CPM Reviews: 360 Systems Image Server Maxx
Today in traditional television production you have the choice of working with videotape machines or video servers. Videotape can only hold an hour or so worth of content, and when editing, it can be tedious to find the actual clip you want to play and exactly when you want to play it. In contrast, a video server provides numerous hours of material and most have the ability to access any clip at any time.
The 360 Systems Image Server Maxx is a video server that is a candidate to replace three professional videotape decks for traditional television production playout. The Image Server Maxx has three channels. The first can either record or playback video. The second and third channels can be used in two configurations; two video playout channels or as an animation playout on channel two with an associated key signal on channel three.
It provides the same professional features and functionality that you would expect to find on a professional Video Tape Recorder (VTR), for example, machine control for automation or communication with a switcher. However, because it is a server it is computer-based, and instead of using tape the video is recorded on to hard disk. The system provides a RAID 5 redundant hard disk drive system with up to 170 hours of recording capacity.
Into Practice
Using the 360 Systems Image Server Maxx in a typical church production application, you might record a service on channel one while at the same time play back two channels of video elements to a video projection system to support the worship service. On the record front, you might be able to record a two-hour special event or an all day conference without ever changing a single a tape.
One of the biggest advantages of a video server is that you can produce graphic elements or video segments on a laptop and transfer them to the server across a computer network. With the ability of the Image Server to record, it is also important to move a video file from the server to the laptop using a video editing program to edit, and then add post production elements for publishing to the Web or DVD at a later time.
For the purposes of this review, I focused on the production capabilities of the server-producing content and getting it into the server for playback, and then getting recorded material out of the server for editing and back again. I started the process by creating video clips and graphics elements in Adobe After Effects on a MacBook Pro. I saved my event promo video clip as a Digital Video (DV) or .dv file. The completed .dv file was then put into the server.
The first thing you will need before you can accomplish this task is to obtain a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) utility. This is required to get the DV file from your computer to the server. I chose the CuteFTP MAC utility to do the job, which I downloaded from the Internet. CuteFTP MAC has a 30-day free trial and a cost of $39.99 if you would like to keep using it after the trial ends.
After making a connection between the laptop and the server over an Ethernet network, it is just as simple as dragging and dropping the DV file from the MAC directory to the Server within the CuteFTP MAC utility window. Although it is highly recommended to use a Gigabit network, I did my test on a simple home 10/100 Mb Linksys switch as the transport. The elements that I created were not more than 30 seconds long, so they were small and worked just fine. However, if you're working with a clip that is larger than several seconds or if you're doing a worship-service-length video transfer, you will not want anything less that a Gigabit connection between the server and your computer. You will also want a Gigabit connection if you are updating even small files during a live production.
Building a Playlist
Now that the video clips are loaded on the Image Server it is time to build a playlist. A playlist will allow you to play video or graphics in the order they are required for the server or event, and you just click on the next button in the Graphical User Interface (GUI) to play through the list.
Playlists are created on a per-channel basis using the playlist feature directly from the pre-installed software loaded on the Image Server. You also have the option of using a Remote Workstation Interface, which is a Windows application you can load on your laptop or PC providing remote control of the server. The advantage is that the server can remain in an equipment room and you can control it in other locations, such as in a production control room or in the sanctuary. This is a benefit because the fans on the Image Server do push a lot of air and are noisy, requiring the server to be in a separate room. I tested the remote control using Windows XP Professional loaded on a MacBook Pro through the Parallels utility.
Once the Remote Workstation Interface is connected to the server via an Ethernet network connection, you select the channel you want to work with and then from a drop-down menu you choose "play list." The next step of populating the playlist is not obvious or clear from the manual, but the answer is to click the edit box in the playlist menu. Once the edit box is checked you then drag and drop the clips you want in the playlist from the main clip list on the device.
The clips can be played out in two ways that include "start to finish" or "looping." It is common to select a start to finish with pre-produced video segments like promotions or testimonials. If you want to use an animation as moving background elements, you would select the looping feature. You can mix and match these two types in a single playlist, giving you flexibility during live productions and maximizing your channel efficiency.
During a live production you can step through the playlist in order, but if things change you can move around by reordering the clips in a live playlist or just clicking on the clips you want to play as required, regardless of the order in the list.
Recording
One of the key features that would benefit a church is the ability to record services or events without having to change videotape during the recording process. The recording is saved as a file that allows transferring the recording to a computer running a Non-Linear Editing (NLE) program.
At the time of this writing this created some challenges, but the recent NAB Show in Las Vegas offered a forum for providing some solutions. The Image Server Maxx records and encodes the video in an MPEG-2 format, but saves and wraps the video into an industry standard Media Exchange Format. This is good because the broadcast industry is moving to this file format. However, presently, all the tools are not totally in place to support interoperability. This created an issue once the video was transferred from the Image Server Maxx to the computer. Since the file is wrapped in the MXF format you have to unwrap before you can edit the MPEG-2 file, and as of this review there is not an easy way to accomplish this task. The good news is the folks at 360 Systems have been working with file converter and encoding companies to resolve this issue. Telestream has announced that they will support the Image Server Maxx with a future release of Flip4MAC software, which will work well with FinalCut Pro users. Flip4MAC has an MSRP of $495.
Conclusion
The Image Server Maxx from 360 Systems is a full-featured broadcast class of video server. The server is an ideal replacement for VTRs in a live production environment. From $15,500 to $17,500 for three channels of video, it is competitively priced with professional VTRs, but provides flexibility only found in a server. But keep in mind you will need to add $495 for the MXF conversion if you plan to use it for recording and $40 for the FTP utility if you use the same application that I used.
In general, if you are not familiar with basic IT networking and video system engineering, you will need to rely on a systems integrator to set the system up for you. But once the system is set up and, with a little training performed by the system integrator of choice, it is relatively simple for even novice volunteers to use the system. If you are experienced in networking and video technology, you will find it relatively easy to get it up and running if you have the required third-party tools.
COMPANY: 360 Systems
PRODUCT: Image Server Maxx
QUICK-LINK: (818) 735-8223
URL: www.360systems.com
