The New York Racing Association is using an Omneon Spectrum media server and a MediaGrid active storage system in its new facility that serves the Belmont Park, Saratoga and Aqueduct racetracks.
Multiple cameras covering the track are recorded live to the 16-channel media server. The Spectrum server is used for slow-motion playback and for replays of each race, in which the race recording is played back — immediately after the race concludes — to the track monitors and the satellite feeds. Recorded material is transferred from the Omneon Spectrum to the MediaGrid system, and editors working with Final Cut Pro have access to this shared production storage platform for the creation of highlights packages for network distribution and DVD sales to owners, trainers and the general public.
A MediaGrid storage system provides a 3500-hour capacity at DV25 for longer-term storage. The NYRA has a tape library that goes back more than 30 years and contains more than 11,000 videotapes of races. Ingested into the Spectrum server as needed via an ingest station configured for U-Matic, Beta, BetaSP and DVCPRO stock, this historical footage also becomes available for editing and production.
