To guarantee the durability of its activities in Europe, the cultrual channel Arte has adapted its site to HD. Arte has also decided to transfer the entire workflow of the company to a file-based environment by adopting the AVC-I@100Mb/s MXF OP1b-wrapped format.
BCE had to play the card of flexibility by ensuring the evolution of the channel without jeopardizing the smooth process of daily operations. The project was thus achieved in two years with, first, the upgrading of the “production” facilities and second, that of the “broadcasting” facilities.
The first step of the project consisted in the implementation of a centralized management system of the production’s content (PAM), which deals with material management and filing, including a thesaurus function.
BCE also implemented a centralized ingest platform. Working with many countries and thus juggling with countless formats and content sources, this platform can digitize almost anything and convert videos into Arte’s working format. The platform’s automation ensures the running of the VTR and OTA signals but also allows the opposite process, i.e. the recording of file content on a tape.
All computer equipment from the editing room and control room (80 clients) has been transferred to the mechanical room in order to decrease noise nuisance in those rooms. Equipped with a KVM system, the rooms are connected with the client through IP. The audio editing rooms are equipped with the Satellite Video System, which facilitates operation by separating audio and video during the exchanges and by gathering them automatically for the final version. The editors can also work with “nonflat” sessions (distinct audio and video tracks) in order to allow an easy integration of additional audio tracks.
The studio manager has direct access to 22 video channels. The audio engineer has access to the main audio router (64,000 channels) and, therefore, to all the sources (signals from the studio, videos, microphones and voices from the translation system). The redundancy of the rooms can be done immediately thanks to the KVM system.
The installation was carried out while the site was in full operation. BCE had to update the technologies without disturbing their users’ habits.
The new platform incorporates quality control in terms of audio (conformity with the EBU-R128 loudness standard) and video. The “workflow engine” enables file transfer from a storage location to another.
Working with programs in two languages, Arte now works with content whose audio and video tracks are distinct. Therefore, when a modification is made on the audio, all that has to be done is change the related track without having to recalculate the global file.
The main benefits achieved were:
- Optimization of the workflow.
- Giving up tapes in favor of the file.
- Easy management of the media’s audio versions.
- HD at every level from production to broadcasting.
- Facility open to the future supply of new broadcasting vectors.