36 TVBEurope By David StewartThe Workflow
www.tvbeurope.com May2012
CTV estimates total cost of operation is reduced by 65% using integrated EVS platform
CTVand EVStread the red carpet Melanie Dayasena-Lowe takes a tour of CTV’s trucks and hears about EVS workflows used for the BAFTAs
CTV OUTSIDE Broadcasts, part of the Euro Media Group, opted for EVS technology for editing and playout of the BBC’s TV coverage of the 2012 BAFTAs in February. It’s not the first time that CTV has worked for BAFTA — it’s been working with the Academy since 1999. At previous BAFTAs, CTV used an EVS playback server, but it was used with a custom mix of tapes, disk machines and software tools from different providers, creating resource-heavy facilities, a higher chance of failure and extra operators to broadcast. So when EVS showed CTV and the BBC its vision of a tapeless, fully integrated broadcast service, there was only one option for the BAFTA Awards. Bill Morris, international
business director at CTV, has personally been involved with the BAFTAs for well over a decade and described this year as “a brave new excursion”. He explains the previous set-up: “Up until last year we ran a very bomb-proof system of multiple edits and dubbing content onto tape. Literally running tape into a transition suite and playing the show from tape. It is an extremely robust system. You’re live primetime BBC1 and there’s very little room for error. “One of the main problems for
the BAFTAs is we start recording the show in the auditorium and the show is still being recorded and acquired as we go to air. The show in the auditorium takes three hours to acquire and the broadcast show is two hours. So editorial decisions are having to be made to cut down the show while it is still being acquired as it goes to air.”
No breaks One of the unique challenges of the project is dealing with the absence of advertising breaks on the BBC. “These fast turnaround scenarios are not unusual for us but the BAFTAs is an acute operation. The BBC does not have commercial breaks. We love commercial breaks because no matter what’s going on you know you’ve got a three minute breather. “With the BBC there is
nowhere to hide at all. Once you’re on air, you’re on air for two hours. The material’s either going to run out or it is going to be fantastic but there’s no in-between. It’s live
Bill Morris: “Now that we’ve used IPEdit for the BAFTAs and everything worked and people liked it, we will use it again”
CTV facts and figures
n 30 trucks in the UK including nine full OB production units, VT/edit units, graphics units and support vehicles n 40 OB units on mainland Europe as part of Euro Media Group n Operates over 160 camera channels, 20 EVS decks and thousands of kilometres of cable n Every truck has a Calrec Audio desk n Technology includes RTS/Telex communications, Snell routing and Evertz multiviewers
IPDirector and XFile are used to shuttle content between the XT2 and the Final Cut Pros
TV and adrenaline flow like nothing else,” Morris says. CTV installed EVS’ XT video
production servers in its OB trucks, which were controlled by EVS’ IPDirector to manage the broadcast workflow. Using IPEdit live-editing as well, the CTV production team was able to gather all programme packages
Inside the truck: Sony live production switcher drives the EVS-based workflow
the moment before air. An additional XT server was used for recording and playing out clips directly from the theatre stage and red carpet, and the content was all streamed using Avid’s MediaComposer. CTV estimated that the total
cost of operations was reduced by 65% using the fully integrated
get rid of your linear edit suite and the whole concept of dubbing off tape for your transmission. You get rid of a raft of six-to- seven people in the process. You still have your Avid suite and still have a network of EVS. “They’re creating content
which becomes available on a network and that can then be
“We love commercial breaks because no matter what’s going on you know you’ve got a three minute breather. With the BBC there is nowhere to hide at all”
coming from the OB truck and post production and then drag and drop them into their timeline. The new workflow also
allowed the team to make quick adjustments such as clip replacements, small transition effects and cutting using the IPEdit timeline interface up until
EVS platform. They were also able to double the amount of material to cut down, providing easier control throughout the duration of the show. Using IPEdit this year resulted
in a different way of working, explains Morris. “It gets rid of a huge mass of equipment so you
of the project: “The entire team — from BBC1 to producers and technical crew — were delighted with the simplicity, flexibility and speed that IPDirector and IPEdit brought to the production. I simply cannot envisage any better way of getting a short delay programme to air while still being able to use the majority of the system’s post production editing tools — and at the same time keeping the quality high.” He adds: “As its name suggests, the ‘Edit While Playout’ feature was a godsend and meant the operators could edit and play out the footage instantaneously — crucial in fast turnaround television such as this.”
Busy portfolio As well as the BAFTAs, CTV’s trucks handle the European tour golf coverage for Sky, The Open Golf Championship for the BBC, The Brit Awards, Got to Dance and gameshows like The Million Pound Drop. Francis says: “We use EVS’
Bill Morris, CTV
added to a timeline on IPEdit. The beauty of it is you have a linear timeline so for the clients and creatives looking at the timelines they can see what they’ve done and what they are doing in terms of cutting down.” Paul Francis, CTV’s head of VTRs, comments on the success
products (XT2) to be on air. The Final Cut Pros produce content and the IPDirector and XFile are used to shuttle content between the XT2 and the Final Cut Pros. “One of the benefits of using EVS equipment is a server just doesn’t deal with one video feed, it can deal with six, if not eight, these days. Over the years this production has been honed down. We started with a bit too much, but were able to decrease the amount of facilities and blue boxes to make it more efficient. It really is down to using every available feature,” he remarks.
www.ctvob.co.uk www.evs.tv
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