feature automation & asset management
Hard disk storage is getting more cost effective by the day, which is
good news since it appears that, because broadcast manufacturers
Feature sponsored
want to be seen creating IT-based or ‘tapeless’ workflows, they
by Harris
have really created more and more ways of making more and
more files. Then they have made an industry out of helping to
organise these files in order to make broadcasters think they have
the best automated systems. Some enlightened people have
struggled in vain on standards committees to try to create common
formats, but frequently it is the workflow that is at fault as much as
the file formats, and this is often because the workflow is created
to suit a product, not a product created to suit a workflow.
Mark Errington, chief executive officer of OASYS, reports.
Files, files, files.
Or just files?
I
attend many conferences and power, not really helping with controls must ensure that the processes
exhibitions, and talk to people efficiency or indeed climate change are synchronised up to 60 times a
regularly about workflow. One objectives. However, accepting the second. However, as far as workflow
thing that emerges time and transition to IT-based broadcast goes, I believe that the entire broadcast
again is that the industry still has workflows is not only inevitable, it is chain can be summed up in four major
no single and understandable business critical, the move away from areas, and although there is some
definition for some of the key modern a broadcast engineering mentality to a overlap between each area, I think I
workflow technologies. What is ‘media hybrid broadcast/communications/ can place each modern operation in
asset management’ to one is ‘file networking mentality is the only way one of the four workflow areas:
management’ to another, what is to accommodate all of the aspects of • Make: this covers acquisition and
‘workflow management’ to one is the ‘always on’ generation of media editing.
‘transcoding’ to another, and what is consumers. • Manage: this covers asset and file
MXF to one may as well be XFM to So, what about the workflow, and management including scheduling,
another, given the breadth of most OASYS has created why all the files? It makes sense to rights management and planning.
modern standards.
a combined
have different file formats for different • Play: this covers linear and non linear
automation and
So what has this led to? Files for the
playout device
platforms - linear, on-demand, web playing of finished material.
sake of files. Larger and more complex
which is a PC with a
and mobile - but it does not make • Record: this covers compliance and
systems in larger and larger rack rooms
Matrox A/V board,
really a ‘super
sense to have multiple formats for logging.
drawing larger and larger amounts of video server’. each platform. Quotes like ‘in the So in an ideal workflow, at the
playout format they need’ should not acquisition stage cameras make digital
refer to the make and model of video files that are easily annotated with
server, but should refer to the platform metadata and simply transferrable to
function - but we can come back to downstream systems. Ingest systems
that later in the article. can take the files or other digital
Workflow needs to encapsulate all of media, simultaneously making
the processes involved from capturing multiple files for each different
and creating content, to distribution playout platform, and performing
and monetisation. There are so many quality control. Asset management
points of decision-making in a systems index and enrich the media
broadcast production chain that with information for fast search and
automating the processes can be retrieval, as well as the creation of
mind-boggling in complexity. Taking new versions of the material. Editing
just a view of frame accuracy, the systems automatically compile the
28 l ibe l january/february 2010 l www.ibeweb.com
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