Canopus in Action: Broadcast-Waterman

Broadcast

Dan Billings, Waterman Broadcasting, Ft. Meyers, FL, USA
Going from tape to digital technology has proven to be a lesson in speed and efficiency for Waterman Broadcasting, as EDIUS Pro 3 nonlinear editing software redefines the workflow at two network affiliates. Dan Billings, director of engineering and technology at Waterman Broadcasting, writes of his experiences regarding the recent installation of EDIUS Pro 3 editing systems into the ABC and NBC affiliate stations in Florida.

"The transition from tape to digital is happening now at broadcast stations all across the country. At Waterman Broadcasting’s NBC and ABC affiliates in Ft. Meyers, Florida, WBBH and WZVN, we learned a lesson in speed and efficiency when we made the move to the BitCentral Précis End-to-End Play-to-Air system with Canopus’s EDIUS Pro 3 nonlinear editing software. We needed a system that would best take us into the digital domain and get us in a good position for the move to HD.

"The Canopus EDIUS Pro 3 editing system helps us produce a substantial amount of content quickly by interfacing directly to the Précis system to create an entirely tapeless ingest, edit and playback solution. This system gave us the ability to immediately upgrade to a file based, ingest to air, news workflow by providing the news team with the tools to quickly and seamlessly integrate local and national news programming for our market.

"Getting away from the old tape architecture has made for some significant payback. The ability to retain picture quality is one crucial benefit of going to an all-digital workflow. From the camera, through the EDIUS Pro 3 editing station, and out to air, the all digital BitCentral workflow combines with Canopus's broadcast quality integrated MPEG-2 encoding software to provide all the advantages of a digital file-based system without the least compromise in picture quality. And because of the reduced size of MPEG-2 files, it is easy for us to transfer content using standard network architecture.

"By installing the new system while still maintaining the legacy tape architecture, we found the transition easy. Our station personnel have quickly adapted to the more efficient workflow, which is a major benefit in the news landscape where time is a critical resource.

"EDIUS Pro 3 provides us with native editing and realtime processing of uncompressed SD, HD, HDV, DV, MPEG-2, and MPEG-1 formats, so we will be able to continue with EDIUS when we make the transition to HD. We don’t have to be concerned with differing formats or go to the trouble of transcoding - whatever we need to edit, EDIUS Pro lets us do it. In addition to the advantages a mixed-format editing environment brings to the workflow, EDIUS Pro 3’s well-organized feature set and user interface provides us with an efficient editing experience.

"Ultimately, the proof is found in our ability to air very high-quality segments in far less time. This gives producers more flexibility and control over their stories and has improved our bottom line."

Dan Billings can be reached at danb@water.net; (239) 939-6299.

For more information about the BitCentral Précis® End-to-End Play-to-Air System, contact BitCentral at (800) 214-2828 or visit www.bitcentral.com.

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