Division of Communication Media Installs SGL FlashNet Archive

Software Generation Ltd. (SGL), a provider of content archive and storage management software for media and entertainment, has announced that the Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA) broadcast facility, the Division of Communication Media (DCM), has installed an SGL FlashNet archive. The SGL system provides DCM operators with a seamless content management solution with dedicated back-up and archive from its new Avid editing environment.

SGL FlashNet is a key element of the agency’s major HD upgrade project within its post production department, which has seen DCM overhaul its editing systems and transition to a full tapeless workflow allowing it to significantly improve operational procedures. The new workflow, which enables a collaborative production working environment, includes acquisition of video on XDCAM HD disks using high-speed ingest systems. Video is ingested into an Avid ISIS-5000 shared storage solution and edited on eight Avid systems. B-roll and historically significant videos are then archived to a Spectra Logic T-380 library using SGL FlashNet. DCM will also use the SGL FlashNet and the Spectra Logic systems to archive its captioning, DVD master files and graphics items.

More and more broadcasters and content providers are realising the enormous cost benefits that a digital archive provides. Doug Wynn, SGL’s VP Sales Americas says, “Typically in studios like DCM editors’ have to fetch tapes from the library and re-ingest; a time consuming and costly process. Now valuable content can be repurposed and re-used, reducing floor space, saving money on maintenance and library costs and significantly increasing ROI.  SGL’s seamless integration with Avid improves the production workflow allowing operators to search metadata-rich content instantly, locating clips that take a significant time to locate on tape.”