BitFire Platform brings full-scale live master control to the cloud

BitFire, a provider of software-defined live production and IP transmission, has added cloud-based live master control capabilities to the BitFire Platform for live production and distribution. 

Built into BitFire’s Spark Production Environments, the new master control interface offers a familiar control room experience with professional grade finishing tools, including captioning, as well as graphic/bug insertion, ad breaks, and SCTE, for live events of any scale.

This advance makes full-scale master control more accessible to smaller operations while empowering larger media organisations to roll out high-volume live services, such as alternate broadcasts or streams tailored for different regions and languages.

Jim Akimchuk, President & CEO, BitFire, said, “With these new capabilities, the BitFire Platform closes a critical gap in the transition to live production in the cloud. Whether producing one event or many simultaneously, production teams can now add a sophisticated layer of control and presentation — including live captioning, squeeze-back advertising, and playlist-driven break playout — without the cost or limitations of traditional master control rooms.”

BitFire’s live master control interface allows users to finish and master live shows without relying on downstream facilities. Accessible via an on-demand, cloud-based environment that allows for unlimited scalability, it brings professional orchestration and control to use cases in which traditional master control is not practical or economically viable.

By leveraging the BitFire Transmission Network from contribution to distribution, real-time, synchronised delivery of multiple versions of a broadcast becomes simple and scalable, whether delivering to one destination or hundreds. Because the BitFire Platform brings full-scale master control to the cloud, operators can configure redundant transmission with multiple paths into and out of the cloud, eliminating reliance on a single feed.

“With the addition of live master control to the BitFire Platform, we’re giving users even greater confidence that they can move forward with cloud-native workflows while maintaining quality, reliability, and control,” added Akimchuk.

“Representing the first truly scalable, broadcast-quality master control solution in the cloud, this capability is already being used on national and international broadcasts of high-profile live sports, where it’s being leveraged to manage redundant feeds, high dynamic range (HDR) conversions, captioning, and SCTE ad triggers.”