Intinor Direkt Link encoder – our encoder of choice for mission critical live streaming.

What live-streaming do we do?

When I started Spellbinder my vision for the company was to create a brand and ethos that would use only the best tools available for delivering spellbinding content. During the pandemic, like many others, we started delivering more live-streamed and remotely produced content. So how do we stand out in this crowded marketplace? It’s a difficult task. It seems that today in 2022, there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of VMix specialists. Everyone has jumped on the bandwagon of remote and hybrid production. I like to think that we were ahead of the curve in that respect.

Right at the start of April 2020, as the world went into lockdown, we purchased a Tricaster Mini video system and started to experiment with Newtek’s NDI protocol. We experimented with sending autocue, camera feeds and more around our network and also via the public internet. Fast forward two years and we now have a full ‘flypack’ style PPU that can run at least 8 cameras and have produced content for brands such as Amazon Music, Google, Pearson Education, and Universal Music. This content has been broadcast on platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, Twitch, Teams Live, and Moment House. For all of these productions, we’ve run our iNTINOR Direkt Link encoder. Some have also used Heimdall’s bonding capability.

Why do we use Intinor?

We are honest, open and transparent with our clients. Beyond being easy and fun to work with one of the ways we stand out from the crowd is by investing in the best equipment available. I recognised early on the importance of having a truly secure and bulletproof encoding solution. In the world of live streaming to the internet the most critical part of your signal path may indeed be the job that’s done by your encoder. Especially, when working with high profile brands, these streams really are mission critical. There is little or no margin for error. What really drew us to iNTINOR was the flexibility of the product. The single rack unit form factor is appealing and essentially you get a 1RU Linux machine that runs the iNTINOR software. Since it is software based we can add further encoders and functionality to the system when the need arises.

I plumbed for x2 NDI input and x2 SDI inputs on the machine. This gives us the possibility of sending NDI video from anywhere to anywhere. Future upgrades and great support (thanks Martin from iNTINOR!) along with recommendations from respected industry colleagues (thanks to the incredible Jon Pratchett) and some impressive use cases helped in the final decision to invest. For mission critical work we generally use SDI from whatever vision mixer the production is running into the SDI 1 port on the encoder. We use the loop out to a router for further video distribution. We also have a clean switch in our rack to allow for patching an additional backup vision system – something that is very easy to implement in an NDI workflow.

An encoder is not just an encoder!

For many productions, we partner with other agencies and production companies. When the iNTINOR and our rack are on a production, it’s a given that it will be handling the encode. This can be either bonded or direct to the CDN (content delivery network) of choice. The translation of motion is something that is important with the music content we work on. Since we are often using handheld cameras but also gimbals in highly dynamic lighting situations. With a less capable encoder this could result in artifacts in the encoded image. Not so with the Direkt Link.

With our mission critical work we need to have a solution that is totally dependable. One that helps us sleep better at night, safe in the knowledge that we have the right tools for the job. With the Direkt Link encoder we truly have that and more. We know that it can handle long periods of activity as a breeze. A great example of this would be an 11 hour livestream we encoded for Spiritland Productions from Printworks London back in December 2021. It is almost set and forget with the Direkt Link. It just works. Our clients often don’t need to or want to know what we are using but I think it’s important for them to appreciate our confidence in the solutions we have taken a great deal of time to research, implement, and test. Then deploy in what can be highly stressful situations. I know that we will be continuing the great relationship we have already established with iNTINOR and am very much looking forward to delivering big on future productions as we continue to spellbind the audience.