So, you’ve done the research and decided that cloud playout is the way forward. You might be a seasoned, well-established broadcaster launching your service, or switching an existing service from on-prem playout to the cloud, or maybe you’re looking to adopt cloud playout for disaster recovery. Or perhaps you’re new to the industry and launching a channel for the first time. Whichever of these scenarios fits, now that you’ve decided you want to use cloud playout, the next step is to decide which cloud playout solution to use. And if you’re thinking they’re probably all quite similar aside from shiny marketing features, think again, because that is most definitely not the case.
With that in mind, what should you look for when choosing a cloud playout solution? Let’s break it down.
There’s plenty of so-called “cloud-based” playout solutions out there that still require manual setup or custom integration. Some of these solutions may be existing cloud playout software adapted for cloud use, in which case, they won’t give you the benefits that you’re expecting from a cloud playout solution. Users of these types of solutions won’t benefit from the scalability, built-in redundancy, flexibility, nor the agility that cloud-native applications provide. True cloud playout solutions are built for the cloud, on SaaS architecture.
The most effective cloud playout solutions are built with containerised, microservices-based modular architectures. Microservices enable solutions to be broken down into smaller, independent components, each of which can be updated, scaled, or replaced without affecting the rest of the chain. This approach provides a system that is flexible, resilient, and scalable.
We all know that playout is an integral part of the broadcast workflow. It’s that crucial, final step in the broadcast chain, enabling you to schedule and distribute your content to the end consumer. So, when choosing a cloud playout solution, it is of course critical that you make sure the solution you pick is a complete broadcast-grade playout engine and not just a half-baked solution that only fulfils some of your needs.
Some cloud playout solutions for example may be for streaming only and may limit output to OTT format. That might work for the time being but what happens if you need to pivot and distribute to other platforms in the future? Make sure you look for a solution that can generate DVB-compliant signals, suitable for satellite and cable distribution, alongside HLS for OTT, for both VOD and FAST channels. Similarly, don’t be fooled by cloud playout solutions that are in fact just glorified cloud schedulers. Instead, look for solutions that provide complete channel creation, playout and channel management.
Playout technology has significantly improved over recent years, and some cloud playout solutions are now just as comprehensive and technically capable as their hardware-based equivalent. If you want to deliver broadcast grade linear channels, make sure the cloud playout solution offers live input switching, SCTE-35 ad markers, and data-driven graphics. On the topic of graphics, it’s also well worth checking that graphics are rendered in the uncompressed domain in order to preserve the same professional visual fidelity as traditional hardware playout solutions.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re running a big multi-channel operation or just a single channel, high availability and redundancy are critical requirements. When choosing cloud solutions, it’s worth looking for systems that operate across multiple availability zones or regions, so that in the event of there being an outage in one zone, the system can seamlessly switch to another zone without impacting the viewing experience. This set up allows you to maintain uninterrupted broadcast even in the case of a node or zone failure.
As you’ll be aware having already chosen to adopt cloud-based playout, one of the key advantages it offers is scalability. When choosing which cloud playout solution to adopt, check how it supports scalability. A cloud-playout solution running on AWS for example provides AWS-native scaling enabling performance to adapt dynamically to channel demand, ensuring operational resilience with no single point of failure.
If you’re an established broadcaster switching over to cloud playout, you’ll probably want to minimise disruption and continue using some of the broadcast tools you’re already using such as your existing scheduling or MAM tools. Or if you’re a new broadcaster, then you’ll still want the ability to integrate the cloud-based playout solution with other third-party tools and solutions.
A well-designed cloud-native solution will integrate easily with other tools using an interface such as RESTful APIs. This way, you can integrate your refined and perfected established workflows with cloud playout so that you can also benefit from things like scalability, flexibility and faster deployment cycles.
There are many cloud playout solutions on the market, but they are most certainly not all equal. Nimbus is an all-in-one cloud playout platform that ticks all the requirements above and more.
It is a genuine multi-tenant SaaS platform for advanced linear channel origination and management. The system is elastic and fully automated, so you can spin up/down new channels in minutes. This makes Nimbus ideal for broadcasters, content owners, and service providers who want to innovate fast and minimise time-
to-market. It allows the same playout quality and control as on-premise systems but adds the flexibility and scalability only the cloud can offer.
With Veset Nimbus, you can:
In terms of advanced features, it provides channel creation tools that enable multi-format file ingest and content management; ingest, switching, playout and record of multiple live feed inputs; Dolby 5.1 Audio; design of complex graphics including animations and dynamic data; creation, import and editing of playlists; dynamic insertion of targeted server-side ads for live and on-demand content; and the ability to encode and deliver customised, metadata rich EPGs to broadcast and OTT platforms. The list goes on and on. Nimbus also offers multicast networking and JPEG XS support for low-latency, high-quality live feeds, enabling cloud-based live production with broadcast reliability.
And what’s more, following a recent update, new users can sign up, configure, and start broadcasting instantly through a self-service web portal, meaning no sales contract, demo, or manual provisioning is required.
To find out more about how Veset Nimbus, the all-in-one cloud playout platform that provides everything you need to create and manage professional TV channels in the cloud, get in touch.
