January 12th 2016

PREVIOUS EDITING FACILITIES RESTORED AND RECONFIGURED

Following the completion earlier this month of our digital HD edit suite Edit2, we are happy to announce that our previous standard definition Liquid Silver non-linear edit suite and our previous SD/HD Liquid Chrome HD suite have been reconfigured into a smaller and simple editing system which allows continued access to pre-existing production media data.

In the 15 years since we built our first digital editing system, we have completed over 100 productions and the media data and mastering files for most these are still on our servers, allowing quick access to earlier productions for clients who require new masters, language versions or the use of legacy SD media footage in new productions. Due to the incompatibility of data formats between the Liquid series systems and our new Avid HD system, we have chosen to maintain the capability to access, and if required, to re-edit or language version, on our earlier systems.

Whilst not intended for the post-production of new projects, the reconfiguration of these systems will allow us continued access to this data in the years to come, as well as allowing simpler SD assignments to be handled if the need arises.

January 3rd 2016

CHANNEL 6 TELEVISION COMMISSIONS DIGITAL HD EDIT SUITE

Following our technical shutdown in December, we are proud to announce the completion of our new HD digital edit suite, Edit2. The suite combines the best of the HD digital post-production world, with Avid Media Composer (with Symphony option) as the core non-linear editing application, along with access to both digital and analogue audio and video tape formats and a new server and storage solution which is optimized for real-time HD media applications.

Videotape formats
With HDCAM as the company's primary HD acquisition format, Edit2 is equipped with a Sony HDW-M2000P/20 HDCAM VTR which offers both playback of HDCAM in all HD formats as well as exceptional upconversion from Digital Betacam, Betacam SX, MPEG IMX, Betacam SP and standard Betacam within the same tape deck.

Edit2 is also equipped with VTR's for DVCAM HDV, Digital Betacam, U-Matic SP, VHS/S-VHS and 1" C-format and has access to many other legacy digital and analogue formats in our apparatus room.

The new suite has comprehensive routing and patching for all analogue video, digital video, analogue audio, digital AES and SPDIF audio, timecode and serial control, with the capability of the speedy temporary integration of other formats.

Channel 6 Television - Edit2 - High Definition Digital Edit suite - main control desk

The Avid Media Composer NLE system is augmented with the Avid Artist series control panels for transport control, colour grading and audio mixing. All digital media allows for ingest of signals with embedded or separate digital audio, as well as analogue and digital ingest pre-mixing via the Yamaha 03D mixer. The suite also includes support for most common analogue and digital audio formats, including 1/4", cassette, DAT, Minidisk, CD, and digital hard-disk recorders. Besides the extensive audio processing features of the Avid software, the suite also includes Adobe Audition as the primary wave audio recording and editing application - a must for voiceover work.

Whilst the focus for the rebuild has been on the HD technology, the suite offers full support for legacy analogue and digital SD formats, including SD-HD up-conversion, and aspect ratio conversion. The result is an edit suite that offers all the features of modern HD editing as well as the engineering functionality and flexibility of a traditional broadcast edit suite.

Channel 6 Television - Edit2 - VTR's and peripheral equipment racks

The NLE platform is a HP Z820 12-core HT workstation running Windows 7 Professional. The workstation has access to the company's IT infrastructure via two megabit ethernet networks and to the HD Media server via a dedicated teamed 2 Gigabit ethernet network. A separate network is also provided for the Eucon communications between the workstation and the Avid Artist control surfaces.

Located in an adjacent technical area, the HD Medianet servers and storage comprise eight 64 bit Dell servers which host eight Dell Powervault storage arrays, all configured for RAID5+0 offering redundancy for all media data. The system currently has a storage capacity of over 30 terabytes.

The Avid hardware and software for Edit2 has been supplied by InSite A/S, with system integration handled in-house at Channel 6 Television. 

When not required, the VTR's and analogue processing equipment is powered down, and with servers located remotely, we have achieved a cool and quiet editing environment, enabling the production team to focus on the production sound without the tiresome distraction of equipment noise. The edit suite is so quiet that voiceover and simple music recordings may be undertaken in the same room - greatly enhancing the creative working process.

For productions which require access to media data from productions previously edited and mastered on our SD digital editing systems, we will be rebuilding our Liquid Silver and Liquid Chrome HD edit suites in an adjacent area.

The first project scheduled for post-production in the new Edit 2 suite is "The New Horizon" - our documentary film from Alaska scheduled for release in 2017. 

Besides being the post-production hub for all Channel 6 Television productions, Edit2 is also available for hire - with or without an editor - by other clients. Call us for further details!

This assignment was conducted as a parallel project to the production of a documentary film on the same subject commissioned by Kuukpik Corporation - the village ANCSA corporation for the community of Nuiqsut. The end result, released this month, is a 200 page document with many illustrations covering a wide range of aspects of life in the community and the nearby Alpine oilfield. Both the research study and the documentary film are the result of the company's longstanding activities in the Arctic including our work in Nuiqsut since 1997.

To download and view the entire report in pdf format, click here