In the increasingly competitive news industry, time to air is crucial. With the pressure to grow market share and foster a loyal viewing audience, local news stations are looking to new technology and workflow solutions to help them be first with breaking news stories and quickly and cost-effectively deliver a wide range of premium content.

 

For WDAY and WDAZ, ABC affiliates based in Fargo and Grand Forks, North Dakota, a tape-based workflow created added work in getting the final products to air—not to mention the burden of purchasing, managing, and archiving tapes. As Jeff Nelson, news director at WDAY, explained, “We were spending approximately $16,000 a year on tape at WDAY. And storing all this tape was taking up considerable space at the station. We wanted to find a better way to handle our production and postproduction workflow.”

 

To improve their workflow, WDAY and WDAZ selected the FS-4 Portable DTE Recorder from Focus Enhancements, and rolled out 35 units across the two stations. Based on Focus Direct To Edit^® 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—eliminating the time-consuming steps of capturing tape and converting footage. By eliminating these intermediate steps, the FS-4 takes users from acquisition to editing with unparalleled speed and efficiency.

 

News reporters from WDAY and WDAZ use the FS-4 to capture their story, whether it’s a 30-minute interview, a football game, or a weather feature. By recording footage on the FS-4 in native QuickTime format, reporters can bring their clips right into Final Cut Pro for editing. “Now with the FS-4, our reporters can come in from the field, load the files right into Final Cut Pro, and instantly start editing,” said Nelson. “It’s made the whole workflow easier.”

 

When reporters are in the field, they can transfer video from the FS-4 to their laptops and begin editing right away. This streamlined workflow enables reporters to get their stories on air quickly and efficiently—from any location.

 

More than two years after deploying the FS-4, WDAY and WDAZ rely on the DTE recorders as their main acquisition source. Both stations record to disk and tape simultaneously—using the FS-4 as their main tool for postproduction and tape as a backup. “That’s another advantage of using the FS-4. It gives us an instant backup source. In the past, we could run into glitches or hits on the tape, and that was all we had. Now we have the assurance that if something happens to our clips on the FS-4, we have a backup,” said Nelson.

 

“Overall, the FS-4s have performed very reliably,” added Nelson. “We typically have nine field cameras and recorders out in the field every day and they’ve been able to withstand our intense schedule.” And because they’re located in the northern tier, WDAY and WDAZ field teams can face some grueling weather conditions. “Up here in North Dakota, we’ve got some pretty extreme weather—from snow storms and 30-below temperatures in the winter to 100 degrees and humidity in the summer. And so far, the FS-4s have held up well to these extremes.”

 

While WDAY and WDAZ still use tape as backup, use of the FS-4 has dramatically reduced their reliance on tape. “Overall, we’ve cut our annual budget for tape and photo supplies by 50 to 60 percent,” said Nelson. “And by archiving digital files on DVDs, we’re also able to cut down on our physical storage space requirements.” 

 

Direct To Edit Technology gives the WDAY and WDAZ teams a more convenient and efficient way to produce their stories. “Not having to spend hours ingesting tape saves time and makes the workflow easier,” concluded Nelson.

Based in Fargo, North Dakota, WDAY-TV serves the Fargo DMA (Designated Market Area), along with its affiliate station WDAZ-TV in Grand Forks. WDAY reaches the Fargo Trade area—serving an 18-county region with approximately 135,000 television households. And WDAZ serves the Grand Forks Trade area of approximately 17 counties and 82,000 television households. The ABC affiliates have continually enjoyed the highest ranked local newscasts in their markets. www.wday.com

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Featuring a comprehensive backlit display, an easy-to-use menu system, a hard drive, and a removable, rechargeable battery, the Focus FS-4 is the perfect DTE companion for DV and HDV handheld shoots. Designed for use in even the roughest conditions, the FS-4 includes a six- or ten-second (model-dependent) electronic shock cache to ensure that you never lose footage. Audio, video, timecode, and control information is passed through a single FireWire cable, allowing you to record to disk and tape simultaneously. And when recording is complete, your footage is ready to edit instantly—no capturing, file transfer, or file conversion is required. FS-4 Portable DTE Recorders are compatible with a wide range of nonlinear editing systems.