Qatar broadcaster Al Kass chooses Avid for sports news production at its new Doha facility The challenge Al Kass was looking for an end-to-end file-based workflow for its news and production system in HD that interfaces seamlessly with a Thomson K2 playout server and an Apple Xsan. In addition, the solution had to meet the […]
Qatar broadcaster Al Kass chooses Avid for sports news production at its new Doha facility
The challenge
Al Kass was looking for an end-to-end file-based workflow for its news and production system in HD that interfaces seamlessly with a Thomson K2 playout server and an Apple Xsan.
In addition, the solution had to meet the twin demands of high quality and ease of use by the journalists, producers, editors and directors of the news department.
The installation and commissioning was undertaken by systems integrator INC Technologies in conjunction with the Avid Professional Services Group.
The Solution
To meet the specific demands of the broadcaster, Avid supplied 10 AirSpeed workflow servers that comprised both XDCAM HD for news and DNxHD 120 for programme production, four ISIS/Interplay storage and management systems, each with 16TB capacity, 12 iNEWS/Instinct/NewsCutter packages for news creation and editing, and eight Media Composer Nitris DX production systems for the fast and easy capture, editing, monitoring and output of material.
The Workflow
Camera: XDCAM HD with DNxHD 120
Ingest: AirSpeed
Storage: ISIS/Interplay
News Production: iNEWS
News Editing: NewsCutter
Playout: Marquis interfacing directly with Avid using Avid web services API to transfer media to and from Thomson K2 playout servers.
Al Kass, which means The Cup, was launched in 2006 to provide a new sports channel in Qatar. In fact, it was the first High Definition (HD) channel in the Middle East. That year also saw Doha host the Asian Games, and that event provided the new channel with many broadcasting opportunities.
Although the channel covers a variety of sporting events, it was probably the coverage of football that was responsible for it attracting many new viewers. The channel now covers not only domestic games, but also events throughout the Gulf countries, including the Gulf Cup of Nations. Significantly, the station was appointed the host broadcaster for the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 that took place in January this year and produced the final game with 55 cameras for the world feed on January 29. In fact, this is the first time in the tournaments history that all matches were available in HD.
Although 95% of the channels output is already in HD, Al Kass launched a second channel called Alkass HD+ in time for the Asian Cup 2011. This enabled it to broadcast two games at the same time in HD although it also placed extra demands on the production facilities.
The channel already has two studios in Doha, but is planning to move to a new facility with three HD studios as part of an expansion programme to fulfil all upcoming demands.
In addition, it has commissioned two new HD
OB trucks with 22 cameras each to complement the three units that are currently being used.
Alongside the extra programming, Al Kass expects to see more news production taking place. For this reason, its newsroom systems
had to be updated. That part of the expansion programme involved the purchase of a new,
and comprehensive, Avid system.
We looked at a number of systems before deciding on Avid to replace our existing set up, explains Samer Younes, technical adviser at Al Kass.
In particular, we were impressed with the bandwidth that was available with Avid and the high-end integrated editing tools. This is most important as we increase the level of our HD production. Using the Avid package will make working with our broadcast material much easier.
Al Kass invested in Avid AirSpeed servers that are used not just to ingest footage from XDCAM HD and DNxHD 120 but for studio playout in both formats. For programme playout, Al Kass will use its existing Thomson K2 servers while for graphics, it will utilise its existing Apple Xsan.
The installation and integration was a success owing to Avids partnership with a majority of third party technologies. This enabled a seamless exchange of media to and from the Thomson K2 and Apple Xsan solutions.
Once that integration was complete, Marquis was deployed. With Marquis, Avid overcomes incompatibility issues that occur when media moves between systems that use different file formats and different operating architectures.
In this way, produced media can easily be transferred to and from the K2 playout server and Apple Xsan to the Avid Unity ISIS/Interplay solution. To interface directly with Avid, Marquis uses the Avid Interplay web services API.
Interplay web services is a high-level programming interface based on open standards that enable third-party applications to query Interplay and control Interplay workflows, explains Mounzer Bechara, sales manager, Avid Middle East.
Web Services provide a stable, standards-based interface for workflow control and media services keeping Interplay the most-open production asset management system.
A collaborative and flexible workflow, which included best-of-breed broadcasting and post-production apps, was created at Al Kass.
Avid claims the installation is a reflection of its own commitment to openness.
Avids solutions work with a majority of third-party formats, plug-ins and technologies, putting greater flexibility in end users hands and removing limitations to how creative and productive they can be, adds Bechara.
To meet the specific demands for news creation and editing, Al Kass also chose iNews.
Al Kass Younes says: Avid is used for both our regular programming and the sports news output from the station. Using the iNEWS system with Interplay and NewsCutter means journalists can write their stories, edit the footage and record their own voiceovers very easily. In short, it makes news production far more effective.
iNEWS also allows stories to be entered into the rundowns for each programme, so that all members of the news team can view the material that is available. Furthermore, it enables news sources such as agency feeds to be monitored, and messages to be passed between personnel. Data can be ingested from a variety of sources, both in the production facility and on location.
Working in conjunction with Nitris DX, NewsCutter allows real-time effects to be produced that add an extra dimension to the finished story. As well as supporting XDCAM, it can be used with Canon, GFCAM, P2/P2 HD, QuickTime, and high quality DNxHD. Once the editing is complete, a drop down menu allows the edited material to be sent to the playout server ready for immediate transmission, if necessary.
In all these operations, we are always looking for efficiency of work, but with the highest quality of transmission, explains Younes.
It is essential that Al Kass is known for the excellence of its programmes and we can only achieve that by using the most appropriate equipment that is available to us.
A training programme was also conducted at Al Kass to cover workflow, media management as well as technical and operational procedures.
Taking a collaborative approach together with Al Kass and INC Technologies, Avid Professional Services helped the broadcaster to customise the solution and create a workflow that integrated Avid with a Thomson K2 playout server and an Apple Xsan, adds Bechara.
