The Tiger Moon Landing
In his role of Director of Technology and Communications for the Township of Moon, a community of 25000 people outside of Pittsburgh, PA, Jim Koepfinger oversees the Moon Community Access TV station which televises live and packaged content for Moon residents. “We broadcast live sports, variety programming, and of course live public meetings, and the station is very popular with our residents. We’re an important part of the community, and we keep growing every year.”
The station has an HD mobile truck for live events and field production, equipped with JVC HD cameras that use AJA KiPro for capture and transfer of MXF and AVCHD material. Shows like “Inside the Humidor” are shot with two cameras, and edited by MCA-TV staff with Avid Media Composer. Other productions are cut by volunteers and interns, and there is a big workload. “We had people sitting waiting to edit because the Avid they had started on was being used by someone else. We needed to find shared storage so we could work from any open machine.” MCA-TV needed shared storage that could handle all the different editors using the Avids, and be easy enough for non-technical volunteers to use. “Avid support was the most important requirement, followed by cost. And we also needed to easily manage all the staff and volunteer editors we have working here, along with all the projects.”
“Avid support was the most important requirement, followed by cost.”
With five Media Composer suites, some doing multi-cam editing, MCA-TV needed enough performance for multiple streams of HD footage. The workflow also includes graphics production, and so Koepfinger was looking for an easy way to share opens, closes, bumpers, lower-thirds and other elements.
We considered Avid ISIS 1000 but it is expensive and I wanted more control over my system than Avid allows.” Koepfinger consulted with Howard Solomon of Creative Business Technologies for the storage purchase, who recommended Tiger Technology. “The Tiger Box1, with projectStore PRO for user and workspace management, as well Replication & Tiering for backups to our Drobo, gives us the performance we need for HD multi-cam editing, and fit our budget better than a less capable Avid system.”
“The Tiger Box1 gives us the performance we need for HD multi-cam editing, and fit our budget better than a less capable Avid system. With Tiger, there’s no wasted effort.”
Using projectStore PRO, Koepfinger says, makes working with Media Composer even better than it would be with Avid ISIS storage. “We have multiple editors working on the same show at the same time, and we can open any timeline on any machine; our graphics elements can be just dropped right into an Avid bin without having to worry about external drives. Unlike with Avid, where all media is stored in one folder, with Tiger we create a workspace for each project, so they are smaller, easier to manage, easier to backup, and we control where they are stored. And by having separate workspaces with unique permissions, our volunteers can’t accidentally delete anything that isn’t theirs. With Tiger, there’s no wasted effort.”
MCA-TV increased productivity using projectStore PRO’s search and proxy capabilities. “Our producers are able to search through and view their material before their edits, so they are better prepared and more productive.” And using Replication & Tiering has made managing online storage space and project backups a breeze. “Using inexpensive storage for as nearline for backups is great. We automatically move finished projects to free up online storage space, and we keep all our public meetings available. It’s quick and easy for the editors to restore just the clips they need from the Drobo.”
“I haven’t compromised in any way; I feel like I’ve got a better system.”
MCA-TV is more productive, efficient, and better able to manage its media and projects than ever. “Cost-wise, and with the ability to control the system myself, I’m very pleased to have gone with Tiger – it’s working very well, we’ve got a lot of people working at the same time, and we haven’t had a single issue. I haven’t compromised in any way; I feel like I’ve got a better system – after you do your due diligence, you’ll find that Tiger Box1 is your best option.”
With his savings, increased efficiency, better backups, and peace of mind, Jim can now enjoy a good cigar.