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Live Non-Linear Multi-Camera Editing with VelocityQ
Version 1.0
November 30, 2004


What is "Live Non-Linear Multi-Camera Editing"?

"Live Non-Linear Multi-Camera Editing" is a revolutionary new paradigm for multi-camera editing based on Leitch's award-winning VelocityQ™ non-linear editing system.

VelocityQ's unique "Live Non-Linear Multi-Camera Editing" paradigm combines VelocityQ's fully-integrated, full-quality multi-camera editing capabilities with the ability to simultaneously edit and record from multiple input sources. Multi-camera programs can be edited "interactively" from the live input feeds, which are also recorded separately to disk. The editor can then make further edits and refinements to the program – including moving and changing edit points between camera angles – after the initial "live" edit is completed.

Each live input source is captured by a dedicated ingest station. These ingest stations, running the Leitch QIngest™ software on the same Quattrus™ hardware used by VelocityQ, record the live feeds to a shared storage area network (SAN). A complete VelocityQ editing system, also utilizing the same shared storage, can begin editing these sources immediately, even as they are still being recorded. Using VelocityQ's multi-camera editing functionality, up to four sources can be "switched" interactively as they are viewed simultaneously in real-time. Once recording is complete, edit points can be changed or refined before applying them to VelocityQ's timeline with cuts or transitions. As the complete source material from each camera has been recorded, further editing and finishing – including transitions, color correction, effects and more – can be performed in the timeline. Since ingest and editing can be done at full quality, no re-capturing is necessary after editing; the program is immediately ready for final output.

This "Live Non-Linear Multi-Camera" capability combines the efficiency and immediacy of a live switcher with the non-destructive editing flexibility of a non-linear editing solution. This is an incredible time-saver for multi-camera productions, as editing can begin immediately during shooting, without waiting for ingest of multiple camera angles to complete. There's no faster or easier way to edit a multi-camera shoot and have it ready quickly for final output.


Components of "Live Non-Linear Multi-Camera Editing" Solution

A VelocityQ "Live Non-Linear Multi-Camera Editing" system essentially consists of one or more complete VelocityQ non-linear editing workstations, up to four QIngest dedicated recording workstations, and a shared storage area network (SAN).

VelocityQ Non-Linear Editing Workstation

VelocityQ combines the Quattrus multi-stream, real-time hardware with the powerful, flexible and intuitive Velocity software, forming a tightly integrated, multi-layer NLE solution. VelocityQ delivers an exceptional combination of real-time power, quality and affordability, featuring real-time, full-quality playback of four streams of compressed or uncompressed video, up to six graphics streams, and optionally two or four channels of 3D DVE. VelocityQ is available as fully integrated, "ready to run" turnkey solutions, or as boardset-and-software bundles for installation into a Windows® 2000 or Windows® XP Professional workstation.

The VelocityQ editing workstations used for "Live Non-Linear Multi-Camera Editing" are the same as those used for any other high-performance editing application, with the addition of a Fibre Channel adapter to connect to the storage area network. Multiple VelocityQ editing systems can be on the same storage area network (so long as they don't exceed the total bandwidth available on the SAN), but in practice, only one VelocityQ editing system is usually used for "Live Non-Linear Multi-Camera Editing" of a particular set of multi-camera inputs at any one time. (There isn't usually a reason to do two separate multi-cam edits of the same four input sources). The additional VelocityQ editing systems could, however, be used to create highlight reels and other materials from the same sources on the SAN at the same time.

QIngest Recording Workstations

Simultaneous recording and editing in a VelocityQ SAN environment is enabled through the use of the QIngest software. QIngest is a dedicated recording application, running on the same Quattrus hardware platform used by VelocityQ. Dedicated ingest workstations running QIngest record incoming footage to the shared storage architecture, while users on VelocityQ editing workstations can begin editing this footage even before recording is complete.

The QIngest software comes bundled with all models of VelocityQ, but for the most cost-effective approach, dedicated ingest workstations can be configured running Qingest on a basic VelocityQ 0x4 model (as the DVE capabilities offered by VelocityQ 2x4 and VelocityQ 4x4 aren't needed for ingest-only applications).

If the intent is for the workstation to be dual-purpose (dedicated recording using QIngest part of the time, and full VelocityQ editing the rest of the time), it should be configured as a complete VelocityQ editing system; as mentioned, the QIngest software can be run on any VelocityQ system. But if the workstation is to be used strictly for ingest (not for editing), a simplified workstation configuration can be used. (We've configured QIngest systems using a single Pentium-4 processor with the VelocityQ 0x4 and no local video storage).

Storage Area Network (SAN)

A SAN, short for Storage Area Network, is essentially a dedicated, specialized network connecting multiple workstations to a shared storage pool for high-performance data transfer. Through a combination of SAN hardware and software, all of the workstations can simultaneously access the shared storage pool, using the media in the centralized storage just like it was on the workstation's local hard drive. SANs tend to be the shared storage architecture of choice for applications in which predictable response time, availability and high performance are essential.

For "Live Non-Linear Multi-Camera Editing", the VelocityQ editing workstation and QIngest dedicated recording workstations must all be accessing the same SAN volume, and the SAN configuration must be capable of simultaneous recording of four video/audio streams and playback of at least four video/audio streams at the user's specified data rates. (For example, in a four-camera configuration, the SAN will be recording four streams simultaneously from the QIngest stations, while playing those four streams back out to the VelocityQ editing system. Even though the recording streams are the same files as those being edited, playback and recording each require bandwidth).

For more information about storage area networks, please see the separate white paper "VelocityQ and Storage Area Networks (SAN)" available on the Leitch web site.


"Live Non-Linear Multi-Camera Editing" Configuration Example

The following is an example of a "Live Non-Linear Multi-Camera Editing" system that we configured for a broadcast customer. The actual installation included three additional VelocityQ editing workstations – as well an interoperability with Leitch Nexio servers – but we've simplified it here to show just those components required for live multicam use.

This configuration features four Qingest dedicated recording stations and one VelocityQ editing workstation, running with Rorke Data ImageSAN. Primary and backup Dedicated SAN Master stations are included for fault tolerance; the Backup SAN Master is optional, but acts as a failsafe if the Dedicated SAN Master fails during the live editing.
 

This configuration was capable of recording four video streams (one on each Qingest station) while simultaneously playing back 16 video streams (four on each of four VelocityQ editing systems, not just the one shown). All video streams were at 5MB/sec (40Mb/sec), as per the customer's requirement. A total of 30 audio streams were also playing simultaneously from the SAN.

For more information about the specific models and versions of the components (Fibre Channel host adapter, fabric switch, ImageSAN software, etc.) and specific configuration settings, please see the separate white paper "VelocityQ and Storage Area Networks (SAN)". The solution as implemented for the customer is covered in more detail there.