Blackmagic Design recently announced that its infrastructure products for switching,
routing and monitoring are being used as the backbone for a shipwide AV solution,
which includes a state-of-art broadcast gallery for content production.

The installations aboard AIDA Cruises’ two newest ships feature the ATEM 2 M/E
Production Studio 4K and ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Panel for vision mixing, Teranex
Express for standards and frame conversion, as well as multiple Universal Videohub
288 routers to handle ship-wide signal management.

Each day the onboard content teams produce and broadcast a host of daily
programming, including live shows, cruise itineraries and event schedules, to
television screens throughout both ships’ 1,643 cabins and many public areas, as well
as to a multipurpose, three-tier Theaterium which features a giant moveable LED
stage backdrop.

As well as receiving signals from three PTZ cameras in the Theatrum, the gallery is
also connected to a smaller onboard television studio and 55 optical fibre connection
points. Located throughout the ship’s public decks, these afford the production team
total flexibility when filming.

The heart of each broadcast gallery is an ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K and
accompanying broadcast panel where a live programme is vision mixed and fed
through to the ship’s playout system. As the cruises also feature guest performers,
many of whom bring their own videos for use during live shows, the Teranex Express
helps to standardise all show material to 1080i50 regardless of its source.

“When the ships are out at sea, the last thing you want is for a performer’s videos to
be incompatible with our systems. The Teranex affords us total adaptability and
guarantees that the show goes on, no matter what the production team is presented
with,’ explains Steffen Bachmann.

A pair of Universal Videohub 288 routers handles shipwide routing of audio and video
signals, relying on a custom-built control app designed by AIDA using the Videohub’s
SDK. Not only does it provide an interactive map of all connected fibre points and
displays on the ship, but it can also be operated remotely by the central AIDA
technical team in Hamburg, should the need arise.

“When specifying the systems it quickly became apparent that a solution built around
Blackmagic Design would provide us with all of the flexibility we’d need to handle live
production, transmission, digital signage and post-production,’ concludes Steffen.
“Not only has the solution proven robust and reliable, but we also found the
equipment very straightforward to use, giving us a setup that would rival that of any
broadcaster.’

Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital
film cameras, colour correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live
production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners
for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic
Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in
post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci colour
correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984.
Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-
SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading
post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK,
Japan, Singapore and Australia.