Blackmagic Forum

Hello guys,

I thought I'd let you know we've released a pair of apps that let you share your local NDI and SDI sources with other networks over public Internet channels – with a latency level that may still be acceptable for live production.

A couple of users already tried the apps, there's even a video from one of them.

Feel free to download and give it a try: https://www.medialooks.com/ndi – and let us know what you think!

How to use:



Thanks,
Andrey

So what does it exactly.. Sdi to NDI on 1 PC and then by internet play out on antoher PC with SDI out?

But how does PC A knows where PC B is anywere on the world wide web? Or does your app run to a server that connects and exchange that info to each other? That would be intresting not going trough complicated outside ISP adresses and port forwards.. But just a key into software and auto connect like Teamviewer does.

I have done just a basic test with the first beta of this and yes, you are given an "ID key" from the sending software to share with the receiving software. This appears to be going through a central server, so all you have to do is make sure the ID key that is issued from the server is correct on the receiving side. Seems to work just really well (just fill, no key and fill), but the quality was noticeably decreased. I was on home internet, though, so some quality loss may be due to my home bandwidth.

I'm still thinking of all the ways this could be useful. I'd be interested in knowing if the server side can be licensed, to have your own dedicated service for larger video networks, located in a data center of your choosing... I'm not sure where the Medialooks NDI server is located.

Xtreemtec wrote:So what does it exactly.. Sdi to NDI on 1 PC and then by internet play out on antoher PC with SDI out?

But how does PC A knows where PC B is anywere on the world wide web? Or does your app run to a server that connects and exchange that info to each other? That would be intresting not going trough complicated outside ISP adresses and port forwards.. But just a key into software and auto connect like Teamviewer does.

The app has a pairing code ...
It looks like it might be based similar to WebRTC.
NDI network device Interface is Newteks video over ip solution. Which we have made use of...
There's a SDK implementation built in to make use of BMD video cards.

This mediaworks app works relatively well. (As does WebRTC) We don't really have a use case as is, but might be useful should a venue we attend want to bring in a remote guest ( Newtek have s/ware that uses a simple webcam as an NDI source) to give us 'better' image quality and a little more 'control' without using that well known video chat software.

Link to video giving an idea of use..

Xtreemtec wrote:So what does it exactly.. Sdi to NDI on 1 PC and then by internet play out on antoher PC with SDI out?

But how does PC A knows where PC B is anywere on the world wide web? Or does your app run to a server that connects and exchange that info to each other? That would be intresting not going trough complicated outside ISP adresses and port forwards.. But just a key into software and auto connect like Teamviewer does.

The Publisher app doesn't convert SDI to NDI – it receives SDI and NDI streams as inputs and makes them available for the Receiver app at a remote location.

The server only does the handshake – the streaming itself currently goes directly via P2P. I've been arguing with the team to use the TeamViewer analogy to explain how this thing works. They told me: no way, people will get the wrong idea (remote control, etc.). So, thanks for mentioning this.

Zach Schuster wrote:I have done just a basic test with the first beta of this and yes, you are given an "ID key" from the sending software to share with the receiving software. This appears to be going through a central server, so all you have to do is make sure the ID key that is issued from the server is correct on the receiving side. Seems to work just really well (just fill, no key and fill), but the quality was noticeably decreased. I was on home internet, though, so some quality loss may be due to my home bandwidth.

I'm still thinking of all the ways this could be useful. I'd be interested in knowing if the server side can be licensed, to have your own dedicated service for larger video networks, located in a data center of your choosing... I'm not sure where the Medialooks NDI server is located.

Thanks for testing, Zach. I wonder if you've tried to measure you home connection speed and compare with the bitrate displayed in the app?

Fill and key support is something users have been requesting, so it is likely to be added soon.

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about ways you could use this and why you'd prefer to host the server side on your own premises. Can we discuss offline?

Andrew Martin wrote:The app has a pairing code ...
It looks like it might be based similar to WebRTC.
NDI network device Interface is Newteks video over ip solution. Which we have made use of...
There's a SDK implementation built in to make use of BMD video cards.

This mediaworks app works relatively well. (As does WebRTC) We don't really have a use case as is, but might be useful should a venue we attend want to bring in a remote guest ( Newtek have s/ware that uses a simple webcam as an NDI source) to give us 'better' image quality and a little more 'control' without using that well known video chat software.

Andrew, thanks for the feedback. We do make use of WebRTC.

How exactly would you arrange the remote guest scenario?

Andrey Okunev wrote:

Xtreemtec wrote:So what does it exactly.. Sdi to NDI on 1 PC and then by internet play out on antoher PC with SDI out?

But how does PC A knows where PC B is anywere on the world wide web? Or does your app run to a server that connects and exchange that info to each other? That would be intresting not going trough complicated outside ISP adresses and port forwards.. But just a key into software and auto connect like Teamviewer does.

The Publisher app doesn't convert SDI to NDI – it receives SDI and NDI streams as inputs and makes them available for the Receiver app at a remote location.

The server only does the handshake – the streaming itself currently goes directly via P2P. I've been arguing with the team to use the TeamViewer analogy to explain how this thing works. They told me: no way, people will get the wrong idea (remote control, etc.). So, thanks for mentioning this.

Andrey, I'll shoot you an email on my thoughts on how I might find it helpful. Regarding hosting on my own server, I guess it might not be necessary... you describe the server as only doing the handshake... so if the actual transmission of frames is transmitter to receiver, without that data going through a central point, then I think my request is not necessary.

[/quote]Andrew, thanks for the feedback. We do make use of WebRTC.
How exactly would you arrange the remote guest scenario?[/quote]

I'd run it very similar to the way Richard 'worked' hack' to his studio in the ' demo' video.
Although we would prob use a web cam to ndi transmit or ndi scan converter at the remote end. To make it simple for the guest. Or prob. vmix or similar if we have someone at the remote end using ur app by giving 'them' the pairing code.

I'm also not too sure in referencing it to teamviewer? I can see your idea with that. but I too would be thinking can I remote the distant location.

A.

This is very cool! Good Work!

Guys, thanks for all your comments! Please keep us posted about new test results.

We've uploaded a new release, that has the TURN server enabled by default – it will be used if the peers can't establish a direct connection.

Please download: https://www.medialooks.com/ndi.

Andrey,

this is a fasntastic App that you've created!

You should check out:

http://www.srtalliance.org/

and join the SRT Alliance to make it even better. You can minimise your packet loss with that open source protocol.

Cheers

Robert

Robert, thanks for the suggestion! One downside is that it won't work in your browser out of the box. The other one is it looks more difficult in configuring the connection.

A new version of the app is now available:

– Blackmagic devices can now be properly selected for output in the Receiver app;
– fixed uninstall issue and stability issues.

A new version has been released. It's a portable version meaning it's just a ZIP archive which you can carry around on a flash drive and simply run whenever needed. We've improved stability and made some UI changes to improve the experience.

We've also explored the area of remote video production in a blog post – curious what you think.

Here's the download page.

We've posted our first case study – about how a production company used our transport to connect their studio in Switzerland with remote locations during two sports events.

It seems I haven't updated this thread for quite a while.

What's new:

– Twitch used Video Transport to produce an awards show;
– HLTV told us how they use VT to produce a virtual debate show about esports;
– Gamers are using it to create streams with two or more participants;
– A company from Brazil runs VT with bonding equipment to stream from the field.

Finally, Video Transport Server is on demo at NAB this week. We are at SL5616.

A couple of updates:

– An interview with Marc Cymontkowski, the architect of SRT.
– "Saint Petersburg” television deploys Video Transport Server.