Put simply a Tricaster is a TV studio in a computer designed and built by Newtek. If used properly it has the power to transform your basic video conferencing event into an all singing and all dancing, high quality broadcast event.. Combining a Tricaster into what would otherwise be a standard v/c event enables you incorporate things like, seamless switching between presentation images, video and third party video feeds. Use the Tricaster with a professional audio mixing desk, high quality cameras and microphones and the viewer at the other end would be hard pressed to tell the difference between what you are producing and what they see on TV.
Most cultural institutions would need either the Tricaster 460 or the Tricaster Mini. These would allow you to mix up to 4 digital/analogue camera sources, 2 laptops, and mix video or audio directly from the Tricaster. The Tricaster will allow you to mix, record & stream your v/c events via the web or via traditions H.323 equipment.
But why hear if from me ? Take a listen to the people that use it for real.
Stephen Bancroft is an an Electrical Engineer and Computing expert, he has over twenty years experience with internet based technologies and has worked extensively with live sound and broadcast. He is currently writing technical articles exclusively for VEA.
Thanks Stephen, we’ve been finding these tech posts very useful.
Are you able to elaborate on how, for instance, a TriCaster Mini might connect to a Polycom room system? Does the effects processing of the TriCaster introduce added delay/latency to VCs?
The connection from the Tricaster to the Polycom room system can be done via the second input on the 7000HD, 8000 or 9000 series units. This connection will be either an analogue 720p or digital 1080p depending on your set up and equipment you have available. The Tricaster is designed to be a near-zero latency (realtime) system, personally I have never noticed and delay when using one.