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Behind the Scenes of The Block: A Seamless Post-Production Overhaul in Record Time

The Block is one of Australia’s biggest and longest-running TV shows, and about to commence its 21st season. It aired for the first time in 2003 with 13 episodes and has since grown to 52 episodes, 5 nights a week, and over 60 hours per season.

In 2023, Nine Network approached us with a unique challenge: completely overhaul and transition the post-production setup for their flagship production while filming was still in progress. We needed to install new infrastructure at their location, including storage, networking, production and editing equipment, online suites and support, all while ensuring that the show continued seamlessly and on-schedule.

We had to take into account the large remote edit component, data wrangling integration and transport from the production location in Victoria. The existing media wasn’t on-site and needed to be transitioned within 10 days. Nine also added to the equation Travel Guides (another flagship show), which was just starting pre-production.

This was a massive challenge, considering we had to deliver a large amount of Nexis and Nearline storage from our warehouse plus configure, commission and migrate media while the show was still in production. The storage was delivered and operational in under 48 hours and the media transition started immediately.

At the same time, new infrastructure and networking were installed with our senior techs plugged in remotely. With users transitioning around their working hours, the timeline was hit. For season 20 we decided to rebuild from scratch and implement phase 1 of the planned improvements.

Overhaul Integration

A key part of the overhaul discussed was integrating wrangling on location efficiently, providing immediate and future workflow benefits. We had the opportunity to develop this solution and test it on auction day – an incredibly fast turnaround! The five auctions were shot on a Saturday and edited immediately in Sydney with the result being a finished show going to air the following night.

Rushes were wrangled on-site from EVS before being pushed directly to the edit storage in Sydney with no intermediate copies involved. Proxies hit very quickly allowing editing shortly after each auction. Testing it allowed us to proceed confidently with the main series as planned: full integration of the Wrangle Team on set with Post-Production in Sydney, allowing for a streamlined 24/7 operation and fast turn-around.

Season 21 will again take workflow and delivery to new levels.

Unique aspects of “The Block” workflow

The Block is known for its strict commitment to safety. To ensure every detail on the work site is captured, the offline edit utilises media in full resolution, not proxies as is the case in most workflows. In the early series, a proxy workflow made for many editorial changes at the online stage which was time-consuming and costly.

To deliver the performance of multi-cam at full resolution there are 3 chassis of Nexis E4 with a System Director and significant nearline storage. These feed up to approximately 70 Avid Media Composer workstations working on-premises and remotely.

To keep working 24/7 for 11 months straight, all systems are constantly monitored, both locally and via our Global Support Team. Proactive support is in our DNA rather than waiting to fix problems.

It’s a privilege to partner with The Block. We love clients who challenge us and give us the opportunity to exceed their expectations.

Want to know more about our project solutions and rental services? Give us a call or contact us here. Finding solutions is what gets us out of bed every day!