Client Case Study: NEP UK & Axon Digital

NEP UK, leading OB and broadcast facilities provider, is the trusted partner to the most-watched and mission-critical events around the world.  The company relies on Axon’s Cerebrum control and monitoring platform to allow it to deliver a consistent superior service, adapt quickly to changing client needs and to efficiently manage and scale its business.

Keeping on top of its game & complex technology layers

From large international broadcasts, regular sports coverage to small regional productions, NEP UK covers it all. With a fleet of high-spec OB vehicles, flight-case systems and remote facilities, the team offers scalable solutions, tailored to clients specific requirements.

An early-adopter, NEP UK has invested in the latest IP technologies, including Grass Valley core infrastructure, to work smarter and keep it at the top of its game. It needed an open control and monitoring solution proven in the field, capable of managing and adapting to these complex technology layers to deliver a reliable and seamless workflow – easily and cost-effectively.

In addition, with increased business has come tighter project turnarounds and the need to improve resource management to keep services cost-effective. It was critical that NEP UK had the flexibility to reconfigure systems at speed, scale up and down as required and enable some productions to be run by a single engineer with ease.

Simply slicker with Cerebrum

NEP UK has deployed Cerebrum across its production facilities, including its fleet of high-end IP OB vehicles and remote production flight-case systems.

Trusted and relied upon in live sports production worldwide,  Cerebrum offers the most comprehensive third-party device control in the market. It integrates and provides native control of the latest IP technologies including NEP’s Grass Valley IP infrastructure, which is does seamlessly without the need for Orbit – minimising engineering bottlenecks to deliver a unified IP workflow.

Operators can view and manage the entire workflow with ease through Cerebrum’s user-friendly graphical interface. With simple push-button control, it shields them from the complex and changing technology layer beneath so that they can focus on their job, undertake tasks in just minutes and confidently manage productions with minimal engineering support or even single-handedly.

Each Cerebrum system allows rapid system configuration, making it the perfect solution for fast-pace production environments.  Through the user-interface, the crew can familiarise themselves with the workflow, customise it and quickly pre-configure systems to meet the requirements of the next project, rapidly switching between SDI-HD and HDR UHD formats.  This significantly reduces turnaround times to get OB trucks back on the road – saving both time and resources.

Software-defined and modular by design, Cerebrum is a truly scalable and cost-effective future-proof solution.  Without hassle or stress, it enables NEP to add new technology and adapt to new formats using the same familiar control.

“Cerebrum can cope with whatever we throw at it.  It makes the process so much slicker and a lot faster at every step,” said Gareth Philips, NEP UK’s Head of Vision and VT. “It’s an absolute pleasure working Axon. They’re always responsive, innovative and really understand what we need to achieve. The technology, the people and their fantastic support are a winning combination for our business.”

End results:

• NEP UK continues to successfully deliver landmark production from international coverage of the tennis at Wimbledon to Sky Sports Premiership football coverage.
• The team can efficiently control and manage multiple technology layers, including its Grass Valley IP infrastructure.
• Workflows have been simplified to allow operators to focus on their craft and support single-engineer productions.
• The team can rapidly reconfigure systems and get their OB crews back on the road – saving time and money.
• NEP UK is primed to adapt to ever-evolving technologies, with Cerebrum offering future-proof control of its IP infrastructure – back by Axon’s world-class support.

To read the full case-study, visit www.axon.tv