Busby provides tools to enable the automation of production workflows from kick-off to contribution.
Planning and process mapping
When using Busby, production processes are analysed and broken down into identifiable, manageable stages; something often known as process mapping. This is recorded as a workflow and each step configured in Busby’s workflow editor. Steps may be automated using scripting, control and scheduling tools. Manual steps and quality control gates can be incorporated into otherwise automated workflows.
Busby maintains records of everything done, displays the status of each job and can exchange information with existing scheduling and budgeting tools.
| Process mapping | Analyse and record exiting, or new, production processes. |
| Workflow steps | Break each process down into manageable steps |
| Automation | Use the Busby scriptable busby toolset to make each step do exactly what is required |
| Manual steps | Add manual steps where human interaction his required or adds value |
| Quality control | Build quality control gates into any workflow |
Typical Applications
Busby is used by a wide variety of organisations in many different roles. Organisations using Busby to manage production workflows include: Sky TV, The Globe Theatre, Advanced Broadcast Services.
Applications of Busby in production applications include
| Scheduled recording | Record to a schedule from single or multiple sources |
| Time shifting | Record a line feed for later transmission |
| Voice overs | Record and add voice-overs to programme content |
| Review and markup | Review sources or finished material and add markers with comments or custom metadata |
| Versioning | Combine existing material with additional content to create new versions |
Resource management
Busby includes calendar based scheduling tools, integrated with information about job requirements and resources.
When scheduling jobs Busby ‘knows’ the required resources and can schedule them into diary based time slots. The system checks each booking for the availability of resources, so that clashes are prevented and warnings issued when resources are over-committed.
| Schedule | Calendar based scheduling |
| Allocate resources | Manual or automatic allocation of resource to jobs |
| Allocate users | Allocate jobs to users to run or supervise |
| Enable clash detection | Built in clash detection prevents over allocation of available resources |
Running jobs
Jobs may be initiated in several different ways: manually, by the arrival of a file, by a message from another system or by an alarm.
Once initiated, jobs are tracked on a progress board through each stage of the workflow. Progress boards carry important information about the job including live status and where a step naturally takes a long time to complete, the job card can also show a progress indicator.
The table below summarises some of the steps that might be included in a production workflow.
| Initiate workflows | Manually, to a timed schedule, on receipt of a massage from another system, by an external event (alarm) |
| Status boards | Progress of every job easily monitored through Busby’s job status boards with ‘click-through’ to more detailed information. |
| Automated steps | Most steps will be automated though the Busby toolset customised with scripts |
| Managed manual steps | Manual steps allowing human intervention, review, routing choices and addition of metadata |
| Quality gates | Jobs can be paused for quality review at any stage in a workflow |
| Record keeping | Busby logs all operations and custom reports can be produced |
Asset management
Integrated within the Busby ecosystem is a media asset manager (MAM), supporting video, audio and other assets using a hierarchical cataloguing system that allows many individual files, or instances to belong to the same parent event. This allows, for example, all the source elements required to compile a finished programme to be tracked and managed through the same parent.
A browse viewer comes as standard with the MAM with the capability both to play multiple files in sync and add custom markers and metadata when needed.
An out-of-the-box set of metadata fields is included and these can be extended to support whatever is required in a given application.
The MAM can be used to package and deliver assets to external processes such as editing and client review. It also features a very fast indexer to allow searching across the full range of data associated with each asset and stored within the system. The search service can also be configured to provide custom search capabilities.
| Store and catalogue production assets | Hierarchical catalogue with powerful searching facilities |
| Link with metadata | Add out-of-the-box and custom metadata fields |
| Submit to transcoding and other workflows | One click submission of media to workflows |
| Make browsable copies | Built-in transcoding for making browse copies of ingested media |
| Multi-camera browse viewer | View browse copies either individually or in synchronised multi-camera viewer |
| Add markers to content | Add time-anchored markers and metadata to media records |
Transcoding
Moving from one format to another is a frequent requirement of production workflows and Busby supports this both through its internal transcoding engine and integration with third party transcoders where this is needed.
Creating browse copies for the MAM and other viewing systems is done through the Busby transcode engine. Transcodes can also be built into workflows as a automated workflow step.
| Flexible transcoding to a wide range of formats | Transcode from ingest to ‘post’ and ‘post’ to distribution as required |
| Track shuffling/substitution | Add/move audio tracks and sub-titles |
| Language management | Add multiple languages, distribute only those required |
| Built into workflows | Submit media packages to workflows directly from the media manager |
Delivery
Send both media files and formatted metadata to third party platforms using integrated formatters and transfer protocols
| Move files using a wide range of protocols | Initiate distribution of completed media directly from the media manager |
| Integration with cloud platforms | Store and retrieve media on cloud platforms |
| Metadata formatting for media exchange | Generate correctly formatted data for use in 3rd party scheduling and layout systems |
| Record-keeping | Busby keeps logs of all operations and can generate custom reports |