IT For AVs^® In person

The openness and compatibility of IEEE Ethernet is often propagated, but in practice this healthy world of compatibility quickly reaches its limits. Limits, which the participant of the seminar learns as well as to build functional solutions for mixed production networks. Various trades are to be separated via VLANs and transported via common and redundant backbone lines in various topologies. The choice of the right cables plays a special role in the rough everyday life of the event industry, the differences between copper and optical fibers and their construction forms are extensively discussed.

The participants understand why there are drastic performance differences in cables and why network cables are basically always partially defective, but this is no problem thanks to merciless over-dimensioning to securely transmit the required bandwidths. To increase the bandwidth between the different network positions, link aggregation groups are set up and data of varying importance is prioritized using Quality of Service. Typical bandwidths of audio, light and video signals are discussed in an IP world as well as an outlook on the changing requirements with SDVoE (Software Defined Video over IP). You will learn about different protocols such as TCP and UDP as well as the different data transmission types unicast, multicast and broadcast and understand the role of IGMP or ACL filters in multicast networks.

The three-day IT basic part, which is suitable for audio-light and video technicians alike, is rounded off with the presentation of useful tools for network practice. In addition, the selection process of suitable switches is discussed and supplemented with valuable practical tips for configuration and documentation, because at the end of the day it is not enough to understand the technology and to have created a working setup for yourself. On productions, colleagues must also be able to understand what they are currently finding in order to ensure safe commissioning and fault identification.

In practical presentations, the participants will see how technical functions such as RSTP, VLANs, LAG, QoS, IGMP and Co. are applied in the web interface of switches. On the third day, the participants apply their acquired knowledge themselves. You design and configure a Layer-3 switch (Cisco CBS350) for the mixed operation of Dante audio, Art-Net lighting and production networks and learn to understand a switch using a web interface and to keep the focus in complex menu structures. With practical exercises on the devices, dual redundant networks are put into operation, errors are searched for and provoked in order to get to know their effects.

In addition to the planning of bandwidths, the Network Monitoring is also a separate topic block to which the final on the third day is dedicated. The participants learn how SNMP works and how to use it in practice using PRTG software. The live monitoring of the IT status of switches, ports, cable redundancies and bandwidth monitoring is comprehensibly developed from the ground up in PRTG. The participant is then able to set up his own PRTG maps for visualized monitoring of the event IT.

In order to transport production-relevant media signals over shared Ethernet networks, the most important hardware and software tools are shown, which are useful for time-critical success in error or status analysis. In order to make purchase or deployment decisions of switches, the different requirements of media networks are conveyed, and an overview of the different switch device classes is given. Reconciling the requirements with budgeting and conception is also a part of the seminar.

The theoretically conveyed content is always supplemented by practical presentations by the trainers. ‘what's happening there’ a ‘How to do this’ set aside. However, the participants also apply their acquired knowledge in practice. For this purpose, Cisco CBS350 switches are provided, which are configured by the participants. This transforms the theoretical knowledge directly into practical skills and, through experience, acquires probably the most important building block in one's own portfolio, IT competence!

Participants design and configure a Layer-3 switch for mixed operation of Dante Audio, Art-Net lighting and production networks. You will learn to understand a switch by means of a web interface and to keep the focus in complex menu structures. With practical exercises on the devices, dual redundant networks are put into operation, errors are searched for and provoked in order to get to know their effects.

The many valuable practical tips for configuration are supplemented by the topic of documentation, because at the end of the day it is not enough to understand the technology and to have created a working setup for yourself. On productions, colleagues must also be able to understand what they are currently finding in order to ensure safe commissioning and fault identification.

In addition to planning bandwidths, network monitoring is also a separate topic block. The participants learn how SNMP works and how to use it in practice using PRTG software. The live monitoring of the IT status of switches, ports, cable redundancies and bandwidth monitoring is comprehensibly developed from the ground up in PRTG. The participant is then able to set up his own PRTG maps for visualized monitoring of the event IT. In the final, the three-day basic course, participants will learn a quick introduction to the topic of network monitoring with PRTG.

A functioning media network is the prerequisite for a successful live production. But what is actually transported under the hood? Who do I share the network with? What requirements do my colleagues from other trades have and what key facts should I know about them? Answers to these questions will be discussed in detail in the seminar.

The focus is on the practical relevance for all seminar participants. The real-time protocols of lighting technology include an overview of Art-Net, sACN and ACN, a further training for lighting operators and illuminators with a focus on ‘DMX over Ethernet’ is an optional module and not part of this training day.

With the audio protocols Dante, Ravenna, AES67 and AVB/TSN are at a glance and are supplemented by the most important key facts about Dante, AVB, TSN and Milan. A user training for sound engineers is an optional module and, as with light, not part of this training day. The local video protocols are SDVoE, SMPTE2010 and NDI at a glance and also do not have the claim to meet a comprehensive user training. Almost all real-time protocols must establish a synchronization of the media network. The function of the underlying IEEE1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTPv1/PTPv2) is taught to the seminar participants.

The global coronavirus pandemic 2020 was an evolutionary accelerator for digital and hybrid events. What IT technology has enabled for the local transport of media networks to physical events over the past 10 years is comparable to what now enables live streaming for scaling the number of attendees of each event. Internet streaming, like local IT, is not a trend that disappears again, but is now part of the daily work of event technicians and media professionals.

The seminar participants get to know the necessary basics and terms. This includes the IPv6 based Internet access with the pitfalls of network expansion status, as well as the necessary access to existing routers or firewalls. The signal flow from the local event technology direction to the spectator is also part of the training. For this purpose, the participants get to know the Egress data protocols RTMP and SRT as well as the delivery protocols HLS and MPEG DASH at a glance.

In addition, it is taught what role a CDN plays and which cost factors must be taken into account when negotiating prices with customers and suppliers. The topic block is rounded off by an explanation of the terms encoding, decoding, data compression, containers, recoding and transcoding.

This seminar day is trade-specific. The topic of Audio over IP with Dante is fully illuminated and distinguished from other protocols such as AVB and AES67. The topics taught in the basics such as redundancies, topologies, link aggregation groups and RSTP are transferred into practice, because an efficient utilization of multi-fibre fiber optic cables must also be observed.

One feature of Dante networks is the sample-accurate and phase-synchronous transmission of audio data, provided that the user has selected the correct latency values. How this relates to existing network sizes, where the boundaries are and how to mix different latency values in complex systems, the participant learns as well as the effects of wrongly chosen sizes.

Another central point is the synchronization or transmission of clocking in the network using the PTP protocol. For this purpose, the principle behind PTP is first taught, and then the qualitative differences with regard to absolute jitter sizes in PTPv1 and PTPv2 are compared and compared with reference variables and hearing thresholds. How a Dante network synchronizes itself or how the user integrates external clock sources is also discussed here.

Dante audio data can be transmitted via unicast or multicast. Where the differences are and what limits ‘multi’ unicast connections have is explained by illustrative examples from practice.
In a practical workshop, the theoretical knowledge learned is applied live in practice on the devices under professional guidance.

This seminar day is trade-specific. The topic of Art-Net and MA-Net is fully illuminated and distinguished from other protocols such as sACN and ACN. The topics taught in the basics such as redundancies, topologies, link aggregation groups and RSTP are transferred into practice, because an efficient utilization of multi-fiber fiber optic cables must also be observed.

How to identify and prioritize the different protocols with Quality of Service is discussed as well as the impact of network sizes on latencies and possible session limits. It is discussed which protocols, or parts of them, are transmitted by unicast, multicast or broadcast. Participants will learn where the differences are and what problems with multicast or broadcast connections occur when switches are inadequately configured and how to do it correctly.

In addition, topologies in practice, possibilities for redundancy and fall-back strategies are discussed. In a practical workshop, the theoretical knowledge learned is applied live in practice on the devices under professional guidance.