EVS 3RD PARTY INTEGRATION: VIZ ARDOME Corporate North & Latin America Asia & Pacific Other regional offices Headquarters Headquarters Headquarters Available at +32 4 361 7000 +1 947 575 7811 +852 2914 2501 www.evs.com/conctact
OVERVIEW OF INTEGRATION... 4 ARCHIVING CONTENT FROM EVS TO VIZ ARDOME... 5 MANUAL EXPORT OF CLIPS FROM EVS TO VIZ ARDOME... 5 AUTOMATIC EXPORT OF CLIPS FROM EVS TO VIZ ARDOME... 6 RESTORING CONTENT FROM VIZ ARDOME TO EVS... 7 MANUAL RESTORE OF CLIPS FROM VIZ ARDOME TO EVS... 7 AUTOMATIC RESTORE OF CLIPS FROM VIZ ARDOME TO EVS... 8 IMPORTING EVS LOGSHEETS INTO VIZ ARDOME... 9
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OVERVIEW OF INTEGRATION Interfacing between the EVS and the Viz Ardome system is primarily performed through two pieces of EVS software, XTAccess and IPDirector. IPDirector servers can be used by EVS users to control such things as ingest and logging in the EVS system, but can also be dedicated for use by the Viz Ardome system to query the IPDirector clip database using a SOAP interface. This database contains the list of clips in the EVS system together with metadata for these clips. Using the SOAP interface, it is possible for Viz Ardome to list clips in the EVS database and receive clip IDs and metadata. The Viz Ardome system can then create records in the Viz Ardome system that correspond to these EVS clips and make this information searchable in Viz Ardome. File transfers between Viz Ardome and the EVS system is performed through the EVS XTAccess servers. These servers can be controlled to transfer clips to EVS servers from outside systems, such as Viz Ardome, or to transfers clips where the clip ID is know from EVS servers to outside systems. The XTAccess servers can also be used to perform rewrapping or transcode operations on the media that is transferred, including up- or downconverting media between SD and HD. The XTAccess servers are controlled using an XML API. Watchfolders called XML Units are defined in XTAccess where the server will watch for incoming XML files that each contains a transfer request detailing between what locations files should be moved, metadata for the resulting file and optionally a transcode or rewrap request to perform on the media as the move is taking place. Configuration can also be performed in the IPDirector database to allow it to send XML commands to these XTAccess XML Units, which can be used to allow IPDirector operators to control media transfers through XTAccess.
ARCHIVING CONTENT FROM EVS TO VIZ ARDOME The Viz Ardome system can be used as a versatile and efficient archive system for an EVS production system. In this case, clips in the EVS IPDirector database can be exported, either manually or automatically, from EVS to Viz Ardome. Once there, the clips can be made available for browsing and searching via the Viz Ardome web interface, or transferred off to other storage tiers such as a digital tape archive. MANUAL EXPORT OF CLIPS FROM EVS TO VIZ ARDOME Viz Ardome import areas can be setup as XML Units in XTAccess servers. This allows IPDirector operators to use the Send to function in IPDirector to export files to the Viz Ardome system. As shown in the figure below, the operators initiates the process from IPDirector, which then sends an XML file to an XTAccess server. The XTAccess server will then take the media file described in the XML command and export it (normally wrapped as an MXF Op1a file) to a Viz Ardome import folder over a file sharing connection together with an XML file similar to the one received in step 2, which contains metadata present in the EVS system. The Viz Ardome system will then parse the received XML file, create an Ardome item for the media and import the MXF Op1a file into the item. This import is done via a Viz Media Processor server that creates a low resolution browse video file for the media and stores both high-res and low-res media on storage inside the Viz Ardome system. After the import starts, desktop users accessing the Viz Ardome web interface can then search for and find the media imported from EVS and all integration points available in the Viz Ardome system are made available to the media. This includes options such as archiving the media to digital data tape storage or exchanging the file with non-linear editing systems such as Final Cut Pro or Avid systems. Users can also use the Viz Ardome desktop browse editing tools to select parts of the incoming media for use with these integrations.
AUTOMATIC EXPORT OF CLIPS FROM EVS TO VIZ ARDOME Using the EVS IPDirector SOAP APIs, it is possible for the Viz Ardome system to list clips in the EVS IPDirector database, as shown in step 1 in the figure below. This can be used to automatically register these clips in Viz Ardome, removing the need for an operator to select what clips to transfer out of EVS to Viz Ardome. Registering these clips in Viz Ardome makes it possible to search and find the clips using the Viz Ardome web interface. It will also map metadata from the EVS IPDirector system to the Viz Ardome system so that web users can use this metadata. Project specific configuration can be done in the Viz Ardome system to select what clips to register in the Viz Ardome database and to select which of these clips to automatically transfer out from EVS to Viz Ardome. When Viz Ardome needs to transfer a file out from EVS that it has registered, it can interface with an XTAccess server, as shown in step 2, and write an XML command to the server to trigger an export through XTAccess from the EVS system to a Viz Ardome import area. The media will then be related to the previously registered Ardome item and a Viz Media Processor server will then create a low resolution browse copy of the media file.
RESTORING CONTENT FROM VIZ ARDOME TO EVS Integration between Viz Ardome and the EVS system is bi-directional, so files can also be sent back to the EVS system from the Viz Ardome system. These file transfers can either be manually triggered by users of the Viz Ardome system, or it can be automatically performed by the Viz Ardome system itself. MANUAL RESTORE OF CLIPS FROM VIZ ARDOME TO EVS When clips are available in the Viz Ardome system users can use both low res browse video, metadata and extracted keyframes to browse and view the media. When a user of the Viz Ardome system determines that a clip should be sent to the EVS system, e.g. for use in studio playout or to bring the clip to an OB style operation away from the TV station, they basically have two choices. The first choice is to use the Viz Ardome web interface to select the clip and to trigger an export to the EVS system. This will perform a transfer of the entire clip, possibly first bringing it online from a digital tape archive and transfer it to the EVS system. The second option is to use the Viz Ardome browse editing tool Viz Precut to construct a clip list with partially selected pieces of clips. This will cause Viz Ardome to perform a partial transfer of media from the digital tape archive before sending media to the EVS system. This is useful, e.g., to select shorter pieces of longer raw materials to send to EVS, which will send both on space in the EVS system and on transfer times. Regardless of the method used to select the clips, or pieces of clips, that should be transferred to EVS, the rest of the process is similar, as seen in the figure below. After the user, in step 1, perform the shot selection, the Viz Ardome system will place these files in a staging area in the Viz Ardome system and send an XML command to an XTAccess server, as shown in step 2. This will then cause the XTAcess system to read the MXF Op1a file from the Viz Ardome system, normally using an FTP file transfer, and to write it to the specified storage area in the EVS system. After the transfer has completed, the Viz Ardome system can optionally use the EVS IPDirector SOAP API to trigger updates in the EVS IPDirector database, e.g., to put the transferred media into specific bins in the EVS system.
AUTOMATIC RESTORE OF CLIPS FROM VIZ ARDOME TO EVS It is possible for the Viz Ardome system to automatically transfer clips to an EVS system. One good example of this workflow is the case where a Newsroom Control System (NRCS) is used to create rundowns that are used to plan playout of clips in studios. The Viz Ardome system can import rundowns from the NRCS system, as shown in step 1 in the figure below. Typically this is done via the MOS protocol. These rundowns can then be displayed in the Viz Ardome web interface and if filenames appear in the rundown that are known by the Viz Ardome system, the rundowns can be used to trigger an automatic export of files from the Viz Ardome system to the EVS system. One possibility is for these filenames to have been added to the rundown using EVS ActiveX-controls used in the NRCS system. As shown in the figure, the Viz Ardome system then transfers the file similarily to how a manual transfer is done. It stages the files, possibly copying them from digital data tape, and controls an XTAccess server using the XML API. The XTAccess server will then read the file from the Viz Ardome system and place it on the specified EVS server. After the transfer is done, the Viz Ardome can use the EVS IPDirector SOAP APis to continously monitor clip status. This clip status will be displayed in the Ardome web interface and if the clip goes missing from the EVS servers, e.g. by being accidently deleted, the Viz Ardome system can automatically re-transfer the clip to the EVS system. Note that the decision of the Viz Ardome system to automatically transfer files to EVS can also be based on other criterias configured in the Viz Ardome system, e.g., by files appearing in a project in Viz Ardome, by project specific scripts or through external control using the Viz Ardome Web services APIs.
IMPORTING EVS LOGSHEETS INTO VIZ ARDOME The EVS IPDirector system includes the ability to perform live logging of content being ingested into the EVS system. As the EVS system can ingest multiple camera angles of the same event, logs can generally relate to multiple streams of video. These logs are contained within logsheet files in the EVS system that can be exported into the Viz Ardome system. The export can either be manual, through an operator exporting the file to a mounted network file share that is really an import area in the Viz Ardome system, or the EVS system can be configured to continuously export the logsheet to Viz Ardome as additions are done to it. The metadata contained within the logs exported from the EVS system is then imported into the Viz Ardome system and matched to video clips transferred from the EVS system to the Viz Ardome system. The information is saved as subitem metadata with the Ardome items, which means that it is saved as metadata with a reference to a specific timecode within the video. It should also be noted that the log is matched to each video clip that related to the log. This way, clips from all related camera angles are get the log metadata imported into them. In order to make further use of the metadata within the logsheets, a specific sports datamodel can also be populated in the Viz Ardome system. This datamodel is used to relate clips together that relate to the same sports event. This information is presented in a specific page in the Viz Ardome web interface which gives the web user an overview of what clips in the Viz Ardome system related to the same sports event, as shown in the figure here. Each individual page in the Viz Ardome system that contains a video clip with sports content also contains a link to this page. This allows a user to quickly see how many related video clips there are thay may show the same sports event from other camera angles. It is also possible for the Viz Ardome system to connect this logsheet based information to clips not originating in EVS. This might, e.g., be useful in the case where complete game recordings are done in a central ingest location into the Viz Ardome system, and only short additional clips are imported from the EVS system to the Viz Ardome system.