Using Media Archive 3.0, NBC Olympics ingested more than 4 000 hours of video in just 17 days. The solution included fully automated logging, using live results and scoring data feeds.
For the third time in a row, NBC Olympics, the US broadcaster of the Olympic Games, has used Blue Order`s Media Archive Enterprise Media Management platform to ingest, log and archive live video content during the Olympic Winter Games in Torino. Having successfully used a similar system supplied by Blue Order at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 and the Athens Summer Olympics in 2004, NBC Olympics used the brand new Media Archive 3.0 for its coverage of the Torino Winter Games.
New features in Media Archive 3.0, of which NBC took advantage, include:
* Media Archive SOAP API for real-time import of third-party manual logs.
* Automated sports data feeds supplied by Information and Display Systems (IDS) LLC.
* New Media Archive support for ingesting video with discontinuous time code, while still maintaining the correct association with all the live time-coded logging and results metadata.
According to David Mazza, SVP Engineering at NBC Olympics: "Using the Blue Order Media Archive 3.0 has been hugely successful.
"For the first time, NBC`s facility at the International Broadcast Centre migrated to an all HD infrastructure for recording incoming venue feeds. Blue Order has helped us manage this transition by enabling more of our producers to work on desktop PCs using proxy videos for making their content selection and rough edit decisions, and by automating parts of the logging process."
Matt Adams, Director of Technology at NBC Olympics, explains how Blue Order has, through Media Archive 3.0, provided the tools that enabled NBC to integrate it with their Cyradis Technology automation system, MOG Solutions MPEG4 encoders, their pre-existing OPIS logging database, and also the live results and scoring information provided by IDS.
"Media Archive makes the metadata created in those systems accessible via a single portal, facilitating real-time access to video content for NBC`s producers working anywhere on the NBS LAN during the Games. This has enabled us to support our colleagues at NBC News, working in a separate building in Torino, by giving them access to Media Archive for making their rough edits and then digitising and pushing only the high-resolution files they need."
New features added value
The insertion of live sports data supplied by IDS (for example, athletes` names, their positions in the competition and their scores) from the host`s Internet data feed directly into the media asset management (MAM) platform is a feature NBC Olympics has pioneered at Torino.
Craig Lau, VP Information Technology at NBC Olympics, explains: "We worked with MSP, IDS and Blue Order to have IDS feed live sports data directly into Media Archive, using Media Archive`s SOAP API. It works flawlessly, and the benefits are huge: with the statistical data being associated automatically with the timeline of the video, our loggers don`t have to re-enter it and our producers and journalists have instant access to the browse video and the sports data feeds, all presented side by side in Media Archive`s unique storyboard view. Having found what they are looking for, users can put together EDLs by dragging and dropping storyboard segments directly into an EDL."
Another purpose of the system is creating a library of Olympics content for re-use after the Games, adding to the footage recorded during previous Olympics Games. "We needed a MAM system which could handle both PAL and NTSC content in one system. Media Archive recognises the difference, but otherwise makes available the same functionality for both video standards, which is exactly what we need," says Adams.
Based on open standards, Blue Order`s Media Archive is a highly scalable, distributed Enterprise Media Management platform. At Torino, Media Archive 3.0 has tightly integrated with Cyradis` CTG-1000 VMS automation system, which controls the MOG Solutions MPEG-4 encoders, with IDS-provided results, and with NBC Olympics` legacy information system OPIS.
Rainer A Kellerhals, Executive Vice-president of Products and Solutions at Blue Order, summarises: "For us at Blue Order, this was another, exciting - and most awarding - project. Last year, NBC Olympics challenged us to take MAM to the next level for Torino 2006, and based on Media Archive 3.0, we have delivered. We expect to see more use of our technology for live sports events coverage in the near future."
Piet Dempsey, managing director of information asset management solution provider Knowledge Focus, South Africa`s master distributor of Blue Order, says: "As seen during the Torino Games, Media Archive can be adapted to the specific needs of the customer. Its capability of interfacing with legacy databases, cataloguing and editing systems makes it a perfect solution for the South African broadcast industry, which is rapidly moving into the digital age. With Media Archive, South African broadcasters will have access to world-class technology which will enable them to manage their media cost-effectively.
"Media Archive has recently been redeveloped with Microsoft`s .NET technology at its core. This will ensure scalability and integration to existing systems and protect broadcasters from being locked into proprietary solutions."
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