Avid workflow supports NBC’s Beijing coverage

Avid has been selected to implement an end-to-end editing workflow for NBC
during the network’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This marks NBC and
Avid’s fifth consecutive Olympic Games working together.

NBC was looking for a vendor that understood the rigorous demands of a
high-scale production and could offer a solution that would enable the network
to deliver more than 3,600 hours of HD programming over a 17-day period. In
order to fulfill this task, NBC opted for 224TB of Avid Unity ISIS shared
storage to be dispersed across four systems, including an Avid Interplay
system, which will enable scalability, vast client connectivity, resiliency,
and a facility-wide workflow. NBC will also deploy approximately 34 Avid
systems for editing, ingest, capture, and playout, and will use Avid DNxHD
codec to significantly reduce storage and bandwidth requirements, while
providing mastering-quality HD media.

“In
Beijing
we are
surpassing the combined total for every televised Summer Olympics in
U.S.
history. In order to handle this around-the-clock coverage, we need
solutions that are resilient, scalable, and able to handle rapid turnaround.
Avid was able to once again deliver a workflow to help us meet these rigorous
demands,” said Dave Mazza, senior vice president, NBC Olympics Engineering. “With these games, we have installed the largest and most integrated Avid
environment to date for NBC Olympics particularly with the addition of the
Avid Unity ISIS and Interplay systems. Being able to integrate all of the Avid
solutions, on a combination of shared-storage networks over Gigabit Ethernet,
plays an integral role in helping NBC succeed in delivering the most hours of
Olympic programming ever.”

The 75,000-square-foot International Broadcast Center (IBC) in
Beijing, China
has a number of HD nonlinear edit suites outfitted with both Avid Symphony
Nitris and Media Composer systems, connected to Avid Unity ISIS and Avid Interplay
systems. Avid DNxchange systems will integrate with an EVS XT[2] system for a
seamless workflow that will enable the real-time conversion of EVS HD media to
the Avid DNxHD 120 format to facilitate HD production at 1080i/50 resolutions
within the Avid shared storage environment. Because Avid DNxHD files support
full raster 8- and 10-bit media, they deliver the pristine quality of 10-bit
uncompressed HD images at dramatically reduced file sizes. When fully
operational, the NBC IBC will be equipped to handle more than 160TB of HD media
in a shared-storage environment or 1,250 hours of HD footage.

Kirk Arnold, Avid’s executive vice president of Customer Operations said, “We
are thrilled to be a part of one of the most ambitious media projects in
broadcasting history and very proud to be working together with NBC on our
fifth consecutive Olympic Games. Our customers are constantly telling us that
quality, value and performance are really important to them, and The Olympic
Games are a perfect example of an environment that will push our products to
just about every limit, around the clock, for several weeks. NBC’s choice to
use Avid solutions further demonstrates our commitment to delivering proven
solutions that broadcasters can count on to get the job done, day in and day
out.”

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