The NHL’s Arizona Coyotes implemented several of Sony’s Intelligent Media Services, including Media Backbone NavigatorX, Ci Media Cloud, and Memnon, to help transform their digital workflows. Previously, the Coyotes worked without a centralized asset management solution, storing content on various internal and external HDDs on premise. To keep up with the fast-paced demands of digital content production, the Coyotes needed a scalable asset management solution that would streamline their production workflow for both home and away games.
Using Ci Media Cloud and NavigatorX, the Coyotes were able to bridge the gap between on-prem and cloud allowing for fast ingest of content, even direct from their Sony cameras in the field, management and distribution of their content from anywhere, AI for automated metadata enrichment and long-term preservation of their content in the cloud. Additionally, Memnon is being used to digitize legacy content, which can now be used for new creative and revenue opportunities.
Jon Kingston, the former director of production for the Arizona Coyotes, found Sony’s Intelligent Media Services to be the robust and interconnected solutions his organization was looking for. “I was looking for a solution that would enable all of our footage to be stored in a singular spot, something that would keep it protected, and something that was cloud-based so if we get a power surge that blows out all of our hard drives, we’re safe,” he said.
“We were looking at several systems over the course of two years and we felt that NavigatorX offered the best combination of price and functionality, while being easy to navigate,” Kingston said. “Combined with all of the other Sony products that we’re using, this solution made the most sense for us and was just what we needed.”
With the influx of large 4K files, and the boom of social and digital media, sports organizations in particular have had to evolve their approach to content management. “As our content creation efforts have accelerated over the last few years, our old systems were running out of space,” Kingston said. “Using individual hard drives created logistical issues, including keeping them organized, as well as the need to network into each drive from different computers.”
Kingston favors NavigatorX for its ease of use. “Tagging and setting up schemas streamlines and simplifies our process, which is perfect for this type of solution since it is often being used by new and different people—from interns to part-time staff—who are logging the footage,” he said. “Many of the issues we were having without an asset management system were related to our inability to meta tag clips and include descriptors in the file name, which we can now do effortlessly. I can get extremely detailed based on the schemas that we have in place. In addition, I no longer have to scrub through 50 clips that say ‘Oliver Ekman-Larsson goal’; I can go to the exact clip I need right away, every time, which saves me valuable time.”
Another benefit of NavigatorX that Kingston also appreciates is its integration with third-parties like Adobe. “From a creative standpoint, we edit on Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop, and Illustrator, so now we don’t even have to leave Adobe to search our archive or find clips.”
In addition to third parties, Kingston values NavigatorX’s interconnectedness with Sony’s other Intelligent Media Services, namely Ci and Memnon. “We use all three of Sony’s services, and each service in and of itself is very valuable to us,” he said. “Once you use them together, it’s seamless across the board and makes the total solution even more powerful.”
Working collaboratively with Sony’s Ci Media Cloud platform, the Coyotes have created an efficient workflow for their different team photographers and videographers. “What’s great about Ci is we are able to have one shared Workspace for all of our photography and videography and each photographer has access to upload their images and video to a specific folder within the Workspace,” Kingston said.
“We’ve used this same technique for media outreach, as well. We grant access to the local publications to use our photo and video content and they can receive alerts each time new assets are loaded. Having the media get an automatic update saves us time and with Ci’s security features, we have peace of mind that we can manage their specific access.”
Ci also works alongside Memnon’s digitization service, which has enabled the Coyotes to store and share their newly digitized assets in the cloud. Kingston described the organization’s 22 years of archival footage, saying “We have roughly 4,000 tapes which are taking up space and we don’t have an easy way to access them. Memnon will digitize all of these assets, add in relevant metadata and upload them to Ci. From Ci, I can easily get that footage into NavigatorX.”
“As the content team for the organization, we are the storytellers who help preserve the history of the team,” Kingston said. “Ultimately, putting this system in place is going to benefit the Coyotes for years to come and helps secure the future of the organization from a visual media standpoint. To have something in place that solidifies that and upholds the history of the team makes me extremely proud.”
