ATS Helps Degeto To Break The Logjam
Stefan Raupp
Stefan Raupp, Senior Technologist at Degeto Film GmbH in Frankfurt am Main, had a series of workflow bottlenecks that needed addressing One of the biggest problems was getting our material into R128 compliance. In the past, we would use a J nger Audio C8000 modular system during ingest to process our content.
This is a realtime operation, and it performs audio manipulation in various ways. However, because it is realtime, it produces delays during processing. Every step has to be checked very carefully because you have both decoding delay and encoding delay. Depending on the workflow steps, you have to compensate the processing delays by delaying the video relative to the audio so that its in phase again.
For Degeto, varying video delay wasnt the only issue. A second problem was the realtime processing during the ingest process. You never know the exact audio data over the whole program duration, only in a time window (dictated by the realtime hardware). This makes for a complex problem to get accurate (EBU) R 128 (loudness measurement) data for the entire film.
Degeto Film is the Film Archive and Production Partner for the ARD (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der ffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, a joint organization of Germanys regional public broadcasters). We have a lot of different films in our archives, from black and white old stuff to modern HD premium material. We are trying to deliver the best material and get the best postproduction results for the ARD. When we receive films, sometimes the audio and video has to be remastered. Also, multichannel (5.1) audio is part of our daily business.
Raupps workflow issues are compounded by legacy format limitations. When we are doing XDCAM HD, we have the problem that it only has eight audio tracks. This is not enough for our needs. We also have to deliver an Audio Description so that sight impaired people can also enjoy the film even though there may be no dialogue. Stereo, Audio Description and 5.1 together use ten tracks, which does not fit in the XDCAM HD format. So, the discrete 5.1tracks have to be transcoded into Dolby E. When we have to work with Dolby E in our Final Cut systems, it has to be decoded back into discrete tracks.
Our HD tape formats are Sonys HDCAM SR as the premium format and XDCAM HD422 for dailies. For tape ingest, we are using Omneon Components. The codec is MXF wrapped 100 Mbit AVC-Intra for our premium material and XDCAM HD422 for the dailies. The ingest is done with Omneon MediaCenter. From there, the files are transferred to the (Harmonic Omneon) MediaGrid, which is our central working storage. Connected to the MediaGrid are, among other things, three Final Cut systems, Amberfin iCR, (Minnetonka Audio) AudioTools Server (ATS), and Telestream Vantage. After finishing all processing on the files, they are transferred to our Spectra Logic (T680) tape library.
We build a directory structure for the ingested files depending on their audio content. As an example, a separate directory for:
files with audio on 1/2 only, which can be mono, stereo or surround
files with audio on 1/2 and 5/6, with 5/6 being the tracks for the audio description
files with audio on 1/2 and 7/8), with 7/8 carrying Dolby E encoded content
files with audio on 1/2, 5/6 and 7/8
files with discrete multichannel (split mono) audio tracks
A Copy routine transfers the files from the ingest directory to ATS, which has the same directory structure. The ATS server is multiprocessor hardware with a 2.5 TB RAID. Specifically, it is an HP ProLiant DL380 G5 with dual 3 GHz Xeon 5160s with 20 GB RAM and five 500 GB RAIDd SAS drives as local storage. The server is running Windows Server 2008R2. This system is fast enough for our work.
We are working 10 hours a day, so there are 14 hours of free time for the system. When we start in the morning, all jobs are done and have been copied back to their places, so there is no need for expensive hardware. Our tests indicated that copying the MXF files to the local storage of the ATS system, doing all audio jobs locally, then copying the corrected MXF files back to the CMS system is the fastest and best way for our environment. Doing the audio extraction and all jobs over the network and not on local drives results in heavy network traffic and makes no sense for us. Our network is mixed 1 and 10 Gigabit, depending on the various systems. Besides that, we can program time slots for the Copy processes while network traffic is low.
The RAID System can hold about 20 films. During processing, the RAID is filled about 60%, so utilization is perfectly balanced. After processing, the MXF and the log files are moved back to the Omneon MediaGrid, where they made known to the CMS system and written to our data tape library. Our CMS system is an arvato Systems VPMS.
The ingest station
With the help of Minnetonka Audios (professional services) staff, we created workflows for adding and embedding ADR (Audio Description) WAV files into existing MXF files. This is a big help for us, for completing films with ADR which were ingested in the past. For editing films in Apples Final Cut Pro, AudioTools Server does the Dolby E decoding and re encoding. All files are checked and corrected for (EBU) R 128 compliance. Dolby E source material and metadata are also corrected by ATS. The ATS log files are saved together with the MXF files in the CMS system, so we also have access to the (loudness) measurement file (for compliance verification).
Degeto Film worked with system integrator Netorium GmbH to realize both the original and new AudioTools configurations. Netorium installed the systems, and provided integration services to insure seamless interoperation with Degetos existi
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
30/04/2024
The force was strong at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Saturday night, April 27, 2024, as the night netted the ballpark's first official sellout crowd of...
30/04/2024
Revry, a network celebrating queer culture. said its second annual NewFront presentation will be a cabaret-type spectacle showcasing the spirit of the LGBTQ+ co...
30/04/2024
Family Entertainment Television (FETV) said that the Western series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp will be joining the network's afternoon lineup startin...
30/04/2024
Bob Bakish, president and CEO of Paramount Global, will depart the company as Paramount explores a merger, according to numerous published reports. The reports ...
29/04/2024
(L-R) Mark Gatiss and Polly Walker on set
Monday 29 April 2024 Further casting is now confirmed for Bookish (6x70), a brand-new drama created by Emmy Award-wi...
29/04/2024
A groundbreaking initiative offering training and mentoring to 30 women journali...
29/04/2024
Even though we've been doing this for over 40 years, a spark of excitement r...
29/04/2024
L3Harris is delivering manpack radios to U.S. Army CH-47 Chinooks as part of the Air-to-Ground Networking Radio program, providing seamless, resilient communica...
29/04/2024
He writes in Defense One: Despite the near-universal acknowledgement throughout the U.S. government and defense industrial base of the criticality of resilient ...
29/04/2024
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/04/2024
Codemill aims to revolutionize media workflow efficiency at this years NAB Show by introducing Just-In-Time (JIT) playback technology in Accurate.Video Validate...
29/04/2024
April 29, 2024
-- TF1 Chooses Broadpeak to Power Targeted Advertising for New...
29/04/2024
LOS ANGELES Allen Media Group (AMG) has partnered with LG Electronics to bring 223 Local Now FAST channels to LG's free streaming service, LG Channels, avai...
29/04/2024
OTTAWA Ross Video has announced the introduction of Raiden, a data-driven weather graphics software that combines data gathering, processing, and visualization ...
29/04/2024
Panalux, a leading rental provider of lighting and power solutions for the motion-picture industry and part of Panavision's end-to-end service offerings for...
29/04/2024
Cobalt Iron Inc., a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced that it has received a patent on its technology for dynamic autho...
29/04/2024
SDVI, the leading platform provider for cloud-native media supply chains, today announced that Rally Access Workstation, a fully managed solution for editing in...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports, a premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality remote commenta...
29/04/2024
Glookast has chosen Jigsaw24 Media as the only UK channel partner to represent their portfolio of ingest and workflow optimisation products. The agreement, sign...
29/04/2024
Clear-Com played a pivotal role in the seamless coverage of the recent solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Leveraging its cutting-edge Eclipse HX Digital Matrix i...
29/04/2024
PlayBox Neo will promote its complete range of television channel management, graphic branding and playout solutions to EMEA region media content owners and bro...
29/04/2024
Lingo, RuPaul's word-twisting game show, returns for season two on CBS Friday, May 24. Two episodes air that night, and stream on Paramount Plus, too....
29/04/2024
ESPN and Amazon Prime Video are reportedly close to scoring television rights to the National Basketball Association, according to published reports....
29/04/2024
Judge Judy and Hot Bench, CBS Media Ventures' genre-leading court shows, have been renewed through the 2025-26 TV season in more than 95% of the country, Gr...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports, an Irish-based premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality re...
29/04/2024
The awards celebrate the craft of behind-the-scenes TV talent and the best programmes of 2023
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 29, 2024
The awards cel...
29/04/2024
The team at Milk had to create and deliver the VFX and environment work for the royal residences featured in the drama from scratch
By Jenny Priestley
Publis...
29/04/2024
CEO Bob Bakish is expected to leave the company as early as today, with a new leadership committee likely to run the company on an interim basis
By Jenny Pries...
29/04/2024
Albena Ivanova, director, media and entertainment and strategic products at CHAOS talks to TVBEurope about her route into the industry
By TVBEurope Staff
Pub...
29/04/2024
The acquisition gives Grand Technix the opportunity to expand its footprint in the audio visual and broadcast technology sectors
By Jenny Priestley
Published...
29/04/2024
29 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces James J. Robinson's debut feature First Light
First Light
Principal Photography is underway on Firs...
29/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting recently became the inaugural company honored with inductio...
29/04/2024
April 29th, 2024 UNINTERRUPTED AND TRIBECA ENTERPRISES PARTNER FOR SECOND-ANNUA...
29/04/2024
Rebrand and refresh: SailGP talks bringing its graphics operations inhouse for a...
29/04/2024
Reflecting on a Storied Career: Sean McManus Looks Back While Keeping an Eye on ...
29/04/2024
Drones Take Flight Inside MSG: How Sky Candy Studios is Upping the Excitement fo...
29/04/2024
Back to All News
Netflix Announces a Diverse Lineup of Polish Titles to Debut i...
29/04/2024
Tonight on Smoke and Mirrors: Fanyana feels embarrassed about his sexual mishapDon't miss Monday, 29 April's riveting episode of South African soapie Sm...
29/04/2024
Talk about commitment. When startup SEA.AI, an NVIDIA Metropolis partner, set out to create a system that would use AI to scan the seas to enhance maritime safe...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
27/04/2024
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....
ATS Helps Degeto To Break The Logjam 
