WINNER
Globo News
Category
Newsroom technology
Submitted by
TV Globo
Globo TV in Brazil faced the challenge of deciding the best way to migrate from its tape-based workflow to a file-based one. The network chose its 24-hour news channel, Globo News, to be the host of an experimental and innovative tapeless implementation.
The main priority for the network was reliability and redundancy to provide uninterrupted programming and to establish ingest servers with local storage for backups, and standalone playout servers that could operate independently of the system. The same playout servers also had to receive multiple simultaneous streams faster than real time.
The system had to use a high-quality, low-res file format with jog/shuttle operation, frame accuracy and allow access to these files while recording. It had to be flexible to support multiple file formats and all AV effects. It needed an integrated logging system for news and sports programs to allow collaborative work between the archive and news production teams. It also needed to be able to keep the original bit stream of the video from ingest to playout, except on the segments where effects were applied, to avoid cascading compression and decompression processes. Finally, the system needed to completely integrate with Sony XDCAM.
Based on these concepts, two independent, yet integrated, systems were implemented. One was designed for the daily operation of Globo News, and the other system was implemented to be used during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The two systems consisted of 14 ingest machines; five low-res editing suites; one high-res editing suite; 20 desktops for browsing low-res materials, with the capacity to export them directly to the playouts without rendering; two desktops for real-time logging; and storage with 900 hours (at 40Mb I-frame) in a fully mirrored configuration.
The system operates transparently with MPEG-2 AVI/MXF and Windows Media/MPEG-4. The renders are MPEG-2 bit stream aware, so the original bit stream remains unchanged on the final files without recompression.
