Automation Software

[Mark Suszko]

Scala?

[Chuck Pullen]

Wow Mark, I had never thought about going in that direction, but you may be on to something…thanks so much.

CHuck

[Mark Suszko]

Well, it may be a blind alley, but I remember seeing a demo of Scala some time back and it could do a remarkable number of things. If that doesn’t pan out, sorry.

[Bob Zelin]

Softron

[Chuck Pullen]

Thanks Bob, all of these software solutions seem to be MAC based, I was hoping for a PC solution, but going MAC will probably be better in the long run…

Chuck

[Bob Zelin]

our entire industry is MAC based. Every product that you see here on Creative Cow is based on MAC’s. Every shared storage system is based on MACs or Linux boxes. Who uses PC’s in our industry, except the billing department ?

Bob Zelin

[Eric Cox]

There are a number of PC solutions and they are typically very low end in my opinion. There are also a number of embedded devices which will accomplish the same goal, but they tend to be closed box with regarding to automating.

Do you have a rough idea on the budget for this particular task? I always remember asking that question and the answer was typically as cheap as possible. (SO I wouldn’t get an exact figure due to the fear that I might spend it all!)

Bob is also usually spot on when it comes to balancing cost and performance though.

[Chuck Pullen]

Bob is right that Mac is the way to go, but the client has a PC based facility so if that’s the only option, so be it, just another thing I have to talk them in to.

As far as budget goes, we’re not in a position to buy a “real” automation system from Harris or Avid that the typical television station would use, but I also don’t expect a $19.95 shareware solution. In short, I can spend as much I need to get the project done right.

If I need to buy external hardware I would, but I already have several powerful computers with Blackmagic cards, as well as a raid, so if I could find a software solution that would be the best option.

Thanks,

Chuck

[Eric Cox]

Playbox will run on the PC and will utilize a blackmagic card. However, I believe they are no longer supporting software only installations. Mostly as a favor I support a few installations on some Intel SR2500 hosts which are configured to run redundantly. This setup also uses a third host to serve a network dongle service. It was terribly affordable mostly because I picked up tons of cheap spares kits on ebay to build the hosts and we purchased before the price hike on the software. We had some rough days until I changed out the stradis cards for black magic units.

My experience has been that cost typically aligns well with stability. I’ve had a lot of punishment from those who hold the purse over the years.

Another issue is a system may appear stable until you introduce a certain hardware/software combination. I was fairly picky to replicate the solutions that were offered at the time, but I have had many turn key solutions which need a good deal of care to make mostly stable.

Thus my advice is that if you can afford it a vendor supported solution is always the best route to go. Thus the reason I recommended taking Bob’s advice.

I know a few more packages out there, but I have forgotten their precise name. I also have a hatred for said solutions so I’m kinda glad I forgot them. (I’m so jaded!)

[Chuck Pullen]

Thanks for the suggestion Eric. At this point I am really just creating a list of names to research during NAB. I will certainly check into Playbox.

And I completely understand being jaded, I think we all are to some extent in this business!

Chuck