Product Spotlight: NewTek Tricaster

Today, video is becoming more and more important to marketing and distributing our messages. Even if you believe social media is the flavour of the day, the most successful social media campaigns now include a video component.

As a consultant, I am charged with finding the right solution to produce effective video messages in a cost-effective yet professional manner for a wide variety of clients. While one size does not fit all, the NewTek Tricaster professional line of products does offer a scalable solution at high quality with a low cost and a quick learning curve, even for those with little video experience.

Live video studios of old used to involve a room full of equipment and some expensive professional operators. Thanks to advancements in technology and software focused on a creative workflow, there are now many options for content-focused productions. While the Tricaster family is not the only product catering to these needs, I am spotlighting it here because of its robust feature set and easy, intuitive workflow.

NewTek is the creator of LightWave animation software as well as the 3Play instant replay system and a once-clumsy video switcher known as the Video Toaster. In a great feat of both hardware and software engineering, NewTek turned their attention to combining all of their products into one great product known as the Tricaster family.

To boil it all down, let's explain a common production example. The CEO of your company wants to do an announcement to all of the offices in your company at the same time and take live questions in the process. You have two options. One, hire a professional live studio and crew at the cost of several thousands per hour. Two, get a Tricaster, a few technically inclined colleagues and produce it yourself.

You get a Tricaster, some pro-sumer or professional cameras and a green screen cloth. A professional trainer teaches you everything you need to know. The CEO sits in a chair in front of the green screen and you press record. Here is what the Tricaster is doing, with your assistance of course:

• Taking in between 4 and 8 different camera angles.
• Inserting a virtual set, including a virtual desk and TV monitor, making the boss look like he is sitting in an expensive studio even though he is probably still in his office.
• Inserting graphics with his name and important points of his speech, plus intro and ending videos that were pre-recorded.
• Taking in the PowerPoint presentation live, directly from his computer over your internal network.
• Taking in the microphone pinned to the CEO's shirt.
• Streaming the finished product to the streaming service of our choice for delivery around the world.
• Recording the finished product for posting on-demand for those who were absent during the live webcast.
• Grabbing still pictures throughout the broadcast for the marketing department to post later.

All of this is happening in real time, on the same production appliance, on location, with no post-production or special "film school" skills required.

Do you see the usage in other industries and applications as well? In business, teleconferencing and training is so much easier. In schools, technology teachers can start school news broadcasts school-wide, positively impacting instruction in journalism and media production at every level. Distance learning can be equipped in all classrooms at high quality. Long-term, high-quality lecture capture and archiving becomes a reality of the present, not a dream of the future.

Community media centres are adopting Tricasters because they offer industry-standard technology with an easy learning curve for volunteers. Imagine a production technology that can be taught to a member of the public in two four-hour classes. How is this possible? All because of a user interface designed to make professional-quality media production available to everyone.

Government agencies use the technology to get up-to-the-minute messages mass-distributed to wide audiences. We are still seeing new and inventive uses of media production technology that is both nimble and efficient. Imagine live weather and travel reports produced at the airport for airport customers, or government meetings and event coverage that engage people rather than put them to sleep.

The Tricaster line

Tricaster has created many models to meet all connection needs and scalability requirements. I recommend working with a consultant to make sure a specific model will meet all of your needs.

• Tricaster 40: NewTek's entry-level model, allowing 4 cameras at component HD and component or composite HD or SD resolutions. Best for organisations still bridging the divide between HD and SD workflows.
• Tricaster Mini: takes 4 HDMI HD cameras, both professional and pro-sumer. The compact form factor is ideal for mobile production as well as semi-permanent corporate environments. A good starting point if you want to save on equipment.
• Tricaster 410: designed for a 4-input all HD-SDI or SD-SDI workflow, where cameras have SDI outputs and the receiving paths are all SDI.
• Tricaster 460 and 860: among the most popular models, taking in four and eight inputs respectively of mixed formats, handling SDI, component or composite connections in a variety of resolutions.
• Tricaster 8000: highly configurable, offering the flexibility the professional video industry seeks, accepting all industry-standard connections at all resolutions with a highly customisable workflow.

The best part is that all of these models run on the same software with the same user interface. Learn the software once and use the same knowledge to scale to a larger or smaller Tricaster.

If this has piqued your interest, feel free to reach out to us at Ore Technologies to put together a package that is right for your needs. If you are not sure about the Tricaster specifically but know you want to add a video component, let's talk more generally about your project. One size does not fit all, and there are other products in the sea.