3Cat is committed to innovation in the new Control I of Sant Joan Despí: IP, autonomous production…

The team of 3Cat reveals the keys to the new Control I of the Sant Joan Despí headquarters: an infrastructure prepared for IP and UHD environments that is already being used successfully in the demanding remote production of the America's Cup, an event that will be held from August 22 to October 27, 2024 in Barcelona.

Less than a year ago, the engineering team at Catalan Corporation of Audiovisual Media – 3Cat moved in depth to Panorama Audiovisual How the arrival of IP infrastructure to your 3/24 news channel developed. In his story, Josep Ardanuy Bel, head of continuity at the TV3 studios in Sant Joan Despí; Anna Ochoa Lopez, specialist engineer; Natalia Prats Buendía, director of digital and technological infrastructures; Antoni Roig Figueras, head of technical issuance, and Marc Sanclimens Solervicens, a specialist engineer, explained in detail the challenges of this new stage for Catalan public radio and television.

All these profiles brought to the table debates such as transformation of its production and control equipment; the importance of converters and gateways; the need to conceptually understand this new way of working, or the “youngness” of IP technologies, many of which had not yet been sufficiently tested in highly demanding environments. Despite this, 3Cat decided to move forward after seeing how this approach could make possible “previously unimaginable processes” and undertake with caution, but with optimism, a transition without scheduled completion date. “The project will last the next two or three years, and then we will evaluate to decide where we are going,” Prats commented at the time.

The innovation work within the Catalan Corporation of Audiovisual Media has continued since then. The renewal of infrastructure continues on its roadmap, and beyond the premiere of a new news set loaded with technological innovations (“the most ambitious project of its 40 years,” according to TV3 sources told El Periódico), the Corporation has decided to create the new Control I of Sant Joan Despí. This initiative, which continues the project of radical renovation of the controls of the historic production center, has already begun its journey and is being used in one of the most demanding productions of 2024. 3Cat.

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Adaptability with UHD and IP technology

To prats, Control I is “a reflection of our bet on UHD” and for the “IP technology"Initially, the space had been planned as broadcast room, but, faced with the need to have more spaces for production with configurable and multipurpose positions, the 3Cat engineering team decided to create a new control with the capacity to accommodate “up to four different production levels, a autonomous production for social networks and occasional events.”

The design of Control I has been done in accordance with the technical infrastructures that are being implemented transversally throughout the Corporation. It has two areas: the main control, designed for eight multipurpose workstations equipped with a KVM of Adder, and a booth capable of hosting up to four commentator positions that, together with the connection with two audio post-production booths, allows working with eight simultaneous commentator positions.

The new Control I of 3Cat It has the capacity to accommodate up to four different production levels, a autonomous production for social networks and occasional events.

Key to this space is the new infrastructure UHD Core and the sound table mc36 xp, as well as the integration of Home, the IP infrastructure management platform of Theirs. Additionally, the infrastructure has inputs for 8 external signals, four playouts, video library, two titration channels, four-bus video mixer, graphics Vizrt, PTZ control and vMix, a key system for its ambitious coverage of the Copa América.

The versatility and capacity of this infrastructure is accompanied by a determined commitment to UHD through specific equipment, such as the video mixer Blackmagic. Of course, IP technology also plays a leading role. In the words of prats, this commitment “allows access, for example, to the entire infrastructure 3Cat IP audio technology"In fact, communications and coordination are carried out via IP audio with Riedel, which are controlled by the Broadcast Controller of BFE.

All these resources are made available to the needs of 3Cat, an entity that was clear that this infrastructure would help with multiple remote production initiatives. The grand premiere is taking place these days within the framework of the Copa América, whose 37th edition will be held from August 22 to October 27 in Barcelona.

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The new 3Cat Control I at the Copa América

The big bet of 3Cat has designed a special coverage of the Sailing America Cup to bring the audience closer to spectacularity, dynamism and quality through Esports3 and also the platform 3Cat. Francesc Soria directs and presents the broadcasts with Víctor Lavagnini and Miquel Ribas in the narration of the regattas, while Laia Ferrer is in charge of the interviews and reports and an excellent team of commentators analyzes the competition: Jordi Xammar, fourth in 470 at the Paris Olympic Games; Sandra Azón, former sailor and Olympic medalist; Cristina Pujol, Olympic sailor in Tokyo 2020, and specialized journalists Carles Pich and Jaume Soler.

The device 3Cat, based on two spaces, allows us to gain efficiency in terms of deployment of technical personnel.

Behind the scenes, the corporation's technological team has deployed a device that combines two spaces with different technologies: the new Control I, which premieres with this production, and a technical infrastructure based on remote production platform vMix located in the Barcelona Swimming Club (CNB).

This approach, far from the traditional displacement of mobile units, allows us to gain efficiency in terms of the deployment of technical personnel. The production of the competition involves a director, a technical production assistant in video mixing, a sound technician, a technical manager and, occasionally, a character operator, while the device at the Club Natació Barcelona is in charge of two outdoor technicians.

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A double deployment that changes the rules of the game

The deployment of 3Cat at Club Natació Barcelona consists of a set con four positions for journalists or commentators, from which the regatta is broadcast with video and audio monitoring, audio return channels and execution orders, all managed through the platform vMix. An area has also been set up for standups at the CNB, equipped with lighting, audio installation, four PTZ cameras and the necessary connections to make the pre- and post-tests, as well as the live connections in the news formats. Everything, with a technical base composed, beyond vMix, of a video matrix, an audio rack and a contribution equipment for the synchronous transmission of the signals that are sent to the Control of Sant Joan Despí.

Control I is responsible for carrying out the retransmission of the regattas and the personalization of the conduct of the competition, including live comments from journalists and the creation of informative spaces surrounding the races. The equipment of this study allows controlling the PTZ installed on the 3Cat set; perform the international signals and displaced cameras; manage the audios that arrive mounted to the different video signals; establish communications and returns to displaced commentators, and add videos and additional graphics.

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Reformulating 3Cat outdoor coverage

From this perspective, 3Cat's technical and engineering teams have sought to benefit from technology to form a production starring versatility. In the words of Catalan radio and television: “The infrastructure allows production to be completely covered from either of the two spaces, with the essential technical personnel or, as is currently being done, with a combination of both spaces with partially remote production." And the realization of the program is carried out from Control I, while the commentators are moved to the CNB: "The production design has been made absolutely versatile to meet diverse needs or circumstances that may arise during the two months long of the Sailing America Cup”.

The infrastructure allows production to be completely covered from either of the two spaces, with the essential technical personnel or, as is currently being done, with a combination of both spaces with partially remote production

This approach transversal, which will be reinforced with a stand in the Village del Moll de la Fusta – a small set prepared to host sections of daily television and radio programs when the competition reaches the decisive moment, from October 12 to 27 -, constitutes a new step on the path of reformulation of the use of broadcast technology that 3Cat has been undertaking throughout its history. For Natalia Prats, the project demonstrates how technology can help reformulate large coverages such as those of the Copa América “without the need for move a mobile unit or having to move and install a large infrastructure at the destination”.

A report by Sergio Julián Gómez