FC and digital video work well together......
Pinnacle's Thunder........................
broadcastengineering.com
Pinnacle's Thunder storms the server market
By Paul Turner
With its recent entry into the server market, Pinnacle Systems continues to realize its goal of becoming a comprehensive broadcast industry supplier. The new Thunder family of broadcast and webcast servers includes the MCS 4000 four-channel broadcast server, the MCS 2000 two-channel broadcast server, and the iThunder Internet server for real-time webcasting.
The design goal for the Thunder family was to create a next-generation server architecture that would surpass the capabilities of first-generation systems, including radically expanding the functionality of the video server with new capabilities like picon-based asset management, fully symmetrical operation, and support for multiple compression schemes. Each channel needed to record and play back video and key signal as a standard feature, rather than tying up a second channel for video plus key. The Thunder architecture needed to deliver integration with multiformat broadcast environment, where DV field acquisition and MPEG-2 program distribution are standards.
Thunder?s engineering team accomplished these goals by combining Pinnacle broadcast technologies (like BroadNeT connectivity) with leading-edge technologies from other vendors, including C-Cube Microsystems? DVxpress MX-50 codec chip. With its implementation of C-Cube?s DV/MPEG-2 chip, Thunder is the first server that can record and playback source material in both MPEG-2 and native DV formats.
Thunder architecture allows DV and MPEG-2 material and uncompressed still images to co-exist on the same server (and even to play back-to-back on the same channel) without the need to restripe the disk array. Source material in 525 and 625 can also reside on the same server without the need to restripe the array.
The Thunder MCS 2000 and MCS 4000 are completely symmetrical. Any Thunder channel (or combination of channels) can record or play back source material, and the user can freely select the record/playback mode for each channel at any time. During record operations, each channel has access to any of the four system inputs, and each input includes video, key, four-channel audio, timecode and ancillary data. The system can perform concurrent record and playback using any combination of channels.
In the box
Both the MCS 4000 and the MCS 2000 are dual-chassis systems. In each case, the system?s 4RU video processor houses the CPU, video processing electronics, I/Os and networking hardware. Standard I/O is CCIR 601 for video, and AES/EBU for audio. Analog I/O and IEEE 1394 (FireWire) I/O are available as options.
Thunder?s storage chassis houses a Fibre Channel disk array. Compression rates are user-selected during the record process, with data rates from 2- to 50Mb/s per channel. At a data rate of 20Mb/s, Thunder ships with storage for about four hours of video and key. Additional Fibre Channel arrays can be added via off-the-shelf Storage Area Network software, using Fibre Channel hubs or fabric switches.
The video processor and storage chassis are connected via a Fibre Channel link, with an available bandwidth of 1Gb/s. Each chassis offers redundant power supplies and alarms for power supply failure. Redundant storage at user-selectable RAID levels can be implemented easily through additional Fibre Channel drive arrays.
Thunder is designed for plug-and-play integration with station automation systems from Louth, Odetics and other vendors. It also offers external control through GPI and RS-422 ports, using the BVW-75 protocol.
Channels are No. 1
A fundamental design goal for Thunder was to provide functionality and power within each channel?so that a single channel of Thunder could deliver capabilities that previously required two server channels. Multiple features accomplished this goal. For example, each Thunder channel stores both video and an associated key signal (i.e. 4:2:2:4 operation) within a single channel, while older servers require the use of two channels to store video and key signal, if they can do this at all. Each channel also stores four streams of uncompressed 20-bit digital audio, along with timecode and ancillary data.
Thunder?s built-in downstream keyer allows for a clip station logo or other element to be keyed over any background input, without a master control or production switcher. When a Thunder channel executes a video transition, it automatically performs a cross-fade on the accompanying audio channels. In addition, each Thunder channel can create real-time transitions between back-to-back clips within a single channel. Thunder can dissolve, wipe and cut between two clips on the same channel, rather than requiring the use of an external switcher to transition between clips playing on two separate channels.
The Thunder user interface builds on the intuitive front-end and powerful asset-management capabilities of Pinnacle?s Lightning stillstore family. Like Lightning, the picon-based Thunder interface offers a high-speed database search engine that allows users to locate footage by date, title, category or other user-determined criteria.
Proxy power
One of Thunder?s most powerful features is its ability to instantly generate MPEG-1 proxy copies of all source material during its record process. These high-quality, low-data-rate proxies can be stored on the Thunder drive array or on an external proxy server.
Proxies are standard Windows files that can be viewed in MediaPlayer on Windows PCs. With a data rate of approximately 1Mb/s, proxies can be viewed quickly and easily by PC users throughout a networked facility. With Thunder?s optional Browse software on networked PCs, users can concurrently access the proxy footage, create their own subclips and even create their own playlists.
Thunder?s ability to generate standard MPEG-1 proxies on the fly also allows for webcasting over the Internet when paired with the companion iThunder server. The rackmountable iThunder system integrates the RealSystem G2 video streaming software from RealNetworks.
iThunder makes clip-browsing and playlist creation available over the Internet, allowing authorized users to instantly view and refine projects on desktops?or anywhere in the world. iThunder supports connection rates from T1 to modem rates as low as 28.8k baud. With Thunder and iThunder, broadcasters now have an integrated solution for on-air applications and the Internet.
Response to Pinnacles approach.......
Few companies matched the energy projected by the folks at the Pinnacle booth. While their products were interesting in their own right, you got the feeling that things are happening with this company. The Pinnacle Thunder server is NT-based and takes advantage of all the technology available to that software platform, including Storage-Area Networking. When material is saved into the Thunder, a browsable MPEG-1 copy is also made. Operators can then use a low-resolution proxy of the stored full-resolution image for any number of uses including scrubbing, rough editing or Internet applications. The system compresses data at anywhere between 2- and 50Mb/s but is also capable of storing a 601 stream uncompressed. Native storage inside the unit is DV and MPEG-2, and the two can be intermixed. The system stores all of the AES stream, so it is compatible with Dolby AC-3 and Dolby E. One of the interesting comments made by Pinnacle at the show was that you can buy storage from anyone ? any NT storage system will work.
EMC?s NAB?99 message was, "We are here!" That statement might not have much impact on people who are not familiar with the company, but for those who know EMC, it is significant. EMC is clear about one thing ? they have a single focus, and that focus is on sharing, protecting and storing data. This single focal point makes them a serious contender in a server market dominated by companies whose expertise is in storage. EMC?s knowledge of this core area, coupled with its acquisition of some top broadcast talent over the past few months, makes it a company to watch.
While EMC may be new to the broadcast industry, it is a Fortune 500 company that has delivered over 35,000 storage systems to businesses worldwide. Its focus is clearly on the design and construction of larger, high-performance servers. The broadcast market, with its large storage requirements and stressful throughput demands, is a perfect fit for their strengths. EMC has a lot of expertise in both hardware and software development, actually writing its own micro-code for storage devices. This allows the company to optimize its servers for performance and fault tolerance. It also provides excellent tools for management and detection of faults, a key attribute in any large storage system. EMC systems come in two boxes ? the first is an I/O cabinet called Celerra Media Server; the second is a storage array called the Symmetrix enterprise storage system. This is apparently the first time a company has noted the difference between the server and the storage system. The distinction allows EMC?s product to expand without requiring the replacement of the entire system when upgrading..............
FC moving deeper into digital video all the time..... |
