Egyptian System Integrator Systems Design Used EditShare

Systems Design, a broadcast system integrator based in Cairo, has been at the forefront of the switch to tapeless workflows for major broadcasters in Egypt and beyond.

Ahmed Gamal Saleh, MD, describes his mission as follows: “Our aim is to make changes in technology or workflow as trouble-free as possible for our clients. Schedules cannot be disrupted and the training of their staff must be comprehensive and designed to make the switch uncomplicated and straightforward.“

Although Systems Design mainly works on builds and upgrades that involve studios, playout centres, OB units and edit suites, they have always also placed the emphasis on post-sales support.

“Our work doesn’t end when the initial job has been completed. We have a team of engineers whose work is to provide support 24/7 for our clients, wherever they are located,” said Saleh.

Al-Nahar TV operates five channels covering news, general entertainment, movies, drama and sports. The task, undertaken by Systems Design, involved switching all the broadcast outlets to a tapeless operation – without causing disruption to the busy program schedule.

Saleh reports that the preparation for this project involved an extensive selection process to find the supplier best positioned to provide the equipment to suit the customer’s requirements as well as the training needed for this critical operation. Systems Design finally opted for a complete workflow from a single manufacturer, EditShare LLC being the best option available.

“After a long period of technical comparisons and prices, it became obvious that EditShare could supply the necessary system – right from servers, through central storage to the archive library. Al-Nahar TV liked the idea of just one professional supplier to handle the whole tapeless production and archiving system, especially as it meant there was no fear of any integration issues. Just as important, the cost of the whole system was realistic,” explained Saleh.

Once the contract was agreed upon, installation of the new system was completed in just one month – and without upsetting any schedules.

Saleh goes on to say that production people in general in Egypt are now getting used to the idea of a tapeless workflow: “They liked carrying tapes, putting them into VTRs, viewing the content and then saving the content. But once they saw the EditShare system in place – and the simplicity of its operation – they rapidly lost their fear of the new technology. In fact, production and technical staff report that things are now much easier.“

EditShare Flow provides ingest functionality to manage incoming material to the broadcaster. This content can come from a variety of sources, including XDCAM, P2 cards and DSLR devices as well as HDSDI live studio cameras and satellite feeds.

In the production galleries, EditShare Geevs servers are used for all recording and playout.

“A significant benefit of these servers is that they are also future-proofed. Codec support is upgradeable and storage capacity expandable via internal drives and/or the addition of external Geevs Storage units,” says Saleh.

He concludes: “The efficiency of the whole operation has been improved since the EditShare system has been in place. Any initial apprehension of the transition to tapeless was very rapidly dispelled thanks to the ease of use and the ongoing support displayed by EditShare.“

Basic metadata is entered by the operator during ingest, while more logging of the content takes place later in the production cycle. That said: the EditShare system includes an ‘Edit-While-Capture’ feature that enables editors to start cutting as soon as ingest begins.

“The benefits here are obvious,” states Saleh. “Where there are time-critical deadlines to meet – say, for news packages – this ability can save those crucial moments, which make the difference between an item being broadcast or the opportunity missed.“