Manufacturer quantel has unveiled a remote production workflow system that allows broadcasters to edit a live event happening on the other side of the world from their own broadcast centre, writes Sam Espensen and Will Strauss.

Manufacturer quantel has unveiled a remote production workflow system that allows broadcasters to edit a live event happening on the other side of the world from their own broadcast centre, writes Sam Espensen and Will Strauss.

Split Remote, which allows broadcasters to deploy fewer staff on site and requires less space at a remote venue where a live news, sport or music event is taking place, is based on the concept of twinned servers.

A Quantel sQServer is installed at the event venue accepting the raw camera feeds. A matching sQServer is in place at the broadcaster's headquarters. As the event-side sQServer records live footage at full broadcast quality (30 Mb/s), it simultaneously encodes and records a low-res browse copy (1.5Mb/s).

The browse copies are transmitted to the headquarters sQServer via satellite, where they are edited by HQ creative staff. An EDL is then sent back to the event-side sQServer, which sends the selected clips back to headquarters at full broadcast resolution, slashing transmission costs. As soon as these are received in the headquarters sQServer, they are automatically conformed against the EDL and are ready for broadcast or further refining on connected QEdit Pro workstations.

Quantel business manager Trevor Francis, who heads the news and sports division, said: "The economics of Split Remote are as attractive for two-week events as they are for smaller events. Split Remote has the potential to drastically change remote live production."

The system, launched at last week's IBC in Amsterdam, was inspired by a CBC/Radio-Canada development.