Studio Network Solutions (SNS), an integrator of networked storage technology for the audio/video production industries in St. Louis, recently announced its new end-to-end, fiber channel-based Storage Area Network, A/VSAN, which was specifically developed for multimedia, post-production, and audio applications. Storage Area Networking (SAN) technology is an evolving storage architecture that enables more efficient use of storage capacity by de-coupling server and storage connectivity within a dedicated storage network.

The A/VSAN is notable for its compatibility with Digidesign's Pro Tools digital audio workstations-widely regarded as a de facto standard within audio recording and post-production circles. The A/VSAN infrastructure integrates seamlessly with Pro Tools MixPlus and allows for easy and simultaneous access to centrally stored audio and video files by multiple users at speeds up to 200 Megabytes per second. The A/VSAN also delivers 64 tracks of Pro Tools Mix Plus audio from one drive.

Recently, Vidfilm International Digital enlisted SNS to develop an A/VSAN to span eight control rooms at the company's sprawling headquarters in Glendale, California. Vidfilm provides production services to film studios, television distributors, production companies, and emerging content suppliers. The A/VSAN was installed in early 2001 and networks two of Vidfilm's foley/ADR stages, three pre-lay and sound design rooms, two mix rooms, and a central machine room.

New York's i-Stream TV recently introduced the Webcaster 3, which generates three speeds of Internet video and audio for live Webcasting and/or encoding to an internal hard drive to create video-on-demand files in both RealVideo and Windows media. All speeds-from modem to broadband-are supported for live Webcasting and archiving, and each stream is independently optimized. The Webcaster 3 works with the S-Video output on any switcher, VCR, or camera, allowing for Webcasting on the fly. The WC3 connects through regular office networks. It can be plugged into any computer jack with content streamed out to the Internet and to any server provider. Users can utilize its serial port and connect to an external modem to reach the Internet.

Firms design rooms with technology in mind. There are a number of new products designed for users to get up to speed.
The Big Picture
Conference rooms, boardrooms, and auditoriums have to be able to adapt to a world in which audio is becoming integral and essential. With the advent of the different DVD formats and various Internet-based audio- and video-streaming applications looming, businesses have to be ready to accommodate whatever formats emerge-and often they must be able to do so in short order.

"On the imaging front, projectors continue to get better," says Storyk. "The movie theater experience is now available in both the home and corporate presentation environments, and people have always loved large film-like images." This point has been made a lot lately. Generally speaking, it seems that executives and other professionals have grown to expect the same audio and picture quality that they can get from their home theaters in the workplace as well-and why not? "This quality is now available to [business professionals] in a wide variety of analog and digital video formats," Storyk says. "And while quality has improved, as an added attraction price has tumbled on [professional-level] imaging technology as well."

"'Convergence' is a word that's used a lot," Storyk says. "Business environments today need to serve a multiplicity of purposes. One day they are used as teaching centers; the next day, they are lecture halls. They shift in use from movie-and-music presentation spaces to full-function media conferencing facilities. The design challenge is to create environments that can efficiently shift missions."

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