Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 10, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
For live coverage of the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, Bayerischer Rundfunk commissioned WIGE MEDIA AG to plan and implement a broadcast production environment for the IBC, the International Broadcast Center, in Vienna. Its project partner was systems integrator Wellen+Nöthen, which planned, configured and commissioned the system to the customer’s specific requirements. Cologne rental company HDinside supplied the extensive rental equipment.
Based on its long-standing positive experience with Avid and EVS systems, Bayerischer Rundfunk selected a tapeless production environment. The complete system was built around products from both manufacturers. It incorporated a custom playout solution designed by WIGE MEDIA AG to manage and control playback of all ingested and edited clips.
A scheduling application called Downloader was developed for ingest and playout operations. Its calendar-like interface provides direct, planned access to the nine ingest channels of the three EVS systems. One application therefore controls ingest across all machines. Finished packages are likewise scheduled through a central Uploader application, which accesses the clips and all nine playout channels of the EVS systems from a single workstation.
A team of specialists from WIGE MEDIA AG and Wellen+Nöthen GmbH began final system setup at the IBC in Vienna in mid-May.
Live matches from every venue are processed there. During the championship, up to nine feeds are recorded in real time across three EVS XT2 systems and streamed directly through Avid Transfer Engines to a Unity ISIS system, short for Infinitely Scalable Intelligent Storage. The overarching Avid Interplay asset-management system gives eleven editorial workstations nearly immediate access to incoming material.
Editorial work takes place on Interplay Assist workstations, providing real-time access to streamed material. Additional metadata, including information about goals or referee decisions, can be added as required.
Postproduction staff can immediately access material that has already been reviewed and clipped, accelerating research and editing. Assist can also be used for a rough cut by assembling individual segments. These shot lists are then available to editors as the basis for postproduction. Edited material is named according to a common convention and placed in the appropriate server folders, keeping available material organised.
Audio is handled on a Digidesign Pro Tools|HD system that can also access Avid Unity ISIS directly. Final editing is performed on Avid Media Composer systems. Production uses the IMX standard throughout at 50 Mbit/s. A Send to Playback command transfers the finished package to EVS for transmission.
Redundant power and backup systems are intended to maximise production reliability.
“Broadcast production environments for live coverage require the closest possible approach to 100 percent availability under all conditions.
As part of a comprehensive disaster-recovery plan, additional redundancy was introduced to maintain uninterrupted transmission. Redundant ISIS and Interplay components include System Director, the Interplay cluster, Media Indexer and Cisco switches. Two separate power supplies and UPS systems also protect the installation from power fluctuations. At the same time, the system has enough performance for editorial staff to access clips at the original IMX50 resolution,” explained Thomas Jocksch, the technical project manager at Wellen+Nöthen.
“For us, this project is another step toward establishing fully tapeless workflows for outside broadcasts and temporary flight-case production environments. The technology available today, together with the expertise we have built over almost three years in this field, allows us to respond flexibly to each production’s requirements. In this case, for example, we were able to implement a custom ingest and playout solution tailored precisely to the production,” said Tobias Vees, Executive Vice President of Technology & Development at WIGE MEDIA AG and overall project manager.
Bayerischer Rundfunk conducted preliminary acceptance and initial basic training in Cologne in mid-May. During commissioning and test runs in Vienna, the Avid Interplay database structure was adapted to operational requirements. Further intensive training prepared editors and archivists for the workflow. A WIGE MEDIA and Wellen+Nöthen service team supported installation in advance and remained on site throughout the championship.
