SIMI VALLEY, CALIF.: Adventist Media Productions, the electronic media production unit of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, has installed an integrated digital infrastructure and workflow platform from Harris Broadcast Communications.
The Harris platform enabled the broadcaster to add two new TV channels to its production and playout operation. Adventist Media Productions now broadcasts six full-time channels over cable, satellite and/or low-power television systems--reaching audiences on six continents.
The infrastructure solution included a central Harris Platinum routing system with integrated audio processing, and two built-in Harris HView multiviewers for master control. The multiviewers replaced a bank of discrete LCD monitors, reducing power consumption and space requirements. Both are set up to display 16 feeds--one for on-air and the second for production signals. Four Harris X50 frame synchronizers/converters provide HD-to-SD signal downconversions prior to server ingest.
The workflow comprises three Harris Nexio AMP servers, ADC playout automation and Invenio Motion digital asset management software. Each server is configured to handle four playout and two ingest channels. ADC automation triggers Harris Inscriber TitleOne XT on-air graphics--mostly station ID bugs--and server playlists, feeding data to the facility’s traffic software.
“It was fairly costly to add channels to our previous system because we had to buy all the associated hardware and software for each new channel,” said Randy Schornstein, director of post production for Adventist Media Productions. “The Harris solution made a lot of sense because it’s far more affordable to add channels once the equipment is in place. It’s basically a matter of adding a playlist and a graphics feed.”
