Storage Effect

Video production’s not just for Hollywood anymore

I had the opportunity to tour Boston Scientific’s internal media center last week.  It’s yet another example of digital content inserting itself in the mainstream business process.

Craig Davies and Tom Torborg showed me around their sound stage, editing workstations and storage systems that produce the surprising amount of video and audio content needed to market and sell medical products. 

For example, instructional videos that are critical to users of their products.  Video and audio pieces that are key teaching tools for doctors as well as their sales force. They’ve produced two programs that have been broadcast on television – one a documentary on heart failure that’s appearing nationally on cable TV.  They’ve even been nominated for an Emmy!

The facility is state of the art, buried in the basement of their corporate facility.  That makes it ultra quiet – great for filming without interference from rumbling trucks or thunderstorms.

Their setup:

• 2 video editing workstations using Avid technology
• A 3.2 TB array for each workstation with 10K 300GB FC Cheetah drives in a RAID 0 configuration.
• An additional 10K FC storage array for an encoding station (to convert video for distribution)
• Extensive use of external drives for “nearline” storage – their archive of past projects.  They have a 2 TB storage device at each video station and at their audio station.
• Sony AIT tape for long-term backup.

Lessons learned for their business:

• HD adds a lot of time and cost.  Tom says that going to HD processing slows video processing (rendering, etc) down by about 10 years, and quadruples the storage needed per minute of video.
• Legal requirements are an integral part of their production process.  Due to the life-and-death nature of their products, the legal team has a say in what they produce, and stringent archiving requirements.
• Audio content is a productive and practical way to communicate with their time-starved sales force.

What’s most interesting to me about Boston Scientific’s media center is that it exists.  In-house, full-fledged, professional video production, a necessary part of Boston Scientific doing business.  Look in the basement of a surprising number of even smaller companies and you’ll find the same thing.

Video production isn’t just for Hollywood anymore!