This is an archive page, kept for reference. The current product is ivsEdit OnAir.
Overview
ivsOnAir was a playout solution for producing infochannel-style television programmes, adaptable to many needs: TV news, live sports, elections, video portals and advanced live titling; with the ivsVideoJUKEBOX option it could also broadcast video on demand and interactive games. It was designed around the real needs of television broadcasters, who collaborated with IVS on the project.
A single system combined an advanced video server and an infochannel: 4 video sources, live or from hard disk (LAN and SAN fully supported), could be scaled, rotated and positioned through three high-quality 3D DVEs.
Twelve independent graphic layers handle two tickers (two independent crawl rows with their own colour, size, font, speed, direction, transparency and shadow), a customisable real-time clock (date, day, year, hh:mm:ss) and nine further layers for news, station branding, sponsors, decorative elements, logos, etc.
All graphics and video can range from YUV 4:2:0 to RGB 4:4:4:4, compressed or uncompressed, with independent resolution from SD to 2K.
Live, dynamic playlists
All playable elements, organised in 13 playlists and 3 panels, are fully dynamic: during the live broadcast, remotely from clients or locally from the main interface, you can add, remove and edit items, change playlist order and trim the IN/OUT points of news, clips and graphics. Colour, size, shadow, transparency and position of crawls and static text can be changed live, as well as crawl speed and direction.
Some presets were bundled, and with the built-in tools (DVEs, graphic layers, etc.) users could easily create their own. News and playlists can be updated locally or remotely through unlimited clients or automatic recognition of .xml and .txt files. For interactive programmes ivsOnAir could handle SMS messages from mobile phones, both to show them on air and to drive playlists (video jukebox, live polls, etc.). It could also be integrated with third-party software to add custom features.
Playlists
- 3 audio/video clip playlists, SD to 2K, compressed and uncompressed
- 2 crawl playlists
- 1 clock/timer generator
- 5 title/news playlists
- 3 graphics/logo playlists (24 or 32-bit TGA/TIFF files)
- 1 fixed 720x576 32-bit graphic
Clients and options
ivsNewsAutoUpdater. Imports news from XML or TXT files received via FTP, LAN or internet from news agencies or in-house journalists. News is filtered by category (sports, economics, etc.) so that each category can be assigned to a screen zone; once imported, news can be edited, added or deleted without affecting the live playback.
ivsOnAir Automation. Schedules all video and graphic playlists to meet the requirements of a broadcast network, also interfacing an SQL database.
ivsVideoJUKEBOX. Changes or adds audio/video clips in playlists in response to viewers' SMS messages, emulating a jukebox.
ivsSportsManager. Creates presets and updates results and standings from Microsoft Excel (.xls) or Access (.mdb) files: when results are updated the standings are recalculated automatically and all graphics are ready to go on air in less than a tenth of a second.
ivsSMSManager. Displays SMS messages sent from anywhere without retyping, letting the operator filter, edit or delete them. SMS can be used for paid televoting, and the public vote results can be updated automatically with text, pictures and video.
Collaborative workflow. ivsOnAir included unlimited licences of ivsNewsEditor, a stand-alone news text editor that lets a team prepare news for the same project.
Technical specifications
- Video inputs: selectable live inputs SDI, DV, YUV component, Y/C and composite; more live inputs could be added with Quattrus hardware such as the Q2D-5010
- Video outputs: two independent output channels, simultaneously available as SDI, YUV component, Y/C and composite; the two channels can carry fill and key, or two different playouts with separate or shared playlists
- Video standards: PAL and NTSC, HD and 2K
- Audio I/O: balanced and unbalanced analogue, S/PDIF, AES/EBU, SDI embedded; the bundled ivsAudioDelay adjusts audio delay
- Audio/video switchers: support for many Kramer and Leitch routers
- Languages: English and Italian, with quick translation into any language and any font
Availability
ivsOnAir was supplied as a turnkey system with Blackmagic Design hardware, configured according to the number of inputs and outputs. A demo version was available as a free download: fully working, with watermark and without saving.