The Newsroom

BBC News technical meltdown

BBC braced for return to 'pre-digital' age as technology fails (November 2009)

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NG
noggin Founding member
Most feeds are recorded at TVC using Jupiter - which is controlled by BBC Desktop PCs... over the network. If you can't use your BBC Desktop PC - you can't use Jupiter and thus can't make a recording, or view existing recordings outside edit suites. In those cases you have to use edit suites and editors to make recordings, view them and edit them... Not as many of them as there used to be.

A lot of editing is also done in Jupiter, which stops if the network stops - so the amount of editing required in the suites that also now need to record feeds goes up.

A good point about the editing demands, but the idea of an essential function like recording being soley on the same network as the desktops is a bit silly. Systems I know of (and have used) have their full-res system on a broadcast network and the low-res (for editing) accessible via the IT network. They should be able to use the record ports independently of the desktop interfaces which will only use a proxy copy of the material. On the system i use for example the interface for the record ports is on a PC but is on the broadcast network. even if this software goes down you can just do the same function manually direct on the server itself

Although this isn't perfect (the high and low res databases will become unsynced) it does allow you to continue if the IT side gets compromised.


The problem with that is that it ends up centralising feed recording doesn't it. The Jupiter system allows ANY desktop to record - not just those designated for media management.

The method you propose is fine for small scale operations - but is based on a specific staffing model.

Perhaps a better solution would be dual networks - with PCs having two network connections?

I guess the other issue is that if the main IT network dies, it takes ENPS with it, so you're basically screwed anyway with an automated gallery...
BH
Bvsh Hovse
What is the advantage of IP phones anyway? We have them where I work and they work fine (unlike the beeb's) but I really can't see the advantage over a traditional switchboard system


Half the amount of structured cabling is a MAJOR benefit - even if you use separate drops from the switch room to the desk for voice and PC you still have far less cabling upstream.

VOIP gets rid of the requirement for a 1:1 physical connection from the desk all the way back to the exchange, and the requirement for all that physical gubbins. The exchanges themselves are a LOT cheaper as a result.

Although the BBC has decided that production areas get TDM phones which are hard wired all the way back to the PBX like conventional telephony. I'm not convinced the TDM phones behave any better, as once the network falls over the PBX is on a virtual island anyway.

The intersite lines is where the real savings are made, no more dedicated ISDN/DASS or leased circuits in addition to your existing computer connectivity. But you need to have reliable connectivity with proper segregation and QOS in place. Computer networks drop packets and retry connections all the time, but most operations are not time critical so you don't notice the extra fraction of a second on your email being delivered. However dropped packets on a VOIP network make calls sound like a mobile in an area of patchy coverage.

VOIP itself isn't inherently terrible - but doing it badly and sharing networks between PCs and voice is 'eggs in one basket' territory...

Agreed.
IS
Inspector Sands

The problem with that is that it ends up centralising feed recording doesn't it. The Jupiter system allows ANY desktop to record - not just those designated for media management.

Surely having the ability for anyone on the system to record means chaos - multiple copies of the same thing, recordings left running accidently, random naming etc

Quote:
I guess the other issue is that if the main IT network dies, it takes ENPS with it, so you're basically screwed anyway with an automated gallery...

Yeah however everything that's automated - playout, graphics, autocue etc can be put into manual and playlists etc built by a human. However the issue comes when a change to the running order is required - without ENPS syncing all the separate playlists on all the devices it's tricky especially on rolling news
IS
Inspector Sands

VOIP itself isn't inherently terrible - but doing it badly and sharing networks between PCs and voice is 'eggs in one basket' territory...

I heard of a story about a place where, as a temporary measure in rooms that weren't covered by their wifi network, everyone used to unplug the IP phones and plug in laptops. This continued for a while even after the proper wired network was installed and no-one really batted an eyelid... until a visitor plugged in a laptop with the same IP address as the switchboard!
NG
noggin Founding member

The problem with that is that it ends up centralising feed recording doesn't it. The Jupiter system allows ANY desktop to record - not just those designated for media management.

Surely having the ability for anyone on the system to record means chaos - multiple copies of the same thing, recordings left running accidently, random naming etc


The local recording is more for local ingest from VT, and for specific feeds that you have personally booked rather than for scheduled or continuous stuff.

The naming is handled inherently in Jupiter - with a drop down showing you the most common story names of the day, making it easier to use an existing story name than create a new one, and you are forced to specify the rest of the naming convention (recording type - OOV, FLT etc.) and the day, date etc.

Quote:

Quote:
I guess the other issue is that if the main IT network dies, it takes ENPS with it, so you're basically screwed anyway with an automated gallery...

Yeah however everything that's automated - playout, graphics, autocue etc can be put into manual and playlists etc built by a human. However the issue comes when a change to the running order is required - without ENPS syncing all the separate playlists on all the devices it's tricky especially on rolling news


Don't you believe it - these days many servers, CGs etc. don't have manual operation options AND more importantly, people who know how to drive them... Without ENPS you'd struggle to co-ordinate what went in them - and given that most of the newsroom have never worked on a traditional scripted TV show actually creating a script/running order and getting stuff like a VT list, aston list etc. to the non-existent manual operators would be a major challenge...

When you run a gallery on two-three technical staff and the automation breaks, you don't have enough people to go manual, even if you can manually drive the kit...
MO
Moz
Lost the news? There's an app for that...

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