The Seven partnership with Sony is part of a replacement program that encompasses all ENG cameras for the network. The deal includes a total of 60+ PDW-700 XDCAM HD422 disc camcorders, two PMW-500 XDCAM HD422 memory camcorders for the network’s LA bureau, and a large quantity of supporting PDW-F1600 decks, PDW-U1 drives and PDW-HR1 field stations.

The new XDCAM camera systems will allow speedy transfer of footage from remote news locations back to the station – enabling high quality news coverage to get to air in less time.

“In an extremely competitive news environment, TV crews on the ground need to get video feeds of high quality back to their stations almost immediately for transmission to viewers,” said John Albiston, Technical Services Manager, Melbourne, Seven Network (Operations) Limited.

“Flexibility of the XDCAM professional disc was a primary consideration regarding workflow and integration into our existing plant. The ability of the Sony system, in conjunction with third parties, to automatically extract rushes and FTP them back to base was considered key in this fast-paced news environment,” he stressed.

Rushes are imported to Final Cut Pro in the field and FTP’d to the local station via 3G. In addition, 2.5GHz analogue and digital links are also used for real-time contribution. Discs transported back to base undergo baseband ingest to Quantel server platforms. This will migrate to file-based ingest once the Quantel systems are upgraded.