e-VTR
Monday, 27 July 2009 01:00
EUREKA
TEDIAL integrates the e-VTR in the digitalizacion flow of Betacam files.
The history of analogue television is linked to video libraries with video tapes in different formats, as these were appearing on the market. Without a doubt, Betacam (SP, Digital, SX y MPEG IMX), introduced by Sony in 1982, is by far the most commonly used format in video tapes. An example of this is TVE archive, with more than 800.000 video hours in Betacam tapes.
One of the great advantages with Betacam is that it is designed to be compatible with the different existing variants, guaranteeing so the ability to read previous formats by the new format Betacam. So, VTRs MPEG IMX, introduced by Sony in 2001, are able to reproduce all previous Betacam formats. Besides, Sony introduced the concept e-VTR to facilitate IP transmission via a Gigabit connection of D10 MPEG-2 IMX files. One additional advantage of Betacam tapes in IMX format is that you can extract MPEG-2 material without the need of coding and at 2x speed.
TEDIAL, a leading company in content management, systems integration and the design of production flows in television, has integrated the e-VTR MSW-M2000P/BKMW-E3000 from Sony in the digitalization flow of video files in the different Betacam formats. The e-VTR is connected to the data network and controlled by an ingest agent from the Media Process Manager, making the use or need of stations or digitalization video-servers unnecessary.
The automation of the digitalization process of a video library requires considering the different cases that will appear: multi-clip tapes, multi-tape clip, tapes with colored bars and/or separating segments in black, tapes with discontinuous TC, etc. So, it is essential to establish a digitalization control process to extract the clips and catalogue them correctly in the data base of the video library.
Through the management system of production processes from Tedial, FICUS, the operators receive the digitalization orders. They will introduce the Betacam tapes into the e-VTR or the tape library Flexicart. The files generated by the e-VTR are directly transferred to the archiving (storage) system, managed by AST, which is the HSM distributed system from TEDIAL. In real time, MPM generates a proxy copy in H.264 format with AAC audio.
Using the Proxy copy, the operator defines the existing clips on the tape or creates a EDL of segments belonging to the same clip. All “cut and paste” operations created by the operator are automatically executed by MPM. IMX files are conformed according to the SMPTE-378M standard, the storyboard is generated, and the high quality MXF copy as well as the low quality H.264 are indexed to facilitate the partial recovery of the media. Lastly, all media files are ingested in TARSYS/AST, the content management system from TEDIAL.
The incorporation of e-VTR from Sony to the digitalization flow of video libraries with Betacam tapes represents an important simplification of the digitalization process, removing the need of automation systems and video-servers while reducing costs as well as the total execution process time.
About TEDIAL:
Tedial (Tecnologias Digitales Audiovisuales) is a European high technology company, based in Málaga in Spain, that specialises in asset management and process control in systems which include audio-visual content, including broadcast, institutional, healthcare and industry. It is a market leader in Spain and Latin American and is active globally in delivering innovative, complete and highly functional media and process management systems.