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ALPHADOGS ONLINES THE LEARNING CHANNEL’S NEW SHOW: “BRINGING HOME BABY”

Post-studio utilizes high-performance storage solution TerraBlock to streamline online process for the 60 episode series

November 2, 2005, 2005—Burbank, Calif.—
AlphaDogs, Inc., a post-production studio focused on keeping clients “ahead of the pack,” today announced that Norsemen Television Productions LLC and The Learning Channel (TLC) contracted the studio to online Bringing Home Baby, a reality series that documents parents’ first 36 hours at home with their new baby.

Bringing Home Baby requires multiple work stations for media capture, online color correction and total conform from Avid® offlined shows. To streamline the video online process, AlphaDogs opted to use a shared storage solution to stay on schedule and within budget for the 60 episode series.

The post-house draws on the advanced storage solutions of TerraBlock™ from Facilis. TerraBlock is a virtual-volume, high-performance SAN solution that combines intelligent drive management software with lower-cost SATA drive technology and dedicated optical fiber channel connectivity.

AlphaDogs uses TerraBlock because of its cross platform compatibility with Apple® and PCs and its raid protection for mission critical media. In addition, all users can have access to common elements such as graphics and series specific effects bins by setting up a simple file/volume structure. It is possible to simultaneously online one episode while another episode is being captured and prepped.

The Bringing Home Baby type of workflow would not be practical in a local storage environment where it is necessary to power down computers and drives in order to move media between different systems. Even with AlphaDogs’ Fibre patch bay moving content between local storage drives, it takes approximately 15 minutes for transfer. Multiply 15 minutes by the number of times per day media needs to be shared and the cost in man and machine hours adds up quickly, not to mention downing two rooms for 15 minutes to swap media cuts into productive editing time. “In today’s post-production market where rates for series shows are more often based on a per episode base, rather that an hourly rate, it is very important to maximize efficiency in the online process,” states AlphaDogs President Terence Curren.

John Moore, AlphaDogs Vice President of Video Editing added, “Facilis’ TerraBlock allows us to handle the increased volume of 60 shows with no drop in efficiency. The raid protected media is virtually indestructible even if a drive goes bad, and the quick and easy sharing of media between multiple users allows for a more specialized and efficient use of manpower. Opting to use shared storage to online Bringing Home Baby has enabled us turn out a quality product on time and on budget.”

“Producing sixty episodes for a strip show can be a daunting task, but with AlphaDogs on our team the process is running very smoothly,” said Dee Balson Mollett, post producer for Norsemen Television Productions LLC.

About AlphaDogs
AlphaDogs, Inc., is considered one of the finest post-production firms in the entertainment industry. The AlphaDogs team combines a wealth of talent, decades of experience and a dedication to outstanding customer service. With AlphaDogs, clients can rest assured that their project is receiving personal attention and the highest-quality work from an award-winning team. AlphaDogs’ offices are located at 1612 West Olive, Suite 200, Burbank, Calif. 91506. For more information, call 818-729-9262 or send email to info@alphadogs.tv.

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Contacts

Christine Brodeur or Robert Karpman
Socket Media, Inc.
310-559-0540 or 310-559-0541
c.brodeur@socketmedia.com or r.karpman@socketmedia.com