User Report: by Steve Wynn

Media 100 Works in Real Time for Ozarks Public TV

SPRINGFIELD, MO.

Ozarks Public Television (OPT) provides PBS programming and instructional television services to 559,000 households in Southwest Missouri and the adjoining three-state area, broadcasting about 168 hours of programming per week. KOZK's studios and offices are housed on the Southwest Missouri State University (SMSU) campus in Springfield, and transmissions also originate from our satellite station, KOZJ-TV in Joplin.

We create everything from documentaries, PSAs, underwriter support spots and interview shows to informational and training programs, athletic highlights, features and recruitment spots in OPT's Programming & Production department, so we need creativity, flexibility and speed with our editing and effects gear. OPT owns three Media 100 iFinish systems, and most recently added two top-of-the-line Media 100 844/Xe systems with XBLUR.

We've always been happy with Media 100's responsiveness and willingness to go the extra mile to help customers. With product and user support we find to be second to none, we wanted to continue our relationship with the company. After receiving a demo of the 844/X, we knew it was the answer to increasing our quality and overall production for all facets of our station while saving us time, money and man-hours.

OPT employs a small staff, so everyone has to pitch in where needed. My job requires me to handle administrative responsibilities while producing, directing and editing my own projects, including 30-second promos and 30- or 60-minute long-format programs. I do not have the time to sit down and learn all the different software programs that can create the effects I need, so I required a system that would allow me to complete my own projects start to finish while not having to pull other employees off their projects to show me how to do some function or effect. The 844/X enables this. Learning 844/X was easy and its combination of full-featured editing with real-time compositing and effects allows me the creative freedom I need from an editing system.

OPT is currently creating a new format for presenting educational content that is very dependent on fonts and graphics. The eight real-time streams in 844/X allow me to do all my 2D and 3D effects in real time, composite them down and put my font over that layer. The speed and convenience of being able to insert the text without waiting for a render to make sure the timing is correct is a huge time saver. With some of the other systems, I was either going to have a big learning curve or would be bogged down with time-consuming rendering.

The 844/Xs were purchased to help us continue to put out both award-winning commercials and long-format programs. Unlike other systems, 844/X meets each of those needs. We are using it to produce athletic highlight shows, weekly and monthly magazine format programs, educational programs, fund-raising elements and more, and are just scratching the surface of what this system can do for OPT.

Simply put, the 844/X is the best system on the market. For service, ease of use, performance, versatility, cost and peace of mind, there is nothing better. The 844/X systems plug right into our infrastructure, and, at 10-bit uncompressed quality, allow us to acquire and play back video in its most pristine state. For the extra bang for your buck, I also recommend the XBLUR feature. Even if you don't think you would use it, you will once you play with it. 844/X makes editing easy and the only limit is your imagination.

The author is Assistant Manager of Programming and Production Ozarks Public Television/KOZK and KOZJ.