RaceTech Invests In Sony XDCAM And Associated Systems

Sony has announced that it has been awarded a deal to supply RaceTech, the official provider of technical services to the British Horseracing Board, with a complete, end-to-end, video archiving solution.
Sony’s bespoke design, featuring XDCAM HD PDW-F75 recorders, an XDCAM cart machine, Sony HDXchange and a PetaSite archive, will allow RaceTech to digitally record and archive over 1,400 professional horse races in the UK every year.
“Since we developed the photo finish in 1946, we have strived to provide the industry with the most accurate footage of professional horse racing in the UK and that is why we have made such a major commitment to preserving our content with Sony’s robust and complete digital recording, editing and archiving solution,” said Mick Both from RaceTech.
By switching to Sony XDCAM HD PDW-F75 recorders to capture all the racing action onto optical discs, RaceTech’s six outside broadcast trucks will be at the heart of the new video archiving infrastructure. In addition to enabling RaceTech to benefit from the speed and efficiencies of digital file-based workflow, the recorders also allow detailed metadata about the races to be stored onto the discs alongside the footage, including the names of every jockey and horse involved in the race. These metadata tags in the footage will create new revenue opportunities for RaceTech.
When the optical discs are received at RaceTech HQ, they are ingested into a unique networked-editing and archive system. The discs are loaded onto a Sony XDCAM cart machine, which is interfaced with two PC’s that are used to run the bespoke auto import software. This sources and transfers the files onto a Sony HDXchange core, which is based around Sony HDXchange and a Petasite archiving technology. Bespoke Sony software ensures that all archived footage is fully searchable. The solution boasts full editing suite capabilities that will enable the team to produce one-off compilation DVDs of individual horses for clients. The three editing packages provided each include a browser client, an FCP studio and a PDW-F75 recorder.
Richard Bell, Project Manager for Sony UK said: "This is a really exciting project to be involved in as it has enabled us to demonstrate our unique capability to deliver end-to-end workflow solutions of this kind. Sony is one of the only companies in the world to be able to design a complete recording and archive architecture spanning both hardware and software."
RaceTech has been providing UK horse racing with technology solution since 1946 when it developed the photo finish. The company now feeds video to major broadcasters and the industry regulator, The Horseracing Regulatory Authority.
Races recorded on the old system were stored on Betacam tapes, RaceTech has chosen to upgrade its solution to not only help reduce costs in terms of capital and space but also to improve its workflow.
(SP)