ASTRA Automation Modules - Aveco

ASTRA Modules
AVECO Americas Incorporated
468 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02115
tel: (303) 588.5528
www.aveco.com
The preview module also allows for jogging through a selected clip, adjusting IN and OUT
points, editing the clip and preview the transition between the selected and the next clip.
Database
The database is used for storing the daily schedules, blocks and the inventory and metadata of
clips that are on the videoservers. The database is also used to store tape library information
when that module is purchased.
The database includes a long list of fields to store metadata for each clip that is relevant to the
automation system: clip ID, on-air time, expiration date, clip type, usage counter, etc. A
comprehensive list of the database fields defined in ASTRA is available upon request. There
are two fields in the database that can be configured to each customer's requirements. Within
the clip type and the two custom database fields, clip categories are also customer defined. For
example, the clip type field can define categories like jingles, commercials, announcements,
promotions or something completely different. There is a pass-through field for data that is not
needed by ASTRA but is useful metadata for other systems that need to work with or refer to
that clip.
Sub-clips of a main clip can be defined in the database. Therefore, sub-clips do not require rerecording
of the same material on the videoserver: ASTRA uses IN and OUT points defined in
the database to define sub clips from a master clip. Stills can also be defined from frames of
the master clip.
ASTRA's database keeps track of each clip's original source, any copies, transcodings, etc. and
their locations.
All metadata descriptions can be used in searches, defining filters and as criteria in record and
purge requests.
The database can be very large, up to tens of thousands of records or more.
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