sky news arabia airs with evs workflow news arabia.pdf · sky news arabia (sna), the sister channel...
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Customer profile
Sky News Arabia (SNA), the sister channel of Sky News in the Mid-
dle East and North Africa, was officially launched on 6 May 2012.
The 24-hour service goes out in both SD and HD from a state-of-
the-art production facility in Abu Dhabi. The channel is a joint venture
between the Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation and BSkyB
and is available on multiple viewing platforms, including tablets and
smartphones. The channel is based in Abu Dhabi's twofour54 me-
dia zone and has a network of bureaux spanning across the MENA
region, along with offices in London and Washington, DC. It also
shares access to Sky News' wider international bureaux network.
Sky News Arabia airs with EVS workflow
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The project’s challenges
With new installations, the biggest challenges often involve getting
the newsroom to adopt and rely on the new workflow. Introducing
the new EVS system required training for engineers and journalists
to help them settle into the new environment.
The EVS teams offered constant guidance on every aspect of the
workflow, making sure everyone understood the key steps of the
production process. This level of support was maintained through-
out, with an EVS workflow specialist onsite four days a week to
make sure all questions and requests were answered quickly.
A new channel, a new workflow
Sky News Arabia needed a solution that promised speed and
reliability as well as ease of use. Having already provided a workflow
for Sky News in the UK, EVS were more than equipped to provide
the new channel with a fully integrated workflow - for ingest, central
storage, media browsing, editing, playout and archive management.
CaseStudy
Ingest
The workflow consists of two types of ingest: baseband ingest
for SDI video recording and file-based ingest for video file import.
Ingest is based around:
• Eight four-channel XS servers
• A six-channel XT3 server with LSM control
• 12 XTAccess workstations
This delivers 32 ingest channels for baseband recording controlled
by EVS’ IPDirector or by SchedulAll/Miranda iControl software.
Once ingest is scheduled, the 12 XTAccess workstations stream
the material from the XS server to the central storage. This enables
32 real time streams to be sent simultaneously with the files
immediately available for all users on the SAN setup.
In addition an XT3 server in the playout gallery is used for ultra fast
ingest and playout - ideal for breaking news. The XT3 is connected
to XNet2, EVS’ high-bandwidth media sharing network, allowing the
XT3 operator to instantly access all 32 ingest ports giving instant
ON AIR playout.
CaseStudySky News Arabia
Ingest Playout
CentralStorage
Post-Production
Production &Content Management
Web
TV
Bureaux
DeepArchive
NRCS
Browsing & Clipping
32 RecordingChannels
140 editingstations
Press Files
VTR
PRESSPRESS
PRESS
ENG
Satellite
News FeedsNews Feeds
Hi-Res SAN (210TB)DVCPRO HD
Proxy: H.264 TS Breaking News
DIVA LTO Tapes iNews
FCP
x 2
x 8
MOS Gateway
File-based ingest for news agency files is completed via a dedicated
folder from which material is transcoded to high and low resolution
on the EVS central storage. The files are immediately available for
the newsroom journalists or FinalCut Pro editors. Another folder
created specifically for Sky News UK gives Sky News Arabia instant
access to their material for editing and fast turnaround review.
ENG file import is available for the direct import video into the
EVS central storage. The system recognises the ENG cameras
connected to the system and allows users to import files and create
timelines for fast access to the new material.
CaseStudy
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Editing
All baseband or file-based videos are instantly available for editing
in the newsroom. Operators use two editing tools as approporiate:
• Xedio CleanEdit
140 of these editing applications are available for journalists in
the newsroom with ingested material ready for editing within
ten seconds. CleanEdit works on the low resolution material
allowing multiple users access to files at the same time with
multiple formats and different aspect ratios being edited on the
same timeline. As a result, users can swiftly shape content and
push it to post-production for advanced editing or directly to
the galleries for playout.
• Final Cut Pro
16 FCP stations are used for advanced editing, including 3D
effects and multi-layer editing. FCP integrates seamlessly with
EVS solutions with users able to browse and edit content
directly on the EVS central storage.
Playout
Gallery playout is done from an XS server controlled by an IPDirector
and connected to AVID iNews with a further XS server used as a
backup. iNews is the AVID newsroom system where all the news
bulletin rundown decisions are made by the editorial team. iNews
also runs on the Xedio CleanEdit workstations to allow journalists
to add finished edits directly into the rundown. Due to the MOS
protocol support, IPDirector then automatically synchronises the
rundown content with the playout server content. EVS developed a
dedicated iNews browser plug-in, so that the iNews operator is able
to see and browse the entire EVS server content.
For breaking news, playout can be done directly. Since the XT3 is
connected to XNet2, it can access any of the 32 ingest ports to
play content to air using the XT3 time slip function. A playlist can be
created with the breaking news element, which is played in loop to
let the director decide when he wants the elements on air.
Media Storage
The vast number of files recorded and imported at a news channel
all need to be stored and archived. Three types of storage are used
at Sky News Arabia:
• Playout server (on line)
The XS playout server has 50 hours online capacity. Files
stored on this server are the ones needed for the immediate
news bulletin and are cleansed regularly.
• Central storage (nearline)
The scalable EVS SAN stores ingested files for editing and
backups of files for playout. The SAN’s capacity is around
3,000 hours of HD at 100 Mbps. Once used, material is
archived or deleted to make space for the new ingest.
• Deep archive
A DIVA tape library from Front Porch Digital is used for deep
archive. EVS’ IP2Archive solution allows operators to store
media files on LTO tapes and restore the files on the central
storage at a later date when the material is needed.
EVS Broadcast Equipment / Sales & Marketing [email protected]+32 4 361 7000 www.evs.tv
CaseStudySky News Arabia
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The results
The free-to-air rolling news channel is now being transmitted in both
SD and HD across the region. EVS worked with the SNA engineers
on the workflow design, then installed and commissioned the sys-
tem on-site. EVS’ Dubai office trained both the engineering and edi-
torial newsroom staff to ensure success.
EVS products were new to the major-
ity of the team at SNA. “EVS means
speed to me - it gives me what I need in
a fast-moving environment,” explained
Anees Jebreen, chief sub video at SNA.
“News is the fastest moving broadcast
environment and you need something
that answers you immediately and
immediately delivers material to screen. So far this is exactly what
EVS has achieved.”
The journalists at Sky News Arabia have
been using Xedio CleanEdit since its
deployment and have been thrilled with
its ease of use. “CleanEdit is very impor-
tant to us. Thanks to Xedio CleanEdit,
I do my LVOs in a maximum of five
minutes” said Romeila Ferrat, sports
presenter at SNA. “I couldn’t do my
job without CleanEdit, especially in a breaking news environment. It
makes our lives faster and easier.”
Sally Nabil, news producer at SNA
added “I trust Xedio CleanEdit.
A producer’s worst nightmare is to
start a project and lose your material.
Xedio CleanEdit removes this fear.
EVS helps me to do all my work in the
shortest time possible. The two most
important things for a journalist are
speed and quality, and Xedio CleanEdit provides exactly that.”
Dominic Baillie, chief technical officer, Sky News Arabia concluded:
“EVS provides reliable technology that’s designed for fast
turnaround of content which is essential to a breaking news channel
like Sky News Arabia. The level of support we have received from
EVS through the design, launch and live phases of the channel has
been and continues to be high. It is very encouraging to see a key
partner pro-actively investing time and resources to fulfil their part
in our success.”