Student worker Megan Carson cues video clips for playout.
LINCOLN, NEB.
HuskerVision produces highlight tapes for all University of Nebraska-Lincoln varsity sports. We're also responsible for HuskersNside programming as part of the Huskers.com Web site, providing advanced video streaming for Nebraska sports fans since 2002. HuskerNside also offers live Web streaming of Nebraska athletic events and news conferences.
We're located in a state-of-the-art production facility which was made possible through a donation in honor of former football player and NU Foundation fundraiser, Michael Grace. We're staffed by nine full-time employees and 25 student assistants. The facility is located in the school's Memorial Stadium and is equipped with a broadcast control room, nonlinear editing rooms and a television studio that allows our staff to create a wide range of video productions.
THE ROAD TO TAPELESS HD OPS
HuskerVision spent several years researching and preparing for our upgrade to high-definition operations and a tapeless workflow. In my position as chief engineer for HuskerVision, I have to stay on top of current broadcast technology, and am often asked to provide recommendations on equipment for delivering the highest quality broadcasts available, and yet at the same time, gear that is easy for our staff and student workers to use. One of these recommendations was in connection with a new video server system for the HD facility. After viewing the Ross Video SoftMetal 3000 Series Server in action at the NAB Show, I had no hesitation in recommending it for inclusion in our new facility. A great deal of our file workflow is DVCPROHD and the server's support for this format was also an important consideration.
AlphaVideo of Edina, Minn. was selected as systems integrator and equipment provider for the project. Construction of the new facility began in April 2009, with a deadline for completion being set for September in order to be ready for the school's first football game of the season.
To provide our stadium fans with the best quality game experience, the update included adding two new video boards to the existing three, as well as installation of other display equipment in the stadium.
One of the requirements in creating an enhanced fan experience is being able to feed these video displays with replay clips of the action down on the field.
REPLAYS "R" US
The Ross servers are configured to roll replay tags with commands from our Ross Vision production switcher, and are also configured with the DNF DMAT to serve as a replay server and clip playout device for feeding content the video displays.
To enhance our workflow, our servers are mapped to a SAN storage system for importing video segments played from the server. The DNF DMAT allows the SoftMetal units to be configured as replay devices.
In completely upgrading a facility for high definition, there are many things that have to be addressed or changed to make the workflow run smoothly. For us, we were fortunate to have the team at Ross Video working with us. They were quick to resolve any issues that we had, and we look forward to a long lasting relationship with the company.
Scott Guthrie has been is the chief engineer at HuskerVision since 2007 and has 25 years experience in the broadcast industry. He may be contacted atsguthrie@huskers.com
For additional information, contact Ross Video at 613-652-4886 or visitwww.rossvideo.com.
