Changes in video editing
Oct 1, 2007 12:00 PM, BY JOHN CURZON
Broadcast workflows have shifted, as journalists and production staff now edit their own video content.
Leveraging newsroom integration
There are three principal ways in which broadcasters can leverage this integration:
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Eliminate the traditional timeline, allowing journalists to simply combine words and pictures on a page. They can also browse video material directly on the newsroom computer workstations.
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Allow the NRCS database to link the show's script with the edited video story, graphics and stills, providing journalists with the whole package.
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Let journalists search for video and text material by keyword and view completed stories, incoming news feeds, archived material or any available video source.
While this opens up new horizons of creativity for the journalists, it also creates new challenges for the technical staff. Is the network capable of handling this torrent of information and passing it around the whole station? Is there a central storage and indexing system that can deal with the constant demand for and recycling of material? Are the requirements of the desktop systems understood, and how will an informed choice between the competing suppliers be made?
Workflow analysis
To make an effective system, it is necessary to take a step back from the existing configuration. Don't just try to replicate the same workflow with different people. Carry out a real workflow analysis to understand what you want from the new process.
Again, there are key questions to be answered from ingest to playout. How will you bring in media? Will tapes be digitized at the desktop by journalists as part of the editing process, or will you have a central ingest area to monitor technical standards? How many hours of storage will your system need? Will storage be mirrored to protect assets? How will you organize the security of your assets to determine who can see what and who has permission to move or delete material? Whose responsibility is it to manage the media in that central system? Who sends finished items to playback? Is that a responsibility of the journalist editor or is there a recognized approval process?
All of these are important workflow decisions that will dictate the design of any system you implement, and it is important to consider them from the start of the process.
ITV transformed its workfl ows by moving to fi le-based production. Journalists can edit their own stories from the desktop.
Perhaps there are more questions than answers, but that is the key to successfully switching to a journalist-lead editing operation. If you understand that the issues and the need for changes in attitude is as important as the changes in equipment, you will bring a new level of enthusiasm and involvement to your news operation.
John Curzon is newsroom specialist for Avid Technology in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
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