SALT LAKE CITY —WLRN-TV, the PBS television station in Miami, has purchased a new NVerzion automation system during the transition to an all-HD file-based workflow.
NVerzion's Component Level Automation System Solutions controls a significant amount of WLRN's workflow, from ingest and dubbing to scheduled satellite recordings and playout. Relying on the flexibility and modularity of CLASS, WLRN has increased operational efficiencies and savings, in addition to delivering a quality on-air presentation.
WLRN offers a variety of educational and local programming to the South Florida community. During a recent migration from a tape- to file-based workflow, the station built a completely new master control operations center managed by NVerzion automation. Cornerstone Wireless was responsible for the system integration.
The NVerzion automation hardware and software components include: NControl MC on-air playlists, NGest professional dubbing and recording software, NPoint video preparation software for segmenting and trimming, NBase SQL media database manager, NCommand machine status and control, NConvert manual and automated traffic interface, NTime time-driven event scheduling, EMC Ethernet Machine Control, and a CPIM creative protocol interface module for the BXF traffic communications.
“During the transition to file-based workflow, we essentially rebuilt master control from scratch. NVerzion's CLASS not only streamlines our operations, but it also enables us to deliver 100-percent HD programming, which is very important for increasing viewer satisfaction,” said Scott Ritchie, engineer at WLRN.
Built upon an open architecture, NVerzion's CLASS allows WLRN to support a variety of third-party equipment, including a Utah Scientific MC-4000 digital master control processor, XOR Media UML play-to-air video server, Myers ProTrack traffic system, and Utah Scientific GS-4000 graphics system. By controlling nearly all of the station's broadcast operations, CLASS speeds up the stations' file-based workflow, reducing capital and operating expenses. Leveraging the BXF format, NVerzion's CPIM module provides seamless two-way communication between traffic and automation, with real-time updates, improving internal communications and workflow efficiencies.
CLASS features a modular design that guarantees the integrity of the station's on-air presentation by eliminating any single point of failure within the file-based workflow. The modularity of CLASS will simplify future upgrades, enabling WLRN to be on the cutting edge of technology. In addition, the scalable platform can easily support additional channels and subchannels as WLRN's operations grow.
