The once well-defined lines separating video production from post-production have blurred, creating a situation in which tools central to successful live production are being integrated with technology more often associated with the post realm.
As a result, technical directors, editors, graphics specialists, replay operators and others are seeking solutions that more tightly integrate technologies to meet their real-world workflow demands than fall into some neat, well-defined category within a theoretical video universe that doesn’t exist today.
One prime example is the interplay between network-attached storage and the NewTek multi-camera HD/SD video production platforms. With TriCaster integrated into a video production or post ecosystem by way of an Ethernet connection and shared storage, anyone running the TriCaster has immediate access to a potentially unlimited number of media assets, including video clips, animations, audio and graphics, directly from the TriCaster control surface.
Network-attached storage is an example of the many technologies and services NewTek users can integrate into their specific workflows to enhance productivity and open new creative possibilities. These solutions grow out of the NewTek Developer Network, a robust community of developers offering users of TriCaster and 3Play, NewTek’s integrated sports production system. All these developers and their products give NewTek customers access to best-of-breed integrated technology and services.
The benefits of integrating network-attached storage with TriCaster or 3Play vary depending upon whether the content is being retrieved from or stored to remote disks.
On the retrieval side of the equation, having access to network-attached storage via TriCaster makes it possible to add last-minute content to a show in progress without interrupting the production. In a TV station control room, this means it’s possible for an editor to build an edited package on a late-breaking story with a non-linear editing system, store the finished piece on the network, and make it available for air via the TriCaster DDR interface while the newscast is being switched live.
Similarly, in a sports application network-attached storage can make available player, team or game clips archived from previous contests that can be integrated into a 3Play highlight package being built on the fly to provide context and insight into a game trend that’s developing.
On the recording side, network-attached storage opens up significant capacity to record content. Using a standard Ethernet cable to connect TriCaster to shared storage, a total of eight HD video streams can be recorded on the network and two HD video streams can be played back.
Recording on shared network storage can also enhance post workflows. For example, when TriCaster green-screen shots are incorporated into show intros and tags, network-attached storage makes it possible for editors to access those shots immediately after they are taken via their editing systems without the hassle and downtime needed to transfer content via “sneakernet.”
With 3Play, a similar scenario exists in which individual plays or entire highlight packages can be made immediately available to editors via the network to enhance the content for intros, bumpers or even distribution via social media.
Network attached storage is only one of several exciting enhancements for TriCaster and 3Play to come out of the NewTek Developer Network.