| Alan Pimm, Sales Director ATG Broadcast | | BFBS Television provides the 'Best of British Television' to the Armed Forces wherever they are around the world.
In 2004, ATG Broadcast was awarded the contract to digitise BFBS TV's entire production and transmission facility. The objective was to move from tape-based to file-based acquisition and editing, playing to air both television channels - BFBS1 and BFBS2 - straight from hard-disk server. The contract with ATG Broadcast included the complete refurbishment of the television infrastructure at SSVC's headquarters.
SSVC's requirement, expressed by its Director of Technology, Simon Shute, was a system that fully addressed the network's workflow without introducing any system bottlenecks. Systems that required file-flattening following editing could not cope with the quick turnround needed for many programmes.
Ingest
The new system enables programmes to be ingested off-air or via line feeds into two Quantel sQ servers under IBIS automation, controlled via record lists from a Provys scheduling system. 30 Mbit/s I-frame-only MPEG-2 files and 1.5 Mbit/s proxies are created in parallel.
The recorded clips are reviewed using IBIS Vistapoint, topped and tailed using Quantel Q-Cut. Any original channel continuity such as voiceovers or end credit squeezes are marked as 'points-of-interest'. Clips ready for transmission are then transferred to mirrored Quantel sQ playout servers or, if not required in the next few days, to the near-line tape store. An active xml interface enables IBIS to update Provys with frame accurate in & out points together with points of interest metadata - frame accurate TX schedules can then easily be generated in Provys, and downloaded into IBIS ready for automated transmission.
Near Line Storage
A 120 terabyte ADIC Scalar 2K Archive Library controlled by SGL's Flashnet Hierarchical Storage Manager allows files to be saved either as a manual process or according to archive rules set within Flashnet. A Microsoft SQL database drives a scalable cluster of servers, transferring data into and out of the archive at high speed. Each server runs identical software, which means each can perform any task, and each is connected via a switch to every archive device so that the archive always operates at maximum capacity. If content is not required within seven days, it is transferred from the servers to the ADIC data tape system. From the operators' viewpoint, the server and tape stores work seamlessly except that file transfer from the ADIC is around four times faster than real time, compared with practically instant access to server-based content.
Editing
SSVC required the ability to edit ingested programmes, allowing advertisements to be removed and the beginning and end to be tailored into BFBS-specific schedules. Being a public service wholly funded via the MOD, SSVC does not carry advertising so closes the gaps or inserts with promotional and informational interstitial material. Start-and end-credit promotions within incoming content used to be handled by tape editing but are now processed live in the presentation suite with a Miranda PresStation. This allows staff to check and rehearse the end-credit masks which have timecode-driven points-of-interest, for example to fade the sound or shrink the picture and display a caption. The operators insert the points-of-interest before publishing the programme back to the server. PresStation is based on traditional master control design. All functions requiring instant action have dedicated keys. Set-up and monitoring controls are presented by colour displays which provide monitoring of the core master control switcher functions from a single screen. Each panel area has an associated key which instantly presents the information relevant to that function on screen.
The Quantel system also allows BFBS to start transmitting a programme before ingest has completed. It includes seven Quantel QCut workstations, three of these being used in preparing material for BFBS Reports. The other QCuts are employed in preparing trails and promotional content.
Three Quantel QEdit Pro edit seats are used for finishing material ready for transmission. Quantel's Frame Magic technology enables files to be streamed at very high speed between servers using IBIS intelligent workflow methodologies. Provys schedules are downloaded into IBIS Landscape for transmission, with IBIS controlling template recall on the Miranda PresMaster presentation mixer to replace original channel branding. Desks and equipment storage pods are by Custom Consoles.
Summary
The new installation at SSVC is a true end-to-end digital system. It will greatly improved the network's efficiency by enabling content to be acquired and processed much more quickly than before, and has allowed file-based content distribution to greatly reduce manual movement of tapes within and beyond the network's headquarters.
|
| | Download here  (800 KB) | |
| |
|
|
