Broadcast Solutions designs and integrates the new DMC center

DMC Production, provider of technical services for the Norwegian broadcaster TV 2, has recently moved to a new remote production center in the heart of Oslo whose integration has been carried out by Broadcast Solutions.

Focused on sport, the new remote production center of DMC Production has been designed to be able to withstand the high demands that it will face in the short term: the management of more than 700 football, basketball or handball games, and its function as VAR center in Norway, hosting the entire VAR infrastructure of the Eliteserien league.

A total of 64 venues throughout Norway, where matches for different sports are held, are connected to DMC's remote production center via a fiber network with 130 input and output lines supplied by TV 2 and Telenor, DMC communications partner. In parallel, eight VORs (Video Assistant Referee Video Operation Rooms) have been installed in the remote production center, where video referees can supervise up to eight matches simultaneously. The solution Zebra of EVS, implemented by Broadcast Solutions for VAR installation, is FIFA certified, allowing Norwegian national football team matches to be monitored using VAR VORs at the DMC centre.

Mats Berggren, COO of DMC Norway, is enthusiastic about the installation: "We knew that the challenges posed by the realization of such a complex production center were great and that the time to carry them out was short. We are even more excited with the result. We now have a remote production center in the heart of Oslo, which sets new standards in the long term, not only thinking about the quality of productions, but also in new ways of using technology and personnel. The flexibility in the use of technology and workflows gives our teams greater freedom to enhance their creativity.”

First-class versatility and technology

When planning the SDI-based Broacast Solutions for DMC project, everyone involved emphasized maximum versatility in terms of workflows, multi-functional and multi-purpose workstations and optimal resource utilization.

For the production of content, there is three production rooms live (two small and one large), equipped with all the technology necessary for broadcasting (video switcher, audio mixer, editing rooms, etc.). In them, the teams can simultaneously use up to eight productions (2 to 8 cameras). The potential use of VAR workstations for production needs is another result of the facility's flexibility. For smaller productions with four cameras, systems are used ViBox of Simplylive together with EVS within the hub, each flexibly assigned to any workstation. On the other hand, DMC decided to trust the solution MediorNet of Riedel for internal routing in the hub.

DMC and Broadcast Solutions: a project marked by flexibility

The flexibility of the remote production center in distributing productions, assigning signals to different work locations and the multifunctional use of these locations was non-negotiable for DMC. The challenges that came with this approach have been overcome thanks to the media and broadcasting control system hi human interface de Broadcast Solutions.

Thanks to this system, the service provider's team is able to freely assign signals and tasks from anywhere to any workplace within the center, which has resulted in the reduction of the usual resources of this type of facilities. In fact, the MCR (Control Room) of DMC's remote production center consists of a single table with two workstations.

Peter Lund, project manager at Broadcast Solutions, looks back on the DMC project: "The DMC center was a difficult project due to the short implementation phase. The excellent cooperation between the Broadcast Solutions teams in Germany, Finland and Norway has borne fruit. Collectively we have realized another flagship project in terms of production centers, but even more so because of our hi human interface control tool, which provides the necessary flexibility, even in such a complex system. In short, another milestone and reference project that allows the company to grow in the Nordic countries and throughout Europe.”