SOURCES SOUGHT
D -- Automated Audio/Video Quality Control (QC)
- Notice Date
- 7/9/2014
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 334112
— Computer Storage Device Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Broadcasting Board of Governors, Director, Office of Contracts, Office of Contracts (CON), 330 C Street, SW, Room 4300, Washington, District of Columbia, 20237, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20237
- Solicitation Number
- BBG50-SS-14-0709
- Archive Date
- 8/2/2014
- Point of Contact
- Diane Sturgis, Phone: 202-382-7849
- E-Mail Address
-
dsturgis@bbg.gov
(dsturgis@bbg.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes. It does NOT constitute a Request for Proposals (RFP), Request for Quotations (RFQ), Invitation for Bids (IFB), a promise to issue a formal acquisition or Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), or an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services. Also, the Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or Sources Sought Notice, or otherwise pay for information, inquiries, or the Government's use of such information. Failure to respond to this RFI does NOT preclude participation in any future procurement. In the event a related procurement action is released, it will be released via the Federal Business Opportunities website (http://www.fbo.gov). It is the responsibility of interested sources to monitor this website for any information that may pertain to this RFI. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. Request for Information Summary The Voice of America (VOA), the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) seek to incorporate an automated audio/video quality control (QC) checking and File Transfer Security via software-only solution into VOA's broadcast production, distribution, and archive workflows. BBG/VOA is conducting market research on both radio and television monitoring. Scope of Work The selected software-only QC solution shall integrate successfully with ScheduALL, Dalet (Dalet Plus, Dalet 5.1e and Radio Suite HD), Omneon, NetApps (via SMB/CIFS), Front Porch, Rhozet, Flip Factory, FFMpeg, Final Cut, Adobe Premiere and AVID. File Transfer Security(FTS): The QC solution shall provide file transfer security while handling file movement between various storage devices. Such storage devices may be either on-site or off-site. The solution should provide multiple levels of file error checking and correction. The level of error checking and correction shall be user selectable. The file transfer application shall operate independent of or be separable from the Audio/Video QC application. As detailed below files will be in many different formats. The application shall be format agnostic. Audio/Video files are large and FTS shall be able to handle large file sizes. Any limitations of the application with respect to size or file formats shall be detailed in the formal response to the RFI. Audio/Video QC: The selected QC solution shall correctly handle a wide variety of aspect ratios in a mixed SD and HD environment including SD 4:3 and SD 16:9 where non-square pixels are used. The QC solution shall be able to support all popular broadcast and movie frame rates. The selected QC solution shall be enterprise grade. Codec support shall include: H.264, H.265/HEVC, H.263, H.261, AVCHD, DNxHD, Apple Pro Res, MJEPG, DV-25, DV-50, DV-100, AVC-Intra 50, AVC-Intra 100, VP-9, MP4, MP2, MP1, DV, XDCAM, WAV, MP3, MP2, AAC, AC3, DTS, BWF and AIFF. Container support shall include: VOB, 3GPP, 3GPP2, MOV, Apple HLS, ASF, ISM, MP4, M4V, MP1, MP2, MXF, GXF, LXF, MKV, AVI, ISM, WAV, etc. While not implemented at present at BBG/VOA, support for monitoring SubStation Alpha and other subtitle formats is a plus. BBG/VOA requires the following types of video quality control checks: extended black frames, picture quality, color/brightness, timecode/sync problems, frame rate, duration, closed captioning, video levels, and other problems related to mixed inputs such as PAL and NTSC footage, file corruption, SOM/EOM (start of message/end of message) inconsistencies, metadata/header checks. For an example of metadata checks, when SOM is greater than zero (0) for a video file, an alert should be triggered. Audio quality control checks shall include: overmodulation/clipping, distortion, noise/hum, silence detection, test tones, file corruption, duration comparison, missing audio, phase problems, distortion, dropouts, stereo vs. mono left or right channel detection, multiple channel detection, loudness/human perception checks, average level, mute/lack of audio data, and metadata/header checks. QC solution shall support growing files to accommodate live feeds. Where appropriate, QC checks for audio and video shall be customizable by the feed source so that certain checks/alerts may be turned off or configured differently in select use cases. BBG/VOA requires QC checks for files-based feeds and feeds originating from satellite recordings, footage shot in the field and ingested via SD or tape media, and material received via web/FTP. Additionally, BBG/VOA needs to verify the accuracy of media transfer between radio, television and archive systems to ensure consistency of quality. In many cases, codecs for video will require transcoding before entering VOA's Dalet Plus archive or production environments. Also, audio files will be derived from source video files for Radio Suite HD and Dalet 5.1. Quality control checking software shall be able to still provide appropriate consistency checks in all of these cases. QC alerts shall be highly customizable. The system shall be able to send alerts to targeted email lists (or other means such as Footprints) depending on where the problem occurs and what it is. Additionally, selected alerts shall be sent directly to Dalet Plus and attached to media metadata to identify possible problems with certain files so that end users can quickly take corrective action. In select use cases, the system shall be able to automatically fix certain problems such as resubmitting files for re-encoding or correcting media header data. For example, changing pixel display aspect ratio in the header is sometimes required for certain SD sources to display correctly in widescreen without re-encoding. Automated actions shall be integrated into Dalet-based systems and Diva Front Porch via MOS-compliant XML transfer data push or API. Automated corrective actions shall be logged in reports. Reports for end users shall include screenshots, timecode data, thumbnails and other information to help IT staff quickly diagnose problems. For content ingested into the VOA Dalet Plus production environment and output to the Spectrum Media Grid on a single higher-than-average day, volume could reach 356 hours. At present all video is in DV-25 SD quality with 48k WAV PCM audio. We estimate that there is about 90.5 TB/month of video volume passing through the production environment. For content leaving the Dalet Plus production system and heading to the Dalet Plus archive system, we estimate about.5-3TB of video is sent Monday through Friday from 7pm-10pm. At present, all of the source (non-proxy) video sent to the archive is in SD DV-25 format. BBG/VOA does anticipate sending DV-50, DV-100, H.264 and/or H.265/HEVC HD and/or SD source video content to the Dalet Plus archive system at a future date. For radio, most of our content is in broadcast wave format (MP2 in a WAV container) at either 384kbits stereo or 192kbits mono. At present, we are transitioning from Dalet 5.1 to Radio Suite HD. Currently, we ingest/record about 105 hours of content (17.9 GB) on a typical weekday into Radio Suite HD. That number is expected to rise by 30%-40% after the full transition to Radio Suite HD is complete. Finally, since VOA is a global content distributor, the agency requires the ability to perform QC checks across a variety of international standards (such as PAL/NTSC/SECAM) formats, frame rates and local regulations. When VOA shares content with other partners/affiliates around the world via satellite or online distribution it must comply with international standards. Integration of QC software solution shall take place in three phases. Phase 1 shall demonstrate QC solution's viability in demo/pilot testing with VOA's Dalet Plus and Radio Suite HD test bed environments (including the Dalet Plus archive test bed). Phase 2 shall encompass integration within VOA's Dalet Plus production environment and the Radio Suite HD production environment. Phase 3 shall involve integration with VOA's Dalet Plus archive system and where it interfaces with VOA's Dalet Plus and Radio Suite HD production environments. IBB/VOA approval shall be required for offeror to proceed from Phase 1 to Phase 2, and from Phase 2 to Phase 3. Quotes shall include recommended server hardware specs. BBG/VOA's preferred server hardware vendor is Hewlett Packard (HP). BBG/VOA reserves the right to purchase QC software in phases. The enclosed diagrams represent an ideal monitoring environment. BBG/VOA may choose to scale up to the ideal solution or only a part of it over time. Quotes should scale accordingly. Evaluation Criteria Offeror must have a minimum of five (5) years developing QC software solutions for enterprise-level broadcasters. Offeror's software-based solution must integrate with existing systems in place at BBG/VOA. The degree of possible integration with existing systems is a factor. Speed and accuracy of offeror's software-based QC solution shall be judged. Value/cost, flexibility/format support and scalability of implementation of offeror's QC solution shall be taken into consideration as well. Government Furnished Property, Facilities, Services or Information BBG/VOA/IBB shall furnish office space, expendable supplies, and equipment (e.g., PC with LAN connection, fax, and telephone) solely for offeror's use while integrating QC solution into VOA/BBG's workflow as needed. BBG's Digital Management Division shall be available during most normal business hours to help facilitate, answer questions and direct the project toward proper completion. Location of Work Integration work shall take place at the Cohen Building, 330 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20237 during regular business hours or remotely at offeror's location. Invoices Invoices shall be submitted either electronically or by mail to 330 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20237. Quotation Instructions All quotations are due close of business Friday 18 July 2014. Supervisory Controls Offeror shall report to the Digital Management Division, or other designated representatives of the BBG/VOA/IBB's information technology directorate. Offeror has the responsibility for planning, designing, and carrying out development or system troubleshooting work. Offeror shall work independently within these guidelines and shall have full responsibility for planning, organizing, and directing project's work. Offeror shall be responsible for the results of the work performed, which is reviewed in terms of the overall project goals, and their implications for sustaining the BBG/VOA/IBB goals. Results of the work must be considered technically correct and normally accepted without significant change. Offeror's recommendations for changes to objectives are usually evaluated for such considerations as availability of resources, broad goals, or priorities. Period of Performance The proposed period of performance for this request of service is (1) year from the Date of Contract (Purchase Order) Award. Interested sources shall submit responses about this RFI by 18 July2014 to Diane Sturgis at dsturgis@bbg.gov or by regular U.S. mail to Broadcasting Broad of Governors, IBB Office of Contracts, 330 "C" Street, S.W., Room 4300, Washington, DC 20237.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/BBG/ADM/MCONWASHDC/BBG50-SS-14-0709/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Washington, District of Columbia, United States
- Record
- SN03419552-W 20140711/140710023255-cefa0bfc055c44113f22a3d5d7c3c9b4 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |