Switchers and tally

Ross Video

Planned

Planned: Ross production systems publish on-air status the camerawork can respect.

Ross production systems sit in rooms where the rules about moving a live camera are not negotiable, and prepared camerawork has to answer to those rules rather than ask for an exception. This is planned work and it is not built yet. What it will do: read on-air status from the tally feed the facility already publishes, hold a live camera, and stage the cameras that are clear. The facility signal-flow drawing does not change, because the software is not in the picture path.

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How it connects

Planned: the software would read the facility tally feed over the data network. Camera video would keep its existing route through the plant.

What it does

When this path is built, the software reads on-air status from the tally feed your facility already publishes, without a new box in the plant.
When this path is built, a live camera 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 be staged for the next moment, so the director cuts to a settled shot.
The design leaves the facility signal-flow drawing as it is, because the software stays out of the picture path.

What it does not do

It does not run today. This is planned work, and no Ross tally reaches the camerawork in a shipping release yet.
It will not ask for an exception to the facility's rules about live cameras. It answers to them, holding a camera the switcher has on air.
It will not route, switch or process video. Camera pictures keep their existing route through the plant.

Setting it up

Check your cameras first

Run the setup check on the robotic heads you want to drive. The software measures each one and says plainly whether it can fly it, and names the reason if not.

Compose and cue camerawork now

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

Tell us how tally leaves your switcher

Describe the tally feed your facility publishes and which switcher sources carry which cameras. That is what the planned path would read.

Watch this page for the outcome

When the path is built and proven, this page changes its status and says exactly what it does in your control room.

Questions

Does the software read Ross tally today?

No. The Ross 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, which is the rule a camera operator already works to.

Will this change our facility engineering?

The plan is no. The software would read the tally feed the facility already publishes over the data network. Camera video keeps its existing route, and the software never joins the picture path.

What happens to a cue for a camera that is on air?

When the path is built, the cue waits. The camera holds still while it is live and moves the moment it is clear. Until then, the person cueing the camerawork keeps that rule.

Is any switcher path running today?

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

Where it comes up

Broadcast