Effective DAM system
May 1, 2007 12:00 PM, BY DAVID AUSTERBERRY
Workflow management and optimization are keys to creating effi cient broadcast processes.
The adoption of digital asset management (DAM) by broadcasters has had a long gestation period, with many potential users failing to see a sound case for the investment. The problem is that original DAM products often came from a background of document management or image libraries and did not match broadcasters' needs.
Much has changed in the last five years. The biggest change has been the move from videotape-based to file-based post production and playout. By leveraging commodity IT infrastructure, more cost savings can be had than by the old linear tape methodology.
Videotape is a physical asset and can be managed by using traditional library methods, with numbered shelves and bar codes to track check in and check out. When content is handled as data, the assets become ephemeral or virtual. The management of these files or digital assets requires a DAM system that is designed specifically for broadcast requirements.
DAM and broadcast meet
Many of the early products used for broadcast were enterprise-scale, with associated costs. Broadcasters already attempting to absorb the cost of the move to HD and multichannel operation across multiple delivery formats could not see the ROI on the multimillion dollar systems. However, the multiple channel and format business can be made more efficient by using DAM, so many broadcasters are revisiting the financial case.
There are some issues with using enterprise DAM systems. They are deployed to handle the service side of a business, such as brand assets, documents and image libraries. In the TV industry, DAM has to handle the final product. That product comprises large files, only equaled in sectors like oil and gas exploration.
Conventional enterprise DAM is not designed to index and manage the storage of these large files without third-party add-ons. A DAM system alone may meet the needs of a program or news archive, but most broadcasting applications need allied workflow management.
Broadcast processes
Early adopters of DAM had large videotape repositories that they wanted to mine as a means to sell library assets or to manage a news archive. With the addition of a video indexing system, an enterprise DAM system could be adapted to fit the purpose. The advent of file-based workflows and multichannel delivery has led to a demand for more cost-effective and videocentric DAM systems.
Creating more programming for less money is impossible using the traditional processes of videotape. The scale of manual handling, real-time copying and constant QC checks required by tape has led broadcasters to adopt the methodology of IT systems in the search for cost savings.
Recently it has become apparent that workflow management and optimization are just as important as DAM in the migration to more efficient broadcast processes. Just as the office has moved on from document management and e-mail to adopt collaborative products such as Microsoft SharePoint, broadcasters have realized that efficient use of human resources is just as important as the program assets in creating a streamlined business.
What does a broadcaster want from DAM?
Figure 1. A DAM system comprises core services and a number of peripheral services that may be supplied by third parties.
Some companies may want a system to manage an archive for internal use or the sale of stock footage. Some may need a system to manage content from acquisition to air. Others may need to repurpose for new media outlets such as IPTV or Web streaming. All these applications share a common trait but will need different application modules to support additional services.
Not all products include the necessary features. To provide the full functionality, they need integration with third-party applications. The core of DAM is comprised of several modules to ingest, catalog, search, store and publish content. (See Figure 1 .)
Acquisition
As cameras migrate from videotape as the primary storage media, acquisition from solid-state memory presents an immediate application for DAM. The media has become a temporary cache, to be copied to a file repository so that the memory can be reused. There is no longer a handy box to keep the dope sheet with the tape. There is no label to scribble notes on.
The adoption of digital media, however, creates new opportunities. For example, a production assistant could use a PDA to add notes as metadata to a linked file. Registering assets may only be necessary to encode a browse copy with a reference to the original source media, much as offline editing is used with camera negative.
Catalog
The DAM catalog comprises folders arranged in a schema to suit the needs of the broadcaster, along with a means of indexing the catalog to aid search and retrieval. Video and audio content does not readily provide the information for text searching, so the system must rely on the input of additional metadata by production staff members. This can be difficult, because it requires weaning personnel off the sticky note toward more formal keyboard entry.
Search
For most users, the search portal is the main interface with DAM. This is used to find material, either via catalog or using a search. Results are typically displayed as a lightbox, with the facility to play a browse (low-resolution) instance of the asset.
The search portal can be used with NLEs, ideally to drag and drop clips from across the GUI into the timeline. Finished edits can be registered to the DAM from the same interface.
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