Indigo FAQ

Indigo Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is Indigo?
Indigo is a new addition to Grass Valley's professional AV product portfolio. It is an AV mixer – a new product category that uniquely combines the essential components needed for mixing a live presentation into a self-contained, easily affordable unit. Indigo combines features normally found in separate devices such as event controllers, production switchers, seamless switchers, and audio mixers in a single powerful control interface that is simple enough for a single operator while still providing the features and flexibility a seasoned switcher operator expects.

2. Why do we need an AV Mixer?
Simply stated, the benefits of Indigo are Three C²:

Connectivity and Conversion
Complexity and Control
Cost Containment

Improving Connectivity and Conversion
Unlike a studio environment, putting together an AV presentation means being able to rapidly adapt to whatever sources are provided. Whether it is the youth group's home video or the boss's last-minute PowerPoint, Indigo's synchronization and scaling capabilities bridge the gap between HD and SD, digital and analog, video and computer sources. Gone is the need for the 'Taco Carts' with dozens of different I/O boxes that convert and scale sources. The mixer's ability to simultaneously accept, mix and output both HD and SD signals also makes Indigo the perfect solution for facilities looking toward future HD upgrades.

Reducing Complexity and Increasing Control
Everyone wants the impressive production quality results of a high-end video switcher. Up until now it has required an expensive switcher and years of operator experience and training to achieve those effects. However, many of these mixers are needed in environments where the user may only have a few minutes of training before it's time to do the show. The Indigo mixer has solved this dilemma by providing easily accessible touch screen menus with built in effects and a clearly defined workflow to guide novice users through basic switching functions while continuing to offer all the flexibility and functionality expected by a veteran Grass Valley operator.

Assembling separate components to duplicate Indigo's functionality is both costly and complex. The more components involved in the process, the more complicated the overall system is to run, and the chance of errors increases tremendously. Indigo combines machine control of third party devices such as DDRs and VTRs into its E-MEM® presets for device coordination which normally requires additional operators and equipment. As an example, Indigo connects into Grass Valley's Turbo iDDR, using the on-screen menus of Indigo. Clips can then be recorded and arranged into playlists which are automatically started as soon as Indigo takes them to air.

Cost Containment
Indigo saves production costs in two ways. Its selling price is lower than any other equipment package with comparable features. In addition to the low initial investment that replaces racks of other equipment, Indigo's integration and automation allow control of a presentation with fewer operators, reducing ongoing operational costs.

3. Where does Indigo fit into my production workflow?
Indigo is specifically designed for live productions where a reduced production staff is preferred. Indigo's compact, intuitive design and wide range of interfaces make it perfect for conference centers, houses of worship, courtrooms, sports arenas and other situations which share information and entertainment with a large audience.

Indigo directly connects to your video cameras and decks along with any audio sources. Indigo's outputs can be connected directly to projectors, presentation displays, and sound systems or to other production equipment for redistribution.

From the user standpoint, Indigo can be operated by experienced users during live production in a traditional manner. However, Indigo supports a much more labor-friendly approach as well. Using a QuickStart workflow, an experienced user can set up a show and save those presets using USB storage then during the event a volunteer can load those settings and simply navigate the menu to run the show using the defined presets. Allowing volunteers to run the show frees the experienced operator for other tasks.

4. What is unique about Indigo and Turbo™ iDDR?
Indigo's control of Grass Valley's Turbo iDDR provides a powerful and complete show presentation system. Menus on Indigo's touch screen emulate those of Turbo to streamline setup, record, clip management and play back from Turbo. This functionality allows clip list settings to be saved in Indigo's memory, called up to preview with a few keystrokes and automatically run when taken to air.

5. Will Indigo continue to be useful as my production needs grow?
Yes. Indigo has future I/O expansion capability and multiple units can be linked single control panel.

6. Does Indigo handle seamless switching?
Indigo uses internal synchronization and scaling to seamlessly switch between each of its input formats, allowing mixing between computer, digital and analog sources for a truly integrated presentation. An external black burst reference may also be used.

7. What type of keying capability does Indigo have?
Indigo supports four keys - two SD keys and two high-resolution keys. The keys may be either chroma or luminance keys in addition to modifying source size and position.

8. How many transitions does Indigo have?
Indigo offers a full range of customizable effects that include over 100 wipes and preset 3D video effect patterns.

9. How are the audio inputs handled?
All inputs except for mic are stereo. The channels can be handled either as stereo or mono channels internally, so a mono channel can be assigned to a fader if desired. Indigo can be set up for eight stereo channels, seven stereo channels plus two mono channels, or six stereo channels plus four mono channels via the on-screen menu. Any six of the channels may be assigned to the faders. Similar to the video section, there are multiple audio connections, from which eight stereo channels can be selected for processing.

10. Can Indigo output digital audio?
Yes, Indigo can output the Main and Submix over AES/EBU through the DB25 connector which carries six stereo channel input and two stereo channel output. Indigo can also process embedded audio from SD-SDI sources.

Get Indigo AV Mixer

How to Buy

View the Datasheet (PDF)

Indigo in Action

Awards

Don't Need HD or Computer Graphics Support?
Indigo is also available without the HR module, so you can upgrade your Indigo unit to support high resolution video when you need to.
Indigo HR Board

Indigo High-Resolution Board

Works with Turbo Digital Disk Recorders

Turbo iDDR

Turbo iDDR sold separately.