Bits & Bytes

Digitizing with DVCAM Format

What color is Kim Delaney's hair on Philly? Can you see the pinstripes in Dylan McDermott's suit during the big courtroom scene in The Practice? These are questions the producers of these two ABC-TV shows can readily answer, because they're viewing each day's filming in crystal-clear Sony DVCAM®, the hottest digital tape format for professional broadcasters.

The raw film exposed during a television or movie shoot is called the "dailies," and it's traditional for directors, producers, and camerapersons to gather in a screening room to take a look at the results. Network TV is still mostly shot on film, but modern technology means that the often far-flung production team, wherever they happen to be, can watch the dailies on DVCAM decks, which provide a cost-effective but highly accurate representation of the master film.

DVCAM tape, a high-quality professional version of the standard DV format, offers eight-bit digital recording and up to four
channels of very high-end audio stored on either mini or standard-sized cassettes. (DVCAM decks can play both sizes.) "DVCAM tape provides crisper images, edges, and lines than most comparable formats, and it's a lot less expensive than the alternatives," says Linda White, Western Regional Sales Manager for Sony's professional video division. She notes that many of today's popular "reality" shows, including Big Brother, Fear Factor and Boot Camp, are shot on DVCAM tape.

ABC's The Practice uses DVCAM tape in post-production and editing, says Steve Drinkwater, Senior Vice President at Westwind Media. "They screen the dailies on DVCAM tape," Drinkwater says. "It offers a far cleaner, purer look at what was shot than the old 3/4-inch analog tape they had been using. They used to complain about the color, or that the tape was too grainy or too soft. The quality difference is pretty large. I recommend DVCAM tape to all my clients."

The Practice also uses DVCAM tape as part of its non-linear Avid editing system. Editors view DVCAM footage to make decisions about where to make cuts before working directly with the digital master copy. "It makes a lot of sense, because DVCAM equipment is a cost-effective choice with very high-quality images," says Gary Migdal, President of LA Digital, which provides post-production editing systems to television and feature film producers. "It would be prohibitively expensive for shows like The Practice or Philly to rent, for example, digital Betacam® equipment for all their needs."

Tammy Ann Casper, Supervising Associate Producer of The
Practice, says the editorial crew has been using the DVCAM format since the season began last July, and is very impressed. "In terms of storage space and quality, it has been a plus," she says. "We love it that the DVCAM decks can play both size cassettes."

A multipurpose DVCAM compact videotape recorder like the DSR-11 lists for $2,600, making it affordable even for low-budget student films. To honor DVCAM's diverse roles in TV production, Sony joined with the American Film Institute (AFI) to sponsor the AFI DVCAM Fest last year in Los Angeles. Winning entries in such categories as fiction, documentary, and news gathering, judged by a celebrity panel, was presented last April at the NAB convention in Las Vegas. DVCAM equipment and tape, says Alec Shapiro, Vice President of Sony Electronics' Business Solutions & Systems Company, "has proven to be a high quality, creative tool for digital productions of all kinds." - Jim Motavalli

Bass Pro Shops Reels in Awards

When Bass Pro Shops' award-winning video production department decided to upgrade its arsenal of video cameras, its first choice was the rugged Sony DSR-500W. "The look of these Sony cameras is quite good, considering price and size," says Steve Hargis, Director of Video Productions, Bass Pro Shops, Springfield, MO. "The digital nature of DVCAM® recording preserves the very best picture and provides the nearly flawless playback of footage that is required in strenuous conditions."

The DSR-500W cameras have traveled with Bass Pro Shops' Outdoor World TV show to Mexico, Panama, Alaska, Hawaii, and nearly every state in America-and proven themselves to be exceptionally durable. "When you're out two days on horseback in the Alaskan wilderness, it's 15 degrees outside, and the ground is covered with snow, you'd better be able to count on your gear!" says Hargis. "The same goes for being 40 miles offshore of Panama, in the Pacific Ocean, when a huge sailfish decides it's time to duke it out with your host."

Bass Pro Shops' video production department, which has snared a pair of Telly awards, has been creating award-winning programming since 1983. Bass Pro Shops' shows regularly appear on TNN and the Outdoor Life Network, and the video production department also
produces a popular series of how-to fishing and hunting videos and its own local, regional, and national commercials.

Electronic Video Systems, a professional video equipment dealer in Springfield, MO, worked with Bass Pro Shops in selecting the DSR-500W. "We've been in business for 22 years, selling professional broadcast equipment as well as security and audiovisual gear," says Raun Hamilton, Vice President and General Manager of Electronic Video Systems. "We pride ourselves on our service and customer satisfaction. Bass Pro Shops is one of the pre-eminent outdoor sporting goods dealers in the country. We're pleased to be able to assist them in creating the outstanding videos they make." -Gary Eskow

CBS Opens Television Program Test Center

Sony Electronics Inc. is providing systems integration for the first-ever television program research center open to the public in the United States. The new research center will help CBS Television and its business partners obtain broad-based market research for its programming and research departments, says CBS.

Located in the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, the CBS Television Program Test Center is open to the public. Visitors are asked to provide basic market research information about themselves, such as their age, geographic location, gender, and viewing habits. They can watch current or potential new programming and provide feedback. After screening a program, visitors can answer a series of questions on what they viewed through a touch screen, entering the data into a centralized database. In addition, they can watch their favorite CBS programs and purchase a variety of CBS-related merchandise.

"In today's competitive television marketplace, having access to the most comprehensive immediate viewer information is critical in program development," says David Poltrack, Executive Vice President of Research and Planning for CBS Television (pictured left). "Having chosen Las Vegas for its large tourist base and broad demographics, CBS felt Sony was the ideal company to execute the design for the premier television research facility in the nation."

"The joint project with CBS clearly proves Sony's ability to
provide unique solutions for diversified customer applications," says Edward Grebow, Deputy President of Sony Electronics and President of its Business Solutions & Systems Company. "Sony Systems Solutions Division with its renowned engineers, coupled with our
advanced technology, helped make this project a reality."

Government-Friendly Sony Launches New Government Marketing Team and Web Sites

Reinforcing its commitment to government customers, Sony Electronics' Business Solutions & Systems Company has created a government marketing team and launched a new web site, www.sony.com/government, dedicated to supporting the audiovisual and IT needs of federal, state, and local institutions throughout the United States.

"The new government marketing team and web site are another in a string of initiatives we've taken to make it easier for government customers to acquire Sony products and receive personalized pre- and-post-sales consultation and support," says Robert Wyler, General Manager of Sony's government and education sales and marketing group.

In addition to product sales, Sony's government account managers will coordinate developing customized contracts for agency buying, soliciting large-scale studio installation projects, and advising government customers on audiovisual and information technology trends and products.

The company's dedicated marketing force serves as a single point of contact for a wide range of professional products and services used in government applications including monitors and projectors; video recorders and data storage; digital still and video cameras; pro audio equipment; and videoconferencing equipment.

Starz Performance
STARZ ENCORE GROUP PURCHASES PETASITE™ SYSTEM

Seeking the best performance for its money, Starz Encore Group LLC, the largest provider of cable and satellite-delivered premium movie channels in the United States, recently purchased a PetaSite® asset management system. The Sony system provides nearline storage, operating under the control of Omnibus automation software and transferring files to Pinnacle servers for play-to-air.

"The Starz Encore application demonstrates our commitment to open systems, and it represents a paradigm shift," says Tom Yuhas, Director of data systems at Sony Electronics' Business Solutions & Systems Company. "In the analog days, this function would have been handled by a Sony Library Management System and Betacam SP® tapes. Today, it's done with play-to-air video servers, which then attach to our Petasite automated data tape libraries and DTF-2 tape drives and media."

According to Ray Milius, Vice President of Starz Encore Group, "We considered other tape systems and even DVD-RAM. We chose the Sony system because it offered the best performance for the money. We know that DTF-2 drives function well in a broadcast environment. And our experience as a Digital Betacam® house gave us full confidence in Sony service and support."

Starz Encore Group originates 13 distinct channels of programming, including different versions for different time zones. Based in Englewood, CO, Starz's expansion will bring the number of channels to 15. Finally, the company's need for redundant backup increases the number of simultaneous output channels to 30.

In the new system, Pinnacle play-to-air servers will receive MPEG compressed files over a FibreChannel connection from the Sony PetaSite nearline storage system. The Sony components include a PetaSite DMS-B150L mass storage system, a PetaSite DMS-EX150L expansion unit, five Sony GY-8240 DTF-2 tape drives, and Sony PetaServe(tm) middleware. This middleware interfaces with automation software from Omnibus.

The use of ultra-high density metal particle tape and fast access DTF-2 tape drives enables the PetaSite asset management systems to provide vast quantities of storage in a modest footprint. In this way, the Starz Encore Group system can store a maximum of 214 DTF-2 large cassettes, each of which can hold 200 gigabytes, uncompressed. Total storage is 42.8 terabytes of data, uncompressed (42,800 gigabytes), yet the PetaSite DMS-B150L and DMS-EX150L systems combined occupy just 21 square feet of floor space.

The PetaSite systems enable media-rich customers like Starz to digitize and repurpose their assets for multiple channels of distribution.

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DVCAM Is TV Show's Destiny

In the end, everyone was pleasantly surprised. Last March, when David Gaines co-produced Destiny, a pilot TV show for CBS, he worked with film editor Steve Cohen, who wanted to experiment with DVCAM® equipment as a source for loading into Avid's nonlinear editing system. In addition, Gaines and Cohen decided to view Destiny's dailies in the DVCAM format.

They were in for a surprise. When Gaines and Cohen began using Sony's DSR-11 DVCAM playback deck-a small profile, high-quality unit with an i.LINK® IEEE 1394 DV I/O connection-for viewing dailies in the director's trailer, instead of experiencing the normal confusion about what the film looked like, there was both all-around relief and certainty about what the film had captured.

"The DVCAM format took a lot of the 'it's just VHS' guesswork out of the post-production process," says Gaines, who has worked on films such as 15 Minutes, Ed Wood, and Imagine: John Lennon, as well as HBO's acclaimed Don King: Only in America. "Normally, producers look at VHS or U-matic® tapes and the color and picture don't really mimic what's on the film, or even what the telecine bay operator has laid down to the master. As a result, we argue about whether what we are seeing is an accurate representation of the negative."

This time, however, there was no question about what the Destiny team had captured. "The DSR-11 is compact, has digital sound, and produces a brilliant picture," says Gaines. "You don't get that on VHS or 3/4-inch. Plus, the whole show's tapes fit into a shoebox. It's great."

During the editing of Destiny, which is about an eccentric man who is mistakenly told by his doctor that he will soon die, Cohen, who worked with Gaines on 15 Minutes, and has cut pictures such as Rambling Rose, Lost In Yonkers, and Blood and Wine, used Sony's DSR-1800 DVCAM, a larger profile, more full-featured machine for digitizing into and outputting from the Avid.

Cohen almost immediately became a fan. "Initially, I was skeptical that the DVCAM playback deck was up to the professional standards of Betacam SP®. But I was very surprised to find that the DSR-1800 is every bit as good as any deck in the cutting room and, to my way of thinking, even better," says Cohen. "The tape never leaves the heads during fast forward and rewind, so you always see an image. And the picture quality is equal to or better than the Betacam® format."

For Cohen, the DSR-1800's most important feature was its 16-bit digital audio capability. Cohen typically struggles to bring good audio into the Avid, and the DSR-1800 delivered digital audio, which he couldn't get from the Betacam SP format. "The differences are incremental, but when put together, they make for a much better editing and viewing experience," says Cohen. "Anybody who has an opportunity to work with a DSR-1800 in an offline editing room shouldn't hesitate to take advantage of the opportunity."

-Heidi Tolliver-Nigro