CASE STUDY

Dunedin TV Streamlines End-to-End Workflow with PX-1 and FS-4

Challenge

The town of Dunedin is tucked along Florida’s picturesque Gulf coast. The team at Dunedin TV is responsible for covering city commission meetings and special workshops, as well as producing a bi-weekly magazine-style show called “Spotlight on Dunedin.” "Anything that happens here in Dunedin, we’re there. Dunedin is known for having a ton of events, so it seems like we’re always out in the field shooting” said Courtney King, Coordinating Producer at Dunedin TV.

Over the past 5 years, the station had accumulated significant quantities of footage, and found themselves struggling to manage all their video, audio, and photo assets. “It had become crazy. We were dealing with a ton of footage — some located on our internal hard drives, some on external drives, and others on tape. We’d end up swapping hard drives around, trying to remember what footage was on which drive. And then, we’d have to go back and search through videotape. It was not very efficient,” said King. The station looked for a better way to streamline their production workflow — from acquisition to storage, in order to make the most of their existing video assets and enable them to better manage the vast amounts of footage they’d acquire in the future. “Our main objective was to develop a digital library here at the station,” King added.

Solution

In order to streamline acquisition, Dunedin TV selected the FS-4 HD Portable DTE Recorder from Focus Enhancements. Based on Focus Direct To Edit® (DTE) Technology, the FS-4 records DV and HDV streams directly to disk via FireWire. Videographers can record in edit-ready QuickTime, Avid DV-OMF, and other native NLE formats in timeline — eliminating the time-consuming steps of capturing tape and converting footage. By bypassing these intermediate steps, the FS-4 takes users from acquisition to editing with unparalleled speed and efficiency.

While the Focus FS-4 helped streamline acquisition, Dunedin TV still found themselves struggling to manage their digital files. “As we grew, we had external hard drives everywhere. It was difficult to share footage, and difficult to find what we needed quickly,” said King. Dunedin TV again turned to Focus Enhancements, and deployed the PX-1 Archive Management Server. Designed specifically for small to medium-sized production groups, the PX-1 combines professional-grade server hardware with robust media management software, for a turnkey, “out of the box” experience. The PX-1 replaces the need to manually manage volumes of videotapes, or digital files on hard drives, by managing terabytes of video, audio, graphics, and text files from an intuitive web browser interface.

Result

Now after Dunedin TV team members go out and film an event with the Focus FS-4, they can load the files right onto their Adobe Premiere Pro editing system. The Focus PX-1 networks all of Dunedin TV’s editing systems to enhance collaboration; a team member can place footage into a shared folder, enabling others to instantly access and edit the files from any other station.  “Before, we were totally incapable of collaborating on projects without swapping tapes, or going into each other’s hard drive,” said King. “The PX-1 allows us to seamlessly work on each other’s projects — regardless of who shot or imported the footage.”

With its rich metadata capabilities, the Focus PX-1 helps Dunedin TV find and retrieve video and audio files quickly. When King and other team members bring in new footage, they add metadata, typically consisting of a short description and duration of the clip. The

PX-1 uses projects and containers to organize and store media and relate files, and Dunedin TV typically keeps files organized by individual events.  “Now if we’re looking for something specific, we simply enter some basic key words, and the clips come right up. We can also check the low resolution proxy file to confirm it’s the clip we want,” said King. “The PX-1 helps us find the footage we need, when we need it— without searching through tape and hard drives. This alone saves us many hours in the weekly workflow.”

With the Focus PX-1, Dunedin TV is in the process of creating a digital library consisting of video, audio, and graphics files. King believes this new management system will be key to the station’s future growth. “With tapes and hard drives, we each had our own method and style of organizing,” she explained. “The PX-1 standardizes cataloging and storage across the station. This means future employees will be able to get up and running instantly, without having to decipher someone else’s cataloging technique. We look at the PX-1 as a long term solution."  

About Dunedin TV

One of the oldest towns on the Westcoast of Florida, Dunedin (pronounced DONE-EE-DIN) offers its residents a small-town feel, a relaxed life style, and four miles of picturesque waterfront.  Dunedin TV is a government access television channel operated by the City of Dunedin as a 24/7 source for info on government policies and services, and news of significant government sponsored community events. In addition to City Commission Meetings, Dunedin TV produces “Spotlight on Dunedin,” a bi-weekly magazine-style half-hour show that covers city events, new initiatives, and programs offered at city facilities.  

About Focus Enhancements, Inc.

Innovation, efficiency, and superior quality are the foundation on which Focus Enhancements builds its products. A world leader in advanced video production, digital asset management, and digital signage solutions, Focus delivers products that perform superbly day in and day out, and backs them with unparalleled service and support.

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PX-1 Archive Management Server

A fully turnkey solution, the PX-1 Archive Management Server from Focus Enhancements makes media asset management simple and cost effective. Combining professional-grade server hardware with robust media management software, the PX-1 gives you the performance you need for a price you can afford—right out of the box. Designed for fast performance, the PX-1 Archive management Server uses rich metadata to make it easy to find and retrieve media assets quickly—during any stage of the production process. Low-resolution proxy video clips of your SD, HD, HDV, DV, and MPEG footage allow for quick preview, protect high-resolution media assets, and save network bandwidth.

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""The PX-1 helps us find the footage we need, when we need it — without searching through tape and hard drives. This alone saves us many hours in the weekly workflow.""

Courtney King, Coordinating Producer at Dunedin TV