Rise, the award-winning membership group for gender diversity within the broadcast technology sector, is pleased to announce that entries are open for its annual Rise Awards. The Rise Awards are sponsored by Clear-Com, Editshare, OWNZONES, Ross Video and Zixi.

FSR, a leading manufacturer of a wide variety of products for the Pro AV and Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) markets has announced that it has appointed D.A.D. Sales, a well-established and respected manufacturer’s representative of high-quality electrical equipment, to support, serve, market and grow FSR’s presence in one of Canada’s most dynamic economic regions. D.A.D. will focus on bringing FSR’s popular range of floor, wall and ceiling boxes, as well as its new and multiple award-winning Smart-Way Raceway cable management system to Alberta and Saskatchewan, the North West Territory, Yukon, Cranbrook and Fort St. John in British Columbia.

Matthews Studio Equipment offers a smart solution for some of today’s on-set and real world issues. The new Sheet Plate Adapter Kit makes it easy to quickly build custom dividers to protect against virus transmission, plus it offers a convenient holding method for standard grip equipment. 

MSE’s new Sheet Plate Adapter Kit is a versatile bracket mount that securely adds a welded 3/8” pin to any sheet material such as Plexiglas, plywood, lauan, Masonite or a variety of fabrics like vinyl to create safe on-set barriers that can be easily sanitized. 

ChyronHego today announced the appointment of Michael Harris as senior director of sales, strategic accounts. Harris comes to ChyronHego with decades of experience in broadcast technology sales. He will be responsible for managing and growing strategic accounts in the U.S. with a focus on major networks.

"Mike is a fantastic human being and an amazing industry expert with remarkably deep experience in selling graphics workflows and editing solutions into the broadcast industry," said Ariel Garcia, President and CEO of ChyronHego. "He's a phenomenal listener who understands his customers' needs and takes a consultative approach in supplying the most appropriate solution. We are fortunate to count him as a part of the ChyronHego team."

Today, Maxon, Red Giant and Redshift announced their blowout Summer Sale - 30% off new annual subscriptions and Redshift licenses - will kick off on Tuesday, June 23, 2020. Running for 72 straight hours, customers will have access to sale prices starting Tuesday, June 23rd at 8:00 a.m. PDT (11:00 a.m. EDT) through Friday, June 26th at 8:00 a.m. PDT (11:00 a.m. EDT). In addition to 30% off, customers will have a chance to win free 3D, visual effects, and motion graphics software tools for the next five days.

Mo-Sys Engineering, a global leader in real time camera tracking and remote systems, today announced the launch of U50. Designed and manufactured during the lockdown period, the U50 is a heavy-duty remote head that enables camera operators to safely return to work and control the biggest box lenses and heaviest broadcast camera set-ups remotely.

Offering the ultimate for camera remote control and remote production, U50 combats the current challenges and unique requirements in the Covid-19 affected world. Making it possible to operate large box lenses and cameras remotely, U50 achieves the same precision and agility when camera operators are controlling manually and on-site. With no other remote head capable of smoothly and quickly operating box lenses and with on-site production crews dramatically decreasing, this innovation offers a new solution to tackle current challenges.

Danny Zemanek, Freelance Camera Operator explained, “Previously remote production technology was an additional cost for broadcasters, but now it is essential to ensure camera operators can work safely. The U50 remote head from Mo-Sys represents a new way that operators can control big box lenses with the same precision and agility that we have come to expect.”

Mo-Sys Engineering, a global leader in real time camera tracking and remote systems, is proud to announce a collaboration with Panasonic. The AW-UE150 and the Mo-Sys StarTracker module will empower AR and virtual studio graphics by together creating engaging content with natural depth and changing the perspective of the virtual background.

Previously planned to launch at NAB, the webinars will be co-hosted by Panasonic and Mo-Sys and will showcase the new Panasonic AW-UE150 - a 4K, wide-angle lens, PTZ head with absolute camera tracking for AR and virtual studio application. With Mo-Sys StarTracker, the venue or event is no longer restricted to a fixed camera position and can be more creative using the PTZ head on a jib, crane or a dolly for unlimited camera motion.

FOR-A Corporation of America has built integrated live production solutions that combine its HANABI series of video switchers with Variant Systems Group replay systems, ClassX graphics and playout software, ODYSSEY Insight video servers, and Brainstorm Multimedia virtual studios.

“Together with our technology partners, FOR-A is creating live production systems that make integration easier and more reliable,” said Ken Truong, President of FOR-A Corporation of America. “With the combined expertise from these companies across the professional video industry, we can offer best-of-breed solutions that improve workflows while delivering broadcast-quality results for HD, 4K, and beyond.”

Variant’s Envivo Replay offers a cost-effective sports and live event replay solution, with an intuitive user interface and continuous multiple iso-channel recording capabilities. It offers simultaneous clip storage of multiple angles, playlists for highlights playback, built-in branding capabilities, and direct publishing to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media platforms. FOR-A is the exclusive distributor of Envivo Replay in North America.

FOR-A – the exclusive distributor of ClassX in North, Central and South America – also combines the latest ClassX real-time 2D/3D HD/4K CG and live motion broadcast graphics and playout solutions with its HANABI video switchers. An expansion I/O card for HVS-100, HVS-490, and HVS-2000 production switchers enables a close integration of the ClassX graphic playout from any HANABI video switcher directly by the switcher operator. ClassX’s real-time graphics playout software suite is popular with TV channels, news broadcasters, live event productions, and live sports productions.

Colorfront (www.colorfront.com) – the Academy, Emmy and HPA Award-winning developer of high-performance dailies and transcoding systems for motion pictures, broadcast, OTT and commercials – will showcase the powerhouse capabilities of its products to enable color-consistent 4K/6K/8K SDR/HDR acquisition-to-post workflows during the 2020 HPA Tech Retreat, 17-20 Feb, Rancho Mirage, CA. The company will also participate in the groundbreaking, cloud-based, live production of “The Lost Lederhosen” short film, and share details of its pivotal role in the making of this mini-movie during the Retreat’s “HPA Makes A Movie” Supersession on Feb 18th.

mediaClass, a globally active provider of OTT TV everywhere solutions, has announced its own developed AI-based recommendation Engine.

”We have been testing and measuring the success rate of the engine for some time," says mediaClass CTO Stilian Tchlakov. "For this release we have settled on two operator-selectable modes, both of which offer excellent results."

"Without giving too much away technically, mode one is based on AI analysis of personal preferences and searches; mode two is based on studying and machine learning the watching-behaviour of hundreds of thousands of anonymous subscribers” adds mediaClass Head of Research and Development Youri Kalinov. "The mediaClass AI Recommendation Engine uses state of the art technology from Liberate AI to predict and deliver viewer-specific television content recommendations. This is a step change from what has been possible in the past."

“Judging from the measurement results I have seen, the Liberate AI machine learning technology certainly gives us a significant edge," details mediaClass EVP Manelli Hosseini. "We will be providing the engine as an integral part all mediaClass deployments. We now have to decide whether to market the recommendation engine as a standalone package to offer its advantages for non-mediaClass deployments.”