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Home My WebLink About22 - Non-Linear Video & Audio Editing SystemJune 28, 1999 Agenda Item # 22 CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT June 21, 1999 TO: Honorable Mayor, Members of the City Council & City Manager FROM: Bob McDonell, Chief of Police SUBJECT: Purchase of Non - Linear Video & Audio Editing System RECOMMENDATION Award the bid to purchase a Discreet -Logic "Edit' Non - Linear Video & Audio Editing System from Burst Communications, Inc., for $47,401.38 (including tax). BACKGROUND The video editing system currently in -use by the Police Department is outdated, • approximately twelve years old, time consuming to use, and difficult and expensive to maintain. It involves manually copying from master source tapes onto a working tape that eventually becomes the final product. This obsolete process results in a final product of degraded image quality. The current system requires frequent maintenance. Our Electronics Specialist, who happens to have a skill level, which is well above average for his position, has handled minor maintenance problems. (Unfortunately, he has announced his retirement effective in August of this year.) More complex problems require taking the malfunctioning video component to Sony in Cypress, CA, where the turnaround time is approximately two weeks and the typical minimum charge is $2,500. During this two -week downtime, all video production ceases. Non - linear video and audio editing systems involve transferring video source tape "footage," and audio tracks, digitally onto the non - linear system large capacity computer disk drive. Images and audio tracks are then electronically transferred ( "dragged and dropped ") into a computer file that will later be dumped back to videotape as the final video product. The result is a video product of much higher quality, produced in much less time, with professional effects not otherwise possible. All video production requires editing. Editing on our outdated linear system is time - intensive, requiring on average, three hours of editing time for each minute of final product. Editing on a non - linear system consumes only approximately 30 minutes for each minute of final product...six times faster than linear. Comparing linear to non- linear video editing is like comparing a typewriter to a computer word processor. The Police Department Video Producer is responsible for responding to and video taping, on a 24 hour on -call basis, major crime scenes, traffic collisions and incidents involving significant city liability, handling other video assignments as required, producing training videos, and receiving and copying satellite down -link training videos from POST. Our Video Producer has the additional duties and responsibilities of operating and maintaining the Mobile Video System (MVS) Library. She manages the check -in, checkout, storage and recycling of 17,500 MVS videotapes. She also makes MVS tape copies for court. These copy requests are up 200% over last year. Managing the MVS Library consumes 60 -75% of her day. This staffing drain, coupled with our outdated and time - consuming video editing system, greatly reduces her opportunity for video production. The Department recently purchased a new digital video camera as part of our planned migration to the non - linear editing system, which was included in our approved budget. An additional benefit to having an efficient non - linear editing system is that it will make the Police Department more competitive in the bidding process for the California Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) video production contracts that are announced each year. Our Video Producer is a member of the POST Video Producers Committee. There are twenty-two law enforcement agency members in all, and our Department is the only one still using linear editing. Work performed on any contract awarded can be billed at an overtime rate and includes sub - contracting costs as necessary, so as not to detract from our employee's primary job responsibilities during her normal workday. Any potential revenue derived would offset some of the costs of the program within the Department. A replacement video editing system for the Police Department was approved for the fiscal year 1998 -1999 in our Narcotic Asset Forfeiture Fund Account #1250 -9300. In anticipation of purchasing the system, our Video Producer (Kendra Duerst) and our Electronics Specialist (Al Dodds) contacted several major suppliers of non - linear video and audio editing systems, Burst Communications, Inc., Motion Media, and Imperative, Inc. Al Dodds developed the specifications for the system to be included in the Request for Proposal (RFP). The RFP was distributed on Monday, June 7, 1999 and copies were sent via FedEx to all three vendors. The deadline for receipt of the bids was Monday, June 14, 1999, at 4:30 PM. A Public Notice was placed in The Daily Pilot Newspaper for June 7, 8, and 9, 1999. Two of the vendors, Burst Communications and Motion Media responded to the RFP. The Burst Communications bid was received prior to the deadline and the Motion Media bid was postmarked prior to the deadline. The two proposals were opened on Tuesday, June 15, 1999 between 0905 and 0955 hours with the following bids: • Burst Communications: $43,992.00 + $3,409.38 tax = $47.401.38 Motion Media: $44,959.00 + $3,228.96 tax (on the taxable portion of the bid) _ $48.187.96 a III. DISCUSSION Sergeant Stoddard, Al Dodds and Kendra Duerst conducted a thorough review of the proposals. The following is a brief re -cap of that review. A. Burst Communications Burst Communications is located in Newport Beach and is the lowest bid. The company location would facilitate training and any maintenance issues. In total, the Burst bid was thoroughly responsive to the RFP. B. Motion Media Motion Media is located in Santa Monica. The warranty coverage as required in the RFP is not adequately detailed. Further, the proposal does not contain the required detailed response regarding the items of equipment to be supplied. IV. CONCLUSION Based upon a comprehensive review of the proposals provided, I recommend awarding the bid to purchase the Discreet -Logic "Edit' Non - Linear Video and Audio Editing System from Burst Communications, Inc., funded from Narcotic Asset Forfeiture Fund .Account #1250-9300. Respectfully submitted: Kent Stoddard, Sergeant Personnel & Training Supervisor Approved Bob McDonell CHIEF OF POLICE E 3