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Shoot Review — NewTek TriCaster

Sep 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Tom Patrick McAuliffe

Live video production in a portable box.

With the new TriCaster portable video production system, NewTek takes a television studio and shrinks it down to the size of a 10lb. box — and does so at a price that any serious video maker can afford. For less than $5,000, the TriCaster covers the most important tasks within professional video production: live switching, digital video capture, audio mixing and enhancement, realtime nonlinear video editing via timeline or storyboard, and project distribution via Internet streaming.

A little history: More than a decade ago, a little company created a “TV studio in a box” and called it the Video Toaster. Originally operating on the Amiga computer, the Video Toaster presaged the revolution in technology that brought professional video production tools to all budget levels. The NewTek Video Toaster, some features of which are found in the new TriCaster, made the migration to Windows in 2001 and is now in its fourth generation, called VT4.

NewTek turned heads at this spring's NAB convention with the introduction of TriCaster 1.0, which offers an innovative feature set at a low cost. The TriCaster is aptly named because it delivers a trinity of elements of video creation and dissemination — namely live video switching, nonlinear editing, and Internet streaming. The TriCaster also features three realtime outputs: to an SD video device, to a VGA projector or LCD display, and to a web stream.

NewTek has again aimed for simplicity over configurability here. Though there's a Windows XP Pro PC within the TriCaster, the user can forget about all the computer stuff and concentrate on creating good video. Also, some traditional Windows/video protocols have been discarded. To ease tech support and ensure optimum performance, NewTek understandably asks that users keep the machine as close to the shipping configuration as possible. You can, however, install Photoshop and similar packages to help with images, graphics, etc. The TriCaster's Admin management utility allows access to the Windows operating system.

TriCaster's software takes over the system, and with a 3.2GHz Pentium 4, it operates in realtime. And it really is realtime. As a broadcast-quality, live SD switcher and a solid NLE with an interface similar to that of the Video Toaster, the TriCaster is a great portable tool, but it is also lots more. (For switching, there's an optional hardware T-bar controller called VM that has a real pro feel for $995.)

Refreshingly, there were no installation hassles. I took the TriCaster out of the box and plugged in the power cord, the included laser mouse and extended keyboard, and a 19in. Viewsonic RGB monitor. I used the Y/C outputs of three cameras: a Sony VX2000, a Sony VX1000 (both DV cameras), and a Sony TR81 Hi8 camera. I connected them with long S-VHS cables directly to the TriCaster and plugged in an audio signal chain from a Mackie mixer, which I connected via standard Monster RCA cables. (Never skimp on cables, and yes, gold-tipped connectors do make a difference.)

A few minutes later, I turned on the unit and was greeted by a blue power light. After the Windows installation and Internet connection evaluation, I was ready to go in about 15 minutes. The quick-start guide is helpful, but diagrams of system configurations are needed.

TriCaster workflow

You can record up to six hours of DV-quality video of a live event into the TriCaster by switching among three cameras feeds attached to the box via Y/C or composite connections. (You can record even more video if you use external storage connected via USB2 or IEEE 1394.) Use the TriCaster's network-caliber transitions, realtime effects, and CG keys during the switch. Then edit the result using the nonlinear features. Finally, using Windows Media Player 9 encoding and MMS Proxy Server protocol, you can broadcast projects over the Internet to a few viewers live — or archive it for the masses. Very cool.

The product comes with an innovative software application called iVGA, which allows me to use the RGB output of my laptop as just another video source. This opens up a vast range of useful sources for the TriCaster program I'm recording: PowerPoint presentations, 3D animations, and live software interfaces for tutorials. iVGA allows you to connect a PC (or even a Mac running Virtual PC 7) via an included Ethernet transfer cable.

TriCaster as NLE

First I treated TriCaster as a simple portable editing tool. I brought in prerecorded clips and recut them, and added new titles and footage to my music performance demo tape. To capture and digitize video, I used a Sony GV-D900 DV deck, connected and controlled via a FireWire cable. I also used a Panasonic AG-5700 S-VHS deck and the Hi8 TR81, both connected as sources via Y/C.

The Media Capture window was foolproof, and in seconds I had video on a familiar storyboard interface. Once the clips were in the proper order, I switched to the timeline interface for further tweaking. TriCaster's transitions are innovative and clean. Setting in and out points is simple. I made clips run in slow motion with a few simple clicks and also stretched a clip on the timeline. No rendering and no waiting!

Dealing with sound was equally simple. On the timeline, I marked keyframe edit points in the audio waveform of the WAV or MP3 file. Applying a volume or EQ setting to just that portion was a real time-saver. Once my transitions, effects, and audio EQ were in place, I simply hit Record, and TriCaster created an AVI file. The completed promo video timed out at 05:30, and it took three minutes and 40 seconds to create the AVI file.

In addition, once I had the demo clip in the Playlist section of the Live user interface panel, I could play it back at will. If I wanted, I could then add titles and effects, and mix the clip with more live video, recording yet another new AVI file with no artifacts or degradation. I could also loop the video for playback when streaming — but more on that in a minute.

Recording live

Done with my editing project, I was ready to enter the demanding “ready camera 1, take camera 1!” world of live-event switching. I recorded a music gig at a local bar here in Hawaii. TriCaster excels at switching, and it was amazing to see instant takes, realtime dissolves, and even complex 3D transitions and multilayered effects load almost instantly. Initially I was concerned about being able to use only Y/C or composite signals, but the TriCaster's signal and image output proved very clean. I used 20ft. gold-tipped, heavyweight S-VHS cables to connect the cameras and NTSC monitors (a PAL version should be available by the time you read this). Getting the output signals of video cameras to match is an art form, but the TriCaster's Camera setup utility makes the task easy. After white-balancing the cameras, I used the TriCaster's Brightness, Contrast, Hue, and Saturation controls to match the color and brightness of the cameras as closely as possible.

Once the shoot started, I was able to switch among cameras 1, 2, and 3 using the included transitions, which looked like a million bucks compared to those offered by other switching solutions.

When it comes to character generation, TriCaster comes with more than 90 title templates ready for you to key over your video. A full 256-level alpha channel for transparency and image layering is provided.

You can also make more CG pages in applications like Photoshop (a tutorial is on the NewTek website). Being able to add CG titles during our live video recording saved me loads of time, and it opens new possibilities during postproduction in the edit suite. In the Live interface, I clicked on the Overlay tab and the Add to Overlay Playlist dropdown menu appeared with the different text pages, lower thirds, and bug titles. The music video title was especially handy, allowing me to fade in and out the group name, song name, and website URL in the lower left or lower right corner of the screen.

The pre-built titles appear in a small — and I do mean small — window. To modify the verbiage, even on the fly, simply click on it and input info to suit your needs. It's crude and limited in that you can't change fonts or modify the style (bold, italic, etc.) in realtime, but it gets the job done. Besides, you can always import new title pages from outside the system. You can also create rolls and title scrolls.

Once you get all the title pages the way you want them, save them as a Playlist. You can also very easily create a slideshow of title and still photo pages, which could be perfect for digital signage in churches and schools or for info boards on cable systems.

Also noteworthy: Audio has not been forgotten. With the global EQ and volume controls, I can affect the overall sound of the live video that I'm recording to the hard drive. To monitor sound levels, there are also stereo VU meters.

By the end of the night, it was easy to see that this was a live switcher right up there with something costing five times as much. We recorded a 50-minute set directly to the hard drive — titles and all — and came away with an AVI video file ready for further editing or streaming.

Streaming

The Live window of TriCaster's user interface features a button that reads “Streaming.” When selected, the device automatically searches the connected network and generates an MMS, a numbered address that viewers put into their browsers to view your webcasts. Most browsers will auto-launch WMP if you type in an MMS address. (You can, of course, create an attractive link on your website that cloaks these numbers.) I ran into some problems with putting a stream out from my standard cable broadband (300k) connection at my home studio. But after working with both my ISP and the knowledgeable tech support staff at NewTek, I was broadcasting over the Net.

Suffice it to say, I had some firewall and bandwidth issues. In general, 300k streams are capable of delivering only half-resolution, 30fps video, and when more than one viewer is accessing the stream you run out of bandwidth in a hurry. With TriCaster, you can, of course, set preferences to vary the screen size and frame rate.

It's very important to understand that while the XP OS, Windows Media Player, and Microsoft Media Server (MMS) protocols allow up to 10 viewers to connect to a web stream simultaneously, that's an idealized cap: most people don't have sufficient bandwidth for that many viewers. However, if you need to reach that many people at once, one option is to do an audio-only webcast to listeners worldwide. But for streaming of live or prerecorded video content, the reality is that only one or two viewers can connect at the same time to the TriCaster's stream and see acceptable results with a standard broadband output connection. This is a limitation, but the system is still perfect for sending a presentation across the country to a projector in a room full of people.

If you want to stream your videos or a live special event to more than a few web viewers, you'll need a streaming media service provider (SMSP). It'll take the signal that the TriCaster puts out and stream it to multiple web viewers around the world. Any stream provider can accept TriCaster's IP address and signal. Cost goes up with the length and quality of the video, and with the number of viewers.

There are tons of streaming service providers out there, but most web hosting services are not truly able to stream. Rather, they use a progressive download system. There are many variables, but in general to stream about an hour of DVD-quality video at a resolution of 720×480, it runs about $25 a month. Assuming you are streaming 300kbps videos for that price, you can stream about 130 hours of video in total — and if you want to stream DVD-resolution 600kbps videos you could stream about 56 hours. The number of videos you can stream depends on the bit rate of your event, the length, and the particulars of your account. But there are a few norms. Assuming all your videos are 60 minutes long and are encoded at 300k, you could have about three hours of video online at any given time. You need to look for an SMSP that allows you to transmit video using RTSP-UDP and RTSP-TCP (not just HTTP-TCP progressive), which are digital transmission standards designed specifically for realtime streaming of video and audio.

Another boon to the streaming abilities of the TriCaster is that keeping the unit on all the time to stream content does not lead to overheating. With its small, quiet fan, the unit ran cool even after being on for days.

Intriguing future

I really like this product as it is, and the best thing I can say about this product is that I will buy one in the near future. Well worth the cost, it's a product that's laden with possibilities.

However, prospective customers need to understand that with TriCaster, simplicity and portability won out over configurability. NewTek has taken the complexities out of video production so that anyone can produce network-caliber television and high-quality streaming content. But even with the great features and value, there are, as always, a few things that could be improved or added to make TriCaster an even better solution.

To cement the foolproof nature of the TriCaster, NewTek could plug or cover all of the nonfunctional ports. These are ports that are slated for future development.

Under the heading “nothing's perfect,” I experienced some crashes, a few of which could not be addressed by the “Restart the TriCaster” or “Wait 10 Seconds” software prompts. I would select Restart, but the system would not obey. In a few cases, I had to disconnect the power cord to effect a restart, but in every case, the TriCaster remembered right where we left off. Additionally, accessing clips and images on external FireWire and USB storage devices sometimes led to a crash. Although I did have a few problems, I was very impressed with the realtime performance and overall stability. Tech support, which is free for a year, was very knowledgeable and responsive via both phone and email.

NewTek also has a long history of providing free bug fixes and enhancement updates to its registered users. In three instances over a very busy two weeks of testing, video would hiccup when a complex overlay title was loaded. Also the live 3D transitions sometimes took three to four seconds to load, which is not a surprise due to their complexity. As CPUs get even faster, perhaps an upgrade could provide even more realtime features.

For those of us whose eyes aren't getting any younger, the single largest drawback is the lack of dual-monitor support and the fact that the TriCaster's software interface will not resize — or, more precisely, enlarge — on the RGB monitor. It would be nice if I could click on a tool and have it enlarge to, say, 3/4-screen size, then click on it again and shrink it to original size. Some of the interfaces proved simply too small for me, even with a 19in. RGB monitor. So one of the things I'd recommend to any potential user is to get the largest computer monitor you can afford.

I understand that it might be a long time before we see support for HD. But on the plus side, there is a 16×9 letterbox effect so that my SD programs will be the right aspect ratio should I ever need to upconvert to HD. And while I'm wishing, how about some 5.1 surround sound and digital audio support (the ports are there)? I'd also love to see a YUV component version, an SDI interface, and a HD version — as well as more IEEE 1394 support.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of the TriCaster is its support of only Y/C and composite inputs and outputs. I was curious as to why a manufacturer would choose to have Y/C (S-Video) analog I/O instead of one based around digital IEEE 1394, which is so common in camcorders today. NewTek explains that the live aspects of the TriCaster made the company lean toward analog. “FireWire is a digital file transfer that must wind its way through the operating system before the frames of video are ever handed off to our software; whereas, analog video signals can be sent directly across the NewTek hardware to memory without waiting on the OS,” explains NewTek's Paul Lara. “This was critical for live production and especially IMAG — image magnification. TriCaster latency is about two to three frames; whereas, DV streams can take as long as seven to eight frames before the video signal hitting program out.”

I've used S-VHS and Hi8 for years, and one of the main reasons I switched over to DV — aside from the ease of transferring to computers for editing — was that the DV tape format presented fewer dropouts than did the older tape formats. However, I found that just using a good three-chip camera with TriCaster's Camera setup controls would allow me to use extended cable runs (longer than DV over IEEE 1394 allows) and still produce a great-looking video signal. Indeed, the limitation of formats like Hi8 and S-VHS is not the signals themselves but rather the tape medium on which the video is recorded.

As I mentioned earlier it was easy to match the color, brightness, and general quality of the three live cameras we used. When run through a Tektronix 1760 waveform monitor/vectorscope, SMPTE color bars — both live and recorded to the hard drive as AVI clips — appeared nearly identical. Y/C video generated from a good three-chip camera had artifacts and resolution limitations noticeable only to the trained and finicky eye.

It would be nice if the TriCaster had a FireWire I/O. Then users could rely on one cable to capture both video and audio from a live camera. But more importantly, I want to be able to play my projects out of the TriCaster using FireWire and record on my very expensive DV deck. Given that, I was still pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the Y/C output that the unit generates once recorded onto DV.

I'd also like to see future software updates that make it easier to import audio. I should be able to take an audio file from a CD via USB CD-ROM and play it in the TriCaster timeline. Users should not have to play and digitize every music bed they might want to use. But even more cumbersome is that users must convert audio files to WAV files. On the other hand, there is MP3 support. I won't be surprised if these and other problems or enhancements are addressed in the next revision of the software. The TriCaster also has lots of room for expansion despite its small size, so the future of TriCaster is intriguing indeed.

Easy appliance

When NewTek introduced one of the first digital video devices way back in the late 1980s, it started on the road to creating a cost-effective solution that would include the three most important aspects of professional video and television production. With the TriCaster, NewTek has reached that destination. Having been around the DV block, I'm not easily impressed. But I was blown away by what TriCaster brings to the video creation table. If you had to price it out, it costs maybe a quarter of what it would cost to purchase each piece of production equipment separately. And, even given the few challenges and problems I encountered, making video suddenly seemed fun again.

Even my neighbor's nine-year-old sat down and felt comfortable using the TriCaster VM control unit. He wants to make a video of himself and his pals and their skateboarding adventures, and send some streaming video to his grandmother on the other side of the country. Meanwhile, his dad wants to be able to address a sales meeting in New York without the long trip from his home in Hawaii. Both are easily possible with the TriCaster.

I've followed NewTek a long time and have used a Video Toaster many times in the past — in fact, full disclosure: I was once the editor of Video Toaster User magazine. But I cut no slack in the review process. Putting the TriCaster though its paces with real-world production projects, I saw the little black box measure up. While the small TriCaster isn't a full-blown Toaster system, it is a video appliance that's easy to learn and operate. It'll go a long way toward democratizing the process of creating and distributing professional-looking and -sounding videos.

Contributing writer Tom Patrick McAuliffe is a journalist, entertainer, and video creator in Hawaii. He's also the editor of Broadcast Engineering's Audio Technology Update e-newsletter.

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BOTTOM LINE

Company: NewTek
San Antonio; (800) 843-8934
www.newtek.com

Product: TriCaster

Assets: Full TV studio in a 10lb. box, very easy to use.

Caveats: Most third-party software is not allowed.

Demographic: Schools, government, and non-profit organizations.
Price: $4,995

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