Thought Leadership: The Many Moods, the Many Shades, the Many Sides of REMI (Part Two)

Part One of this article closed with the thought that the efficient content production workflow deployed by Gravity Media had managed to achieve measurable cost efficiencies while maintaining production values, two things which usually have a negative correlation.

Gravity Media, through the Proshow Broadcast acquisition, reached its 2,000th production using this workflow in February 2020

As the engineering and business teams at Gravity Media considered what could/would/should come next for efficient remote productions, there was a realization that the positive outcomes that had been achieved so far were largely achieved in an “analog” way, basically by moving physical resources and functions from one place to another.  While effective, Gravity Media considered how a more modern approach might benefit our clients and move the workflow to a new level.

Gravity Media’s thoughtful consideration of how to improve our offering for our clients coincided with two things; an identifiable growing demand in the market for more efficient and cost-effective productions and the development of the unified or all-in-one production platform technologies, like SimplyLive’s ViBox and EVS’ X-One.

Inside Proshow Broadcast’s Busker REMI production unit

Gravity Media’s new concept was to design and deploy an efficient and highly flexible production workflow relying on the Unified Production Platform (UPP) technology and based in a small form factor yet highly capable vehicle.  The concept was designed and tested through several iterations leading to Gravity Media’s implementation of a new, highly efficient and cost-effective remote production solution.

This new solution allows staff positions to be combined, overall costs to be lowered, production values maintained, and flexibility realized and maximized.  Gravity Media chose to package its solution into an appropriately sized form factor which resulted in a new class of production vehicle we call Paradigm.  Gravity Media chose the name Paradigm as we firmly believe this solution is a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions around production.

Polaris is one of Gravity Media’s Proshow Broadcast REMI units

Gravity Media’s Paradigm production vehicles produce content with all the functionality of a traditional mobile unit with a minimum of compromises while maximizing efficiencies.

In its initial phase, the productions using Gravity Media’s new solution based on UPP and Paradigm vehicles were deployed in one of two ways; either as a REMI or as a fully produced in the field production – albeit with a reduced crew compliment producing the event on the UPP.  Gravity Media’s solution facilitated the usual savings when in REMI mode and greater efficiencies for our clients in full production mode mainly through the reduction of headcount through the combining of key positions that the UPP allows, and even less travel, and reduced transmission costs.

Inside Proshow Broadcast’s Polaris REMI unit

This new solution and vehicle class by Gravity Media is an evolution of the REMI workflow, as outlined in Part 1 of this article.  Gravity Media’s Paradigm has the added dynamic of being flexible enough to perform a full field production, a REMI production and it is flexible enough to accommodate hybrid productions where, as one example, the primary operations of video switching and instant replay are performed on site in the Gravity Media vehicle, while graphics and audio mixing is done at the home-base production control room.

Gravity Media’s Paradigm class vehicle was designed to provide robust, professional-grade broadcast systems.  Paradigm is wired for 8 triax CCUs.  The intercom system features RTS Odin, Unity Intercom, and Studio Technologies outboard gear.  The audio component is built around a Dante backbone with Calrec Brio as the center piece.  The trucks’ audio infrastructure can be operated as fully digital or fully analog, or a combination of the two.  Paradigm is designed around a Unified Production Platform, the initial vehicles have a SimplyLive ViBox, that can be used as an all-in-one solution or as a powerful replay system in combination with a Blackmagic Design ATEM switcher that also lives on-board.  Live graphics interface is available as key and fill for the ATEM switcher or NDI for the SimplyLive ViBox.

Inside Proshow Broadcast’s Polaris REMI unit

Gravity Media’s Paradigm class follows a design philosophy of providing a large space for production and audio. The extra space provides a degree of comfort that alleviates the added stress that is usually a part of the REMI workflow and mobile production unit.

As was true when the REMI workflow is deployed within an organization for the first time, Gravity Media’s new Paradigm based solution also has its technical, operational and cultural challenges when being deployed for the first time.  The workflow using UPP represents an even steeper curve than REMI with the introduction of the new technology.  Operationally, acceptance for combining critical positions like Director and TD or Producer and Replay Operator is a cultural hurdle that must be addressed.  As is the necessity for proper training on the new system.

In concluding this series, the critical takeaway is that Gravity Media’s continual development and deep experience with efficient production models translates into an offering to our clients that is filled with technological innovation, business flexibility and abundant operational support.  Over the past year the Gravity Media team of engineers have become familiar with the UPP technology and are skilled working with the efficient workflows.  This experience is unique to Gravity Media.

When clients come to Gravity Media, they find a skilled, and experienced vendor who owns and manages its own fleet of modern production vehicles and field gear and because of that delivers real and true value to our clients.  Gravity Media has efficient workflows as our core strength.

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