Graphics Over a WAN

One unquestioned reality that today's broadcast and post operations face isthe use of graphics proliferates. Both broadcasters and facility managersalike know it's important to find better ways to manage this flood ofgraphics.

For example, in order to track and make better use of graphics, the TribuneBroadcasting group needed a solution that would work for producers andgraphic artists alike. On a daily basis, each of Tribune's 18 TV stationsnationwide creates megabytes of on-air graphics. In order to expand thestations' graphics capabilities, Tribune wanted to rationalize workflow andbetter coordinate each facility's labors. Content sharing also figured highon their list of objectives.

At the recommendation of Quantel (one of the graphics suppliers to theTribune group), Sydney, Australia-based Proximity delivered the solution.Proximity's Xenomax software/hardware combo delivers a straightforwardmethod of directly accessing, transfering, and browsing graphics material,whether from within a facility or on some far-flung server.

Mike Gano, WPIX's director of Broadcast Operations and Engineering,explains: "Previously, moving graphic material from one device to another[throughout the facility] meant tying up a routing switcher, along withpersonnel. There was always a quality issue, too, when moving around analogvideo. [Xenomax] simply eliminates both of those concerns, as you'reessentially just making a file transfer."

Xenomax is also a useful tool for pulling together Web graphics. Soon afterthe Xenomax software installation, WPIX launched its Web site,www.wb11.com. Gano quickly learned that the new software came at afortuitous time: A Web producer could now quickly access broadcast-newsgraphics directly from a stored drive anywhere across the network. Usingsuch prebuilt graphics, of course, speeds up Web-site production. Ifneeded, the software can also connect those prebuilt graphics toformat-conversion gear, transcoding them into a streaming-media file.

Xenomax works well within facilities because it connects with graphicsdevices from Accom, Aston, Chyron, and Quantel. Beyond just making a simpleconnection, however, the software directly reads any of the native graphicsfile formats used by those companies, something normally difficult to dosince the file formats are nonstandard and unpublished. Included is ageneric FTP module, which enables connections with computers runningWindows NT, SGI, Linux, and other UNIX operating systems.

Now, using an interface that works like a typical Web browser, users atWPIX can thumbnail their way through the images on any networked machines."WPIX is quite literally using Xenomax everywhere throughout itsoperations," says Gano. "Our producers can sit at their desktop PCs andwork through approvals. [Xenomax] also lifts a burden from our engineeringstaff, who no longer have to drop what they are doing to facilitate atransfer." Another example of improved production workflow: The WB11 Newsat Ten graphics crew can now readily move material between the SGI-basedweather-graphics system and a Quantel Paintbox without sneaker-netting thefiles as before.

Xenomax also fits in with the Tribune Company's push to increase contentsharing. WPIX serves as Tribune's flagship station, so it creates aconsiderable amount of custom graphics for news, weather, and othersubjects. Now, the smaller market stations in the group tap into thecompany's intranet for access to WPIX's graphics files. Those stations'artists can then view and copy the desired files to their system.

Currently, Gano is considering adding Proximity's Xenostore, a databasesystem that adds cataloging, offline storage control, and management to theXenomax browser. One nice touch: Users can log in to the Xenostore systemfrom any standard Internet browser, whether they're on a PC, Mac, or UNIXsystem.