Unlocking the power to amaze
Naturalis believes in the power of ‘verbazen’ to educate – meaning ‘amaze’ in Dutch. Whether online or in-person, or both, the production team seeks to tell stories about the natural world in the most fascinating ways possible.
“We were attracted by the flexibility of NDI in the Canon CR-N300 PTZ camera, which enables all the footage to be kept independently and sent anywhere in the venue network. It means I can show what I want, where I want – whether that’s on the screen for online viewers, or on the big TV here in the Lab,” says Ashwin van Grevenhof, head technician at Naturalis.
“This control protocol lets me tell more engaging stories for our audiences, wherever they are. Now I couldn’t imagine a world without it. It’s brilliant – picking up audio through NDI is so easy,” he adds. “The flexibility is ideal for me. I don’t have to worry about analogue signals failing. It reproduces the exact picture I want. So, it’s definitely a game-changer and the reason we took the rig apart and rebuilt it from the ground up with NDI in mind.”
Ashwin adds: “We also pan our four PTZs quickly from scene to scene, so the fast and accurate Hybrid Auto Focus is essential to maintain a professional shot even in low light.” To make life even easier for his colleagues, he enjoys automating image presets on the CR-N300 for whoever is behind the joystick. He also uses a Skaarhoj controller which connects seamlessly with a variety of PTZ cameras including Canon.