Structural Group: Brick and Mortar Streaming
Response within the company to Comprehensus was immediately positive. "People were just amazed that they could watch these videos at their desktops," says Emmons. But by early last year, having grown to include over 400 "mini-documentaries," the Comprehensus video archive was expanding faster than Structural’s ability to manage it. "People complained that they couldn’t find the specific information they were looking for," says Emmons.
Structural then turned to Virage’s VideoLogger video search engine to index the archive into manageable clips of one to three minutes. "Virage enhanced the value of our knowledge management management system a thousand-fold," says Emmons.
Yeager and production specialist Joe Kibelbek — the only full-time Comprehensus staff — work under a tight annual budget of $150,000. Yeager helps to minimize costs by shooting in Hi-8, editing in the camera, and wearing lots of hats. "[Marc] is not just a videographer … he’s really a reporter," says Emmons. "He has to plan and recruit stories. He has to direct out in the field. And he needs to edit it. The skill of the reporter really dictates the cost efficiency of our system."
When analog Hi-8 video from the field is returned to the Baltimore facility, it is simultaneously encoded in RealNetworks’ Surestream (20Kbps to 220Kbps) and MPEG-1 (1.5Mbps) formats. At the same time, the video is entered into the VideoLogger for indexing. The MPEG files are used as a digital archive, and for the occasional distribution of CD-ROMs. "MPEG-1 is a basic format that’s going to be around awhile," says Emmons. "It’s not labor intensive at all [to re-encode to RealMedia]. We can do it in a batch process automatically from the MPEG-1."
| One-Man Show No production experience? No problem. Marc Yeager learns on the job ...
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Assigning the right metadata — keywords associated with each video or video clip — is critical to the efficiency of the VideoLogger. Keywords link specific information (such as the types of facilities, procedures, tools, materials, and so on) that might be entered by users to search the video. Assigning metadata keywords can also be a labor-intensive operation, and Structural is working to widen the responsibility beyond Yeager and Kibelbek.
"We’ve identified about six people within the company that have different expertise," says Emmons. "We’re in the process of training them to add the metadata so that no one person is overwhelmed by it." One helpful feature of the VideoLogger is that it uses a Web interface, allowing experts in the field to assign metadata to video files from anywhere, at anytime.
Comprehensus currently stores about half a terabyte of content – over 500 mini-docs, running from 15 minutes to two hours long, accessible in 10,000 searchable video clips. The videos cover virtually every aspect of Structural’s business. Project management videos include topics like job cost analysis and job closeout reports, each with multiple case studies. Business development topics range from sales and estimating techniques to job bid strategies — again with multiple case studies. Numerous safety orientation videos cover a wide range of frequently experienced job site situations. But the bulk of Comprehensus’ content consists of documentary-style videos detailing various concrete construction and repair techniques.
In the Comprehensus Table of Contents, videos and clips are organized into categories including facility type (manufacturing, airport, shopping mall, etc.); structure type (bridge, chimney, dry-dock); basic principles (moisture and thermal effects), construction techniques (how to minimize cracking); and repair processes (strengthening and stabilization). Most of these procedural mini-docs are narrated by the project managers, superintendents or engineers most familiar with the processes being demonstrated — an aspect appreciated by customers. Emmons notes, "When the person who’s the most expert on a topic is talking, there’s tremendous confidence and ease of communication."