo’s internal drive and transmitted directly to Livecast’s production camp. EnGo is capable of storing up to 60 hours of video.
Livecast used Dejero’s Control cloud-based management system to manage its Dejero equipment centrally from a web browser. Honza found it very useful to be able to change settings on the fly.
At Livecast’s production camp, a Dejero WayPoint receiver reconstructed the video from the EnGo transmitters, decoding and outputting the material for post production. A Dejero GateWay was also used at the camp providing Livecast with reliable internet connectivity, using a wired connection and cellular connectivity as a back-up. The EnGo mobile video transmitter and GateWay aggregation device both use Dejero Smart Blending Technology, a protocol that simultaneously blends together multiple wired (broadband/fibre) and wireless (3G/4G/5G, Wi-Fi, satellite) connectivity from several providers. By not relying on one source, it can maintain resilient, reliable connectivity even from challenging, remote environments.
”The Dejero solutions were simple to set up and simple to use. We could work with uninterrupted connectivity and deliver 1080p HD video so that our client could present beautiful high quality pictures to the world,” said Honza.
Earlier on, Livecast had worked with Dejero connectivity equipment on various occasions, including using a GateWay for streaming from locations where internet access is limited or compromised. For example, they were able to support live production of the Prague marathon, half marathon and other live events.
“The Dejero equipment has opened up new opportunities for us as a production company,” Honza said. “It gives us the capacity to deliver video in 3G-1080p, which allows us to cover more events in many more locations and for different types of clients. Beyond that, since we started working with Dejero, we have suggested improvements that the R&D team have taken on board and implemented into software updates. We’re happy to be working with such a reliable and responsive company.” www.dejero.com
