File Based Production workflows

Optimized file-based workflows for traditional and live broadcast productions

Nowadays effective file handling is essential given that almost every media organisation uses camera format-based files. At VP Media Solutions we have combined the technologies from our partners to deliver optimised solutions for a completely secure and automatic File Ingest Workflow.

 

Automatic file ingest saves huge amounts of financial, human and time resources 

We understand that it can be hard to keep up with the pace of technology in today’s digital era and recognise that many production studios and broadcasters must still rely on manual workflows. These old workflows can occupy editing stations day and night, putting a strain on financial, human and time resources. To solve this problem, we have developed our very own File Off-Loader that relieves editing stations from all these tedious and time-consuming tasks.

 

This solution provides a real ingest funnel which delivers files not only to the editing stations or editing storage but also to Production Asset Management (PAM) and archive libraries. Furthermore, during the off-loading process, transcoding and Quality Control checks can be performed on each of those files. Once the files are off-loaded they can be immediately edited, and a structured archive created. All files are also automatically secured. Following this process, there are two possibilities available for those files:

 

  • Transfer them to storage – either to LTO data tapes in a library or to an object storage.
  • Ingest them into your PAM system where they can be completely structured based on file naming, adjusting each file and generating catalogues based on episode and scene numbers, for example.

Live news, sports and events require a Fast Turnaround Workflow

For any live event, especially when it comes to breaking news, it’s vital that content can be broadcast on air quickly and made available for catch-up TV and VoD applications as fast as possible. The aim of this solution is, therefore, to optimise the ingest of audio-visual files in terms of volume and categorise them so that each piece of content is quick and easy to find and use.

 

A streamlined news workflow is where everything can happen in the background while the live feed is coming in. For example, when a live feed is broadcast, it’s recorded and during that recording – seconds after the first images are in, editing and live playout can happen simultaneously. The content can even be published on other feeds, such as Facebook Live and YouTube, at the same time.

 

Moreover, at VP Media Solutions we have the experience and expertise required to deliver a fast turnaround workflow on file ingest. So, even while files are being written on the storage, our technology can already start producing proxy versions of that content and using it for real productions.

 

Other file-based workflows that we can optimise include Video-on-Demand transcoding, as well as (cloud) playout systems.