Editors, producers and other production staff at the MLB Network are using HD video capture and playback cards and miniconverters from AJA Video Systems as part of a file-based production workflow. AJA’s KONA 3 is an uncompressed capture card for SD, HD and dual-link 4:4:4 HD signals processed on Apple Mac Pro systems at the network’s 140,000sq-ft facility in Secaucus, NJ.
The MLB facility features two studios outfitted with state-of-the-art broadcast equipment that includes 22 AJA KONA 3 cards and up to 35 AJA HD/SDI and HDMI miniconverters.
Fourteen of the KONA 3 video capture and playback cards are connected to Apple Final Cut Pro workstations and are used for editing all of the MLB Networks’ non-live, long-format programming. Another six are in use at Adobe Premiere and After Effects workstations for media rendering, and the final two are hooked up to Autodesk Smoke and Flame systems.
To support the studio set and production space, AJA miniconverters used for monitoring and playback have also been deployed throughout the facility. For example, the majority of the on-set monitoring is fed live via the converters.
