CMSI Brings to Life TED Conference’s ‘DREAM’

TED’s latest conference was filled with references to the improbable dream of scientists, leaders, and engineers to bring Neil Armstrong to the moon in 1969. That mission required the precise coordination of dozens of specialists, all working to bring about a single vision.

While CMSI’s involvement in the 2016 TED conference can’t exactly be considered a “space race,” there are some useful comparisons to be drawn. Behind the scenes at the February 15th-19th conference, the team at CMSI was one part of a large operation, responsible for all media ingested. All camera ISO feeds and the line cut were ingested through CMSI’s Cinedecks, where they were encoded and written to TED’s on-site storage server. The media was then transferred to TED’s NY offices where the editors received all ISO records, which helped them with their tight turnaround times to get VODs online. In other words, while CMSI is not literally staffed by rocket scientists, it is an important behind-the-scenes cog in bringing a major vision to life.

This was CMSI’s second time covering the main TED conference (and third TED conference overall, including 2015’s TED Women), a series that began in the mid 1980s and became annual in 1990. An invitation only event, it gained popularity in 2006 with its online videos.

Since then, it has opened up simulcasting for remote attendance. While the talks are about the elevation of the human spirit, the servers face heavy technical demands. It’s estimated that 17 people visit the Ted website a second. Like the lunar landing so many years ago, TED has captured the world’s imagination.

CMSI Brings Expertise, Edit Systems to Franklin Templeton

For the viewer, sports coverage can be tense. There are often millions of dollars at stake, viewers all over the world, and top competition from world-class athletes.

At this year’s Franklin Templeton Golf Shootout, the people least stressed were behind the scenes. The event was another pairing of Fox, Creative Mobile Solutions (CMSI), and the Professional Golfers’ Association. This just adds to CMSI’s already long list of remote golf expertise, with clients like ESPN, CBS, NBC, the Golf Channel, and the BBC.

Fox needed a way to transmit shot footage both for immediate playback, and for longer term editing. CMSI’s Mike Kircos explained the systems:

“We employed a single edit system paired with a transcode system both tied to Avid ISIS Shared Storage hosting watch folders that would either restore features, bumps, teases and ENG footage to EVS XT3s in the tape room or accept clips from the live golf event to be utilized by edit.

In addition to engineering and media management tasks we were also responsible for delivering archives of clean and dirty program as well as the tape highlights for the entire tournament.”

The event, in its 28th year, benefited CureSearch for Children’s Cancer and took place at the Tiburón Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Florida.

Up next in CMSI’s golf calendar is the US Amateur Four Ball in May.

CMSI Covers Rose Parade for Third Consecutive Year

The Tournament of Roses parade has been going on for more than 125 years. (In fact, it’s been going on 126 years.) Although CMSI is known for its sports prowess, the Rose Bowl game was added twelve years after the first Tournament.

CMSI had a simple mission: provide a powerful but compact editing system that could fit on the back bench of a television truck. The small space was due to CMSI cooperating with several other companies, something they’ve adapted to well over the years.

Two days before the event, CMSI set up a rig so that the video editor could assemble footage himself. CMSI provided remote support, making sure the show stayed on track. The Parade was followed by the Stanford vs Iowa game, where the Cardinals gave the Hawkeyes a 45-16 drubbing.

This is CMSI’s third year with the Tournament.