When French broadcaster TF1 required a control system to manage its new distributed router, it quickly settled on Axon Digital Design’s Cerebrum Master Control Software. This customisable control and monitoring system offered the advanced functionality and broad range of features that TF1 needed to manage its audio/video processing, multiviewer and tally/UMD management.
‘When we planned to replace our traditional central router with a new Riedel distributed audio/video router, we realised that we needed a versatile control system that could handle incoming feeds and audio returns for our control rooms,’ says Cyril Bernard, TF1’s Support & System Manager. ‘We looked at various systems on the market but chose Cerebrum because it met all our criteria and was so simple to use that even non-technical staff such as journalists could easily get to grips with it.’
By acting as the nerve centre for all routing, Cerebrum simplifies multi-device monitoring and control onto a single interface. It supports a wide range of devices from different manufacturers – routers, production switchers, servers, receiver decoders, multiviewers and waveform monitors – using either SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) or third-party protocols.
TF1 operate five television channels in France as well as several special interest pay-TV channels and their digital offshoots. Part of the TF1 Group, the broadcaster has an average market share of 20.3 per cent, making it the most popular domestic network in France and its channels among the most viewed in Europe.
‘Intuitiveness and responsiveness were key to the success of this project,’ says Richard Couzon, Axon Business Development Manager for France and French-speaking countries. ‘TF1’s set-up requires complex switching to take place in a very short timeframe, so a system that could be customised to meet exact needs was needed. Although router control was the main requirement, TF1 also wanted a system that could be expanded to other devices such as multiviewers, intercom systems and tallies. Cerebrum met all of these criteria and was also very cost effective.’
TF1 will expand the system in early 2019 so that it can control more devices.
More: www.axon.tv
