News from the Tapeless Beachhead

1. News from the Tapeless Beachhead KLCS 1 Year Later Alan Popkin Director of Engineering

2. News from the Tapeless Beachhead • Design Issues • Implementation Issues • Operational Issues • Personnel Issues • They are really one BIG issue

3. News from the Tapeless Beachhead • Video Engineers • Lack of Understanding of IT Technology • Have to learn a million new acronyms • Fear of the Unknown • IT Engineers • Lack of Understanding of Video Technology • Have to learn a million new acronyms • Fear of the Unknown

4. News from the Tapeless Beachhead • File Formats • One size does not fit all • Play to Air – Archive • Field Acquisition – Archive • Station Browse – Interface with Archive • Choosing the right format • Size vs. Versatility • Currently there are few MPEG LGOP editors

5. News from the Tapeless Beachhead • An Example – One Vendors DV 25 is not the same as another's • Problem- Studio record in DV • Solution – Flip it! • Problem – Time Lag • Solution – Drag and drop it into edit SAN • Problem – Time Code is not maintained • Solution – Use both as appropriate

6. News from the Tapeless Beachhead • Ultimate Solution – MXF • Problem – Early indications are that one vendor’s MXF is not the same as another’s • Solution – The vendors

7. News from the Tapeless Beachhead • Example - Archive • Getting Programming and Traffic to truly understand play patterns • We will be redesigning the system to do what they really do - not what they said they do • Archive groups need to be carefully though out • Retrieval patterns need to be studied • Hybrid archive systems- disk and other • Data tape is less expensive and easier to handle • DVD is sexy but expensive / Gigabyte • DVD is tough to label and easily misplaced • Data tape cannot be handled like video tape • Drop it and odds are good it is dead

8. News from the Tapeless Beachhead • What we found • Resistance to change – Probably the largest issue • Some people know very little about computers • Some people think they know more than they do • Different learning curves for groups of people and types of applications • Different training groups for various applications • Different ability to communicate from trainers

9. News from the Tapeless Beachhead • Once staff does learn it they love it • Do not count on any legacy systems after transition • Engineering staff does not focus on maintenance of unused or little used systems • Staff quickly forgets how to operate them

10. News from the Tapeless Beachhead • Getting Producers to let go of tape • Confidence that a file is really there • Change in production process and habits • Understanding the importance of file naming conventions • Make sure everybody has input and buy in • Keep it simple (not always possible)

11. News from the Tapeless Beachhead • Summary • Careful coordination with vendors resulted in less problems than might have happened • Even careful planning results in unexpected problems • Project Manager 1 Kb files resulted in edit bay crashes • Unexpected header problems in field drives due to 2 Gigabyte limit

12. News from the Tapeless Beachhead • When you have multiple vendors involved in projects expect translation issues, i.e. DV25 • Nothing in a tapeless environment is standard • Make sure your station staff understands the questions • Spend time preparing them for the change

13. News from the Tapeless Beachhead • Conclusion • A successful tapeless environment can be built • No two need be or will be the same • Let the mission drive the technology • Just because you can do it does not mean you should • As soon as everybody changes it will probably change again

14. News from the Tapeless Beachhead • Thank you