{"id":621,"date":"2019-11-18T09:54:59","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T07:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/?p=621"},"modified":"2019-11-18T09:54:59","modified_gmt":"2019-11-18T07:54:59","slug":"wired-for-success-a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-protea-electronics-in-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.protea.co.za\/divisions\/broadcast\/articles\/wired-for-success-a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-protea-electronics-in-operation\/","title":{"rendered":"Wired for Success A behind-the-scenes look at Protea Electronics in operation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Protea Electronics\nhas been in the business of providing engineering solutions for more than 70\nyears. According to Shaun Kerr, the manager of Broadcast Sales at the Protea\nTechnology Group, the reason for this longevity can be attributed to a number\nof factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFirst\nand foremost, it\u2019s about making sure we are partnered with international\nleading brands, and \u2013 following on from this \u2013 it\u2019s about the relationships and\nthe partnerships we form with local suppliers and our customers. If we didn\u2019t\nhave these strong relationships, we couldn\u2019t have the longevity in the\nbusiness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kerr\nalso talks about the \u201cimportance of listening to the customer\u2019s wants and\nneeds, while at the same time being able to understand what the anticipated and\nexpected outcomes are.\u201d He points to Protea\u2019s ability to \u201cadapt to changing\ncircumstances in the context of changing technologies. We have a versatile,\nvertical structure to the business and it allows the company to adapt very\nquickly. On top of that, we have to be \u2013 and we are \u2013 a very financially\ndisciplined company, and this leads to financial strength. It all goes hand in\nhand with the goal of listening to customers, engaging with their needs and\ndelivering realistic outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The\ncompany had an opportunity to test these credentials recently, being contracted\nto rig up Urban Brew Studios\u2019 cutting-edge new studio spaces, an exciting\nproject that is leading the revitalisation of the former Brightwater Commons\nentertainment centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"500\" src=\"http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18_ADVERTORIAL_STUDIOS_Protea-studios_01.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"599\" data-link=\"http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/?attachment_id=599\" class=\"wp-image-599\" srcset=\"http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18_ADVERTORIAL_STUDIOS_Protea-studios_01.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18_ADVERTORIAL_STUDIOS_Protea-studios_01-980x490.jpg 980w, http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18_ADVERTORIAL_STUDIOS_Protea-studios_01-480x240.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1000px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"500\" src=\"http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18_ADVERTORIAL_STUDIOS_Protea-studios_04.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"600\" data-link=\"http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/?attachment_id=600\" class=\"wp-image-600\" srcset=\"http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18_ADVERTORIAL_STUDIOS_Protea-studios_04.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18_ADVERTORIAL_STUDIOS_Protea-studios_04-980x490.jpg 980w, http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18_ADVERTORIAL_STUDIOS_Protea-studios_04-480x240.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1000px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verona\nDuwarkah, the CEO of Urban Brew Studios, made it clear that they were looking\nfor a space that would \u201cequip the business as much for the future as for the\npresent. A space that would remove the ceiling for growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While\nthis might have been a challenging prospect in and of itself, the timelimes on\nthe project were extremely tight. Jacques Welthagen is a Pre and Post Sales\nconsultant at Protea, but acted as project manager on behalf of Protea and\nSystems Integration for the Urban Brew Turnkey Project. In his view, \u201cthe team\nperformed wonders in a very short space of time.\u201d The move, which included an\nextensive redevelopment aspect, kicked off in September 2017. As Welthagen puts\nit, \u201cWe had an immovable deadline: we had to go live on 1 April 2018 \u2013 and we\ndid it.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBy\nthe time we arrived at the new studio spaces, most of the building was up but\nit was still a construction site, so we were all in hard hats,\u201d recalls Kagiso\nMabe, who deals with Pre and Post Sales at Protea, including demoing kits and\nequipment, installation and training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In\nterms of the system\u2019s design and set up, Welthagen explains that \u201calthough we\nrepresent a wide range of products at Protea, we are pretty much agnostic to\nspecific models of equipment; that preference usually resides with the client.\nOur process is always the same: once we finalise the bill of materials, we\ncompile the final workflow and plug in the pieces to make it all work. It is so\nimportant in the role of Systems Integrator to be open-minded about solutions\nand not be forced into preconceived ideas and habits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As\npart of the strategy for making the new studios ready for tomorrow\u2019s markets,\nUrban Brew opted for fibre-optic over triaxial connectivity, one in a series of\nupgrades that saw them overhaul outmoded SD systems to achieve HD, 4K\ncapability. As Theunis du Toit, acting head of Facilities at Urban Brew, points\nout, the switch to fibre also allows for \u201ca modern, streamlined operations\nsystem, where studios are not physically linked to individual control rooms.\nYou get a much more fluid and efficient use of the space by being able to\nseamlessly link footage from one studio to a different control room using\nfibre.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"500\" src=\"http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-602\" srcset=\"http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18-980x490.jpg 980w, http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18-480x240.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1000px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From\na project manager\u2019s perspective, Welthagen notes that \u201cthe facility is rather\nexpansive and \u2013 because you need to manage large data streams over large\ndistances \u2013 fibre is ideal for the scale of economies within the studio.\u201d Mabe\nadds, \u201cWe catered for the future by focusing on the backbone of the studio, as\nmost equipment runs on fibre connectivity. So when it comes to broadcasting in\n4K \u2013 probably in the near future in South Africa \u2013 the studio will be ready,\ntheir infrastructure already allows them to achieve it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For\ntech junkies, Urban Brew\u2019s new studios feature a lot of products to be excited\nabout. Mabe explains that, \u201cAll the equipment we installed was familiar to us,\nso it was really just a matter of hooking up the component parts to satisfy the\nsystem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But\nthis system is certainly impressive \u2013 Welthagen describes it as a \u201cperfectly\nattuned orchestra, with each element contributing its own nuances to complement\nthe rest\u201d \u2013 and he provides us with a look under the hood. \u201cThe core is built\naround a Grass Valley Korona K-Frame V-series 2M\/E recording onto Grass Valley\nK2 Summit 3G Production Servers. The K2 Summit\u2019s 3G MPEG-2 Multicam option can\nrecord up to four video streams with K2-Dyno S Replay Controllers. The CGs\n(Character Generators) are Ross Xpressions and communication is from Clear-Com\nand Mirror Image Prompters.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On\nthe camera side of things, \u201cAcquisition is via new Grass Valley LDX-82 CMOS\nimager-based cameras and Focus-75 triax-based cameras, as well as some Legacy\nSony triax systems to convert the signal to fibre. HDX-PLUS and some Cobra\nunits convert all SMPTE fibre signals to dark fibre in the server room. When a\nstudio is not in record mode, it is not making money, and so we wired for 26\ncamera control units and XCUs, with more to be added soon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"500\" src=\"http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18_ADVERTORIAL_STUDIOS_Protea-studios_06.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-603\" srcset=\"http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18_ADVERTORIAL_STUDIOS_Protea-studios_06.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18_ADVERTORIAL_STUDIOS_Protea-studios_06-980x490.jpg 980w, http:\/\/suncirclegroup.com\/protea\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/22-23_SCAF-Sept18_ADVERTORIAL_STUDIOS_Protea-studios_06-480x240.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1000px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However,\nWelthagen is clear about what he considers the \u201cflagship of the new facility\u201d:\nits high-tech data centre. In his words, \u201cThis represents the culmination of\nthe traditional Master Control Room in broadcasting. All signals merge and are\ndistributed from the data centre; all mainframes and storage reside there.\nDuring Phase Two of the Urban Brew project, the Network Operations Centre will\nalso attach to the data centre to give a helicopter view of operations, as well\nas status reporting. Key to this will be iTX and iControl integration, with\nOOYALA displaying the dashboard on Grass Valley Kaleido multiviewers. This will\ngive a real-time snapshot of the whole facility, as well indicating faults via\nKaleido\u2019s Penalty Box feature. This is a powerful, rules-driven engine designed\nto flag errors and events that require operator or engineer intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From\nUrban Brew\u2019s perspective, du Toit describes the new facility as \u201cour piece of\ngold. Because everything is fibre-based, all our footage is fed directly into\nthe servers in the data centre. From there, it goes straight to the adjacent\nISP room where we have two transmission lines, which gives us good redundancy,\nand a failsafe in the event of one going down unexpectedly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reflecting\non the project, Kerr admits it was \u201cchallenging in terms of the timelimes and\nthe deadlines, but also because changing technologies require change\nmanagement; there is a human element to them. So in the end it was a great\nproject, because we were able to install this international-standard studio\ninfrastructure, and the success of the venture depended on the excellent\nworking relationship we formed with Urban Brew Studios. We look forward to a\nlong future partnership with the group.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Protea Electronics has been in the business of providing engineering solutions for more than 70 years. According to Shaun Kerr, the manager of Broadcast Sales at the Protea Technology Group, the reason for this longevity can be attributed to a number of factors. \u201cFirst and foremost, it\u2019s about making sure we are partnered with international [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-projects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.protea.co.za\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.protea.co.za\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.protea.co.za\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.protea.co.za\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.protea.co.za\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.protea.co.za\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":622,"href":"https:\/\/www.protea.co.za\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621\/revisions\/622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.protea.co.za\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.protea.co.za\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.protea.co.za\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.protea.co.za\/divisions\/broadcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}