In association with


Composer on their laptops and combine their footage with content from another Interplay Sphere-connected location such as the newsroom, all via the cloud. “It almost obviates the need to have


editors back in the station,” says Alan Hoff, director of media enterprise segment marketing at Avid. “I can go direct to air with content generated by my journalists in the fi eld. It’s a big leap forward in terms of productivity.” On release in September, Sphere


can be implemented on the public cloud but is more likely to be used pri- vately. A SaaS option for Sphere is cur- rently a “consideration”, says Hoff.


Accurate editing Quantel is also buying into the cloud with QTube, an innovation that offers frame-accurate editing and the ability to combine new material with preloaded content away from the newsroom. Again it uses private networks, but


that trend may change, suggests mar- keting director Steve Owen, who dem- onstrated QTube working in the public cloud at IBC 2011. “There was a great deal of caution about that idea. It was too early. Yet by NAB this year, we had the same conversations and the pre- vailing wind had changed. I think we will get to a stage where broadcasters are prepared, under the right circum- stances, to use public networks.” QTube is more than just an editing


tool. It is a workfl ow innovation that links news bureaux. And if you’re going to connect bureaux using the cloud, you’re probably going to need to use media asset management.


Aframe: cloud- based video production system


“A phone directory that knows what


content is where, and where the most appropriate version is, needs to be thought about,” says Owen, describing what is needed as “like a web-based content delivery network”. Quantel is developing a solution to


that called RevolutionQ. Other manu- facturers have their own ideas. The latest MAM system from Dalet – Galaxy – can be installed on the cloud, but even Dalet director of marketing Raoul Cospen acknowledges issues with bandwidth, security and, crucially, cost. “The price is completely ridiculous,”


he says. “100TB of cloud storage costs the same amount per year as buying your own powerful storage system.


MEDIA AMIGO FRIENDS IN THE CLOUD


The UK may not yet be mad about the cloud, but there are early adopters around Europe. NORDIF3, a consor- tium of Scandinavian broadcasters, has signed a deal to imple- ment Tedial’s Media Amigo cloud exchange platform. The private, cloud-based


service will allow the fi ve national broadcasters – NRK (Norway), Danmarks Radio, Finland’s Yleisradio, RUV from Iceland and Sweden’s SVT – to share content, without the need for all parties to buy and operate their own technology. “They wanted a solution that would


enable them to contribute content to a shared storage facility and then to download and use programmes from


www.broadcastnow.co.uk


others in the group,” says Tedial sales and marketing director Rafael Dubois. “They wanted this functionality with- out the burden of having to run it by themselves. Media Amigo is designed to manage such a scenario and, importantly, it can be a core component for future cloud requirements.” Using Tedial’sTarsys MAM and HSM (Hierarchical Storage


Management) systems, each broad- caster will be given a local gateway for uploading and downloading material, with browse, search, edit and review capabilities available via the web. NRK will host the Media Amigo installation, which is due for comple- tion by August.


That is why it is not usable so far. The cloud is for archiving, indexing, cata- loguing and content monetisation.” Cospen points to French broadcaster


‘I have no doubt that the cloud is the future. It offers effi ciencies and allows content creators to add value to


Canal+, which has its archive in the private cloud using Dalet. “It rents the storage space on a monthly basis and, as the archive grows, it pays more,” he explains. “Proxy fi les are stored locally but high-res versions are in the cloud. It is a mix between cloud and its own infrastructure. This, to start with, is the way it will work for news.” Also of interest in this area is Aframe,


the private cloud-based video collabora- tion platform. Its chief executive, David Peto, argues that the cloud could solve major problems for news providers. “Speed of upload is still the main


their content’ Steve Owen, Quantel


barrier, which is why satellite continues to dominate,” he says. “But a change is needed in news production. Satellite trucks are expensive and not reliable in inclement weather. Emerging camera technologies, where proxies can auto- matically be sent to the cloud and later relinked with the hi-res, may have an important impact on the workfl ow.” While using the cloud for news pro-


duction is still at an embryonic stage, it clearly has huge potential. “I have no doubt that the cloud is the future,” con- cludes Owen. “It offers effi ciencies and allows content creators to add value to their content. In a world where news organisations are competing with social networks, the key differentiator is to add intelligence, to combine content from different locations and sources, and to give the viewer more context, value and understanding. The cloud can help them do that.”


6 July 2012 | Broadcast | 7


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