TV Technology - January 7, 2009 - (Page 34)

BUYERS GUIDE USER REPORT Grass Valley Server Supports WTVI OPs by Tom Green Chief Engineer WTVI Television CHARLOTTE, N.C. t WTVI, we’ve been broadcasting in digital and high definition since 2002. As a public television station owned and supported by the people of Charlotte it’s always been our mission to help educate the community in the most efficient way, and DTV’s multicasting capabilities allow us to do that and a lot more. Each day, we transmit four standard-definition streams during daytime, and one HD and two SD channels between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. To manage this type of file-based play-out, we rely on video servers in a big way. They have to be reliable and reduce manual processes so the staff can focus on other parts of the operation. In mid-2005 we replaced some older servers with two Grass Valley K2 media server systems that included one HD A media client and two SD media clients (all with four-channel capability). These provide 700 hours of SD capacity or 300 hours of HD capacity of RAID-protected storage. This was a very easy upgrade from our older video server equipment and the Grass Valley K2s were very easy to interface with our automation system, which was key in keeping our play-out and record activities working. We simply schedule a program, place the file on the timeline, and the K2 server finds the clip and plays it. The best part about the Grass Valley K2 servers is that they allow us to operate play-out/record hands-free, so we don’t have to think about it. FULLY PROTECTED SERVICE AND RELIABILITY Tom Green With the play-out system that we have now, if something goes down we’re ready to jump to a backup server and keep on broadcasting. At any one time, we may need four servers for play-out to air, plus up to two more to record incoming feeds. That leaves us with two spare servers for redundancy. So, we could lose one client server and still maintain our on-air signal. In choosing the Grass Valley K2, we’ve deployed a server that can handle SD and HD content on the same timeline and one that performs automatic upconversion or downconversion via built-in encoders and processing boards that support multiple video/audio I/O as necessary. The K2 server provides this capability and more. We can set it up to change resolution and aspect ratios on the fly without having to touch anything. We can also use one of the HD servers for SD if necessary. We had a few interfacing issues early on, but Grass Valley was good about helping us fix them. Our relationship with Grass Valley has always been good and they continue to provide great service. With Grass Valley servers’ no-single-point-of-failure design, you can rely on them to be operational at all times. We didn’t have time to experiment with a server that’s not going to keep us on the air, even if it was less expensive. The fact that we have had very few problems tells you a lot about the reliability of the K2 servers. We couldn’t be happier with our decision to go with Grass Valley. Our viewers in the Charlotte market appreciate it as well. Tom Green has been with WTVI television for the past 20 years, and has served as chief engineer since 2003 He may be contacted at tgreen@wtvi.org For additional information, contact Thomson Grass Valley at 800-547-8949 or visit www.thomsongrassvalley.com. USER REPORT U of M Taps Avid for Tapeless by Ray Ekness Associate Professor and Chair Radio and Television Department University of Montana MISSOULA, MONT. hen the University of Montana’s School of Journalism moved to its new building in 2007, the radio and television department significantly upgraded their broadcast facilities. The goal was to build a tapeless, integrated workflow for broadcast majors so they could learn all aspects of newsroom management and news production using industry-standard tools. We wanted students to be able to sit down at one workstation and perform every possible task without having to move from room to room and system to system. The technology also had to be easy to use. W OBJECTIVES MET Avid had everything we needed. Its broadcast workflow can handle ingest, editing, newsroom management, graphics, and play-out from a single computer. But what really tied it all together was the Avid Unity ISIS shared-storage system, as it allows students to instantly share projects and media from any workstation. The storage capacity can also be quickly scaled up or down to accommodate the varying class schedules and sizes for our 150 broadcast majors. We have several areas networked to our ISIS system, including a newsroom, control room, classroom, editing suites and professors’ offices. Our newsroom has 27 iNEWS computers, many of which are also equipped with NewsCutter software, allowing students to write a script, log footage, edit it and then send it out from the same computer. Our control room contains the Deko Select on-air graphics systems and Thunder playout servers for on-air playback. We also have 15 Media Composer editing stations in classrooms and individual suites. We’ve found that the shared-storage concept really taps into the current learning style of today’s students— instant communication. The ISIS system lets them do everything—right now. They can sit down and edit, create graphics, do playback or closed captioning at one computer and immediately share their work with others. Ray Ekness monitors work of students enrolled in the radio and television program at the University of Montana. grade and critique students’ work. They can export a package to our video blog or put it in my folder for review. Alternatively, I can go directly into a student’s project to review a sequence and provide comments—all from the computer in my office. Everything our students create is aired, often on our local CBS, NBC and PBS affiliates, and we generate a lot of projects that must be safely stored. These include everything from short news segments to half-hour magazine shows and one-hour documentaries. So far, our 16 TB ISIS system has had no trouble accommodating all the projects and media that our students create each semester. The ISIS system has helped students work more creatively while learning the latest technology. It’s great preparation for the real world—and that’s our goal. Ray Ekness is an associate professor and chair of the Radio and Television department in the School of Journalism at the University of Montana. Prior to teaching full-time, he spent 20 years in the broadcast industry, working as a producer and director at commercial and public television stations in Montana and Idaho. He may be contacted at ray.ekness@ mso.umt.edu For additional information, contact Avid at 800-949-2843 or visit www.avid.com. The ISIS system also helps students learn how to work in teams, which is important, because broadcast television is a team effort. With the ISIS system, everyone can be working on the same footage at the same time: reporter, photographer, editor and producer. PROGRESS MONITORING From a teaching standpoint, the ISIS system makes it much easier to 34 January 7, 2009 • TV Technology • www.tvtechnology.com http://www.thomsongrassvalley.com http://www.avid.com http://www.tvtechnology.com

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TV Technology - January 7, 2009 NFL Enters a New Dimension Mobile DTV Looms Large in 2009 Contents A ‘Flexible Framework’ Doing More With Less ‘X’tra-Streamlined Finish Line in Sight for BAS Transition Ahead of the Relocation Curve DTV Transition Survival Guide ENG and the Lines of Communication DTV Transition Survival Guide Who Do We Really Work For? Obama to Expand Internet Access The Wizard Takes a Holiday The Solid-State Disk Revival To Light the Ear... or Not Hulu Gets It Right—the First Time User Reports—Video Servers & Recording/Controllers Reference Guide Product Showcase Classifieds Marketplace TV Tech Business

TV Technology - January 7, 2009

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