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Overview

Overview

The new DVD authoring system from DST is designed to serve the needs of public safety organizations. The Web-based disc authoring system is easy to use and maximizes productivity.

• Burn a DVD with a few mouse clicks.
• No slowdowns occur on local machines during pre-processing.
• Trusted individuals can burn DVDs at their desks, or at a secured remote library.  
• Exported video plays on Windows Media Player or on a standard DVD.
• Authentication and Chain of Custody reporting for all activities.

The DP3 system helps to ease common DVD burning problems such as:

Performance: Processing a DVD puts a heavy load on a system. Users cannot perform any other work on their computer while the disc is compiling. This process can also take a long time.

• DP3 offloads the processing to one or more servers on your network. Users can continue to work while a disc is compiling.

Security: We have all seen leaked video footage on newscasts and U-tube. The footage was leaked due to security flaws such as uncontrolled access to source files.

• DP3 secures the files on the server. When local DVD burning takes place, files are automatically deleted from local machines.
• The Chain of Custody Report tracks system activity.

The system is ideal for agencies of all sizes. DST will work with you to understand your needs and provide a configuration that includes the features and functions that best fit your agency.

Real Authoring Features

DP3 gives your users the ability to extract the relevant audio and video from an incident for the best possible presentation. Other systems have limited or no editing capabilities.

Use markers to select the best part of the action for your presentation.

Choose from multiple layouts for your presentation.

Contextual data does not overlay the video clip.

Streamlined DVD Burning

For users who just want to burn a disc containing the entire incident, DP3 provides an easy one-touch DVD authoring solution.   

 

Low Administrative Overhead – Nothing to Install

Administering the DP3 System is a snap because there is no extra software to install. The Web-based system provides your department with flexible solutions for maximizing productivity.  You can use any PC on your network to author a disc, regardless of whether it has a DVD burner or not.  After an incident is produced, you can use any PC on the network that has a burner to burn the disc, or you can store the incident in the library until you need it. Users maintain productivity while the DP3 system works in the background to compile the incident.

The Heart of the Solution – The Media Authoring Server

The innovative Media Authoring Service ^TM, or “MAS” enables the administrator to select the best machine on the network to process video authoring requests. The system works much the same way as sending print jobs to a printer. Users find the DP3 system easy to understand and use. Management understands the value of enabling users to keep working on their local machines while the MAS processes their DVD job requests.

Users can check the status of their job requests any time using the Web-based system.

Check the status of your jobs at a glance

The following user scenarios demonstrate the advantages that the DP3 system has over other DVD burning systems.

User Scenarios

DP3 DVD Burning Solution versus Other DVD Burning Solutions

Example #1

Officer Smith has completed his shift and has uploaded video captured during a traffic stop.  The traffic stop involved an assault and he needs to burn a DVD of the incident before going home.  He also promised to finish a report for his Sergeant before leaving for the day.

Other Solutions: 

Officer Smith begins the process of burning the DVD and quickly realizes he will not be able to use his PC for anything else until the DVD job completes.  He has no choice but to wait for the DVD to finish burning so that he can type up his report.  When DVD burning finally completes, he types his report and sends it to his sergeant.  Officer Smith goes home after a long day.  (With other solutions a typical 40 minute incident may impact use of his PC for up to 45 minutes or more)

DP3 Solution: 

Officer Smith begins the process of burning the DVD by submitting the job to a remote server, and immediately types up the report for his sergeant.  Since the DVD processing is being done remotely, he can freely use his PC to type the report and perform other activities.  He simply monitors the DVD job that he submitted until seeing an indication that it is ready to be burned to a DVD.  He can then complete the process by burning to a DVD at his PC in just a few minutes.  (With DP3 the same 40 minute incident will tie up his PC for no more than 4-5 minutes of his time).

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Example #2

Officer Jones is responsible for burning DVD’s for the department.  He was hoping to leave within the hour, but has just been asked to burn a DVD for five different incidents that occurred earlier in the week.  His Sergeant needs them by 9AM the next morning.

Other Solutions:

Officer Jones realizes that he will not be able to go home as planned.  From experience he knows that it will take about 30 minutes to burn each of these videos to DVD, so waiting until tomorrow morning is not an option.  He ends up spending two and a half hours burning the DVDs and is late getting home.  Not only is he late, but it felt like a complete waste of time.  His PC was so busy burning the DVD’s that he was unable to use it for anything else.  (With other solutions you must wait for each DVD to complete before starting the next one, and the PC is so heavily loaded with processing that it is not available for any other use.)

DP3 Solution: 

Officer Jones begins the process by selecting the videos and submitting a DVD burning job for each one.  Within a few minutes all five jobs have been submitted and are being processed on a remote server.  He continues doing other work on his PC and occasionally monitors the status of the jobs that he submitted.  Since the processing is being done remotely, his PC is working fine.  He notices that two of the jobs have completed and are ready to burn to DVD, so he burns the first two DVDs and is still able to leave on time.  When he starts his shift the next morning, the remaining three jobs are waiting to be burned to DVD, which is does in less than 15 minutes.  (With DP3 a number of DVD burning jobs can be initiated quickly and queued for processing on a remote server.  You can then perform the final step of burning to the DVD at your convenience in just a few minutes per DVD).   

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Example #3

Officer Green burned a DVD two weeks ago for the DA, but they have now requested a second copy.

Other Solutions: 

Officer Green has no choice but to repeat the entire DVD burning process over again.  The video is 30 minutes long and it takes him about 35 minutes to complete.  As usual, the processing brings his PC to a crawl, and he is unable to use it for anything else until the DVD completes.  (Other solutions do not maintain an intermediate copy of the DVD suitable for burning to DVD.)

DP3 Solution: 

Officer Green’s DP3 system was configured to save the last 35 completed jobs.  He checks the media library, quickly identifies the job and burns another copy in 5 minutes.  (With DP3 the intermediate data required to burn additional copies of the DVD are saved for a configurable number of incidents, so additional copies can be burned quickly and easily even several days later.)

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Example #4

Officer Brown has been in the process of burning a DVD for almost an hour when his PC crashed.   The IT department is looking at the problem but it sounds like it may be hardware related. 

Other Solutions: 

Officer Brown asks Officer Smith if he can burn the DVD on his machine, because Officer Brown’s PC crashed. Officer Smith agrees to help.  Officer Brown initiates the DVD burn on Officer Smith’s PC. The processing brings Officer Smith’s PC to a crawl and he is unable to use it for anything until the DVD completes.  Officer Jones and Officer Smith wait around for over a half hour for the DVD to finish burning.  (Other solutions have very limited alternatives when something goes wrong in the DVD burning process).

DP3 Solution:

Officer Brown realizes that the intermediate data needed to burn the DVD is still available in the media library.  Rather than bothering another officer, he walks over to the PC hosting the media library and burns the DVD in less than five minutes.  (With DP3 there are a number of options that allow work to continue with minimum disruption.)

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Example #5

The new DA requested a DVD of video from a DUI arrest and picked up the DVD on her way home, intending to review the video that evening.  Unfortunately, she uses an Apple laptop and the DVD was burned with a media player that only works on a Windows operating system.  She called this morning to see if she can get DVD’s burned that will play on her Apple laptop.

 

Other Solutions: 

There is nothing that Officer Jones can do to help.  He often receives requests for DVDs but the previous DA was using Windows, as is everyone in his department.  He suggests that she find a Windows PC to view the video.   

DP3 Solution:

The DP3 system provides a mainstream solution that burns DVDs in a format that can be played on a standard DVD player (a PC is not required).  The same DVD can also be played on most any PC using a non-proprietary media player regardless of the operating system.  It is also possible to export a Windows Media File equivalent to the data burned to DVD, which can be played using Windows Media Player. 

The DP3 DVD burning solution does not include use of a proprietary player on the DVD.  Proprietary players provided on DVDs along with video files can result in incompatibilities when used with different device drivers, different operating systems or even different levels of the same operating system.  While packaging a proprietary media player along with the data on a DVD may be quick and/or convenient, it may also be problematic or simply be incompatible as technology changes.   

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Example #6

The DA has reviewed a DVD that was provided by Officer Jones.  It turns out to be a lengthy video and she is concerned that some of the video may be a distraction from the key points of her case.  She asks for an edited version of the incident that just contains the last 10 minutes of video.

Other Solutions: 

Officer Jones discovers that his system will not allow him to burn a partial copy of the video.  He double checks the documentation and even calls the vendor, but finds no solution.  He notifies the DA that he has no way to provide a DVD with just the last 10 minutes of video. 

DP3 Solution: 

Officer Jones has noticed the Adjust Start/End Times option when burning DVDs in the past, but has never had a need to use it.  He now discovers that it is easy to specify only the portion of video requested by the DA, and because she only requested 10 minutes worth of video he has the DVD completed in less than 15 minutes.  It dawns on Officer Jones that this could also be a time saver in the future.   

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 FAQs

1. Q.            I’ve heard that DP3 allows me to burn DVDs on a designated remote server, but I would rather burn DVDs using the PC at my desk.  Is there a way to burn DVDs using the PC at my desk?

A.     Yes.  If you have a PC capable of burning DVDs you can easily burn the DVD at your desk using DP3.  You will have the added benefit that most of the processing is off loaded to another PC, making your PC free to use for e-mail, reports or other activities.

Q.  Burning DVDs always seems to involve several steps.  Isn’t there some way to simplify the process?

A.  We agree.  That’s why we continue to refine the process to be both flexible and user friendly.  With DP3 version 2.1 M1 we provided an option to burn a DVD locally at an officers desk.  With the release of DP3 version 2.1 M2 we’ve further simplified the process by greatly reducing the number of steps involved, while still allowing the user the flexibility to modify the layout and parameters.  Users wanting to simply burn a DVD using defaults can now do this easily.  For power users with special DVD burning needs, the capability is still there.

Q.  I’ve heard a variety of claims about how long it should take to burn a DVD.  How does DP3 stack up against other solutions?

A.  There are several factors you should be aware of.  Some vendor DVD solutions are meant to be played only on a PC, and some even require a proprietary player.  This type of DVD can be burned relatively quickly because it does not undergo the processing required to be compatible with standard (non-PC) DVD players that may be used in court situations.  In order to burn a DVD suitable for playback in a standard DVD player, nearly all vendors must perform similar pre-processing of the data.  A possible exception would be a vendor using MPEG2 compression, but most vendors have abandoned or skipped MPEG2 for more efficient compression technology (for example, H.264).  So the ability of one vendor to pre-process the data faster than another will be more a factor of the PC being used than anything else.  When it comes to burning a DVD for use in a standard DVD player, DP3 is as fast or faster, than anyone in the business.  In fact test results show DP3 to be on par with other well respected DVD burning products offered by Microsoft and Apple.

Q.  I sometimes only need the first few minutes of a video.  Is there a way that I can burn less than an entire video to a DVD?

A.  Yes.  With DP3 you can specify the start and end times for the portion of video needed.  This allows you to burn any portion of interest to DVD and has the side benefit of reducing the amount of time required to burn the DVD.

Q.  I’ve been designated to burn DVDs for the entire department.  It would save a lot of time if I could burn more than one DVD at a time.  Is there something I can do?

A.  Yes.  There are two things you should know.  The jobs are queued, so you can submit a number of jobs for preprocessing without waiting for each job to complete.  The number of jobs that can be queued is configurable.  You can also install additional DVD burners to your MAS and specify the burner to use when you burn a DVD.  This would allow you to physically burn multiple DVDs at one time.

Q.  We are now remotely burning all of our DVDs on a designated PC upstairs.  It has worked out great because officers can submit a DVD burning job from their desk and an office assistant uses the PC as needed to burn the DVDs.  We would like to have a similar arrangement on other floors in the building.  Is that possible?

A.  Absolutely.  The DP3 DVD burning architecture was designed with this purpose in mind.  It’s the same concept as having multiple printers available to you on a LAN.  This gives you the flexibility of installing the DP3 Media Authoring Service (MAS) in more than one convenient location.  Remember too that this is only one of several options.  Other agencies may prefer to have each officer burn his/her own DVDs at their desk.