Skehan Communications Expands Mobile Capacity with Matrox VS4-Based Multi-Channel Recording

Its ‘Kiwi’ mobile unit equipped with eight cameras has a multicamramed recording system based on the Matrox VS4 Quad HD-SDI capture card and the VS4recorder Pro software.

Skehan Communications, producer and service company based on the Washington-Baltimore region, has expanded its mobile units with multichannel recording based on Matrox VS4.

Entre los últimos eventos que han cubierto destacan los premios Horatio Alger Association Awards & Induction Dinner, las conferencias científicas Howard Hughes Medical Institute Holiday Lectures on Science, el programa Baseball Tonight de ESPN, Opera House Live: Dr. John Concert para el Canal Smithsonian o Interludes DC: Jill Scott para la cadena TV One.

The company prefers to use its own material and facilities, so it rarely resorts to third parties. Kiwi, its mobile production truck, is equipped with eight cameras and is ready to adapt to any television production requirement in HD, thanks in part to its multi-free recording system based on the Matrox VS4 Quad HD-SDI capture card and the VS4Recorder Pro software.

The impulse towards change

Before integrating the Matrox -based system in its equipment, the production truck already had six record -based recording devices. Then, a client had the need to record eight camera channels and two program channels at the same time, so that up to ten recording channels were needed. With a high cost per recording device it was not an economically viable solution, it did not offer the desired operation flexibility or facilitate the recovery and mobilization of the files.

Mike Skehan, general director of Skehan Communications, initiated a search card on which to establish a multichannel HD recording server. The solution had to be practical from a financial point of view and, at the same time, the workflow of operations should not complicate excessively.

In addition, Skehan realized the growing need for redundant recordings at variable bits rates using different codecs. He sought to obtain "the greatest versatility and efficiency at the lowest possible cost." The company had already experienced the transition from recording on video tape (VTR) to file -based recording and reproduction workflows. The time had come to find an efficient and affordable solution to live up to customer needs.

The finding of the solution

Having explored several hard -based disk options, Skehan found a few recording devices that fit their needs, but costing about $ 5000 per recording channel. Then Matrox vs4 discovered. "The VS4, next to the vs4recorder Pro software and the VS4Control function, had a promising appearance and seemed an affordable solution," says Skehan. "I had everything necessary to record HD video for several channels."

When Skehan Communications faces a show, there are certain variable recording needs that must be satisfied. The recording of a main program along with a backup copy is the most essential. However, many customers require that their main camera, and perhaps some more, make isolated recordings (ISO). This covers possible errors when moving from one program to another. ISO recordings are also used during the postproduction process to produce variable versions of the event. In the Skehan truck, all recording devices have routable tickets, so the four VS4 recording server channels can be used as an entry or exit source for the truck.

One of the needs of recording is the ability to share a common time code with all devices. VS4Reorder Pro offers three options to establish a master time code: sdi embedded, system or time of day. The system that Skehan has built uses a temporary code generator based on external GPS as a reference for the system's system clock, so that all recordings share exactly the same time code.

Uno de los eventos más importantes que ha cubierto Skehan Communications es la cena y entrega de premios anual Horatio Alger Awards & Induction Ceremonies, que se celebra en el auditorio DAR Constitution Hall en honor a los nuevos miembros. Se trata de una organización de filántropos cuya misión consiste en promover y financiar la educación superior a estudiantes desfavorecidos.

This remote production usually leads to four days of work: two days of assembly, one day of rehearsals and the day of the event itself. In the previous years, only a few recordings could be made in ISO and turned out to be insufficient once the point of editing them after the event was arrived. This year ten cameras were used, among which there were two robotics, and all the recordings were made in ISO. In addition to ISO recordings, two program recordings were also made. VS4recorder Pro facilitated the work of meeting all recording requirements simultaneously, so the event was fully covered, without losing absolutely anything.

Workflow and advantages

Have four HD recording channels in a 4RU server chassis, the ability to record several codecs, in variable bits rates and the ability to record in a wide variety of storage devices, including a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks), have greatly facilitated the process for Skehan Communications and its customers. The new workflow, with the redundancy offered by the RAID, provides an additional measure of safety and reliability, which translates into tranquility, comparing it with the previous workflow in which the portable recorders kept the files on independent hard drives.

Many customers request files based on their events and the codec available in VS4Recorder Pro guarantee that Skehan Communications can provide the formats they need. VS4RECORDER PRO allows users to capture video in codecs recognized by the sector that can be used with the main editing applications without the need to transcode.

The efficient Matrox MPEG-2 I-Frame codec up to 300 MB/S comes in an AVI container. The H.264 standard is provided encapsulated in MOV or MP4. The DV/DVCAM, DVCPRO, DVCPRO5 and DVCPRO HD Quicktime files are provided encapsulated in MOV. Global audio settings include audio codecs for .WAV and .AAC files with bit rate, bits depth and stereo/mono options.

Customers can easily edit these files with Adobe Premiere, EDIUS or any other regular nonlinear edition system. The synchronized files produced by VS4recorder Pro facilitate the multicámar post -production process of customers. As vs4recorder PRO records files with standard H.264, the video can also reproduce immediately and without the need to transcode it by a normal media player such as VLC or Quicktime. It does not require any type of special visualization software.

When asked his opinion about the ease of use of the vs4recorder Pro software, Skehan replied: "I consider that the user interface is quite clear. It didn't take me for a long time to understand it. I didn't even have to consult the manual."

Future plans

The first quadruple recording device based on Matrox vs4 has been a success and, consequently, Skehan plans to build more and, probably, turn them into their main recording devices. Some will be portable so that Skehan can use them in HD production mixer or production truck, as necessary.

When using the VS4 Control characteristic of the vs4recorder Pro software, any number of systems can be easily controlled in a Master/Slave configuration, which eliminates the need to develop a custom control system developing its own application with the developer kit. For example, recordings can be started simultaneously in several VS4 systems performing a single action. With this configuration it is possible to have an unlimited number of recording channels, all synchronized.