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Production
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Breaking away from the three-ring binder
Naval Media Center embraces asset management technology
Aug 25, 2005
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by Lisa Horan
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As the primary television production facility for the U.S. Navy, the Naval Media Center not only churns out programming on a daily basis, but also maintains an extensive library of footage. In 2002, in light of an expanding library and increasing demands from outside media for footage, it became apparent that the NMC’s antiquated method of managing footage — primarily focused around a log in a three-ring binder — was in desperate need of a makeover.
Enter digital asset management. While the incorporation of the technology has been an extremely effective addition, its implementation has impacted the NMC’s workflow and culture.
Production Workhorse
Affiliated with American Forces Radio and TV Service, Direct to Sailor Satellite Network, and the Pentagon Channel, the NMC is a high-end production facility located at Anacostia Annex in Washington, DC. With an overall staff of roughly 130 civilian and military personnel, the facility features print, radio, and television broadcasting operations.
On the broadcast side, the center’s television department produces six one and two-minute news updates per day, as well as a weekly 30-minute newsmagazine. Its equipment arsenal includes Avid Media Composers networked to an Avid Unity Central Storage system, a Pinnacle Thunder video server, a Ross Synergy switcher, and Ikegami HL-V79 and Sony DSR-PD150 camcorders.
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| The Naval Media Center produces daily news updates and a weekly newsmagazine. |
The center’s programs reach a wide audience that includes active duty, reserve and retired military personnel, civilian employees, and military family members. Each of the newscasts is also streamed on the Internet, reaching an even broader potential audience.
In addition to internal Navy programming, the NMC covers all events connected to the Navy. For instance, with the help of the center’s remote TV production truck, NMC staff covered the commissioning of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in 2003. With cameras stationed in various locations around the ship, NMC provided a feed to all local TV stations, downlinked the signal to NMC headquarters, and provided a live webcast of the event as it unfolded.
In fact, much of the Navy-related footage that is seen on network news and documentary programs was obtained from the NMC. “When there is a request for footage of an event connected to the Navy, the first stop is the Pentagon’s Navy Visual News Office [CHINFO],” explained Jeff Cordia, production manager for NMC’s Television Department. “If CHINFO does not have the requested footage, they contact us.”
Many such requests were received in June 2004, following the death of Reagan. Media outlets were searching for appropriate footage to accompany their coverage.
For example, NMC had a production crew at sea on the USS Ronald Reagan when Reagan died. The crew captured a shot of the American flag as it rippled over the ship and then lowered to commemorate the former President’s death. The compelling footage that resulted was seen by millions of network and cable news viewers.
In With The New
As requests for NMC footage continued to increase, the center’s library continued to expand, and it became obvious that the center was in desperate need of a more efficient, more capable system that would enable them to better manage and recall their content. Without a new system, it would be nearly impossible to maintain the center’s resources adequately.
NMC sought the expertise of digital asset management specialist Brad Pumphrey, president of EastBay Media, to design and implement the appropriate technology. “The NMC needed a system that could accept contribution from multiple users and a system that had a user/group concept,” he explained, “which essentially means that different users or groups can do different things with the system based on account permissions.”
The system also had to be able to handle the needs of the NMC production team, as well as personnel in the Visual Information Office (the people who decide what video needs to be added to the permanent DOD archive for historical purposes) and the CHINFO office, Pumphrey added.
Based on the requirements, Pumphrey began the first phase of asset management implementation. In this phase, a Virage VideoLogger and a Virage Solution Server were implemented. “We went this route not only because we were merely testing the waters, so to speak, but also because at that time the budget was very limited,” he explained. Pumphrey continued to customize the VSS application for several months to create an interface that was as user friendly as possible.
In Phase 2, the first system was expanded. Three logging stations where video is ingested and indexed were added, as was a media asset management server system that enables users to search the video archive through a Web interface.
“My software developer and I worked hand-in-hand with Jeff [Cordia] for many weeks re-writing the user interface to make the transition from the Phase 1 system to the new system as seamless as possible,” said Pumphrey. “We were able to build a very flexible model than can accommodate all of the center’s needs.”
Phase 2 introduced more VideoLoggers and replaced VSS with Leading Edge’s Media Archive Solution. “While many of the most powerful features — such as workflow, ordering, and syndication to the navy.mil Web site — have not even been turned on just yet, what has been especially beneficial about the new system is it heavily customized and provides ample flexibility,” Pumphrey noted.
In the future, the system will be fully integrated with the next generation NMC digital production environment. In the meantime, what the system already does is allow NMC staff to capture metadata from videographers and reporters about footage, grab key frames, and save the information they’ve collected.
“People from within the building can log into the system from their desktops and zone in on what they are looking for, see a thumbnail and storyboard views of what they are searching for, and see key frames of an entire tape with relative ease,” said Cordia. “It’s dramatically reduced the time we spend looking for and obtaining footage.”
Culture Shock
In spite of its functionality, the transition to the new system has also sparked new challenges. “Before we were introduced to the world of asset management, our storage system consisted of a three-ring binder catalog and several small computer databases in which footage was categorized in a rudimentary fashion,” said Cordia.
“Going from the log book to the asset management database was a painful, but necessary, first step,” admitted Pumphrey. NMC staff were forced to deal with a whole new layer of issues they had never had to consider before, such as creating streaming video proxies, thumbnails, and metadata.
“That’s when we realized how this new endeavor would impact our operation and what a powerful tool it is,” said Cordia.
According to Pumphrey, the change not only represented a shift in NMC’s business process, but also a shift in the underlying culture. “Many users had been doing things the same way for many, many years,” said Pumphrey, “so the biggest hurdle has been acceptance.”
For starters, NMC staff had to accept a new philosophy on collecting footage. Before the system was incorporated, most of the footage in the library had centered on news show masters, but contained very little in the way of original footage. “Now, the philosophy is, if we shoot it, we keep it,” said Cordia, who said this is a stark contrast to their previous approach.
In addition, NMC personnel also had to familiarize themselves — very quickly — with the concept of metadata. Immediately following a shoot, cameramen and reporters must fill out metadata worksheets, while the information is still fresh in their minds. This information is critical in assigning accurate metadata to a given piece of footage.
When it comes to archived footage from the center’s previous library, Cordia said the staff is in the midst of logging and assigning metadata, which seems to be an endless process. “We had over 10,000 hours of footage sitting on the shelf, and we’re adding new footage every day,” said Cordia. “‘How do we log it all,’ became the overwhelming question. ‘Little by little’ became the ultimate answer.”
Unfortunately, the NMC has to retrain staff little by little, as most of its employees are active military who typically serve three-year tours. Once their tours are complete, new personnel come in, and the training begins all over again.
“No one has begun their work here in the television department with a working knowledge of digital asset management, so each has had to be trained on all of the ins and outs of the system,” explained Cordia, who added that in some cases, new employees have only had experience in print journalism, so they must also get up to speed on the fundamentals of broadcasting and equipment operation, as well.
“In a normal set of circumstances, what we are doing would require a staff of 10 to15, but we’re doing it with a staff of just three,” added Cordia. He said that’s a testament to the skill of the individuals who are joining the Navy now, who he said are more computer literate than ever before.
“When we first made the decision to implement an asset management system, we thought we would buy it, install it, and use it,” recalled Cordia. He and his staff quickly realized that it wasn’t that simple. “We didn’t simply take a piece of equipment out of a box and plug it in; we had to gradually integrate it into our facility, and continue to do so on a daily basis. Though it has taken a lot of thought and planning, it has completely revolutionized the way we do our jobs and has definitely been well worth the effort.”
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