NewTek is good at . . . making video switchers

Dec. 17th, 2011: NewTek currently enjoys a well-deserved monopoly on the Studio-in-a-box market with their TriCaster family. For the money, given their capabilities and versatility, the NewTek TriCaster is second to none. No other competing product provides live video switching with multiple video sources, the ability to playback long-form video clips, work with external computer feeds, display titles and full-screen graphics with multiple DSK channels, provide extremely clean chroma-keying and virtual sets, etc. while simultaneously outputting the live program (or switch) as multiple analog and digital video and audio outputs including HDMI, record the live switch to hard drive and stream ALL at the same time. In one box. That is portable. And affordable.

The current TriCaster family includes one standard-def and five high-def models. All of the hi-def models work with both standard-def and hi-def video sources. In the past, additional standard-def models were available but have been dropped as the hi-def models were released.

I recently spent a few hours at a small local church teaching (for pay) their volunteer staff how to use their older NewTek VT[4] system. I had originally built the system for a larger church that moved away but sold the VT[4] system to the smaller church. . . . Given the demise of the NewTek VT[5] at the end of last year, I hadn't worked with a NewTek VT system in almost a year, much less an older VT[4] system, but fortunately was able to remember how to work with a VT[4] and answer all of the questions presented to me during the two-hour training session.

What totally impressed me was just how powerful the older VT[4] system was . . . and, with a few (relatively) unimportant exceptions, just how much better the current TriCaster models are compared to the older VT systems I used to build and sell. If memory serves me correctly, the VT[4] was released on October 2004 and the VT[5] followed a little over a year later. Again, if memory serves me correctly, the original three-input TriCaster, eventually know as the TriCaster 100, was released after the VT[4] and before the VT[5].

Both the VT[4] and the TriCaster 100 were excellent video switchers that allowed one DSK or overlay channel at a time and recorded the live-switch to hard drive while outputting to a projector or large monitor plus streaming to the internet. The VT[4] (and previous VT 2, 3 and subsequent VT[5]) were kit-built systems instead of turnkey systems, meaning that the end-user or dealer built a Windows host-PC and then installed the NewTek VT hardware and software into the PC and created a live video switching system with graphics creation, non-linear editing, 3D animation and other capabilities.

The TriCasters were (and are) custom-built units from NewTek, and didn't allow for any variations on the speed of the CPU, video card choice, the amount of memory or the number and sizes and hard drives used to complete the system with. Budget allowing, with a VT system you could build the host-PC with the fastest processor or processors available, killer graphics card, stuff it full of RAM and lots of fast hard drives and build a killer non-linear editing and LightWave 3D animation system as well as perform less resource-intensive live switching. While the TriCaster series has always included non-linear editing software starting with the original TriCaster 100 (but never any 3D animation software), the TriCaster was never really intended to be a high-end non-linear editing and animation workstation. If you really needed that, you could purchase a standalone copy of NewTek's SpeedEDIT editing and LightWave 3D software and install them both on a standalone computer built to your specifications.

Other advantages of the VT over the early TriCasters were the fully-featured proc amps that provided a wealth of advanced tools for tweaking the live video input from cameras and other video sources AND the ability to run multiple functions at the same time . . . switcher, CG and the non-linear editor software at the same time, and use those same functions at the same time while performing live video switching.

As great as the VT 2,3,4 and 5 were . . . the current TriCasters are even better. The latest TriCaster 450 EXTREME and especially the TriCaster 850 EXTREME are stuffed full of hard drive storage, a hot video card and plenty of memory. More importantly, unlike the standard-def VT series and early TriCaster models, the current TriCaster 300, 450 and 450 EXTREME plus the 850 and 850 EXTREME work with both standard-def and hi-def video sources . . . at the same time . . . meaning you don't have to add scan converters to make your external video sources match-up. When running a hi-def TriCaster in hi-def mode  . . . you can also run them in standard-def mode if you want to . . . even if you are only using hi-def video inputs you can still send out a standard-def signal (and a hi-def signal) as your live-switch or program output. In fact, regardless of what resolution you run a hi-def TriCaster at (1080i, 720p or 480i, etc.) you can bring any flavor of video input (standard-def composite, YC, component and SDI plus hi-def component and SDI), mix and switch all of those diffferent video sources at the same time, and send out mutiple HD and SD video signals with audio.

All of the hi-def TriCasters (TriCaster 300, 450, 450 EXTREME, 850 and 850 EXTREME) allow you to work with two independent two DSKs or overlay channels, meaning you can display a logo or corner bug with one DSK while displaying a person's name or other information with the other DSK. While both of the DSKs are global, meaning they output on top of the live switch or program output, using the virtual inputs you can add a third DSK that is unique to each virtual input. When you cut away from the virtual input, the third DSK won't carry over with it.

Anything can be a DSK . . . graphics and titles, any of your video cameras or other external sources, the DDRs (videoclip playback from internal hard drive), external computer feeds, etc. During a basketball game or other sports event, you can lock-off one video camera onto the game clock, assign it to one of the global DSKs, shrink and position the camera to one corner of the screen, and always have the time left in the game being displayed.

The VT and early TriCasters all could record their live switch to hard drive, meaning you could make a recording of a live show and save it for later editing and/or playback. With the introduction of the TriCaster 850 EXTREME and later 450 EXTREME and their Iso-Corder technology, you could still record the live switch but also record individual cameras or the clean feed or the auxilliary output to hard drive(s) all at the same time. Because you are creating an ISO recording of individual cameras, this means you can edit the live-switch (also recorded hard drive) if changes need to be made. Or you can record multiple copies of the live switch using different codecs (MPEG-2, AVI, QuickTime, or MP3), etc.

NewTek has been offering live video switchers for a long, long time . . . as far back as 1990 with the Amiga Video Toaster. With the release of each new system . . . first the Windows Video Toaster and then the TriCaster family, NewTek has continued to raise the bar on capability and performance. I can't wait to see what the future holds from NewTek.