“The QuickTime MOV file import improved our workflow and reduced our workload.  We used this new feature during preparation for this season's Boston Bruins telecasts. Our Creative Services department created the MOV files and transferred them onto a USB 2.0 hard drive, and upon arrival at our venue, we loaded the elements into the ClipstoreMXc.” said Rose Mirakian-Wheeler, director for Boston Bruins Hockey for the New England Sports Network (NESN).

When asked how the new MOV import feature in the ClipStoreMXc has benefitted her workflow, Mirakian-Wheeler replied: “This ingest process eliminated several steps in our initial preparation, including the rendering of elements to tape and to the EVS, and the clipping, syncing and naming of the fill and matte for each element. Since the MOV files retain their original naming upon transfer, the QuickTime MOV file import feature streamlined our workflow and was much more efficient. This method of ingest also improved NESN's on-air look, since the MOV files are relatively unprocessed and therefore have no visible loss of HD video quality.”

The ClipStoreMXc is deployed in dozens of professional HD mobile television trucks around the world, with the primary purpose of replaying animated graphics transitions, show openings and sponsor promotions during live television broadcasts. Since the time when digital disk recorders (DDR) were first introduced into mobile television trucks, pre-produced content for these DDRs was transported on professional videotape from the studio to the mobile trucks, where the tapes are ingested into the DDR with the use of an external videotape recorder (VTR).

In this original workflow process, the studio-produced materials (which include video, key and audio elements) are all rendered to real-time video playback hardware, and then laboriously edited and packaged onto videotape. These videotapes always contain two major segments: one for the video/audio portions of the clips, with the other for the key portion (also known as “alpha”). While this workflow process has served the industry well over the years, it’s now creating major bottlenecks in the studio-to-air production chain in the era of file-based video workflows.

Furthermore, the majority of live broadcasts within the past couple of years have shifted to full 720p or 1080i HD video quality—especially in the broadcasting of sports. However, the media intended to replay from DDRs such as the ClipStoreMXc, which is fully HD capable, are still being supplied studio-created HD content via an SD videotape pathway—with one or more “down-conversion / up-conversions” along the way. The primary reason for this fact is cost: the majority of mobile television truck companies are quite reluctant to invest the $80K to $100K required for a professional HD VTR, along with the very steep annual maintenance costs associated with these HD VTRs. This is why SD videotape remains the defacto method of transporting such media into DDRs such as the HD-capable ClipStoreMXc. Until now, that is.

With this new QuickTime MOV import feature, broadcasters may now render their animated show openings, graphics transitions, promotions, and the like with full HD quality into QuickTime MOV files while in the studio. This is an operation that in most cases is already performed for purposes of project archiving. It should also be noted these QuickTime MOV files may contain HD digital video, up to eight tracks of digital audio for surround sound, and a key track (alpha)—and they can be created with any available QuickTime “codec” to encode the QuickTime MOV files.

Then, to transport the rendered media to the remote broadcast truck, the QuickTime MOV files are simply copied to any commercially-available Hi-Speed USB 2.0 portable disk drive. Eliminated is the painstaking process of editing and compiling the media elements onto linear videotape in the studio; with a compliment (and arduous) operation in the mobile truck to ingest and decompile the elements from that videotape and into the DDR.

In contrast, the portable USB disk drive filled with QuickTime MOV files is simply transported to the remote broadcast truck in the field, where the ClipStoreMXc then quickly and efficiently ingests the media into separate clip identities for later replay during the live broadcast.

“Our experience with the Abekas ClipstoreMXc and its new QuickTime MOV file import feature, although limited, is a very positive one. This HD digital disk recording system saves us work and retains the video quality of our HD elements; and the best part is that it's very cost effective too.” NESN’s Mirakian-Wheeler concluded.

This exciting new QuickTime MOV Import feature is a standard feature and is now shipping in the product; this new feature is also available to existing ClipStoreMXc users free of charge, through a simple software update to the machine.

About the Product

Combining state-of-the-art video/audio processing hardware with the latest disk drive technology, ClipStoreMXc has an extremely competitive price point and comes standard with over two hours recording capacity for HD and/or SD digital video, key, audio and timecode — all housed within a compact 3RU chassis; a four-hour capacity model is also available. Ultra-high quality JPEG-2000 wavelet compression technology at ~200Mb/s is used to record the 10-bit HD video; while 10-bit SD video is recorded without any compression at all. The media disk set is easily removed from the machine, allowing simple and fast media exchange between multiple ClipStoreMXc recorders. The rich feature set includes: dual RS422 serial control ports with Sony and PBUS protocols (providing precise control from third-party controllers, including those from Lance Design® and DNF Controls®); eight tracks of uncompressed digital audio with 24-bit resolution/48kHz sampling; LTC & VANC timecode record and playback; versatile interfacing within a network of graphics rendering computers via dual gigabit Ethernet ports; the unique NetPanel™ browser-based user interface; and a graphics file Import/Export utility featuring Windows® Media 9 encoding as one of the export choices, and QuickTime MOV files as one of the file import choices.

As a standard feature, ClipStoreMXc can record or playback video, key, audio and timecode (VKAT) within a single operation under a unified identity. VKAT storage capability dramatically streamlines many production and post applications and greatly simplifies media management. This feature, along with the aforementioned feature set, provides a powerful HD and SD recording platform for use in live, on-air broadcasting environments.

About Abekas

Abekas, Incorporated (www.abekas.com) is a privately-held company headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Abekas designs, manufactures, sells, and supports a complete line of digital video/audio delay devices, disk recorders, digital special effects and editing tools for use in the worldwide professional television marketplace — encompassing the production, post production, broadcasting and computer video markets.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

# # #