In Broadcast - February 2016 - 32


32

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 6 - Issue 2 | February 2016

InStudio

Belgian Broadcaster's
Backup Crescendo
Belgium French-language public broadcaster RTBF TV has installed a Salzbrenner Stagetec
Mediagroup Crescendo console...

R

TBF TV recently acquired a
24-fader Crescendo console from
Mediagroup's distributor to serve as a
backup for the main Aurus console.
Just in case the main Aurus console
in the Régie 24 control room breaks
down, which as Ludovic Trésinie,
the Engineer of RTBF TV's Audio
Department in Brussels, is quick to
point out "has never happened".
Mounted onto a custom-designed
cart, the desk usually sits behind the
main Aurus console in the control
room, but can be wheeled in front
of it and fired up within minutes.
Both Trésinie and his colleague,
Fabien Battesti, the Laboratory and
Applications Engineer, are experienced
users of Mediagroup technology,
with sufficient in-depth knowledge to
program Nexus Logic routines on the
fly for upcoming shows.
They were also the instigators of, and
main contributors to, a nifty 19-inch
audio monitoring device by the name
of Stage Tec SAM16.
Initial plans for the backup console
included
mid-segment
solutions
with MADI support, which had to be
discarded for lack of channels. "MADI
only supports up to 64 channels,
while we usually use in excess of 100
and need access to all 4096 channels
available on the network," Battesti
explains.
In addition, RTBF TV's operations
have come to rely so heavily on the

Crescendo console with its custom cart

Nexus network approach that there
simply was no alternative to a Stage
Tec desk, which the broadcaster
has now acquired from Salzbrenner
Stagetec Vertrieb Professioneller
Audiotechnik,
the
Mediagroup's
distributor.
Roughly half the size of the main
Aurus console, with 24 channels
rather than the Aurus's 48, the new
Crescendo nevertheless supports the
exact same feature set as the main
desk.
Even though the main Aurus desk
has never once failed RTBF TV, should
the Aurus crash, the Crescendo can
be wheeled in front of the Aurus (to
take advantage of the control room's
existing monitoring system), tilted to
its horizontal position on its customdesigned cart, connected to an RJ45
socket on a CMC card and used for the
work at hand.
The required project settings are
conveniently loaded from an SD card.
Trésinie and Battesti configured a
GPI switch that triggers a Nexus Logic
routine which changes all required
patch connections in a snip, allowing
the Crescendo desk to take full control.
Smooth Switching
The idea for this switching routine
was born out of necessity: the Régie 24
control room serves three sets/studios
and operates about 17 hours a day.
In some cases, all three sets are used
simultaneously, in which case the RTBF
TV engineers connect the required
number of Aurus or Auratus equipped
OB trucks to the Nexus network via
MADI.
This multi-set approach requires
changes to the software-based
patch configuration, "which our
audio engineers should not perform
themselves." Hence the idea to
program Nexus Logic routines to make
patch changes as convenient as flicking
a GPI switch.
All programming was performed
in-house, by Trésinie and Battesti.
Both are so familiar with the system
that they have come to install system
updates themselves, with a service

contact merely on call in case the
update procedure unexpectedly stalls.
This doesn't mean that RTBF TV
never contacts the service department.
Major updates require expert tweaks
to existing Projects, but these can be
performed via email: "We hand in our
Project files, the customer service
passes them through a proprietary
data monger and sends the new
versions back," Battesti explains.
Both
engineers
furthermore
appreciate the swift response time of
the service department. In the event
of a defective card, for instance, the
manufacturer immediately couriers
a spare card "no questions asked",
while RTBF TV sends in the faulty card.
Once that card is repaired, the swap is
performed in reverse. Thanks to this
much-appreciated service, downtimes
of certain functionalities hardly ever
exceed 24-hours.
Actively Contributing
RTBF TV was also instrumental in
the development of the IP-connected
Stage Tec SAM16 programmable audio
monitoring unit, which is used to select
stereo or 5.1 sources for the audio
monitors and to set listening levels.
Incoming sources can be freely
assigned to the keys and selected
instantly. Trésinie and Battesti are
closely involved in the SAM16 project
and have access to the entire software
code, which allows them to configure
the system as they see fit. In return,
they email their ideas and findings
back to the factory for further tweaks
to the official software.

Fabien Battesti and Ludovic Trésinie
behind the main Aurus and the
backup Crescendo consoles
(Pictures: Copyright RTBF)

Dovetailing Equipment
RTBF TV uses an awe-inspiring
setup...
Régie 24 & Three Studios: one Star
Router and ten Nexus base devices
to which the Aurus (and Crescendo,
via a CMC card) as well as seven
SAM16 audio monitoring keypads are
connected;
Multicast Centre: one Nexus
network comprising five base devices
(two of which are Star Routers) for
four Crescendo consoles; plus one
monitoring network with two base
devices equipped with Dolby E decoder
cards;
Network Operations Centre: Skyline
Dataminer-controlled Nexus network
used to switch inbound and outbound
signals.
Sound Heart
The Aurus console at the Régie 24
control room was originally installed
in 2005 and became the heart of Régie
24 about four years ago.
Thanks to simple maintenance
routines, it is likely to go on working
for at least another decade. So why
invest in a spare console?
"Because you never know. And
because we may use it occasionally to
free up one OB truck when times get
hectic.
"One thing is for sure - we like to
leverage the full potential of the
Nexus-based system," says Trésinie.
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.stagetec.com/en/audio-mixing-consoles/aurus.html http://www.stagetec.com/en/audio-mixing-consoles/crescendo.html
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