Why Multi-camera Projects Are Time Consuming and Expensive
While modern video equipment for multi-camera recording (aka video capture), switching, and streaming are less expensive than in the past, and quality has gone up, the real cost in creating a video project is actually the post-production tasks (sometimes referred to as the "Production workflow"). With traditional production workflow methods, each time you do a video project, you and your staff must consider the re-occurring post-production costs and will soon far exceed the initial cost of the hardware quite rapidly. At the end of the recording session, someone must organize & synchronize all the clips recorded from each camera, transfer them to another system for review and editing, then finally distribute to others to view or analyze. All these steps are both time and labor intensive, partly because there is no initially defined "structure" to manage your project's video clips and metadata that is being recorded.
So how do you reduce the time involved, the number of people, and thereby costs to create and finish a multi-camera project in far less time than using traditional workflow methods? That's why we invented V-Station HD! It changes the paradigm of your "workflow" from recording to delivery to make it less expensive and quicker to get your video projects completed... and with fewer steps, people involved, and far less costs than traditional video production methods..
What Makes V-Station HD So Different?
V-Station HD is an integrated and modular "Multi-channel" Video Recording/Streaming System, that uses a new method of multi-camera workflow that our founder, Robert Cohen, has invented and is called "Project-based" workflow. It has been implemented in our V-Station HD "Project Media Management" (PMM) software, which comes with every V-Station HD Video Capture Package. PMM efficiently handles all the tasks involved from video capture, synchronization, classification, logging, live editing (with EDL), multi-channel streaming, to post-delivery to your preferred CDN. It is specifically designed to use for applications involving audio-visual communications, presentations, meeting (business, Legal, or government) recordings, training, clinical observation & analysis, and even live event production. Project-based workflow provides a revolutionary way by which video can be captured from multiple sources (including ISO cameras) from up to 8 HDMI or SDI (6G/3G) cameras, synchronized, organized, and managed while recording is being done, not afterwards. Then PMM will also carry you through many of the post-production tasks.
Traditional Video Production Workflow Compared to V-Station HD Project-based Workflow
In order to understand the V-Station HD's workflow, it's a good idea to see how the workflow from acquisition to delivery is traditionally done in a multi-camera shoot, and how V-Station HD changes the paradigm by automating some of the manual and labor intensive tasks that are done today, as well as managing all the clips shot at the time of the event, when under the control of and managed by a single V-Station HD system.
In a traditional type of production, clips are acquired on removable storage media taken independently from each camera. Usually the video clips and data are not embedded or associated (as meta files) with the video project's name, reel, scene, shot, takes, and notes from the shoot. It is simply "Unstructured" and unmanaged. Once recorded, the clips must be managed manually and organized and copied to some form of media asset management system, or copied directly to the post-production system for synchronization and editing.
As any editor knows, it takes time to not only find (or sort out) and copy the footage, but to create the folders or bins for the project, decipher which camera, which scene and shots were taken at the same time and determine the synchronization of all angles, and decide where the cuts are to be made. Also, if there are re-takes, then it can get a bit confusing. If the cameras are from different manufactures, clip names can be quite different and this makes it more difficult to sort out. If there is no time code, then synchronizing can be difficult if not impossible if there was no common audio or image at the start. In addition, removable media can be damaged or lost in the process. Once everything is sorted out, only then editing and review can be done.
In contrast, in a "project-based" workflow system, a uniform "structure" is imposed at the before recording to ensure all file clips from all cameras are organized and categorized automatically after recording begins. The multi-camera workflow is greatly simplified, when the V-Station HD PMM software keeps all the recordings held in their respective projects. It maintains synchronization by using a common clock. This way, from the very start, project, clip management, and synchronization is done automatically. As clips are captured from up to 8 cameras, they are organized into the current project and synchronized, instead of after the session, the way traditional post-production workflow is done. Although, V-Station HD uses the terminology used in Cinema production - Reels, Scenes, Shots, and takes, these terms can be re-labled to conform to your application, with what we call "Application Profiles". As recording are made, clips are automatically named and then classified into divisions that you define. They can easily be found via our integrated clip browser and immediately identified by the classification system. This not only saves time, but prevents loss of valuable footage while in the process of moving from the production to post-production. As a result, fewer people are involved and less time is spent in post-production. The bottom line: wrap to delivery ... in minutes!
Who Needs V-Station HD?
The applications for V-Station HD are diverse. It can do multi-camera event recording and live streaming, or be used in pro audio-visual communications applications for observation and training. In the event video production world, applications include theatrical/musical performances, interviews, religious services, community television, web content creation, screen tests for casting television and cinema, pre-visualization of a cinema productions, V-Station HD makes an excellent real-time asset management system to backup your camcorder footage during the shoot in case the storage card is lost, fails, or even runs out of storage space. Applications for pro audio-visual include multiple cameras for multi-room training, scientific observation and analysis of events -- such as clinical behavioral studies, focus group studies, sports training, military training and mission simulation, aerospace, medical training for surgical and patient monitoring and review, safety and security studies, manufacturing process control monitoring are other applications.
