What kit did the Beeb use, and what do they use now? (fascinated by the choices in tech) No idea about the rest of the BBC, but we do the TV Encoding with Osprey 540 cards in hp DL360G5 servers at Bush running Windows. Windows media audio encoding is also done here at Bush house using Osprey 230 cards in hp DL360G5 servers running Windows. We have our own bespoke software to control the scheduling of clip encoding at Bush (using the Windows Media and Real SDKs) and drop the content to Borg (the system that puts content on our web/clip servers) or Akamai as appropriate. Our Real encoding is done at Maidenhead by Siemens. IIRC on a load of rather old Sun Netra servers with the scheduling controlled by cron. There is another bespoke system called Bob that maintains the crontabs on the boxes. Audio gets to MH from BU via a number of Intraplex cards and E1 lines. The rest of the BBC radio encodes their Real files in pretty much the same way, although they may get the audio to MH in different ways. Since we are looking into delivering other formats beyond Real and Windows we are in the process of evaluating the easiest way to do this, so it is likely that things will be different for the World Service in a years time. Also (off-topic slightly) does anybody know what kit the radio studios use for the automatic level ducking when a DJ's speaking over the intro / tail of a track? I've seen what looks like a sidechaining compressor in the background of some shots on programmes like Timelapse or suchlike (where a DJ's being interviewed in the studio), but this assumption is largely based on the visible LED activity on the front panel of the device when the DJ's seen speaking in shot (sat next to the broadcast mic at the desk). Unfortunately though the interesting stuff (the hardware!) has always never been in focus so I've not been able to identify the kit :( If someone knows someone who knows and can ask them, that's also quite acceptable ;) We have these things called an SM. Most of the older studios come with them, although they are less popular in newer studio builds but you can sometimes share with another studio. And some of them react faster than others to excessive volume levels judging by the level of the FARSA network this morning :) -- Gareth Davis | Production Systems Specialist World Service Future Media, Digital Delivery Team - Part of BBC Global News Division * http://www.bbcworldservice.com/ <http://www.bbcworldservice.com/> * 702NE Bush House, Strand, London, WC2B 4PH
(with apologies to the Studio Managers before I get lynched in the bar tomorrow)
