The Challenge
WTFN had built an enviable reputation producing high rating television shows such as Bondi Vet. Though these were single camera, relatively simple exercises.
With its business expanding rapidly, WTFN’s existing storage and backup could not easily meet the requirements of several new productions, particularly Channel 9’s Paramedics show, that were in the process of kicking off.
Mark Irwin, WTFN’s Chief Technology Officer, says: “Securing Paramedics for a second season was the trigger for us to move to a flexible, scalable infrastructure that could support our growth. We had to step up to handling the production of 18,000 hours of output from multi-camera scenarios – 15 cameras in an ambulance, helicopter-mounted shots, and drones above.”
WTFN’s Melbourne facility has 30 AVID Media Composer seats, used by Offline Editors, Edit Assists and Producers in conjunction with Interplay Production and Media Central. Onlining is completed in AVID Symphony.
A range of supporting staff bring the productions together including an inhouse Technical Support Engineer. The new system was to support varying staffing numbers and areas of expertise, and provide access for both in-house people and freelancers. It needed to deliver lower administrative overheads to ensure the tight production schedules could be met. “Everyone would be accessing this one system – pulling media and concurrent multicam angles at the same time,” he says.