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SCREENS PRODUCING &
MEDIA OPERATIONS

Media servers have established themselves as the dominant video playback tool for live events; however,
the practice of delivering content to these systems and the structure of the media operations team is still
evolving.
This book outlines a workflow for video content delivery and describes team communication that
can be applied to any entertainment production including: television specials, concert touring, corporate
events, theater, as well as special events, film, large audience marketing events, and multi-screen permanent
installations. This workflow is hardware and software independent, designed to evolve with future
technologies as they become established in the field of multi-screen production, and has been proven
professionally by the author and her peers over a decade of productions.
The methodology presented will provide insights beneficial to students and current practitioners of
Media Server technology, Screens Producers, and Video Content Developers. Using real world examples of
internationally recognized productions, a foundation is laid for best practices in Media Operations.
Additional content, including full-color versions of the images inside the book, is available online.

Laura Frank, founder of Luminous FX, has worked in entertainment technology for over 20 years. Starting
as a moving light technician, she established herself as a top lighting programmer with projects spanning
rock tours with David Bowie and Madonna, Broadway shows such as Spamalot, and television events like
the Concert for NY. Laura made the shift to media servers and screens just as the market started to evolve.
Now, after a decade of refining a media delivery workflow, she works as a Screens Producer for prominent
events around the world.
SCREENS PRODUCING &
MEDIA OPERATIONS
Advanced Practice for Media Server and
Video Content Preparation

LAURA FRANK
First published 2020
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Laura Frank
The right of Laura Frank to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and
are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-33802-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-33807-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-44195-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Visit the eResources: http://www.routledge.com/9781138338074
Visit the Companion Website: http://media-operations.com
CONTENTS

Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi

1 What Is a Screens Producer? What Is Media Operations? 1

2 Media Operations: Practice & Principles 5

A Screens Practice that Works in Any Production Environment 7
Augmenting this Practice with Rapidly Changing Technology 10

3 Screens Control History 13

Screens Control & Media Servers 13
Integration with Broadcast 20

4 Follow the Pixels: Three Strategic Teams to Achieve Excellent Screens 22

Creative – Content Production 22
Operations/Programming 28
Engineering 30
Hybrid Teams 34

5 Content Creation for Scenic 35

Designing Media for Space Not Screens 35
Working with the Scenic Design Team 38
Communicating with Content Designers 44
Translating Space onto Rasters 47

6 Operations and Programming for Screens Control 50

What Is a DELIVERY RASTER? 50
What Defines a Media Server Layer? 64
Layer Strategy for Programming 69
One DELIVERY RASTER or Multiple? 70
Planning for Maximum Flexibility and Speed 71
Clear File Organization 71
File Naming & Revisions 72
 7 Engineering for Servers: Feeding the Screens 75
VI
Signal Flow & Engineering 75
Building the SIGNAL RASTERS 76
Contents

Finalizing a SIGNAL RASTER 81

Server Engineering Guidelines 84
Backup Planning 85
Genlock & Signal Sync 86
Timecode & Audio 87

8 Understanding the Set: Documentation and Analysis 89

Scenic Design Documentation 89
Example 1: iHeart Radio Music Awards 2017 89
Example 2: Black Girls Rock! 2016 97
Example 3: MTV Video Music Awards 2018 104

9 Unwrapping the Set: Templates for Creatives 111

Master Template/DESIGN RASTERS 111
Example 1: iHeart Radio Music Awards 2017 112
Grouping Screens 115
Example 2: Black Girls Rock! 2016 117
Responsible Pixel Usage – Do I Need a Pixel for Every LED? 119
More Screen Groups 123
Special Example: MTV Movie & TV Awards 2018 124
Example 3: MTV Video Music Awards 2018 128
Alternate Content Delivery Workflows 129

10 The Media Operations Team 133

Programming 133
Example 1: iHeart Radio Music Awards 2017 133
File Delivery 135
File Management 136
Example 2: Black Girls Rock! 2016 137
Prepare for “Oh by the Way” 141
Example 3: MTV Video Music Awards 2018 144
Delivery and Processing 147

11 Signal Delivery & Engineering 148

Server Signal Planning 148
Example 1: iHeart Radio Music Awards 2017 149
Working with Screens Engineering Team 152
Working with Broadcast Trucks 153
Example 2: Black Girls Rock! 2016 155
Signal Switching 159
Special Example: MTV Movie & TV Awards 2018 161
Example 3: MTV Video Music Awards 2018 163
12 Content Delivery Workflow 175
VII
The Set 175
Initial System Outline 177

Contents
Prep Timeline 178
More Scenic Documentation 178
Templates & Rasters 187
The DESIGN RASTER 188
The DELIVERY RASTER 191
The SIGNAL RASTERS 192
Workflow Refinement 193
Supporting Content Production Tools 195
Previsualization 195
Content Production Project Template 197
Communication and Clarity 200

13 Previz 203
Previz and Screens 203
Previz and 3D 204
WebGL 207
Media Servers and Previz 210
VR/AR 210
In Summary: Democratizing 3D 210

14 Advanced Technologies and the Future of Media Operations 212

Interactive Graphics 212
Scenic Tracking 213
Projection Calibration 217
Camera Tracking 218
Real-Time Generated Content 221
In Summary: Expertise 222

15 Practice 223
Listen 223
Support Others 224
Be Excellent 224
Support Yourself 225
Be Compensated Fairly 225

16 Industry Voices 226

Nils Porrmann 226
Trevor Burk 228
Rodd McLaughlin 228
Kerstin Hovland 229
Bob Bonniol 230
Eric Marchwinski 232
 Peter Nigrini 233
VIII
J. T. Rooney 235
Nick Fletcher & Kyle Bjordahl 236
Contents

Abigail Rosen Holmes 237

Philip Galler 238

Appendix 1 Glossary 241

Appendix 2 Workflow Outline 243
Appendix 3 The Dark Art of Selecting a Pixel Density 245
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book represents years of work with an incredible community of entertainment designers, technicians,
producers, and creators. I am grateful every day for the support and inspiration that comes from being sur-
rounded by such an amazing group of people.
However, this book would not have been possible without my husband, Daniel Damkoehler. Not only
is he the wordsmith in our small family, he spent hours with me editing the draft into shape. He provided
advice, insight, coffee, and support, even when that meant more time at the computer on a sunny day while
traveling. He’s also now an expert in Pixel Density calculations. Thanks, lovey.
Thank you, Abigail Rosen Holmes and Bob Bonniol for encouraging the publication of this textbook.
They, along with many others, took time to write essays for the last chapter. My thanks to Abby and Bob
along with Nils Porrmann, Trevor Burk, Rodd McLaughlin, Kerstin Hovland, Eric Marchwinski, Peter
Nigrini, J. T. Rooney, Nick Fletcher, Kyle Bjordahl, and Philip Galler for their contributions to this book.
I’m excited to share their experience and insights with readers.
Thank you to my core Media Operations team of the last few years. Their willingness to join me while
we crafted a new approach to screens management is a trust I don’t take lightly. Eric Marchwinski and Kirk
Miller handled most of our media server programming work. They are the reason I quit programming – the
best compliment I know how to give. Zak Haywood, Zack Alexander, Philip Galler, Mitch Lathrop, and
Joseph ‘Bubbles’ Denham (aka Fluffy) all put their mark on our engineering process. They were instru-
mental in helping me understand the complexities faced in media server systems design, along with Marty
Wickman and TJ Donoghue. The demands put on the engineering position are intense and I am grateful
for their efforts over the years. My deepest thanks to my associate Trevor Burk who was instrumental in
advancing this workflow. Trevor saw the power of the single delivery file format before I did and is now
crafting this workflow with his own team.
Thank you to the many set designers and their associates whose work is represented in these pages: Anne
Brahic, Julio Himede, Jorge Dominguez, Bruce Rodgers, LeRoy Bennett, Tamlyn Wright, Mike Rhodes.
Your partnership over the years has been invaluable. My thanks to the networks who shared these projects
for publication: Viacom, iHeart Media, Turner, and The Game Awards.
My thanks to the team at Routledge for helping me navigate writing a textbook, Stacey Walker and Lucia
Accorsi. Thanks to Vickie Claiborne who served as technical editor and helped me expand many complex
topics for the benefit of readers.
None of this would have happened without the countless opportunities presented to me over the years.
There are so many people I am grateful to for their support and guidance in my career. I must give thanks
to Lighting Designers Alan Branton and Tom Kenny for their support in my early days and enabling my
career shift into video programming. Special thanks to Soren West who championed the Screens Producer
role and will expand Luminous FX into the future.
Visit https://textbookfull.com
now to explore a rich
collection of eBooks, textbook
and enjoy exciting offers!
 I count myself lucky to work in this community. I could thank so many others, peers, designers, produc-
X
ers, and more. Instead, I will encourage you, the reader, to go out and find this community for yourself and
do excellent work. And then you can thank them in person for me.
Acknowledgments

Laura
Summer 2019
PREFACE

Magic. That’s what we do. It is magic. We engage an audience and transport them visually and emotion-
ally to another place. But that magic takes hard work. When that hard work is successful, the results seem
effortless. This book attempts to make the hard work of planning, communicating and executing a plan for
multi-screen live production less challenging.
Video screens used in scenery are part of a rapidly changing variety of technologies used in live enter-
tainment. LED screens and projectors constantly improve in image quality. Computer processing power
for both media servers and content creation tools advances regularly along with software capabilities.
As I write this, a new advanced video codec was announced. The teams responsible for delivering video
content to screens are always under pressure to learn new skills and meet client expectations while demys-
tifying cutting-edge technology into reasonable budgets. We do all this without a standard practice for
communicating what it is we actually do.
This book will take readers, students and seasoned practitioners, through a defined practice that can be
applied to any live production environment for screens. It is not for the beginner. The reader should come
with some regular experience in scenic media, either through Content Design, Media Server Programming,
or Screens Engineering. Having faced the challenges and complexities on show site will make the workflow
outlined in this textbook more valuable.
Video is a colorful medium and there are many rich details provided in the Figures that populate these
pages. I recommend that you use the printed Figures in the textbook for reference, but also use these com-
panion links for full color versions and extra content.

www.routledge.com/9781138338074
and
http://media-operations.com

The practices outlined in this textbook are part of an evolving workflow for Screens Production. The
Content Delivery Workflow I use is a foundation for anyone in this industry to continue developing these
ideas and change them to meet their own production needs. One screen or multiple intricately arranged
displays, one video source or many, communicating the process of Screens Production is unique to every
show and video team. Describing a detailed practice that suits all parties on every type of show is impos-
sible. Describing a general practice of how to get from content design to video display is possible. In this
textbook, I outline a baseline of communication that will facilitate defining your working style and give you
a set of tools to create a workflow for your production needs.
WHAT IS A SCREENS PRODUCER? 1
WHAT IS MEDIA OPERATIONS?

What is the role of a Screens Producer in a live production? What is the Media Operations Department all
about? Possibly the title “Screens Producer” is new to you, or might ft a role that you’ve already occupied
on a show. The Screens Producer role is a relatively new production position, new enough that it is often
mis-titled, managed by multiple people across different departments, or missing altogether. There is an
ongoing discussion in the entertainment industry as to what a Screens Producer is and what responsibili-
ties belong to a Screens Producer. Once the entertainment industry arrives at a consensus on what defnes
a Screens Producer, the Media Operations Department will ultimately receive recognition as a stand-alone
entity in live event production.
In this book we defne the role of the Screens Producer in this way: a single individual who monitors the
life of the video pixels from their creation to their delivery on a video screen. The Screens Producer leads the
Media Operations Department which is responsible for receipt of these pixels and their playback.
Let’s consider how many people interact with video pixels in a production. Each pixel is both a compo-
nent of creative expression as well as a complex engineering challenge. Bridging the language and require-
ments that often separate the disciplines of art and engineering is at the heart of good Screens Producing.
The Screens Producer acts as a mediator between video creatives and video engineers to other production
disciplines (lighting, art direction, etc.), listening to the needs of each department and helping communica-
tion between these teams to reach their goals.
A short list of people who are responsible for interacting with video pixels in a live production includes
video content creators, media server programmers, and screen engineers. A larger production will also
include creative directors, show producers, animators, content fle trackers, media server programmers,
media server engineers, screen engineers, broadcast engineers, and so on. Someone must manage all of the
information that needs to be communicated between these different entities for the successful display of
pixels in a live event. That individual is the Screens Producer.
In a small production, a single person might occupy many or all of the roles described above. Let’s
say you are working on a small theatrical event. An Off-Off Broadway production at a 250-seat theater
has hired you to be the projection designer. Congratulations! You have been given access to a 10K lumen
projector and a laptop and asked to make imagery for the show. You work with the show’s director, set
and lighting designers to decide on the video content. Next, you create the content yourself and program
video fle playback off the laptop connected directly to the projector. Effectively, you own the entire life of
the video pixels through the delivery pipeline. You participated in all the creative discussions, tracked and
delivered the required content, acted as system engineer, programmer, and ultimately produced everything
that appeared on screen in production. Any decisions about the life of those pixels were fully controlled
by you.
Now imagine those pixels are part of a nationally televised award show. There will be ten world-famous
musical acts performing as well as top movie stars presenting throughout a two-hour live broadcast. The
show will have multiple creative decision makers and video content creators, multiple video playback tools,
 and a whole menagerie of different screen types varying not just by size, but also by resolution. With so
2
many decision makers and points of approval, the screens will not be fnalized until a few weeks before the
show is on the air and there will only be a few days to manage and program cues for all the video content
What Is a Screens Producer?

coming in from multiple sources. There is little time to recover from any mistakes or make sense of unclear
information. Communication is key to the success of a good screens workfow, and a Screens Producer
must own that communication. The Media Operations team supports the Screens Producer in that com-
munication and manages the content and cue structure during rehearsal and the show. In Figure 1.1, we see
a production in progress from the Screen Producer’s point of view, working side by side with a programmer
to build screen looks with custom designed video content.
Most live events will fall somewhere in between these two examples. With video already a regular part
of most every entertainment production happening today, understanding the process of creating video,
organizing and playing video fles, and outputting video signals to screen will beneft anyone who intends
to work in any part of the video pipeline for live entertainment.
Within the world of live events, video screens and the media played on them are used in different ways.
In the music touring industry, screens may be purely artistic design to enhance the mood of the music.
In theater, screens are an independent extension of the scenic design, enhancing the physical surfaces as a
storytelling tool. For television, the screens may need to act as both eye candy and as informational space.
Those familiar with this feld may ask, what is the difference between a Screens Producer and a Projection
Designer? Or a Screens Producer and a Media Server Programmer?
In a theatrical production, the Projection Designer is responsible for the video content creative, video
fle production, and the cue structure for playback. This role is an equal creative partner to Scenic, Light-
ing, Sound, and Costume Design, supporting the Director in delivering a cohesive vision of the play or
musical to be presented. In live events outside theater or musicals, the role of a Projection Designer is
not as common. There are a number of factors that contribute to this reality. Most live events such as
television specials and rock tours have multiple content designers and creators, instead of one singular
video creative source. Also, as video use outside the theater evolved, media servers and lighting pro-
grammers were largely made responsible for driving low resolution LED sources as part of the lighting
department. As a result, screens control came under the responsibility of the Lighting Designer. Video

Figure 1.1 Programmer Kirk Miller at Work on the 2016 Production of Black Girls Rock.
Source: set design by Anne Brahic, photo by author
 3

What Is a Screens Producer?

Figure 1.2 Author Working on the Broadway Production of Shrek the Musical, 2009
Source: photo courtesy of Paul Davila

content design and video playback control were divided across production departments and have only
recently become an independent department.
In the theater, the Projection Designer is a well-established design department head. Outside the theater,
the Screens Producer is not necessarily a design lead, but acts as a creative partner to the often multiple
content designers involved in a production. In this sense, Screens Producers are editors and creative manag-
ers. The Screens Producer is closer to the rehearsal process than the content designers and may be involved
in some creative decision making and refnement in rehearsal, but they are typically not the originator of
the video creative. However, every production is different. There are live events where the Screens Producer
is from a content design team and the Media Operations team is part of the Screens Engineering team.
Best practice, however, for a majority of live event projects combines the Screens Producer with the Media
Operations team as an independent department that works to facilitate communication between Content
Creators and Screens Engineering. In the ten years that have passed since working on Shrek the Musical,
I have built a Media Operations team to write and execute the screen cues rather than leave this demanding
work in the hands of too small a team (Figure 1.2).
Prior to the Screens Producer role, it was often the responsibility of the Media Server Programmer to
provide communication and workfow tools to facilitate communication between the video content creators
and the screens engineers. In fact, many productions still rely on Media Server Programmers to provide
Screens Producer services. Anyone studying Media Server Programming will beneft from the material cov-
ered in this book. The workfow and practices discussed will improve a programmer’s ability to manage
multiple responsibilities more effciently.
In the following chapters we will review the full video content production, playback, and signal deliv-
ery pipeline for live entertainment events. We will examine all the roles and team members involved and
learn specifc methods Screens Producers use to facilitate communication between these groups. We will
review how the Media Operations team supports the Content Delivery Workfow. We will analyze various
approaches to optimizing the workfow between these groups in different types of production environments
using a variety of entertainment technology. And fnally, we will look ahead to the future of video for live
entertainment production and what this means for anyone tackling the tasks of a Screen Producer. Scenic
Design, as with the example shown in Figure 1.3, is continually more dominated by video screens and
requires a clear, thoughtful, and well planned workfow for video fle delivery.
4
What Is a Screens Producer?

Figure 1.3 Load In for the CMT Music Awards, 2016

Source: photo by author

TERMINOLOGY

While there is a Glossary provided in Appendix 1 of this book, I recommend researching any unfamiliar terms
on the internet. There are many discussion groups on social media, industry magazines online, as well as sup-
porting material available from system manufacturers and rental houses.
MEDIA OPERATIONS 2
Practice & Principles

If you have studied other entertainment production disciplines, such as lighting design or scenic design,
you have seen the documentation design teams use to communicate their goals and needs for a production.
Scenic designers produce drawings for the scenic company to build the set elements. The scenic design com-
pany will further expand that documentation to instruct the carpentry team on site how to assemble the
pieces and maintain them long term. The carpentry team will have their own documentation to train new
carpenters coming in to learn a show and to ensure that important requirements and tasks are performed
on schedule, on budget, and according to design specifications.
The same is true of an audio department, a lighting department, and costume department and so on.
From designers to show production personnel to the show operations and maintenance teams, each group
has a well-developed set of documentation and production practices that make it easy to move from show
to show and understand the culture of the community you are working with and the requirements of a
given show. There will always be variations in the way the documentation is presented, but every show has
a lighting plot, a microphone schedule, a costume inventory, etc. These are understood and expected com-
munication tools whether you are touring a rock band, making a film, or building a musical.
Live production screens and video scenery have not been around as long as these other practices and
therefore our documentation and communication tools have yet to be standardized. We have common terms
and technology, but the way these are used can vary significantly from show to show. In addition, technol-
ogy in the video community is currently advancing quite rapidly and therefore it is a challenge to define a
single practice that will apply to any and all video production environments. It is often the case the video
production process gets reinvented for each show and therefore time is wasted in re-establishing how even
the most common tools and processes will be communicated. More typically, a baseline of communication
is not established, and instead assumptions and miscommunications dominate and the video department
bogs down in the technical and administrative work debt required to correct the resulting issues.

COMMON COMMUNICATION ISSUES

Here are some common parameters that need to be communicated clearly and then reconfirmed over the
course of production.
Video Codec: If the video files are not delivered to the preferred codec of the media server, this can result in
all the video files needing to be re-rendered, and significant amounts of time can end up wasted.
Frame Rate: If the video files are the wrong frame rate, playback anomalies can occur. If video is at 25fps
and the system is at a refresh rate of 60Hz, the graphics card of your playback system has to create missing
frames in real time so that files play out at the correct speed. Sometimes processing flaws occur and look like
small skips in playback. To correct this, files will have to be re-rendered to the correct frame rate.
Signal Type: The media server output signal type is not always the preferred distribution signal type.
Signal conversion may need to occur and should be discussed with the Screens Engineering team before
you are on site.
6 Screen Updates: Screens get changed in size and product as the scenic budget is finalized. Be sure to check
with the scenic team and screens team for changes.
Media Operations: Practice & Principles

Delivery Due Dates: Don’t leave room for assumptions. Remind teams of due dates regularly and that you
intend to stick to them. Make sure you give yourself time to download, transfer, and process the file to have it
ready for rehearsal.

When it comes to good communication, the Screens Producer monitors and creates clear communication
between all the teams working on the video system in a production. It is important to recognize a produc-
tion’s video department is subdivided into smaller sub-departments that sometimes work quite indepen-
dently of one another. It is common for an engineering team responsible for the LED Screens or Projection
gear to have little communication with the creative team producing the video content. While each group is
working toward outputting video content on the screens, they often are deeply focused on their own com-
plex challenges. This makes the roll of a Screens Producer a valuable communication center. The Screens
Producer becomes the central person to review the overall demands of a show on the video teams and to
ensure that each sub-department’s particular needs are being accounted for. When this succeeds, it means
the workload is optimized for everyone in the video department.
The common sub-departments of a video department are:

Content Production
The team producing video content to be displayed on the screens
Common tools include After Effects, Final Cut, and Blender. Besides realizing the art director’s, designer’s,
director’s, and/or performer’s creative vision, they are responsible for delivering video files that meet
the unique technical specifications required for proper show playback and placement on the screens.

Media Operations
The team responsible for organizing the video files into a repeatable cue structure for rehearsal and
show video playback
This team must communicate the requirements of file delivery to the content production team. File
delivery will be based on the technical specifications of the screens in the show as well as the device
used for video playback. This team will also assist in coordinating signal flow from the media serv-
ers to the Screen Engineers.

Screens Engineering
The team engineering the LED Screens and Projectors
Any display gear must be planned for and installed based on the direction of these engineers. They must
also clarify and coordinate the signal flow to correctly feed content to all of the display surfaces.

Other video sub-departments that may participate on a production depending on the particular needs
of a show:

Real time content creation, Augmented Reality, Broadcast content, Video controlled LED Tape or LED
fixtures installed by scenic or lighting teams
Any of these teams will need information collected and managed by the Screens Producer and Media
Operations team.
 As a show grows in scale and complexity, there is a clear need for an individual to own the communica-
7
tion and workflow between these various sub-departments. The Screens Producer is there to make sure com-
munication happens, that the communication is clear and reaches the video sub-department(s) it impacts,

Media Operations: Practice & Principles

and to eliminate any assumptions about how the workflow between sub-departments will be executed by
stating tasks and responsibilities clearly and in a timely manner to all concerned. The practice of Media
Operations stands apart within the video department as the Screens Producer will oversee communication
between all these groups but not necessarily run the video department as a whole. Media Operations still
has as its primary goal the cueing and playback of video files as defined by the Media Operations team.
However, the success of this goal is facilitated by a Screens Producer refining inter-team communication and
delivering a clear Content Delivery Workflow.

A SCREENS PRACTICE THAT WORKS IN ANY

PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT
There are enough common elements to any show with video screens that practices and procedures for com-
munication of content production, content playback, and screens engineering can be standardized. The goal
of a universal Media Operations Practice will allow all video sub-departments of a production to move from
film to theater to corporate events with ease and understanding. This standardized practice must be flexible
enough to accommodate what is unique to any specific show while using common language and tools for
documentation that will remain familiar in any production environment.
Consider the clarity of a lighting plot. The lighting fixture types change from show to show, but there is
always a clear schedule of symbols on the plot to define the fixture types. There are always unique identi-
fiers on each lighting fixture so that information can be expressed in spreadsheets, in magic sheets, and
in the control console using the same identifiers. Everyone understands the flow of information and can
customize this information to their particular role and needs on the lighting team for any given produc-
tion. Video production does not currently have a standard information toolset as clear as a lighting plot
or lighting fixture schedule.
To create a standard, we need to consider the primary goal of the video department and what the docu-
mentation needs to cover in order to be considered useful and complete. The primary goal of any screens
workflow is to display the desired content to screen at the correct moment in time. There are simply too
many people and technological pieces involved in making this happen successfully to make achieving this goal
as easy as stating it. Starting from the scenic design team that conceive of the screens on stage to the engineers
that get the video signal to the screens as well as build them, the various sub-departments within the overall
video department have unique information needs and ways of managing their internal information flow.

BUILDING A MEDIA OPERATIONS TEAM

The dependence of video production on computers and other advanced technology will often mean the peo-
ple hiring you do not necessarily understand why Media Operations takes time and people, why the work is
complex, or what all the roles are that make Media Operations possible. Producers often perceive technology
as a method of efficiency and a source of cost savings.
I have described situations where Media Operations can be handled by one individual or when it takes
several people for the show to be successful. Often you will come into a project where the production team is
not prepared or budgeted for the team size you believe is necessary. Be prepared to explain the roles you see
for the team and how they benefit the show.
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 Let’s look at the basic goal of screens production again: display the desired content to screen at the cor-
8
rect moment in time. This goal requires roles for each of the primary subgroups of Media Operations as
directed by the Screens Producer:
Media Operations: Practice & Principles

“desired content” – the Content Production team

“display . . . to screen” – the Screens Engineering team
“correct moment in time” – the Media Operations team.

These three primary groups are essential to the success of good screens production. Providing clear docu-
mentation to each of these groups and reviewing the documentation they internally create is how a success-
ful Screens Producer can navigate complex tasks with ease.
Common documentation to require of the content team will be a deliverables list. The deliverables list
will outline every file intended for delivery to the Media Operations team, often in the form of a simple
spreadsheet. Information on this document should include file name, description, and status (draft, final, or
current revision information). This can be checked against actual deliveries to make sure both teams are in
agreement about what has and has not been delivered.
The Media Operations team will often have a variation of the deliverables list to log file names in the
media server system. This is largely to help manage the folder and file structure within the media server’s
system and to have this documented outside the media server so that the full Media Operations team has
visibility to file ___location. This is useful when the media server programmer is deep into a bit of complex cue-
ing inside the control desk and would find it disruptive to find the ___location of a video file within the media
server GUI (Graphical User Interface). That bit of data can be located by someone else on the team leaving
the programmer free to continue programming. We will see examples of file logs in Chapter 10.
The Media Operations team will also generate a host of other documents. For my productions, I produce
a simple screen name diagram in both plan and section form. Besides files names, screen names are very
important to agree upon and therefore a “plot” of screen name data can save confusion during production.
I begin with the screen names as represented by the scenic build drawings. I also add a code in the form of
a single letter to shorthand the name for use in other documentation. All departments within and outside
the video department must use the same names to designate the same screens. This may seem obvious, but,
as name confusion is a common and time consuming source of error in production, it needs to be stated
clearly: name every screen, share every name with every team member, and use the names. As stated, these
names will typically be dictated by the scenic department in their drawings. If a screen is not named clearly,
start by discussing a name with the Art Director.
In the example shown in Figure 2.1, five separate screen elements make up the screen labeled “US Wall.”
The scenic build documents from the Art Director labeled the sub-screens of the US Wall with letters. These
letters were used along with the wall name to communicate with other teams.
Other documentation generated by the Media Operations team includes but is not limited to: rasters
describing design space, delivery size, and signal organization, a screen schedule outlining technical data
about each screen surface, a signal schedule confirming size and signal type, engineering schematics for
racks and signal flow, DMX patch information, and so on. The particular demands of a live show might
necessitate special documentation unique to that set, its technology, and the video team working on it. We
will review how these documents, from the Screens Name Map shown Figure 2.1 to a Screens Log as shown
in Figure 2.2, are created using various show examples.
When it comes to the Screens Engineers, every team has their own way of documenting their screen
build and signal flow. In Media Operations, one rarely has to see this engineering paperwork. The most
important shared documents between Media Operations and Screens Engineering is the Signal Schedule and
the SIGNAL RASTERS visually describing how the screens are organized on those rasters. We will review
examples of these rasters in later chapters.
 9

Media Operations: Practice & Principles

Figure 2.1 Render View of Screens Names for iHeart Radio Music Awards 2018
Source: set design Tamlyn Wright, documentation augmented by author

Figure 2.2 Screen Schedule for iHeart Radio Music Awards 2018
Source: documentation by author

Communication and planning between these groups will make the production process go smoothly.
Good communication from these groups to their clients and bosses will help manage expectations and
demystify the technology we use. Demystifying the technology we use will advance this practice and estab-
lish Media Operations as a necessary team to any production with video.
10 AUGMENTING THIS PRACTICE WITH RAPIDLY
CHANGING TECHNOLOGY
Media Operations: Practice & Principles

One of the most exciting parts of Media Operations is the use of cutting-edge entertainment technology.
Control consoles and media servers are constantly evolving. Media server capabilities increase with com-
plexity every year. Projectors and LED screens continue to increase their pixel output capabilities; and con-
tent production is entering a whole new world with real-time generative content tools. It is easy to become
overwhelmed with the knowledge base required for using these tools, but there is also joy in mastering as
many of these tools as you can.
My preferred approach is to keep myself appraised of the changing software relevant to the aspects of
screens production that most interest me. It is common for there to be overlap in interests. Someone might
really dive deep into engineering and control, learning all they can about signal distribution and display
technology, but also have an interest in the media servers. Media server skills often overlap with an interest
in content production. Whatever your interests, this industry demands constant learning. There is no part
of screens production that you can learn and rely solely on that knowledge for long term earning potential.
To stay relevant in Media Operations, you must evolve as the technology evolves. This will serve you very
well no matter what new tools are introduced, what technologies come into our work, or how advanced
existing systems get. Constant learning is essential, and hopefully is something you enjoy.

Software

In this book you will see a variety of software suites mentioned. I spend most of my time in OmniGraffle to
build rasters and templates, Apple Numbers to log screen specifications, Google Sheets to log and share file
organization, Cinema 4D for 3D modeling and Adobe After Effects for content production. Adobe Illustra-
tor or Photoshop can be used in place of OmniGraffle. Numbers & Sheets are virtually interchangeable
with Microsoft Excel. Any number of 3D software modeling programs can replace Cinema 4D. The most
popular 3D modeling tools in the screens community are Studio Max, Blender, SketchUp, and Vectorworks.
And then there are many options of software for content production. I find After Effects is very common
but it’s only one way to make imagery. I’ve received content built in Maya, Premiere, Final Cut, Motion,
Avid, Notch, and so on.

Social Media
There are many community groups on Facebook for the discussion of different kinds of software and media
servers. This is a great way to learn and connect to other members of the community for your own profes-
sional growth. You might also be able to connect with or create user groups that share information via Slack
or other communication platforms.

Conferences

Industry conferences are a great way to engage with others working in our community and learn from
manufacturers directly. There are also conferences to look for just outside our industry that impact the
technologies we use and may be valuable for more advanced learning and discovery.
Conferences specific to entertainment technology include LDI, the most recognizable conference related
to our industry in the USA. PLASA and Pro Light & Sound dominate the UK and Europe respectively.
Participating in a conference like one of these will give you the opportunity to attend lecture sessions and
11
training sessions, and interact with the manufacturers. Other conferences that also impact our industry
include NAB, InfoCOMM, and NAMM. More information can be found searching online.

Media Operations: Practice & Principles

If you are interested in developing your knowledge from the other industries we borrow from, I recom-
mend SIGGRAPH. SIGGRAPH is a computer graphics technology conference that has been around since
the 1980s. There are also many conferences in creative coding, projection mapping, and data visualization
that you may find inspiring.

IN SUMMARY
As a team, the Media Operations team is the central hub of communication for the video department.
This team acts as bridge and mediator between any number of video sub-departments, as well as acts as
the representative of the video department on headset in production, as shown in Figure 2.3. As such, it
is necessary to put these responsibilities into an understood and recognized practice. And it is also valu-
able to continue to evolve these communication practices by staying on top of the latest software and
industry techniques.

Figure 2.3 Author at Work on a Set Designed by Jorge Dominguez

Source: photo courtesy of Don Thompson
12
WORKFLOW
Media Operations: Practice & Principles

What is a workflow? What do we mean by workflow?

A dictionary definition of the term workflow is: the sequence of industrial, administrative, or other processes
through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion.
In the case of a Content Delivery Workflow, we are referring to the documentation and practices outlined
to produce video files for media server playback. When used more generically, “workflow” is largely about
the practice of Media Operations. This includes the Content Delivery Workflow as well and the related tasks of
receiving the files, organizing them into cues and delivering the signals to screen.
Describing this workflow and establishing a clear practice for Screens Producing and Media Operations is
the primary goal of this text.
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Cave-Dwellers
of Saturn
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Cave-Dwellers of Saturn

Author: John Wiggin

Release date: April 5, 2020 [eBook #61759]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online

Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAVE-DWELLERS

OF SATURN ***
Cave-Dwellers of Saturn
 By JOHN WIGGIN

Across Earth's radiant civilization lay the

death-shot shadows of the hideous globe-headed
dwarfs from Mars. One lone Earth-ship dared
the treachery blockade, risking the planetoid
peril to find Earth's life element on
mysterious Saturn of the ten terrible rings.

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from

Planet Stories Winter 1939.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
It was a crisp, clear morning in the city of Copia. A cold winter's sun
glinted on the myriad roof tops of the vast spreading metropolis. To
the north, snow-covered hills gleamed whitely, but the streets of
Copia were dry and clean. There were not many people stirring at
such an early hour. The dozen broad avenues which converged like
the spokes of a great wheel on Government City in the center of
Copia were quite deserted. There was little apparent activity around
and about the majestic Government buildings, but the four
mammoth gates were open, indicating that Government City was
open for business.
At the north gate the sentry, sitting behind his black panel with its
clusters of little lights, switches, and push-buttons, glanced upward.
There was a faint humming and a man was circling downward about
a hundred feet above him. The rays of the early sun flashed off a
helmet and the sentry knew that this man was a soldier. The
newcomer dropped rapidly, the stubbed wings on his back a gray
blur. Then the humming ceased as the soldier switched off his
oscillator and landed lightly on the ground before the sentry.
The sentry's swift glance took in the immensely tall, broad-
shouldered figure, covered to the ankles in the green cloak. He took
in also the pink, smiling face and merry blue eyes, and the lock of
bright red hair which showed as the soldier pushed his helmet
backward off his forehead.
"Your business?" asked the sentry.
"I have orders to report to the Commander-in-Chief," said the
soldier, with a pleasant smile.
"Let's see," said the sentry, glancing at the insignia on the helmet,
"you're a decurion of the Eightieth Division. And the name?"
"Dynamon," said the soldier.
"Oh, yes," said the sentry, with a recollective smile, "I remember you
as an athlete. Didn't I see you in the Regional Games two years
ago?"
"Yes," said the soldier, with pleased surprise. "I was on the team
from North Central 4B."
"I thought so," the sentry chuckled. "As I remember you walked
away with practically everything but the stadium. Hold on a minute
now and I'll clear the channels for you."
The sentry bent over the panels, punched some buttons, threw a
switch, and recited a few words in a monotone. He listened for a
moment, then threw the switch back and looked up.
"It seems you're expected," he said, "third building to the right and
they'll take care of you there."
Ten minutes later Dynamon stood in the doorway of a large,
beautiful room and saluted. The salute was answered by a grizzled,
dark-skinned man sitting behind an enormous desk. This man was
Argallum, Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the World. He rose
and beckoned to the young soldier.
"This way, Dynamon," said he, opening a small door. "What we have
to talk about requires platinum walls."
Dynamon's face was a mask as he followed the Commander-in-Chief
into the little room, but his heart was pounding and his mind
working fast. The platinum room! That meant that he was about to
learn a secret of the most vital importance to the world. He
remembered now, that there was a delegation of Martians in Copia.
They had arrived about a week before, ostensibly to carry on
negotiations in an effort to avert the ugly crisis that was developing
between Earth and Mars. But the conviction was growing among the
citizens of Copia that the chief object of the Martian delegation was
to spy. It was a well-known fact that the grotesque little men from
the red planet had a superhuman sense of hearing that seemed to
enable them to tune in on spoken conversations miles away, much
as human beings tuned radio sets. They could hear through walls of
brick, stone or steel; the one substance they could not hear through
was platinum. Hence the little room off the Commander-in-Chief's
office which was entirely sheathed in this precious metal.

Argallum sat down heavily behind a little desk and gestured

Dynamon to be seated opposite him.
"On the basis of your fine record," said Argallum, "I have selected
you, Dynamon, to lead a dangerous expedition. You may refuse the
assignment after you hear about it, and no blame will attach to you
if you do. It is dangerous, and your chances of returning from it are
unknown. But here it is, anyway.
"The situation with Mars is growing worse each month. They are
making demands on us which, if we accepted them, would destroy
the sovereign independence of the World-State. We would become a
mere political satellite of Mars. But if we don't accept their demands,
we are liable to a sudden attack from them which we could not
withstand. They have got us in a military way and they know it. We
might be able to stand them off for a while with our fine air force,
but if they ever got a foothold with their land forces, then it's good-
bye. They have a new weapon called the Photo-Atomic Ray against
which we have absolutely no defense. It's a secret lethal ray which
far outranges our voltage-bombs and which penetrates any armor or
insulation we've got."
"Now, of course, our Council of Scientists has been working on the
problem of a defense against the Ray. But the only thing they've
come up with is a vague idea. They believe that there is a substance
which they call 'tridium,' which would absorb or neutralize the Photo-
Atomic Ray. They don't know what tridium looks like, but by spectro-
analysis they know that it exists on the planet Saturn. So I am
sending you with an expedition to Saturn to find, if you can, the
substance known as 'tridium,' and bring some of it back if possible."
"Saturn!" gasped the decurion.
"I said it would be dangerous," Argallum said, bleakly. "No human
being has ever set foot on the planet, and very little is known about
it. But that's where you'll find tridium, if we're to believe Saturn's
spectrum. You will have the latest, fastest Cosmos Carrier. You will
have a completely equipped expedition. You will have for assistants
the best young men we can find. As head of the expedition, you will
be promoted to the rank of centurion. Do you accept the
assignment?"
"Yes, sir," said Dynamon, unhesitatingly, "I accept the assignment."

Dynamon walked thoughtfully out of Government city by the North

Gate. The sentry noticed that his helmet was now adorned with the
badge of centurion, and came to a smart salute. Dynamon went past
him without seeing him, and the sentry glared after the new
centurion disapprovingly. Lost in thought, Dynamon kept on walking
until he came to with a start, and found himself in the middle of the
shopping district.
The sun was getting uncomfortably warm and Dynamon switched off
the electric current that heated his long cloak and looked around
him. A sign in a shop window said, "Only fourteen more shopping
days before the Twenty-fifth of December." Dynamon sighed. He
wouldn't be around on this Twenty-fifth and it was going to be a
very gay one. It was to be the nine hundredth anniversary of the
Great Armistice—from which had come the unification of all the
peoples of the Earth. Dynamon sighed again.
The long peace was threatened.
The Earth, in this year of grace 3057, was a wonderful place to live
in, and Copia was the political and cultural center of the Earth. For
nine hundred years now, the peoples of the Earth had lived at peace
with one another as members of a single integrated community. The
World-State had grown into something which that war-torn handful
of people back in 1957 could scarcely have imagined. No longer did
region war against region, or group against group, or class against
class. Humanity had finally united to fight the common enemies—
death, disease, old age, starvation.
And on this nine hundredth anniversary of the Great Armistice, the
people of the World would have a great deal to celebrate. Disease
was now unknown, as was starvation. Arduous physical labor was
abolished, for now, the heaviest and the slightest tasks were
performed by machines. Pain had been reduced, both physical and
mental. Helpless senility was a thing of the past. Death alone
remained. But even death had been postponed. Human beings now
lived to be almost three hundred years old.
All in all, Dynamon mused, as he strolled along the broad avenue,
the human race had evolved a pretty satisfactory civilization. More
was the pity, then, that human restlessness and vaulting ambition
should have led to the construction of the great Cosmos Carriers. If
Man had been content to stay on his own little planet, then
communication would never have been established with the jealous
little men of Mars, and this beautiful civilization would not now be
threatened by a visitation of the terrible Martians and their frightful
Photo-Atomic Ray. Dynamon's deep chest swelled a little with pride
at the thought that he had been selected by the Commander-in-
Chief to take an important part in the coming conflict.

He turned the corner and found himself standing before an imposing

building. Across the top of the facade in block letters was the
legend, "State Theater of Comedy." A few minutes later he stood in
front of a doorway at the side of the great theater building. The door
opened and a tall, lovely girl appeared.
"Dynamon!" she exclaimed, "I didn't expect to see you for another
ten days." She stepped out of the doorway, and reached her arms
up impulsively, kissing Dynamon.
The tall young soldier gripped her shoulders hard for a minute, and
then stepped back and looked down into her soft brown eyes.
"Yes, I know, Keltry," he said soberly. "I had to report on short
notice."
"Oh!" said the girl called Keltry, "are you here on duty?"
"Very secret duty," said Dynamon with a meaning look. He twiddled
an imaginary radio-dial in his ear and looked around mysteriously.
The smile died on Keltry's smooth brown face, to be replaced by an
expression of concern.
"You mean—them?" she whispered.
Dynamon nodded. "Yes, I am being transferred to a new post," he
said slowly, "and I thought, if you had no objections, I would ask to
have you transferred along with me."
"Do you need to ask a question like that?" said Keltry. "You know
perfectly well I'd have a lot of objections if you didn't ask for my
transfer."
"There may be some danger," he said, giving her an eloquent look.
"All the more reason why I should be with you," Keltry said quietly.

Four days later, a conference was breaking up in the platinum room

behind the Commander-in-Chief's office. Argallum stood up behind
his desk and carefully folded a number of big charts. He laid one on
top of another, making a neat stack on the desk, then he looked
keenly at the four young men standing before him.
"Once more, gentlemen," Argallum said, "for the sake of emphasis, I
repeat—Dynamon has complete authority over the expedition. You,
Mortoch"—looking at a lean, hawk-nosed man in a soldier's helmet
—"are in command of the soldiers. And you, Thamon"—turning to a
studious, stoop-shouldered man—"are in charge of civilian activities.
And Borion"—glancing at a stocky, broad-shouldered figure—"you
are responsible for the Carrier. But in the last analysis, you are all
under Dynamon's orders. This is a desperate venture you're going
on and there can be no division of authority."
There was a moment of silence. Argallum seemed satisfied with the
set, determined expressions on the four men in the room with him.
"Are there any further questions?" he said.
Dynamon shifted his feet uneasily. "Is the decision—on Keltry, final?"
he said huskily.
"I'm afraid it is, Dynamon," said Argallum, gently. "I had the director
of the theater over here for half an hour trying to talk him around,
but it was no good. He said he would under no circumstances spare
Keltry. He said she was the most promising young actress in Copia,
and that he would forbid her to go on any dangerous trip. Inasmuch
as Keltry is still an apprentice, the Director has full authority over
her. I can do nothing."
Dynamon drew himself up to his full height and squared his
shoulders. "Yes, sir," he said briefly.
"Very well then," said Argallum, "I won't see you again. You will take
off from Vanadium Field promptly at four o'clock tomorrow morning.
Every one of the one hundred and twenty-nine people on the
expedition has his secret orders to be there at three. Dynamon, you
have a hand-picked personnel and every possible resource that our
scientists could think of to help you. May you succeed in your
mission."
"Thank you, sir," they chorused.
Argallum shook hands separately with each of the four men, after
which they filed out of the platinum room.
Outside the War Building, Mortoch, the decurion, and Borion, the
Navigator, took their leave of Dynamon and strolled away toward the
West Gate. But Thamon, the scientist, fell in stride with Dynamon.
"For your sake, I'm sorry," said the stoop-shouldered scientist shyly,
"I mean—about Keltry."
"Thanks, Thamon," said the centurion. "It was a nasty blow. I don't
know how I'm going to get along without her. I guess I'll just have
to."
"Well—I just wanted you to know," said Thamon, "that I
sympathized."

In the middle of Vanadium Field a great gray shape, like a vast

slumbering whale, could be indistinctly seen in the soft half-light of
the false dawn. No lights showed on the field and no sound was
heard. But scores of people clustered around the sides of the
Cosmos Carrier, dwarfed to ant-like proportions by its great size.
Inside the Carrier, standing near the thick double doors in the
Carrier's belly, was Dynamon, near him his three chief lieutenants,
Mortoch, Thamon, and Borion. The members of the little
expeditionary force filed past the youthful Commander, each one
halting before him for a brief inspection. One hundred brawny
soldiers, divided into squads of ten, stepped through the double
doors, each squad led by its decurion. Dynamon ran a practiced eye
over the equipment of each man and then for good measure turned
him over to the scrutiny of the Chief Decurion, Mortoch. Then came
twenty-five civilians, including ten engineers, four dieticians, five
administrators, and six scientists. But for a cruel prank of fate,
Dynamon reflected, his own dear Keltry would be a member of the
expedition.
But there was no time for regretting that which could not be.
Dynamon turned and walked toward Borion.
"Are you satisfied?" he asked the navigator. Borion nodded, and
Mortoch and Thamon likewise nodded in answer to Dynamon's
unspoken question.
"All right," said the young centurion. "Stations!"
A moment later the great outer door of the Cosmos Carrier swung
silently shut, after which the thick inner door was secured and the
great ship hermetically sealed. Dynamon followed the navigator into
the control room.
"This is a gorgeous ship!" said Borion. "It's absolutely the last word.
There's a cluster of magnets underneath our feet that are brutes and
yet they can be so finely controlled, I'll guarantee you won't feel a
bump at any time. Dynamon, these magnets are so strong that this
ship will go at least ten times faster than anything that has yet been
built. Once we get up out of the stratosphere, beyond the danger of
friction, we can go almost twenty miles a second. You ready for the
take-off? If you want to use the loud speaker system just throw that
switch."
Dynamon nodded; a moment later his voice was heard in every
compartment of the Cosmos Carrier.
"Men, we are taking off. Hold your stations for five minutes, after
which you may take your ease until further commands."
"Come and watch the altimeter," Borion said after Dynamon closed
the loud speaker switch. "You won't believe we're off the ground,
these controls are so smooth." The centurion watched the needle
creep gently upward a few feet at a time. But he could feel no trace
of motion.
"I'm going to take her up vertically to two thousand feet," said
Borion. "Then we'll be clear of all obstacles and can pick up our
course horizontally—"
"Yes, good," Dynamon broke in quickly, "but don't tell me your
course until we are out of the stratosphere."
"Aye, aye, sir," said Borion with a wink, "little pitchers have big ears,
don't they?"
"How soon will we get out of the stratosphere?" Dynamon asked.
"Well, I'm lifting her very slowly," answered the navigator, "I don't
want to take any chances on friction. I would say in about three
hours from now we will be ready to go."
"I will be with you then," said Dynamon, and walked out the door.

The young centurion had in mind to make a thorough inspection of

the entire ship, but he had scarcely been ten minutes away from the
control room when the loud-speaker system boomed forth.
"Centurion Dynamon is requested to come to the control room."
Dynamon hurried up a metal staircase and then through a
companionway. As he threw open the door to the control room,
Borion turned quickly and laid a finger on his lips. Then the
navigator gestured Dynamon toward a series of glass panels. There
were six of these panels, each about a foot square, and ranged in
two vertical rows of three each. One word, "periscopes," was
stenciled at the top, and beside each mirror were other labels, "port
bow," "port beam," "port quarter." The other three panels were
labeled in the same way, designating their ___location on the starboard
side. Borion flicked the switch beside the "starboard quarter" panel
and it become dimly illuminated. Dynamon threw a swift glance at
the altimeter, and saw that it said two thousand feet. Then he bent
over and peered into the periscope panel. A wide panorama of
twinkling lights spread out before him, the street lights of Copia. But
the pale blue of approaching dawn was creeping fast over the city,
shedding just enough light to reveal a dark shape a mile behind the
Cosmos Carrier, and perhaps a thousand feet below. As Dynamon
stared into the periscope screen, he thought he could detect a faint
glow of red in the following shape. He turned questioningly to
Borion. The navigator was writing rapidly on a piece of paper. A
second later he handed the paper to Dynamon. It said:
"I queried Headquarters and was told that the conference with the
Martian delegation is still officially going on. But that Carrier
following us is bright red, the color of the Martian Carriers."

Dynamon held the piece of paper in his hand for a minute and gazed
doubtfully into the periscope screen. Then he took the pencil from
Borion and, bending over, wrote the following:
"I don't like the looks of this. Can we out-run them once we get out
of the atmosphere?"
Borion nodded slowly.
"As far as I know, we can," he said, "unless—" he reached for the
paper in Dynamon's hand and wrote "—unless they have developed
a new wrinkle in their Carriers that we don't know anything about."
"Well," said Dynamon, "we won't waste time worrying about things
over which we have no control. Proceed as usual."
There followed some anxious hours, which Dynamon spent with his
eyes glued to the periscope mirror. In a short time the early golden
rays of the sun appeared, and the Martian Carrier followed behind
inexorably, glowed an ugly menacing crimson. Once Dynamon
instructed his communications officer to speak to the Martian ship.
"Lovely morning, Mars. Where are you bound for?" was the casual
message.
There came back a terse answer, "Test flight, and you?"
"We're testing, too," Dynamon's communications officer said. "We'll
show you some tricks up beyond the stratosphere."
All so elaborately casual, Dynamon thought grimly. It was fairly
evident that the Martian ship intended to follow the Earth Carrier to
find out where it was going. Those inhuman devils! Why did the
Earth's people ever have to come in contact with them?
Dynamon's thoughts went back to his childhood, to that terrible time
when the men of Mars had abruptly declared war and descended
suddenly onto the Earth in thousands of Cosmos Carriers. Only the
timely invention of that remarkable substance, Geistfactor, had saved
Earth then. It was a creamy liquid, which spread over any surface,
rendered the object invisible. The principle underlying Geistfactor
was simplicity itself, being merely an application of ultra high-
frequency color waves. But it saved the day for Earth. The World
Armies, cloaked in their new-found invisibility, struck in a dozen
places at the ravaging hordes from Mars. The invaders, in spite of
their prodigious intellectual powers, could not defend themselves
against an unseen enemy, and had been forced to withdraw the
remnants of their army and sue for peace.
But the unremitting jealousy and hatred of the little men with the
giant heads for Earth's creatures was leading to new trouble. It
enraged the Martians to think that human beings, whom they
despised as inferior creatures, should have first thought of spanning
the yawning distances between the planets of the solar system. It
was doubly humiliating to the Martians that when they, too, followed
suit and went in for interplanetary travel, they could do no better
than to copy faithfully the human invention of the Cosmos Carrier. It
was only too evident that Mars was gathering its strength for
another lightning thrust at the Earth. This time, with the Photo-
Atomic Ray, there was no doubt that they intended to destroy or
subjugate Earth's peoples for good. And to that end the Martians
had been inventing new bones of contention and had been
contriving new crises. A peace-minded World Government had been
trying to stave off the inevitable conflict with conference after
conference. But to those on the inside it was only too evident that
the Martians could invent pretexts for war faster than Earth could
evade them.

Dynamon, watching the blood-red Carrier in the periscope mirror, felt

a surging bitterness at the Martians. If they could only be
reasonable, he reflected, if only they could be human, then he,
Dynamon, would not now be floating away on a dangerous mission
far from the Earth and the woman he loved. He tried to imagine
what Keltry was doing at that moment. In his mind's eye he could
see her on the stage of the Theater of Comedy, enthralling
audiences with her youthful charm as she played a part in the latest
witty comedy, or sang a gay ballad in a new revue.
He broke out of his reverie and tossed a glance at the altimeter. The
needle was moving much faster now, climbing steadily toward
seventy thousand feet.
"It's about time to go now, isn't it?" he asked Borion.
The navigator nodded. "Just about," he said, and put his hand on a
lever marked "gravity repellor."
As the navigator pushed the lever smoothly forward, Dynamon
turned back to the periscope mirror and saw the red ship behind
suddenly dwindle in size. The new Cosmos Carrier was beginning to
show its speed.
Apparently, the Martians were momentarily caught off guard. The
red Carrier diminished to a tiny speck against the dark background
of the Earth. But then it began to grow in size again as the Martians
unleashed the power in their great magnets.
"Borion, how about friction?" Dynamon asked.
"We don't have to worry about that yet," was the answer, "we're not
going fast enough. And the temperature outside is about sixty-five
below."
Dynamon nodded and glanced again at the altimeter. The needle
was steadily climbing, a mile every ten seconds. Once again he
looked into the screen of the periscope. The Earth was now far
enough away so that the young centurion could begin to make out
the broad arc which was a part of the curving circumference of the
globe. Silently he said a final good-bye to Keltry and turned to speak
to Borion. At that moment the door of the control room burst open
and an engineer stepped in and saluted the navigator.
"Stowaway, sir," the engineer said. "Just found her in the munitions
compartment."
Dynamon stared out through the open door at the woman who
stood out there between two soldiers.
It was Keltry.

It was a harried and heartsick centurion who, a few minutes later,

called a conference in his own quarters. Borion and Thamon sat
regarding him gravely, while Mortoch, the second in command,
lounged against the wall, a faint, derisive smile on his lean face.
"We are faced with a situation," Dynamon said heavily. "I would like
to hear some opinions."
"Flagrant case of indiscipline," Mortoch said promptly; "that is, if we
can regard this impersonally."
"Personalities," said Dynamon sharply, "will have no influence on my
final decision."
"In that case," said Mortoch harshly, "it seems to me, you are bound
to put back to Earth and hand the woman over to the right people
for corrective action."
"Good heavens!" cried Borion, "I hope we don't have to do that. We
already have a problem on our hands in the shape of that Martian
Carrier."
"What do you say, Thamon?" the centurion asked after a significant
pause.
"Well," said the scientist quietly, "you can't altogether regard the
situation without considering personalities. Keltry stowed away for a
very personal reason, and one which it is hard to condemn entirely. I
think we are over-emphasizing the official breach of discipline. I,
personally, can't see that it makes so much difference. After all, we
on this expedition are on our own and are likely to remain so for
some time to come. I am in favor of going along about our business
and forgetting how Keltry came aboard."
"Spoken like a civilian," said Mortoch sourly, "and I hold to my
opinion. Just because Dynamon was promoted over my head, I see
no reason for trying to curry favor with him."
There was an awkward silence during which Dynamon's face grew
very pink and his blue eyes grew cold.
"I'm going to forget what you just said, Mortoch," he said. "You are
a valued member of this expedition, and you are much too good a
soldier to overlook the danger that lies in that kind of talk. Without
my participation, you are out-voted two to one. We will not turn
back."
He stood up with a gesture of dismissal and the three lieutenants
filed out of the door. He paced the floor of his quarters for a few
minutes, then walked to the door and gave orders for the prisoner to
be sent in.
"Ah, Keltry darling," he said after the guard had left the two of them
alone, "you have put me in an impossible position."
"I don't see why it should be that bad," Keltry answered. "It was an
inhuman thing to do to separate us and I just wasn't going to permit
it."
"Yes, but don't you see?" said Dynamon, "I will be accused of
playing favorites because I don't turn around and take you back to
Earth."
"I'm not asking favors," Keltry retorted calmly, "I just want to be a
member of this expedition."
Whatever Dynamon was going to answer to that, it was interrupted
by the loud-speaker booming:
"Centurion Dynamon is requested at the control room."
Dynamon leapt to his feet, crushed Keltry to him in a swift brief
embrace and then opened the door.
"Escort the prisoner to the scientist's quarters," he ordered, "and
release her."

Dynamon walked into the control room and saw that Borion's face
was gray. The navigator was standing in front of the periscope
screens looking from one to another. The centurion walked over and
stood beside him.
"The Martians are showing their hand finally," said Borion. "They
have decided that we're headed for another planet, and I don't think
that they want to let us carry out our intention. See, here and here?"
Dynamon peered into the port and starboard bow panels. He could
see dozens of little red specks rapidly growing larger.
"They will try and surround us," Borion said, "and blanket our
magnets with their own."
"That's not so good, is it?" Dynamon murmured. "What is our
altitude from Earth?"
"Forty miles," was the reply, "and I think they still may be able to
overhear our conversation."
"Let them," said Dynamon quietly, "We have no secrets from them
and they may as well know that we're going to out-run them. Full
speed, Borion!"
The Navigator advanced the "repellor" lever as far as it would go.
There was a slight jerk under foot. Then he adjusted a needle on a
large dial and moved the "attractor" lever to its full distance. There
was another jerk as the great Carrier lunged forward through space.
Borion smiled.
"I put the attractor beam on the moon," he said, "and we'll be
hitting it up close to nineteen miles a second in a few minutes. We
should walk away from those drops of blood, over there."
"Are we pointing away from them enough?" Dynamon asked.
"What's to prevent them from changing their course and cutting over
to intercept us? See, that's what they appear to be doing now."
The navigator peered critically at the forward periscope screens. "It
may be a close shave at that," he admitted. "But please trust me,
Dynamon, I'll make it past them."

The tiny red specks in the periscope screens were growing

shockingly fast, indicating the frightful speed at which the Earth-
Carrier was traveling. Bigger and bigger they grew under Dynamon's
fascinated gaze. The centurion darted a glance at Borion. In this
fantastic encounter, every second counted. Could the navigator
elude the pursuing red Carriers? Borion haunched tensely over the
control levers, his eyes glued to the screens. The Martian ships were
as big as cigars now and tripling their size with every heartbeat.
Dynamon clenched his fist involuntarily and fought down an impulse
to shout a warning. That would be worse than useless now—the fate
of the expedition was entirely in the hands of Borion.
Dynamon held his breath as a flash of red flicked across the port
bow periscope screen. The Carrier heaved under his feet for a
second then quickly settled to an even keel again. The sweat stood
out in little drops on Borion's forehead.
"Too close for comfort," muttered the navigator. His eyes widened as
another huge red shape loomed up in the starboard bow screen.
Borion's hands flicked over a dial spinning a needle around. Then he
hung desperately back on the repellor. There was a momentary
shock. The Carrier seemed to bounce off something. Borion
staggered and Dynamon hurled forward and crashed into the
forward bulkhead of the control room.
Then Borion shouted, "We're through!"
Dynamon picked himself up off the floor with a rueful smile. "I
thought we were all through for a minute," he observed.
"Well! That was a bad minute there!" said Borion excitedly. "I
thought that one fellow was going to get us, but I kicked him off by
throwing the beam on him and giving him the repellor. But you can
see for yourself, they are far behind now, and they'll never in the
world be able to catch up."
Dynamon peered into the port and starboard quarter screens and
saw a group of rapidly diminishing red specks. He looked up with a
sigh of relief.
"Good work, Borion," he said, and the navigator grinned.
"I don't think we will have to worry any more about the Martian
ships from now on, if we're careful," Borion said. "I'm going to run
for the shadow of the moon and from there I'll plot a course straight
for Jupiter, avoiding Mars entirely."

The door to the control room opened, and a smiling, spectacled face
peered in. It was Thamon, the scientist.
"That was quite a bump," Thamon observed. "Were we trying to
knock down an asteroid?"
Dynamon gave a short laugh. "No, that was merely some of our
friends from Mars trying to head us off. But they're far behind now
and we don't anticipate any trouble for a good many days."
"Ah, round one to the Earth people," Thamon observed. "In that
case, Dynamon, have you decided how you are going to conduct
affairs within the Carrier in the immediate future?"
"Not quite," Dynamon replied. "Suppose we discuss that, in my
quarters?"
Thamon nodded. "I'm at your disposal, Centurion."
Dynamon led the way down the little stair and into the compartment
that served as his office. Once there, he threw off his long military
cloak and sat down at a little table, his great bronzed shoulders
gleaming in the soft artificial light.
"I suppose the first question," said Thamon, sitting down opposite
the centurion, "is whether to institute suspended animation on
board?"
"I think we'd better, don't you?" said Dynamon.
"It would save a lot of food and oxygen," the scientist replied. "You
see, even at our tremendous rate of speed now, it will take two
hundred and twenty-six days to reach the outer layer of Saturn's
atmosphere. Until we actually land the ship, there is no conceivable
emergency that couldn't be handled by a skeleton crew."
"Quite right," said Dynamon. "I'll have Mortoch take charge of the
arrangements, if you will stand by to supervise the technical side."
"It's as good as done," said Thamon. "We have the newest type of
refrigeration system in the main saloon. I can drop the temperature
one hundred and fifty degrees in one-fifth of a second. By the way, I
was a little worried by that outburst of Mortoch's when we were
talking about Keltry."
"Oh, well," said Dynamon, "Mortoch is only human. He was a Senior
Decurion and I was passed over him for this job. He couldn't help
but be a little jealous. But he will be all right, he's a soldier, after all."
"I hope so," said Thamon, doubtfully.
"Why certainly," Dynamon affirmed. "As a matter of fact, I wish he
had been given the command in the first place. Between you and
me, I'm not too keen about this expedition to a comparatively
unknown planet. Thamon, why on earth weren't human beings
content to stay at home? Why did they have to go to such endless
pains to construct these Cosmos Carriers? Before these things were
invented, the inhabitants of Earth and the inhabitants of Mars didn't
know that each other existed, and they were perfectly happy about
it. But when they both began spinning around through space
between the planets, all of a sudden the Solar System was not big
enough to hold both Peoples."
"It's some fatal restlessness in the make-up of human beings,"
Thamon replied. "Do you realize how far back Man has been trying
to reach out to other planets?"
"Well, the first successful trip in a Cosmos Carrier was made
seventy-eight years ago," said Dynamon.
Thamon chuckled.
"As far as we know, that was the first successful trip," the scientist
corrected. "As a matter of fact, the first Cosmos Carrier was
anticipated hundreds of years ago. Just the other day in the library, I
found a very interesting account of an archaeological discovery
made up in North Central 3A—the island that the ancients called
Britain. A complete set of drawings and building plans was found in
an admirable state of preservation. The date on the plans was 1956,
and as you will remember from your school history, all of North
Central by that time had been terribly ravaged by the wars. The
inventor, whose name was Leonard Bolton, called his contrivance a
'space ship.' Wonderful, those old names, aren't they? But the most
remarkable thing of all, is, that the designs for that 'space ship' were
very practical. If the man ever had a chance to build one, which he
probably didn't, it might very well have been a successful vehicle."
"That's very interesting," said Dynamon. "Were there any clues as to
what happened to Leonard Bolton?"
"None at all," the scientist replied. "All we know about him is that he
designed the 'space ship' and then was presumably blotted out by
the savage weapons used in the warfare of those days. But, as I say,
the remarkable thing is that when we got around to building a
Cosmos Carrier eighty years ago, we were able to use several of
Leonard Bolton's ideas. Which all goes to show, I suppose, there's
nothing new under the sun."
"I'm not so sure about that," said Dynamon with a smile. "I've an
idea that we're going to bump into several things new to us on the
planet Saturn."
"As to that," Thamon nodded, "I shouldn't be surprised if you are
right. Now I suppose I'd better go and make arrangements for the
refrigeration job. Will Mortoch be responsible for providing each
individual with a hypodermic and return-to-life tablets?"
"That will be taken care of," said Dynamon. "I'll see you later."

Dynamon stood beside Borion in the control room, staring

fascinatedly at the periscope screens. The images that were
reflected in the six panels made up a composite scene that was awe-
inspiring and fearsome. The great Cosmos Carrier was finally arriving
at the end of its seven months' journey. In front of the Earthcraft, a
vast, barren expanse, uniformly dark gray in color spread for
thousands of miles. To one side of the Carrier a wide belt of mist
and shimmering particles stretched upward from the planet out
toward space. Dynamon realized that this was a small section of the
great ring encircling Saturn, that could be seen in the powerful
telescopes from Earth. Glancing at the stern vision screens,
Dynamon saw the sun twinkling. So far away it was now, that it was
hardly bigger than a large star and gave off not much more light.
Even though they were coming to Saturn in the middle of a
Saturnian day, there was no more than a gloomy half-light to
illumine their way.
"Saturn revolves on its axis with such speed," observed Borion, "that
I should imagine there will be tremendous prevailing winds on the
surface. I think I can see a range of steep mountains down there; it
might not be a bad idea if we landed in the lee of them."
"Yes," agreed Dynamon, "I think that would be a good idea. As a
matter of fact, we may have to dig below the surface entirely to
prevent being blown away. How is the gravitation pull?"
"It's a curious thing," Borion replied. "It should be tremendous but
the centrifugal force is so strong that it counterbalances to a certain
extent. The ship is handling very easily."
"How soon do you think we'll make the surface?" said Dynamon.
"I should estimate somewhere around six hours from now," the
navigator answered. "I could make it sooner but I'm feeling my
way."
"That suits me," said Dynamon. "That will give us just time to turn
off the refrigeration and bring our people back to life. Lucky devils to
be able to sleep through this trip—have you ever been so bored in
your life?"
"Never," agreed Borion. "But I am not bored now."
Dynamon walked across the control room and threw a large switch
in the wall panel.
"Decurion Mortoch and Scientist Thamon," he said into the loud-
speaker system. "Proceed at once to remove the suspension-of-life
condition in the main saloon. As soon as everyone is revived, stand
by to take landing stations."
As the centurion closed the switch and turned away, Borion called
him over again to the periscope screens.
"That is a range of mountains," said the navigator. "I can see it more
clearly now. I think I'll slow up our descent a little bit so that by the
time we're ready to land it will be midday again. As you probably
know, Saturn makes a complete revolution in only a little more than
ten hours."
"That sounds sensible," said Dynamon. "We'll need all the light we
can get to make a safe landing."
Borion nodded and reached toward the repellor lever. He pushed it
gently forward and then looked at his altimeter. He seemed to be
dissatisfied with the altimeter reading and pushed forward the