![](//www.4rfv.com/images/no_image.jpg)
Building robots, programming them and then competing in tournaments could education be more fun? VEX Robotics is all about creating tools for today's educators, mentors and parents to inspire tomorrow's problem solvers. With over 1,000,000 students in more than 50 countries actively using the VEX Robotics platform, it truly is a global movement in STEM education. STEM education is the learning of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in an interdisciplinary or integrated approach; robotics addresses all of this in the most engaging way possible. BirdDog Studio NDI was recently used exclusively as the video capture and distribution hardware at the VEXRobotics Australian Nationals, using the power and flexibility of its NDI products to bring the production to life.
As a computer science teacher at Barker College in Australia, Lael Grant has been involved with teaching Robotics for the past four years and producing VEX Robotics events for the last two. For the Australian VEX Nationals, Lael was tasked with creating a compelling live production the team needed to create a high-quality livestream, plus an engaging in-venue experience, all within a reasonably tight budget. We started investing in live production equipment two years ago and considered the option of traditional SDI workflows, Lael explains, but quickly realised it couldn't provide the flexibility or the power that a full NDI-based solution offers. This is why we turned to BirdDog and its NDI tools.
The VEX Nationals required six robot fields that all needed to be live streamed, on-stage presentations to be live streamed, plus delivery of all live content via two projectors to large screens in-venue. Traditionally, the level of production required for this kind of event would be the domain of OB trucks and specialist production teams. However, BirdDog hardware enabled the entire production for a fraction of the cost and complexity.
BirdDog's Studio NDI has provided us with enormous flexibility, Lael continues. When running productions at Barker, we can leverage the College's existing IT network, with the ability to run cameras, production and real-time display in different areas of the College very easily. When producing on-location, it's simple and easy to lay out a few switches with inexpensive and robust ethernet cable for even the largest of productions.
Kids love seeing themselves and their robots live on the big screen, adds Lael. It takes a fun activity and turns it into a sporting event, ramping up the motivation and engagement students get from robotics. By creating a high-quality event, we reflect back to them that the endeavour they are engaged in is valuable and important. When students talk about Nationals with their friends and families with excitement and passion, motivated about their learning, we know we've achieved our goal.
BirdDog Studio NDI provided great flexibility for the entire production by both encoding and decoding NDI streams. In total, there were eight cameras attached to BirdDog Studio NDI, to encode into the revolutionary NDI format created by NewTek, which then fed into two computers running vMix production software. vMix allowed all the switching between camera sources, graphic overlays and live streaming to the web.
The two projectors were driven from the output of one of the vMix machines via NDI over Ethernet, to the BirdDog Studio NDI, which decoded the NDI stream and delivered content to the projectors for the large in-venue screens. The whole set up performed flawlessly for the entire weekend. Every BirdDog unit was left on for the entire production, with rock-solid stability for the entire event, concludes Lael. We couldn't be more happy with how the event ran. The BirdDog Studio NDI has revolutionised and simplified our workflows no end.
The BirdDog Studio NDI also has a large and customisable tally display, which made setting up all the camera feeds very simple. The LED displays were assigned to have their IDs on their display, making for easy identification when adding to vMix or when locating the IP for each unit using the client list on the controller software. In addition to this, each BirdDog Studio NDI was attached to the tripod with tally pointed at the associated vMix operator. The tally lights provided a sanity check and confidence to the operators that they were selecting the correct field, since all three fields looked virtually the same on the camera feed.
Events such as these VEX Robotics Nationals truly highlight that the future of live video production is IP based BirdDog is at the forefront of that movement.
For further information, please visit www.bird-dog.tv.
Most recent headlines
07/09/2024
The official kickoff to the college football season provided another reminder of how football can boost audiences across all platforms, with ESPN and ABC report...
07/09/2024
CAMBRIDGE, U.K. Adder Technology, a provider of connectivity solutions and high performance IP KVM technologies, has announced a new addition to its KVM matrix ...
07/09/2024
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) has promoted Sean Franklin to vice president and general manager for WLEX, the Scripps-owned NBC affiliate in ...
07/09/2024
AMSTERDAM Cobalt Digital has announced that during the IBC Show it will be sharpening its focus on IP-based solutions by adding a scalable software-based multiv...
07/09/2024
The IBC Talent Programme will look at how the industry can collaborate to foster new talent, make training more accessible, and develop common standards for div...
07/09/2024
The non-profit association aims to reduce risks and support trust in media, in the face of increasing threat levels
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: September ...
07/09/2024
Cerberus Tech, a leader in cloud-native IP contribution and distribution, today announced a series of updates that combine to increase user control in working w...
07/09/2024
Interra Systems, a leading provider of end-to-end quality assurance solutions to the digital media industry, today announced a strategic partnership with Videli...
07/09/2024
oMoVo, an innovator in AI-driven digital asset management (DAM), is launching ioPilot, a new feature in its game-changing DAM platform. Designed to streamline c...
07/09/2024
Creativepool Annual 2024: The Most Awards Launched at Sinfonia Smith Square
Brie Clayton September 7, 2024
0 Comments
The creative industry's mo...
07/09/2024
Meredith Veloz has been named news director at WRMD Tampa, part of NBC Universal Local's Telemundo Station Group. She starts in early October and will repor...
06/09/2024
By Jessica Herndon
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Fes...
06/09/2024
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 22: (L-R) Eugene Grygo, Phoebe Hoffman, Lana Wilson, Michael Kim, and Nikenya Hall attend the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Look Into M...
06/09/2024
The highly anticipated opus from director Quentin Tarantino doesn't disappoint. It's a typically outrageous conglomeration of comedy and shock laced wit...
06/09/2024
Cinema, the most voyeuristic of mediums, is uniquely placed to convey both the act of surveillance and the psychology of the surveilled. In Seberg, director Ben...
06/09/2024
In February 2019, director J.J. Abrams called Cut! for the last time during principal photography of the ninth chapter of the long-running Star Wars saga. Sta...
06/09/2024
In a cinematic universe expanding with superheroes, the creative challenge for filmmakers is to set newcomers apart from the crowd. The task is doubly important...
06/09/2024
Having photographed episodes of the Showtime horror drama Penny Dreadful's second and third seasons, John Conroy, ISC was eager to reteam with showrunner Jo...
06/09/2024
The psychological thriller Homecoming returns for its sophomore season with fresh twists, nail-biting cliff-hangers, and more of the unnerving cinematography th...
06/09/2024
Based on the series of novels by Eoin Colfer, the feature Artemis Fowl finds its namesake a precocious, hyperintelligent 12-year-old boy (played by Ferdia Sha...
06/09/2024
Vincent lives in Los Angeles, Anthony in New York City. They met on a dating app and have been talking for months, but the physical distance between them has ke...
06/09/2024
What are we going to talk about today? cinematographer Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC asks almost immediately after answering his phone. It's late July when Pana...
06/09/2024
The recent features and bear a number of similarities. Chief among them: Both were shot by cinematographer Hillary Spera. Each story also exists in the realm of...
06/09/2024
Angeliena follows the adventures and self-discovery of its namesake heroine (played by Euodia Samson), a lovable parking attendant who harbors dreams of traveli...
06/09/2024
Pair a British-born songwriter-director who's collaborated with musicians like Jay-Z with a Romanian cinematographer known for shooting intense dramas, and ...
06/09/2024
It was June 2019 when director Baz Luhrmann first approached cinematographer Mandy Walker, ACS, ASC about collaborating on the new biopic Elvis. I was extremel...
06/09/2024
Based on the best-selling mystery novel of the same name, the feature Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a young woman who grew...
06/09/2024
Johannesburg, 05 September 2024 - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF),...
06/09/2024
Video over IP, in the sense that's used in film and television, sometimes feels like a newer idea than it really is. That might be because the high-end, unc...
06/09/2024
The ability of NFL football to attract large audiences in an era of declining viewing for linear TV was on full display in the NFL seasons opener, with an avera...
06/09/2024
MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron has beefed up its team in EMEA and APAC with the addition of three new positions intended to enhance its growth and better serve customers...
06/09/2024
NEW YORK FutureB2B, a world-leading provider of business intelligence and networking services, is proud to announce the appointment of Joe Palombo as the publis...
06/09/2024
Adventurer A/V, a leading Taiwanese broadcast production company and equipment rental service provider based in Taipei City, has invested in latest-generation U...
06/09/2024
At IBC 2024, Hall 1 B33, leading video software provider, Synamedia, will unveil a raft of new video network solutions as it solidifies its position as a key te...
06/09/2024
LiveU today launched its Lightweight Sports Production solution making fully featured, professional live sports production accessible and affordable for every e...
06/09/2024
Osprey Video
IBC2024 Show Preview
Sept. 13-16
Various Partner Stands
At IBC2024, Osprey Video's encoding/decoding technology will be on display at sever...
06/09/2024
GB Labs, the leader in intelligent, centralized media storage, today announced the launch of NebulaNAS, a transformative new cloud storage solution developed fr...
06/09/2024
Suitest, provider of test automation for OTT applications, today announced the full availability of image- and object-based test automation capabilities in a si...
06/09/2024
France 3 Nouvelle Aquitaine (.3NoA) is a 100% regional channel that aims to promote culture and creativity at regional level.
At the beginning of 2024, the cha...
06/09/2024
At IBC 2024, Camera control specialists Videosys Broadcast will be announcing a new bidirectional radio camera system that will simplify wireless workflows, as ...
06/09/2024
Magnifi by VideoVerse, an AI-driven video technology company and powerful video-editing SaaS platform, has announced a partnership with Storyteller,a leading Sa...
06/09/2024
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices and services, is proud to announce its selection as the official vendor for the HbbTV ...
06/09/2024
LTN and Skyline Communications announce a new collaboration to drive enhanced broadcast monitoring and control for Tier 1 media, sports, entertainment, and tech...
06/09/2024
IBC2024 today announces the line-up of speakers and sessions for the first-ever dedicated IBC Talent Programme, taking place on Monday 16 September in the Showc...
06/09/2024
Kiloview, a leading provider of IP-based video transmission solutions, is set to make a significant impact at IBC 2024 with the unveiling of three groundbreakin...
06/09/2024
The newly combined entity of Fabric and Xytech Systems, currently known as Fabric x Xytech, is pleased to announce the appointment of Kira Baca as Chief Revenue...
06/09/2024
Student Spotlight: Mateo Londo o The producer talks about leaving Berklee to grieve the passing of a close friend and fellow student and then returning to fin...
06/09/2024
More rough news for grownups in traditional media. According to a new study from Precise TV, teens prefer the ads on YouTube and are turning to Netflix and YouT...
06/09/2024
A data-driven campaign created by Samsung Ads and Davis Elen Advertising for the...
06/09/2024
Glen Dacy has been named VP of news content and streaming at WFLD-WPWR Chicago, starting September 9. He most recently worked with the CBS Network News Special ...