The Viz Video Engine is a cost-effective broadcast live video recorder for SDI acquisition. The recorder is controlled and managed by our Media Asset Management system, Viz Media Engine.

Key Features

A single engine handles four channels, each capable of recording files from an extensive selection of HD and SD broadcast video formats. All video is wrapped in the MXF format, stored locally and made accessible through an FTP interface. Files are automatically moved and transcoded to centrally managed storage by Viz Media Engine. This means assets can be searched, previewed and edited from Viz Media Engine – even while recording is still ongoing. Once recording completes Viz Media Engine automatically deletes unwanted media.

Feed Acquisition

For feed acquisition, the recorder is controlled by our feed scheduler, Viz Dart.  An operator makes a booking for recording of a particular source feed and enriches it with metadata, using Viz Dart’s scheduling client. Viz Dart monitors the schedule, controls the recording and notifies Viz Media Engine of the new asset. Once notified, files are automatically moved and transcoded to centrally managed storage by Viz Media Engine. This enables searching, previewing and editing of the feed from within Viz Media Engine within a few seconds of feed acquisition starting, and while it is still ongoing.

Tape Ingest

For tape ingest, the recorder is controlled by our capture utility in Viz Media Engine. The tool opens as a desktop client that can control most standard types of VTRs. The ingest operator specifies the required in and out points, adds metadata and starts the recording. For efficiency, a list of clips can be ordered as a single batch job. Both VTR and recorder are controlled by the utility, which also notifies Viz Media Engine about the new asset. At notification, files are automatically moved and transcoded to centrally managed storage by Viz Media Engine. This enables searching, previewing and editing of the tape in Viz Media Engine within a few seconds of tape ingest starting, and while it is still ongoing.

Workflow diagram