automation & asset management feature
architectures is of course a vital step. have spoken VDCP (developed as part
Ingest once - at the highest resolution of the ADC programme) for well over
you are going to need - and a decade now. To this we have now
transcode and trans-wrap content to added IP control of external devices.
meet all your delivery standards. At New standards are coming along like
this level, signal processing is BXF, which is now widely adopted as
relatively inexpensive: an initial the link between commercial and
implementation cost, but the creation technical applications.
of different output formats is largely While file-based content does not
automatic and therefore very low in look to be effecting a consensus on
operational expenditure. standards any time soon, we have all
It is at this point that we get to the got used to working with the various
real advance in automation that we flavours of Quicktime, MXF and many
are seeing at the moment. Our others. Good system design will
customers are now looking to link all around Harris D-Series automation,
The new
minimise the transcoding and trans-
of the steps in the content chain into Invenio asset management and Vision
presentation and
wrapping issue, ensuring that it does
a single process flow. scheduling. In this case, Harris also
master control
suite at Abu Dhabi
not become a bottleneck. Managing
Ingest, quality control and provides all network operations as a Media Company. the workflow at enterprise level -
compliance checking, editing and managed service to Sezmi.
(Photo courtesy of
defining outcomes not tasks - means
Dick Hobbs and
promos, asset management and Perhaps most important, the
Abu Dhabi Media
that this is transparent to the user.
archiving, transcoding and trans- integration of automation, asset Company). Automation and asset management
wrapping, traffic and scheduling, management and planning tools are central to the core business of
multichannel and multiplatform means that operations can now be broadcasters, so it is right that they
playout, online publishing, established from the commercial should be a central part of the
preventative maintenance and level, not the technical operations enterprise management, tightly
upgrades: all are central to the level. A channel manager, for integrated with business systems
broadcaster’s business, and example, could acquire the rights to a including scheduling, sales and
increasingly they are seeking to series and create an outline database corporate operations. Making all this
control them through content entry so that when the content itself happen requires a market
Broadcasters
workflow management. arrives on an IP delivery circuit, it is understanding to develop tailored
have to use
Abu Dhabi Media Company, for accepted, checked and stored. solutions, the products and open
example, has established a long-term The same channel manager could
technology
interfaces to make the solution work,
vision for enterprise level workflows. issue a budget for promoting the
to increase
and the strength and stability to serve
In 2008, it expanded its existing Harris series. This would result in a work
the level of
broadcasters looking to develop their
ADC automation by incorporating order appearing on screen in an edit own vision of the future.
automation
Harris Invenio digital asset suite with the clips already loaded in Done well, an integrated workflow
all the way
management into the content ingest, bins, along with instructions on what brings not only the widely accepted
through
preparation and playout workflow. It trailers are required and how long to benefits of automation - cost savings,
also added Harris Broadcast Master spend making them.
their content
reduced errors and more rapidly
traffic and scheduling software. In today’s highly commercial
chain, and to
scalable systems - but also the ability
Together, these solutions support a environment, if an opportunity for a manage all to take a commercial view of the
collaborative approach to creating, new channel or service arises, then technical processes. Broadcasters can
their
producing and repurposing media the pressure is for it to be on air as now manage their operations in terms
processes.
assets across the organisation. quickly as possible - certainly within of the outcomes they require, not the
Another important trend we see weeks. There simply is no time for the hardware they need to achieve them,
today is the requirement to bring traditional broadcast cycle of system making them much more agile in
disparate facilities into one. This design, equipment evaluation, install, responding to market forces with new
allows broadcasters to tackle both the test and hand over. Simple modular and adapted services. The ultimate
multichannel and the multiplatform scalability is vital, taking advantage of result: the ability to generate valuable
issues in a coherent and highly one of the core strengths of the file- The Sezmi network new streams of revenue from existing
efficient manner. As they add based system: that content re-
operations centre,
content to deliver real profit to their
designed and
significant numbers of channels and purposing can be achieved for little or
managed by Harris.
bottom line.
services, they can also bring these no additional cost.
new channels together in one In this context, we regard ourselves
physical centre, using central casting. as systems architects, working with
In the US, Sezmi is bringing a the customer to develop a detailed
completely new approach to understanding of their business and
managing and delivering content: operational needs, and assembling
although it does have linear channels, the best technology - from Harris and
the bulk of its audience will receive from other suppliers - to fulfil those
its programming via automated needs. In most cases, this will also
downloads to the set-top box over IP involve the integration with and
networks and satellite. This allows migration of legacy systems to
Sezmi to target both content and achieve a seamless transition without
advertising to the individual excessive capital investment.
consumer. The installation is a Widely supported standards are
complete integrated solution built critical here. Automation and servers
www.ibeweb.com l march/april 2009 l ibe l 19
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48