Switchers and tally

NewTek TriCaster

Planned

Planned: TriCaster on-air status reaches the camerawork through a standard tally feed.

A TriCaster room usually already carries tally to the things that need it, and prepared camerawork needs the same bit of truth. This is planned work and it is not built yet. What it will do: take on-air status from the standard tally feed the room already publishes, hold a camera that is live, and let the cameras that are clear prepare for what comes next. The production keeps its own video path from end to end.

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How it connects

Planned: the software would read the room's existing tally feed on the network. Camera pictures would keep going straight into the TriCaster.

What it does

When this path is built, the software reads on-air status from the tally feed your TriCaster room already publishes, with nothing new added to the switcher.
When this path is built, a camera that is live holds still, and a cue that would move it waits until the cut has moved on.
When this path is built, cameras that are clear of the cut can prepare for the next moment, so the director cuts to a shot that has settled.
The design keeps the production's video path from end to end: camera pictures would keep going straight into the TriCaster.

What it does not do

It does not run today. This is planned work, and no TriCaster status reaches the camerawork in a shipping release yet.
It will not switch the show or take a source away from the director. The TriCaster keeps deciding what is on air.
It will not add a device between your cameras and the switcher. The software reads status and moves heads; it carries no video.

Setting it up

Check your cameras first

Run the setup check on the cameras the TriCaster switches. The software measures each one and tells you plainly whether it can fly it.

Compose and cue the camerawork now

Draw the shots and the flights your production uses, and cue them from the software. A flight is an authored camera move, with a planned route, framing and pace from departure through landing.

Describe your tally feed

Tell us how your room carries tally today and which switcher inputs each camera lands on. That is what the planned path would read.

Watch this page for the outcome

When the path is built and proven in a working room, this page changes its status and states what it does, in the same plain terms.

Questions

Does the software read TriCaster tally today?

No. The TriCaster path is planned and it does not run today. Today your production team decides when a camera moves, and the software moves it when asked.

Why read tally at all?

Tally says which camera the room is watching. With it, prepared camerawork can hold a live camera still and prepare the others. Without it, a person keeps that rule by hand, as a camera operator always has.

Would anything change inside our TriCaster?

The plan is no. The software would read the tally feed your room already publishes, and camera pictures would keep going straight into the switcher. The software never joins the video path.

Is there a switcher that works with tally awareness now?

Yes. Tally awareness runs today with a Blackmagic ATEM. TriCaster, vMix, OBS, Ross and NDI tally are planned, and each integration page states its own status.

Where it comes up

Broadcast