Video Screening Platform – currently in use by ESPN broadcasting facilities, including SportsCenter.
Old School
Each screener would review videotapes containing new game footage, noting on a paper report the locations on tape considered to be highlights. The action within the highlight was also annotated on the paper report. At the end of the day, the videotapes would be handed in to the supervisor along with the paper reports.
The supervisor would subsequently review each of the videotapes and make a new paper report listing the top choices among the reviewer-suggested highlights.
The supervisor would hand the tapes and report to a video editor to build a composite tape for the on air engineer, while the report would be handed to another engineer for typing into the teleprompter system.
New School
Having switched to the Screening Platform, Screeners and Supervisors have found a marked increase in productivity and accuracy. Games are now viewed as digital video footage on a computer. The spacebar is used to mark the start & end of highlights (a jog/shuttle wheel is also supported for convenience). The computer keyboard is used to annotate the action. The resulting clips of the highlights automatically appear within the supervisor’s version of the app for approval. Approved highlight clips are then marked ready-for-air, while the notes for the clips are automatically readied for the teleprompter.
Engineering
- Co-Developed Audio-Video Screening Platform.
- Wrote video-playback component with support for both mouse-wheel and Contour Design Jog/Shuttle.
- Designed and wrote plug-in-able middle-tier XML proxy component.
- Designed and wrote plug-ins for communication via WebServices, Jace, and Java EJBs.
- Designed graphical, drag/drop, video clip (segment) editor.
- Designed and wrote explorer-esque application for viewing video and metadata.