Vista Studios is a turnkey broadcast facility with four production stages, four production control rooms and a technology core that offers conversion services, routing, camera records, editing, business office space as well as playout origination.

The studios’ core routing infrastructure is centred on SAM’s Sirius 850 multi-format router and integrated MV800 MultiViewer. Using MultiViewer output slots in the Sirius 800 router, the MV800 includes complete alarming and monitoring. It was also important for The Vista Studios to receive IP sources from outside the building using the IQ MIX cards to convert them to SDI for downstream processing and encapsulate back to IP if necessary.

SAM’s Kahuna 9600 production switcher was chosen to work in UHD and in HD. Each M/E outputs UHD as well as HD simultaneously. The Kahuna has both SDI and IP inputs and outputs ensuring any studio tenant can send IP or baseband signals to production control using their camera of choice and intended workflows.

For playout origination services, Vista Studios has standardized on SAM’s Morpheus automation and Momentum MAM technology to ingest, segment, and playout channels. The workflow can integrate with a network’s own traffic system or can be used with a manual playlist imported into Morpheus.

ICE Channel-in-a-Box was chosen from SAM to offer ingest, QC, and playout of a full network feed or segments with full branding capabilities for both domestic and international distribution.

Alchemist XF format and framerate conversion software is also part of the workflow.

Randall Heer, CEO at Vista Studios, commented, “It was important we build an environment with the latest in 4K technology and IP infrastructure, as well as the latest in workflow management capabilities. Working with some of the most demanding and innovative clients in the Los Angeles market means that you have to have technology that produces top-notch content at a moment’s notice. SAM’s flexible, integrated technology is exactly what we need to ensure that we produce the best content for our many clients.”

Russ Johnson, SVP of Americas at SAM, commented, “Randall Heer, Frank Gianotti and the rest of Vista Studios team are well known throughout the production world, and have a record of success in Los Angeles and beyond that speaks for itself. We look forward to seeing the end product of this partnership with them as they seek to continue to provide the LA production community with market leading services. Our technology meets Vista Studios’ wide range of production requirements to help keep up with the demands of their clients. SAM’s continued success and further expansion into the Los Angeles market is proof that our technology is in high demand, especially as video quality becomes a bigger and bigger priority for consumers.”