Mission : In 1996 around 30 000 images were taken during the Conventions. 1000 were transferred to the Wire. The target for year 2000 was 50000.

Problem : Will the network, the Hardware and the software be able to handle a such amount of pictures in only 4 days ?

Phase 1 : The fundamentals

Nowadays there is a lot of hardware solutions that allow to transfer GigaBytes of data. A 4 GB fiber optic line were used with a redundant one between the main building and the Press Area. The computer side also is not much a problem : 11 Servers  and 16 Workstation, more than 200 desktop computers. Also the Operating system is very efficient Windows NT4 Server for the "Diskminders" server dedicated to retrieve the files from the PC Card. The Workstation were running Windows 2000 Professional for browsing, selecting, color correcting and editing the pictures. A File server was dedicated for backup and ftp transfer to the New York picture desk. 

Once a photographer take a set of pictures he fills an envelope with the PC Card inside and write down what pictures were taken. Then they are brought to the closest Diskminder (8 actives + 2 for secure purpose)

The editors were using photoshop to enhance the pictures. FotoStation and other browsers were selected to browse and select the pictures. Obviously FotoStation was the more user friendly. Also AP is using two kind of camera : Kodak DCS and Nikon D1. The D1 is using jpeg files but the DCS are using a proprietary Kodak format (DCS tif files) that need to be processed before being edited. The main concern of course was the speed. Some editor were finding FotoStation slower than some other browser. Which is true in one way but not really exact. FotoStation is creating a thumbnail, it takes some time. FotoStation can also use the thumbnails created by the digital camera. But the resolution in is lower. That's why the FotoWare system is not only a browser but a complete workflow management system.

Philadelphia	Los Angeles

Phase 2 : Our solution 

We have a complete vision of the picture trail. It means we think about a global and entire workflow from the shoot to the end-user. Our products are able to fill a partial or the complete chain regarding the constraints we have to face. Our job is to help you in achieving successfully your mission. We have a panel of sizable solutions. 

In that special case, there where the obvious problem and the one that occurred during the Convention. Let's imagine 5000 images arriving at the same time with different cameras and file format. The Kodak DCS file format need to be processed. The editor needs to acquire the file in the plug in and select the file one by one. Also if the file is too green or too magenta it's rejected at first sight because there is no time. The idea was to processed all the file. While processing we applied a black and white balance and a generic caption text. The editor in FotoStation could see all the images regardless there file format and with a color correction that really avoided the main color problem. 

Of course, the constraint was not to penalize the speed. How did we do it ?

While the PC Card were transferred, Distribution Manager was copying the file to a Color Factory process. The trick was to create a round robin of Color Factory. Six Color Factory were use for the Convention. Nobody noticed it but it was working in background of their Workstation !

Then the search engine, Index Manager, was indexing the files directly from the output folder of the Color Factory process. Then the pictures were selected within FotoStation and when finished sent to the ftp site in New York before being sent to the wire. The original idea was to copy those ready to go file to a shared volume on the main server. Problem : it crashed just after the start of the Convention ! We setup a multi-channel (10) FTP send in Distribution Manager in less than 10 mn everything was back to normal and this system was satisfactory used for both Convention without any problem !

Just for a "joke" and also for test purpose, we indexed the 9 servers with one Index Manager and linked it with the Production Index Manager using Cluster Commander, the Index Manager Option Pack. This software allows you to use a spare backup system an/or link several Index Manager together.

To conclude, we can say that the system eRoket setup for the Convention using the FotoWare software helped AP to make these Convention a complete success !

Result : 

In Philadelphia (RNC2000) : 50 000 Pictures were taken. 

In Los Angeles (DNC2000) : 61 000 Pictures were taken and browsed with  FotoStation, 

2000 pictures were sent with distribution Manager to AP picture desk in New York.

The winning team was ... 

The only full FotoWare team of course ! 

It handled 12.000 images while other could only handle 5.000 

and produce 2 more pictures in less time than everybody !

eRoket has a great knowledge of special events. You can contact us if you need help to manage your assets and organize your workflow. Our specialists are able to overview all the different components of a computer organization and manage all kind of different projects. Contact us...