Slate 100
Live Integrated Production System
Top Reasons to Buy
“Never has anyone picked up technical directing as fast as they do with the Broadcast Pix Slate 100 system. They come in blind and within an hour they are directing a show.”
- Peter Zawadzki, Executive Director for Watertown Community Access Center
Major Savings to Buy
Pay for a Switcher, Get an Entire Live Studio
The Slate 100 is an entire integrated live video production system, with 5 major applications built-in, for the price of one. The system included a broadcast quality production switcher, multi-view monitor, clip store, Inscriber CG, and format & aspect ratio converters. All this is just $14,400 in HD and $10,995 in SD. A comparable conventional control room is 3 to 5 TIMES as much to purchase. Slate is the most cost effective way to create broadcast quality live video.
Major Savings to Operate
Slate Creates Compelling Video, Even with a One Man Band
A conventional live control room is assembled out of many discreet components that result in so many panels, keyboards and mice that a team is required to run it. And when a conventional studio is not staffed by a team, it’s production must be “dumbed down” to what one person can do, with very limited graphics, clips and compositions. In contrast, Slate provides such a well integrated live video production system that a single operator can create highly compelling video. And when a team is still needed for an especially fast moving show, Slate gracefully expands at no cost for team use.
Major Time Savings
Slate Streamlines Workflow, because it Handles Files and is So Integrated
Conventional switchers only input video streams, while Slate inputs both video and files, so it’s much easier to incorporate clips and graphics into your production. No need to play clips out of a server, just network them into Slate directly from your Final Cut system or other editor. Graphics come in just as easily. Save time every day. Save time to buy, because you don’t have to select all of the individual components that comprise Slate. Save time to install, because it takes a few hours, not weeks. Save time to learn, because one integrated application is much easier than many different ones.
A Great Switcher that’s easy to Operate
The Slate 100 production switcher accepts 4 to 8 cameras and other live inputs, plus 12 to 14 more inputs are inside for the clip store, CG, and still and logo stores. There are 3 keyers, expandable to 6, and each has a built-in DVE for picture-in-picture and other effects. It can have up to 8 chromakeys. Inputs and keys can all be viewed together in preview, so you know exactly what you get when it goes to air.
There are several ways to easily run the Slate 100. It can be controlled from a custom keyboard that is included with it. The keyboard replicates all of the buttons on the Slate 1000 control panel. It provides fast-action tactile control, and yet can switch back into a normal keyboard for use with the CG and other applications. The Slate 100 can also be controlled from its multi-view, which is great for a novice, especially on a touch-screen. The operator can just touch the moving camera window they want on the multi-view to bring it to preview. Then just touch a graphic to add it. Then just touch the composition to take it to air. For a very cool interactive demo of this Slate 100 multi-view control click here.
Truly Multi-format
HD, SD and/or Analog…….in 16:9 and/or 4:3
Some conventional switchers claim to be multi-format, and then make you pick one for a production, such as set all inputs and outputs are 720p, and genlock them all. In contrast a Slate 100 HD system lets you have each input be a different format. For example, input one could be 1080i SDI, input 2 could be 720p SDI, input 3 be SD SDI, and input 4 be DVI or VGA from a laptop. You can mix genlocked synchronous inputs and asynchronous inputs like a DVD player. The Slate HD 100 always outputs in many formats simultaneously including HD, SD and analog composite, Y/C or component. Slate 100 HD systems can be ordered with analog inputs too. Or Slate can be ordered with all SD and/or analog inputs today, and upgrade to HD in the future. Conventional switchers also make you produce in either 4:3 and 16:9, and so when you bring 4:3 cameras into a 16:9 show they stretch them so the talent really looks unflatteringly “wide” on a wide screen. In contrast, Slate has the most advanced aspect correction system on the market, and it’s standard equipment. With Slate you can use 16:9 and 4:3 inputs, clips and graphics interchangeably. Each source and content element can be aspect corrected. For example a 4:3 camera in a 16:9 show can be set to pillar-box by adding black bars to either side, or it can be blown up and cropped, or something in between, or it can be stretched like a conventional switcher if you really like wide talent. Slate 100 systems configured with 8 live HD inputs can even be set to produce a 16:9 and a 4:3 show simultaneously.
The Most Integrated Multi-View Monitor
Conventional multi-views are expensive and then only show monitors for program, preview, cameras and other live sources. Slate’s multi-view is free, and provides much more information to the operator. In addition to monitors for the live sources, slate provides them for each channel of clip and graphic, for each of the up to 6 keyers, and provides thumbnails of the files in the libraries of each channel of the clip store, CG, still and logo store. Plus Slate’s Multi-View shows the file names of the clips and graphics, key state date like fade rates and whether a DVE is applied, as well as clip counters, clocks and timers. And Slate has complete tally information. The Slate operator gets much more thorough feedback than on any expensive conventional multi-view. Sometimes the best things in life are free.
Built-in Harris® Inscriber® CG
Plus 5 channels of Graphics Stores
Every Slate 100 includes a built-in Harris Inscriber Character Generator. It creates Broadcast Quality graphics, including titles, logos, rolls, crawls and animations. It has true type fonts, transparencies, shadows, sheens and glows, with stunning anti-aliased resolution of less than 16nS. Easily create a great look using use of the hundreds of included templates, or create your own look. Inscriber CGs are used in the most demanding graphics applications world wide, and are standard equipment on every Slate. You can even edit a title when its on air, and the CG Connect option enables titles to automatically be created from an XML database. Every Slate 100 includes 5 channels of graphic stores. Two for CG titles, rolls and crawls, and three for stills and logos. Theses stores can be filled with graphics created on your Inscriber CG, or graphic created on other systems and imported, as they play .jpg, .tga, .gif, .bmp, .tif and .png files.
Built in Clip Store
Some conventional switchers have a little store on which you can slowly load a single short animation with no audio. Slate has a full blown clip store that can hold up to 60 HOURS of clips or animations, with audio. You can send QuickTime clips to it from your editing system over Slate’s 1GB network, or bring them in on a DVD, memory stick or USB hard-drive. Or your can also record any video to the clip store uncompressed. The clip store is so well integrated to the switcher that you can set a clip to begin playing the instant it transitions to air. No more hiring a clip operator just to cue clips. Audio I/O is provided with XLR connectors that provide stereo analog. Clips be have mark-in and out points set, and be set to auto-rewind and loop. One channel of clip store with 15 hours of storage is standard on the Slate 100, and a second channel and more storage are surprisingly affordable options. The clip store plays animations too. Animations are great for full screen backgrounds, keyed moving logos and titles, or modern animated wipes with a logo and sound included. Create animations on the built-in Inscriber CG, or import a sequence of animation files that was created on Aftereffects, Apple, Avid, Motion, Artbeats, Digital Juice, etc. And like clips, even on-air animations can be changed instantly.
Control Cameras and an Audio Mixer too
Slate can also reach out and control other components of the studio for an even more powerful one man band. Control robotic cameras from Sony, Panasonic and Hitachi, including preset positions, tilt/pan/zoom, and lens controls like focus, iris and white balance. Control an audio mixer, so that it follows the action on a switcher. As the switcher selects a source, the mixer fades up or down the right microphones and other audio channels. And unlike conventional switchers that are limited to antiquated and expensive protocols, Slate control over MIDI or USB, so it controls most mixers, and controls them intimately.
Integrated Memories
Serious switcher users know that a good memory system really makes a switcher shine. But conventional switcher memories can only learn switcher moves, and you must then manually and separately set up the clip store, CG, still stores, robotic cameras, mixer etc. Can you imagine how much more powerful it would be if a single push of a panel button could recall everything? Stop imagining. Slate does it today. For example, for a two-box interview shot, a single memory can recall the size and position of the two boxes, the exact animated background to put behind them, the right lower third graphic, logo and crawl, the position and zoom of the two cameras, and the audio settings. When the memory is then taken to air the animation and crawl can be set to start playing on the transition, and it can even remember the speed of the crawl. With a few powerful memories like this to fire off, even a novice operator can look like a seasoned pro.
Fail-Safe, Non-Stop, On-Air Operation
Broadcast Pix is not the first integrated live video production system, but it is the first that is primarily driven from a traditional control panel, and is fail-safe to never go off the air in the middle of a show. In the past it has always been a trade-off: enjoy the dramatic cost and staff savings of an integrated system, but have to use a mouse, and sometimes have it lock-up and go black on air. Or assemble an expensive control room and hire a staff of 3 or 4 to run it. With Slate 100 you get the best of both worlds.
In addition to the tactile control from the keyboard or touch-screen, the Slate 100 is non-stop. It has a fail-safe input, so that even if you unplug the system in the middle of a show, your favorite camera will always stay on air. Plus redundant power is optional for both the system and control panel. With Slate you always stay on-air.
Easily Upgradeable Software and Hardware
For a Bright Future that Improves when you want to Conventional switchers are 99% hardware and 1% software, so by and large what you buy is what you will always have. Slate uses the same switcher hardware found in a conventional switcher, but in addition has a rich software environment, so you can download new software improvements that really are improvements. For example: more clip store formats, more cameras to control, more key functions, enhancements to the memory system, enhancements to workflow, etc. And the Slate 100 is upgradeable to larger switchers and formats, if and when your needs should grow. You can upgrade from SD to HD. You can upgrade from 3 to 6 keyers. You can add a control panel to upgrade to a Slate 1000. You can add an integrated router for more I/O and become a Slate 3000 or 2100. You can even add a big control panel and become a 2 M/E Slate 5000. Easy upgrading to the latest technology has always been a hallmark of Broadcast Pix. Over a thousand Broadcast Pix systems have been installed, and some of the earliest of them have upgraded easily and economically to today’s Slate. With Slate 100 you are never dead-ended, and can look forward to easy upgrades to the most contemporary technology.
Professional Support
No matter how much functionality a video production system provides, after you take it out of the box, and set it up, there is nothing like having a knowledgeable person to call to ask questions and to help you get the most out of it. While Slate has comprehensive owners manual, Slate tech support professionals add an important human dimension. And each is a former video producer, so they know your world, and can help you get the most out of your system. Broadcast Pix systems are so intuitive that many users do not read the manual or ever call, but if you want Broadcast Pix can even provide detailed training by certified trainers at your facility.
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I want to let you know how absolutely happy I am with the Broadcast Pix switching system.