HuskerVision, the media organization serving University of Nebraska sports teams, has enhanced its audio production capabilities through a groundbreaking collaboration with Lawo, a global leader in live media production technology. Since the installation of Lawo’s cutting-edge solutions in August 2023, HuskerVision has experienced improved workflow efficiency and flexibility.
HuskerVision, housed in the Michael Grace Production Studio, oversees all AV and broadcast production needs for University of Nebraska sports events, including live game entertainment, non-sport events, and television shows airing nationally on the Big Ten Network. With a team of thirty to fifty university students, HuskerVision airs over 100 fully produced television shows annually, providing national exposure to University of Nebraska athletes.
Garrett Hill, Broadcast/Systems Engineer at HuskerVision, expressed his satisfaction with the Lawo installation, stating that, “after working with our Lawo installation for more than one year, we have been very happy with its performance and the quality of audio we’re getting out of it. Our environment includes a Home management platform for media infrastructures, two A UHD Core audio engines configured as a primary backup pair, two Power Cores with one Dante card in each for integrating existing equipment, a handful of A stage64 and A digital stageboxes, and two mc²56 audio production consoles.”
Lawo’s innovative solutions seamlessly integrate with HuskerVision’s workflow, offering unparalleled flexibility and efficiency. Hill emphasized the significance of Lawo’s system architecture in managing IP audio streams between third-party equipment, enhancing operational efficiency and simplifying device management.
“This was our first experience with IP-based audio that closely resembles environments based on ST 2110. Our broadcast plant is still purely baseband for video, but now audio is an IP and baseband hybrid. With state-of-the-art equipment we’ve significantly elevated our audio quality and streamlined our workflow.” And he adds: “The A stage and A digital boxes’ ability to transmit out and subscribe to any AES67 streams directly, along with internal routing support, has simplified the management of audio signals in all venues. Using Home, managing these device streams from Q-Sys and Dante equipment directly facilitates multiple simultaneous events and diverse audio routing needs.”
While the new installation significantly improved HuskerVision’s operations, it required some finetuning of the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) mechanism to counter stability issues with the older network infrastructure. Lawo’s responsive support team ensured minimal disruption to operations, underscoring the reliability and performance of Lawo’s solutions.
Looking ahead, HuskerVision remains committed to its partnership with Lawo as it continues to innovate and enhance its production capabilities. With Lawo’s cutting-edge technology at its disposal, HuskerVision is poised to deliver unparalleled experiences to its sports fans worldwide.