DejaSoft has launched Version 3 of its media file synchronising tool DejaEdit.

DejaEdit is an essential application for productions enabling Avid editors to work together from any location. It ensures media and bins are copied securely in the background, between each remote editing station or Nexus / EditShare storage system.

Version 3 enhances editors' user experience, provides improved workflow management, efficiency, and additional reliable security features. These new developments are crucial toolsets that support producers and post supervisors in simplifying complex media file sharing activities across the entire production process.

Highlights in DejaEdit 3 include the option for users to use their own S3 account for Cloud media storage; upgraded “Private and Public” bin sharing abilities; sophisticated “Folder Support”; “Notifications”; partial media downloads to each editor; License key safeguards; and the brand new DejaEdit Manager feature.

DejaEdit uses an intuitive “email” style interface, presented within the Avid environment, where bins and metadata can be shared with other users by simply dropping it into the Outbox, ToSet or ToVFX folders. Version 3 now allows editors to add subfolders to these pre-set folders to further organise shared media assets. A new notification system now alerts editors to available content and location. 

Anna Knochenhauer is a well-respected Stockholm-based film producer/ post-producer with impressive titles to her name which include the likes of “Euphoria” featuring Alicia Vikander; “Welcome to Sweden” season 2 starring Jason Priestly and others.

Carving a successful career of VFX-heavy feature films and drama series, she declares DejaEdit is a revolutionary film tool that should be included in every production as industry standard. She uses DejaEdit in all her productions now, including recent films “Alone in Space” (2018), “White Wall” (2020) and “We Got This” (2020).

DejaEdit is a media file synchroniser that gives editors the ability to collaborate super-efficiently between multiple remote Avid editing platforms. “I depend on DejaEdit for all my productions because it ensures that the media files and timelines that we have created or imported in one connected system are shared and mirrored to the local or network storage of other connected systems. It all takes place quickly, securely and automatically in the background... 
The fact that DejaEdit ensures all media is pushed automatically to all connected Avids means that the Assistant Editor (AE) or Editors don’t ever have to search for any missing media files. DejaEdit has saved us a lot of time and headaches."

Rise, the membership group for gender diversity within the broadcast technology sector today announced the pairing up of mentees and mentors for its third annual mentoring scheme in the UK, and its first mentoring scheme in the APAC region.

The 2020 programme sees a variety of experienced broadcast sector industry leaders, at a diversity of levels of seniority, ready to offer expertise, knowledge and guidance to 30 women.

The scheme is made possible due the support from industry partners including:

• Gold sponsors – Avid | Sky

• Silver sponsors – Clear-Com | Audio-Technica Europe | Ross Video | Sony | DPP | Pixelogic

This year, Sports Video Group (SVG) Europe Women, a powerful network of women working in the sports media arena made up of members from across TV sports broadcasting, production, distribution and technology, joins as an industry partner. The initiative is supporting two women in the programme. SVG Europe Women will offer those women specific sports industry advice, sessions, events and additional guidance.

During these changing times, it’s more important than ever to ensure your company’s disaster recovery and business continuity tools are fit for purpose. Whether upgrading systems for remote working, streamlining workflows across a multi-site enterprise or enabling production sharing, each company has differing requirements and will often need complex integration solutions. With a complete portfolio of off-the-shelf apps and technology, plus an ‘interoperability lab’, where a library of third-party professional APIs and plug-ins is maintained, Marquis Broadcast has a unique ability to develop and deliver high quality and complex software integrations.

Many of Marquis Broadcast’s products have been recently upgraded. The latest versions of Project Parking and Workspace Tools systems provide native support and full functionality with the new Avid OP1A workflows. They also integrate with Avid NEXIS | Cloudspaces, letting you free up Avid NEXIS storage space and safely backup or park projects in the cloud. Medway allows the export of Avid sequences from all Avid platforms without requiring them to be flattened or conformed in Avid. This allows generation of genealogy information on a sequence, describing the content used in a sequence before exporting and flattening to a single output file. And Postflux, for Adobe^® Premiere^® Pro, improves the archiving, versioning, integrity, security, performance and sharing of Adobe Premiere projects in extended workflows, and has been updated to support additional project types, including Premiere Productions.

DejaSoft further assists with the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak by extending its 50% discount on all DejaEdit licenses until end of July. 

CEO Clas Hakeröd, “At this unprecedented time, we are extending our offer of 50% off all DejaEdit licenses. We hope to help studios, production companies, post production facilities and remote teams using Avid's creative tools. The deal is designed to help professionals complete their projects and to support them on any new work they undertake over this period.”

“As editors adapt to circumstances caused by the global pandemic, we continue to offer assistance to post and production communities to sustain a much-valued industry.” DejaSoft’s CTO Nikolai Waldman.

DejaEdit is a revolutionary utility that enables editors and operators to collaborate between multiple remote Avid editing platforms. It ensures that media and timelines created or imported in one connected system are shared and mirrored to the local or network storage of other connected systems. This takes place automatically, quickly and securely in the background, using an internet connection.

Applications include allowing multiple remote editors to work together on a single project, or speeding up file exchanges between location-based editors, DITs, and VFX houses, or allowing projects to be accessed anywhere, anytime, maintaining a robust and up-to-date local copy of all required media files.

Leading B2B IT solutions provider Jigsaw24 has been named an Avid® Certified Cloud Partner – becoming the first business in the UK to earn the status.

It means the company can provide an Avid-certified solution that enables post-production professionals to edit their media from anywhere in the world.

Jigsaw24, which was already one of the country’s only Avid Elite Partners for audio, video and storage, will offer the post-production solution as part of its CCM24: Cloud Control and Management service.

Through CCM24, the company’s expert team manages and monitors customers’ cloud applications and storage platforms to help end users enjoy remote access to their projects.

David Skeggs, Head of Business Management at Jigsaw24, said: “Becoming an Avid Certified Cloud Partner reflects our fantastic relationship with Avid, our passion for cloud solutions and our unrivalled ability to help customers take full advantage of them.

“Avid’s technology allows post-production teams to work from anywhere, which opens up all kinds of possibilities for businesses in the industry.

“As an Avid Certified Cloud Partner, we can help customers realise the potential of remote or on-set editing – whether that takes the form of virtualising key hardware, enabling high-speed file transfers or expanding facility editorial capacity without increasing rent costs.”

Craig Dwyer, Vice President, Global Cloud and SaaS Practice at Avid, said: “Our expanded partnership with Jigsaw24 empowers post-production teams to fully leverage the integrated cloud tools from both companies to ensure customers have the best cloud experience possible.

Production Sound Mixer and Location Sound Recordist David Thirion uses DPA microphones to capture audio for film and television projects because he likes their audio quality and natural sound. Equally important is the tiny size of some models, which makes them ideal for situations where they need to be hidden on actors’ bodies or in costumes.

In recent months Thirion has been experimenting with DPA’s latest bodyworn products, the 6000 Subminiature Series, in particular the 6060 Subminiature Omnidirectional lavalier microphone. On the latest series of Parlement, a new television series created by Belgian-based Artémis Productions, he used it to great effect – although not how he originally intended.

“We initially planned to use it on a female actor, but she was wearing such light silk that it was impossible to hide the mic because the weight of the cable was pulling at the fabric. Instead we used a DPA 4061 lavalier microphone secured with a bra clip, which worked just fine,” he says. "The 6060, however, did solve a different problem - mic-ing the show’s male talent whose chest was too hairy to have a microphone attached. It can be very difficult to mic up a hairy chested actor wearing a white office shirt, no tie and a blazer, but we found the perfect spot for the 6060 in the collar of the shirt. We used an URSA mini mount and covered with white URSA moleskin so that it was completely disguised. We also hid a 6060 in a tie knot using a Sanken RM11 concealer. The mic is so slim that it helped prevent any tie knot deformation.”

DejaSoft offers editors 50% off all DejaEdit licenses over March and April.

DejaEdit plays an essential role in increasing productivity - allowing editors to share media files and timelines automatically and securely with remote co-workers around the world, without having to be online continuously.

“As editors adapt to the current world-wide virus precautions, we are offering assistance to the post-production community by providing half-price licenses. As of Thursday 19 March through to the end of April, we will provide DejaEdit licenses for Avid editors at half the usual cost.” DejaSoft’s CEO Clas Hakeröd confirms.

CTO at DejaSoft Nikolai Waldman adds, “In addition, we will help our customers implement DejaEdit in the best way possible to suit their current workflow.”

The benefits of DejaEdit are endless. It empowers multiple remote editors to work together. It assists exchanges of media with VFX houses, as well as enabling editors to easily migrate between office and home or mobile-based editing installations throughout the life-cycle of an entire project.

DejaEdit offers editors working on AvidNexis, MediaComposer and EditShare workflows, at studios, production companies and post facilities, a vital application that ensures media files and timelines are updated across multiple remote edit stations.

Contact sales@DejaSoft.com.

www.dejasoft.com

IABM-member DejaSoft is delighted to present for the first time at NAB2020, its "must have" file sharing and synchronisation tool for editors – DejaEdit

DejaEdit is a revolutionary collaborative editing film tool. It offers editors working on Avid Nexis, Media Composer and EditShare workflows, across studios, production companies and post facilities, a vital application that ensures media files, bins and timelines are kept up to date across multiple remote edit stations.

DejaEdit has already successfully been tried and tested on real-world projects, and well-established in Scandinavia and parts of Europe. Following its global launch earlier this year, Swedish-based DejaSoft owners Nikolai Waldman and Clas Hakeröd, both accomplished Avid editors themselves, will be available to meet and demonstrate DejaEdit’s capabilities at NAB.

DejaEdit plays an essential role in increasing productivity. It allows editors to transfer media files and timelines automatically and securely to co-workers around the world, without having to be online continuously.

DejaEdit makes it possible to work with multiple remote Avid systems virtually anywhere on earth. With global warming issues , and people encouraged to minimise unnecessary travel, industry professionals can take advantage of DejaEdit’s powerful file synchronizing capabilities without restrictions.

The Future Group, provider of live photo-realistic virtual production system, Pixotope™, has revealed its key involvement in the stunning production and delivery of the NFL’s ground-breaking Super Bowl LIV, mixed reality pre-game presentation. The complex, seven-minute production combined live action from multiple moving cameras with augmented virtual stages and graphics. The 2020 Super Bowl was watched by an estimated domestic audience of 100 million people, plus international viewers.

The Future Group provided six installations of its virtual production platform, Pixotope, along with essential technical expertise to liaise with all other aspects of the multi-faceted production.

As an opener to the Super Bowl LIV, NFL planned to reveal its “100 All Time Team”. They approached fan experience company– coincidently named, The Famous Group – to design and choreograph the pre-show content. The brief was to celebrate the history of the sport and the contribution of those 100 players and 10 coaches, using graphics, historical film and live shots of attendees. The Famous Group looked to achieve this through extensive use of mixed reality virtual elements, and selected Pixotope, with expertise from The Future Group, as their technological solution.

The complexities of such a project cannot be overstated. Multiple virtual assets such as stages and screens needed to be designed to exactly match the stadium environment to which they would be augmented. Cameras needed to be tracked in real time and have their lenses aligned so that the virtual elements would be generated at precisely the right angle to accurately match real-world positions. Lighting needed to be measured so that it could be simulated in the virtual world to ensure correct shadows and highlights.

In-stadium screens, which would show the augmented content to the crowd, had to be accurately marked out in the virtual scene so that they could be blocked out to avoid visual “feedback”. All this had to take place under precise time control to synchronise with the voice-over and contributing performers in the stadium.

Pixotope product specialist, David Stroud, was part of a team of experienced mixed reality technicians, helping to specify and install the required technology, and bring together all the constituent departments. The Future Group team were involved from the outset, initially collaborating using a shared virtual project to provide technical assistance for The Famous Group creatives. Then later, the team positioned themselves at the Hard Rock Stadium, Miami FL, where the main event would take place 11 days later.

David Stroud recalled, “Although the virtual scene had been set up “offline” from scans and measurements from the stadium, there are inevitably adjustments that can only be done on site. We used our Pixotope virtual production platform to receive images and tracking data from each of the cameras, one of which was a Skycam “wire-camera”, and augment onto those the virtual elements designed by The Famous Group. This allowed everyone to see the results in real time, making adjustments and improvements as we rehearsed the show in the days leading up to the Super Bowl.”

Stroud continued, “We helped the camera operators visualise how the preshow would come together, as understandably, they were more used to following the unscripted action of a football game than reacting to very specific time cues. Pixotope has the capability to continuously output the final result, even while editing the graphics – a great tool for directors following rapid changes and updates because it’s always live.

“We also worked closely with camera tracking specialists SMT, and in fact, we were able to improve our data exchanges to further perfect the virtual camera motion. And we worked with both the broadcaster (Fox) and the companies providing in-stadium displays to ensure the very highest visual quality possible.”

Andrew Isaacson, Executive VP Business Development for creative agency The Famous Group affirms, “Needless to say, the best creative ideas rely on solid technological platforms and expertise to deliver them. This could not be truer for a live event on the scale of The Super Bowl. We needed to know, without any shadow of a doubt, that what we planned would be delivered faultlessly, accurately and to the highest quality. This is why we chose Pixotope as our platform for delivering cutting edge mixed reality for the Super Bowl.

“Having used Pixotope on previous productions, we know that the system, and expertise from The Future Group, allow our creative ideas to be unleashed to the great benefit of our clients like the NFL. We look forward to working on many more productions with Pixotope.”

All hardware was provided by Quince Imaging and camera tracking was completed by SMT. The final mixed reality sequence can be viewed online, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqXBKweKQ9U

MBC was looking for a way to ingest live feeds of the 2019 Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) in Mauritius and approached Jasco to recommend and install a solution that could record material live from up to eight HD-SDI feeds. With MBC being a user of Avid products for over 10 years, including Avid NEXIS network storage and Avid Media Composer, the recording solution needed to integrate easily into their Avid-centric workflow.

Having integrated Bluefish444 products in the past, Jasco suggested MBC install Bluefish’s IngeSTore Server for their requirements.

“The Bluefish IngeSTore Server is an amazing piece of technology, so it was a simple choice to make when we had to propose an ingest solution,” said Jonathan Smith, Technical Manager of Jasco. “The ease when installing and integrating the server into existing infrastructure, and robust recording ability is what made all the difference. When you have no file corruption and no dropped frames on recordings, and no ingest fail during the whole IOIG event, the product speaks for itself. Definitely not the last Bluefish IngeSTore Server we will be installing.”

Bluefish444 are represented in UK/Europe by Polar Graphics Ltd

www.polar-graphics.com

The Photography Show and The Video Show - the UK’s largest photography and moving image co-located event – has officially announced the seventh industry legend set to take to the Super Stage at Birmingham’s NEC, from 14-17 March 2020. Fine art photographer David Yarrow will join the likes of Chase Jarvis, Susan Meiselas and Ross Halfin.

David Yarrow’s evocative and immersive photography of life on earth is striking and distinctive, and has earned him an ever-growing following among art collectors. His large monochrome images, made in Los Angeles, are on display in leading galleries and museums across Europe and North America. In 2018, David’s famous image “The Wolf of Main Street” sold for $100,000 and was the highest bid for piece by a living photographer; more recently “78 Degrees North” went for an even more impressive $110,000. Yarrow’s position in the industry has been rewarded with a wide range of advisory and ambassadorial roles, including with conservation organisations like WildArk, plus brands including Land Rover and Nikon.

In his talk, David will take listeners on a photographic journey from the bone shaking cold of Antarctica to the sweltering jungles of Borneo, in search of content that transcends and forces us to reflect on our tenancy of planet earth. His large monochrome black and white images each come with a story of perseverance and creative courage. From these narratives will emerge a theme - one of following your passion no matter what. David has always wanted to take photographs that grab and hold the attention of others. He believes there is an insecurity in many artists that obsesses with the boundaries of what is worthy of public exposure. Paranoia of the mundane is perhaps David’s most defining characteristic.

Making up just one part of the extensive programme of talks and demos, the highly-acclaimed Super Stage sessions serve as a platform for some of the world’s best-known photographers and filmmakers to share stories about their work, what inspires them and the journey that took them to the top. The entire line-up has been carefully curated across a broad range of genres so enthusiasts and professionals can gain first-hand insight that they wouldn’t be able to get elsewhere.

Over four days, more than 32,000 professionals and enthusiasts will come together at Birmingham’s NEC, looking to be inspired by expert talks and live demos, keep up to date with the latest industry trends and source the very best kit at fantastic prices from some of the industry’s biggest players.

Software development firm DejaSoft announces its membership of IABM, the international trade association for broadcast and media technology suppliers.  

DejaEdit securely synchronises files, bins and timelines between multiple edit installations across the internet. Other features include automatic synchronisation of bins and media and daily backups of a whole AVID Media Composer project and much more.

It allows multiple editors to work together on projects regardless of location. It also facilitates the efficient transfer of media data between editors and on-set “dailies” stations or VFX houses.

The DejaSoft team will present DejaEdit for the first time at NAB 2020 including a sneak preview into upcoming Version 3.0 due for release in late spring. Highlights of DejaEdit Version 3.0 include “Private” and “Global” bin sharing and many other helpful features that facilitate media file transfer across large media projects.

To arrange a meeting with DejaSoft at NAB, email nab@dejasoft.com

For access to DejaEdit tutorials and to discover the endless possibilities visit https://dejasoft.com/dejaedit/

Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the largest television broadcast companies in America, is deploying Marquis Broadcast’s Analysis Parking software with a new enterprise monitoring dashboard for its many facilities across the United States. During its expansion, Sinclair Broadcast Group has always focused on optimising best practices for its news technology and operations. Part of this focus was to streamline and simplify the management and monitoring of multiple Avid NEXIS^® systems, helping users manage Avid projects and valuable storage space more efficiently.

Sinclair Broadcast initially deployed Marquis Broadcast’s Analysis Parking in three major sites. The software understands the relationships between Avid projects, folders, bins and media, and runs automated Avid NEXIS analytics and visualization processes, enabling each station to maximise the use of space on their Avid NEXIS storage systems.

Paul Spinelli, director of engineering at Sinclair Broadcast Group, explains: “As a group, we’re continually evaluating new technologies that can realise further operational benefits and efficiencies. Our goal is to standardise technologies and workflows across all our Avid news operations, which now total over 60 sites. The new systems enable the recovery of large amounts of blocked-out – but usable – space and offers detailed enterprise-wide analytics on our Avid storage.”

GB Labs, innovators of powerful and intelligent storage solutions for the media and entertainment industries, today announced that M for Media, an Abu Dhabi-based media production house that produces TV shows and adapts international formats for the GCC and MENA region, has installed GB Labs’ FastNAS shared storage system.

M for Media’s Andre Aouad said, “I first heard about GB Labs from the creator of MIMIQ for Avid systems, who forwarded some information that he thought would interest me.

“It did, particularly because, at the time, we had no existing storage and it was rapidly becoming a problem because of the volume of work we were taking in. You can’t keep running back and forth with arms full of hard disks. It’s unproductive, and it was beginning to show. However, GB Labs soon came up with the ideal solution.”

Supplied and installed by partner, MediaCast, the GB Labs FastNAS F-16 Nitro system installed at M for Media can be accessed by up to 10 users of Avid Media Composer, simultaneously if required.

As leaders in intelligent storage solutions, GB Labs recently introduced even more acceleration for FastNAS storage systems with the introduction of new 25 GbE connectivity.

GB Labs CEO-CTO Dominic Harland said, “Ultimately, the engine of the newly 25 GbE-enabled FastNAS is our powerful CORE.4 OS, an ultra-high-performance operating system that serves media files with intelligence layers that deliver high stability and unparalleled quality of service. We are delighted to have been referred to M for Media by acknowledged experts, which is further evidence of our growing reputation for excellence.”

According to Aouad, “Recognising that we needed to make a change, we had made numerous enquiries for recommendations for a shared storage system and felt that GB Labs offered the best value and highest performance ratio versus any other solution on the market. Once we had taken the decision, we were up and running with FastNAS very quickly and the benefits we expected were almost instantly felt.

“We have had a very positive experience with FastNAS and are already looking forward to working with GB Labs on future projects.”

FastNAS media production storage systems are available in a range of configurations, including FastNAS F-8 Nitro Studio; FastNAS F-8 Nitro; FastNAS F-16; FastNAS F.16 Nitro and FastNAS F-16 Nitro MAX.

For more information, visit www.gblabs.com