SIC installs Sony SONAPS system at Lisbon & Oporto editorial offices

The SONAPS system, designed specifically to produce news stories enables effective workflow especially designed to create news stories. Some of the key benefits of the SONAPS solution are:

• Administration on a single level – SONAPS employs a single administration level for all user activities enabling workflow to become logical and everything is interconnected in a straightforward manner (no jumping between different administrative systems and hence nothing is lost during processing). The processes of researching, editing, playout, filing and cleaning are managed in a coherent fashion. Content digitalisation via a central server enables all users to share content.
• Management of rights ensures access to content or specific tasks is managed by a user or group of users
• Fast content recovery thanks to the advanced content Media Asset Management of both the production of news items and filing.
• Powerful editor and ease of use enables the necessary advanced editing posts to be reduced, bringing down costs.
• Industry standard interface protocols (MXF, FTP, MOS, xml generic).

Centrally managed file processing

• As an optional extra (not included), SONAPS supports a Near Line File. File processing can be centrally managed using automatic criteria or employing selections which can be performed by users. In addition to the possibility of manual recovery from file, the necessary content to adapt an EDL is automatically restored on disk (as a partial file).
• Association of Metadata from capture (particularly effective in the case of XDCAM) to file, enabling metadata to be enriched throughout the entire process.
• SONAPS provides intuitive user interfaces enabling straightforward operation and powerful workflow.
• Maximum productivity from editors to directors working in the background, immediately releasing editors for the next task. Preset results speed up use of the editor and ensure a consistent style such as the choice of storyboard or Timeline editing commands.

A range of graphics supported

• A highly robust infrastructure. All gateway and interface management functions are resistant (PSU, disks) but may be copied and/or grouped. Resources can be N+1 or N+various depending on the critical process level.
• SONAPS can be expanded while it remains in use. Playout, storage and customer resources can be added directly to the system. This means, for example, that if the SIC suddenly needed to add another playout server for a new studio and several additional Ingesta ports, current users can go on working during this expansion.
• Powerful graphic interaction – graphics can be stored in SONAPS, the XPRi NS editor supports a range of graphic formats and also video formats normally used on the web such as WM9.
• Multi-location Operation. Different SONAPS systems can be configured to share access to proxy from a series of locations and automate the movements of high resolution content between these.

Supported formats

• An open architecture to support the currently installed file system at SIC - Harris Arkemedia. SONAPS enables high resolution MXF OP1A video/audio files and associated metadata to be exported/imported via Hot Folders of Common Gateway.
• SONAPS supports SD and HD content simultaneously and therefore enables straightforward and non-destructive updating between formats. The following formats are supported:

- SD IMX 30/40/50Mbps, XDCAM, DV/DVCAM, DVCPro
- HD 04:02:0 (18/25/35Mbps), 1080i/59.94i, 50i, HDV (MPEG2 MP@H-14 Long GOP)
- HD 04:02:2 50Mbps