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.”

AJA Video Systems is now shipping HDR Image Analyzer 12G, the powerful, real-time HDR and WCG monitoring and analysis platform featuring 12G-SDI connectivity. Developed in partnership with Colorfront, HDR Image Analyzer 12G supports up to 8K/UHD2 HDR monitoring and analysis for high raster content over 12G-SDI, with the simplicity of single-cable connectivity for higher bandwidth workflows.

The Joint Task Force on Networked Media (JT-NM) announced today that it will be enhancing its JT-NM Tested program to improve transparency and to foster even greater industry participation. The JT-NM will publish testing criteria, and vendors will perform testing at their own facilities. The Joint Task Force is made up of a consortium of industry partners including the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE®), and the Video Services Forum (VSF).

Standards validation of vendor test results will be confirmed at a testing event scheduled for the week of March 16. The overall results will be made available to the industry via a published catalog of results and via badges that participants can display on their booths at the 2020 NAB Show. (Past catalogs are available at http://jt-nm.org.)

Tedial, the leading independent MAM technology solutions specialist, has announced that Manuel Martínez Ruíz has been promoted to Tedial’s Regional Sales Director, Spain, effective immediately. Manuel, who is based at the company’s headquarters in Malaga, will be responsible for sales in the region and will manage customer accounts in Spain, ensuring continued profitable growth.

“Manuel has been working with Tedial since 2010 and is an integral part of the team. He has a deep knowledge of the company’s products and solutions and has been involved in many projects delivered across Spain over the last ten years. He will support customer needs ensuring that requirements are married with Tedial solutions and services and will continue to position Tedial as the leading MAM provider in Spain”, says Emilio L. Zapata, Tedial CEO.

Scale Logic, the global leader in advanced media workflow solutions, announced today that it is embarking on a new agreement and relationship with industry veteran Polar Graphics, a leading UK-based manufacturer’s representative for the broadcast, post-production, and professional audiovisual industries.

Under the newly forged partnership, Polar Graphics will begin managing Scale Logic's entire European sales operations, making it responsible for penetrating European markets and providing comprehensive sales management of Scale Logic’s products and services. With this new partnership, Scale Logic, which currently boasts many of the world’s top brands as clients, will be able to mirror its already tremendous global success.

Furthermore, the Polar Graphics partnership will also see a highly scaled expansion of the Scale Logic European team, enabling Scale Logic to make significant and further inroads into the European market.

Uncut Gems is the latest movie from directing duo, the Safdie Brothers. The movie tells the story of a charismatic New York City jeweller and gambler (Adam Sandler), and is set in the diamond industry of New York. So it is appropriate that the colour palette was created at The Mill NY by colourist and director of DI, Damien Van Der Cruyssen.

Van Der Cruyssen collaborated closely with cinematographer Darius Khondji, as well as the Safdie Brothers, all of whom he had worked with previously on the Jay-Z video for Mercy Me. “At that point I got a good understanding of their relationships and how I could fit into the equation.”

Visually, Uncut Gems has a classic New York City look, but with a modern twist. “The Diamond District hasn’t changed much over the last forty years, so it automatically had that 70’s ‘noir’ feel,” commented Van Der Cruyssen. “But we wanted to break away from the steely, gritty New York to a more real-life aesthetic – less forced and contrived.”

Around half of the movie was shot on 35mm film to give it a more natural look, which meant Van Der Cruyssen had to treat the digital footage to match. “Marrying the film footage with the digital scenes was quite challenging,” he explained. “So I asked the crew to shoot some grain elements that could be overlaid in Baselight and adjusted per scene.”

Refreshed with a new-look, Storm Post Production has upgraded to Avid NEXIS | PRO, complete with MediaCentral | Editorial Management, developing and adapting its existing workflows to new technologies and providing a solid, consistent service for its clients. Storm’s impressive London facility is fully prepared for handling higher-resolution and HDR media, from ingest right through to delivery, with the new Avid products further improving production efficiency.

Storm is a multi-genre end-to-end post-production facility, specialising in factual documentaries and entertainment programmes for UK and international broadcasters. Its new Avid MediaCentral | Editorial Management workflow management system, together with upgraded Avid NEXIS shared storage, has been installed and configured by Altered Images and has already boosted Storm’s productivity. It has provided editors and production teams with greater workflow integration and flexibility, notably being able to access and edit media remotely.

“Our latest NEXIS and Editorial Management upgrade has really helped us streamline several processes and provide our customers with powerful tools to help satisfy their requirements and deliver content of a high-standard.” explained Jay Makwana, Storm’s Commercial Director. “We’re continuously looking for ways to develop and expand our capabilities in order to strengthen workflows and stay ahead of the curve.”

Sony has announced that its Simple Live Streaming service, a new proposition for users to streamline the process of acquiring live content, is now available (as of 12th December 2019). The additional workflow flexibility for its palm-sized 4K HDR professional camcorders, the HXR-NX80 and PXW-Z90, can be accessed via a free firmware upgrade to enable content creators to shoot wherever and however they want. 

With Wi-Fi connectivity, Simple Live Streaming enables high quality live streaming to major video sharing websites and social media platforms such as Vimeo, YouTube and Facebook with a single camcorder. Offering simple operation, it further enhances the remote delivery of content quickly without compromising on image quality. 

Norbert Paquet, Head of Product Management for Sony Professional Solutions comments: “The introduction of Simple Live Streaming for the HXR-NX80 and PXW-Z90 streamlines the overall workflow, from shooting to live distribution. Equipped with Simple Live Streaming, the camcorders will have online sharing features, further empowering content creators to concentrate on what they do best – storytelling on the go.” 

German post-production specialist OMNIMAGO GmbH, has chosenXytech’s MediaPulse resource management software as its go-to solution for its scheduling, billing and project management needs.

Recently released at IBC 2019, MediaPulse 2019 features an updated user interface developed to place targeted functionality in the hands of all users in an enterprise, including every staff member, freelancer and vendor to create a seamless end-to-end automated workflow accessible on any device connected to the internet.

Given the variety of projects OMNIMAGO takes on, it was integral the company found a solution to contain the whole process, from bidding to invoicing, within the same system.

“This ensures all of the necessary information is easily available to all of the people and departments involved,” said Peter Fries, OMNIMAGO’s managing director. “MediaPulse has proven itself as the ultimate tool to support us during the administration process on all of our technical projects.”

Currently holding 45 MediaPulse licenses, OMNIMAGO has been using MediaPulse for almost 20 years and selected the software for its best-in-class efficiency.

“It fulfills all of our scheduling, billing and project management requirements in the best possible way,” Fries said. “We took a number of other established ERP systems into consideration, but nothing compared to the efficiency of MediaPulse.

Tedial, the leading independent MAM technology solutions specialist, has announced that it has certified Ebantic, a provider of solutions for the integrated management of audiovisual content, as Advanced Developer of its flexible and configurable Evolution MAM platform. Using Tedial’s Integration API, third-parties can develop tailored solutions and services for customers via the Tedial Evolution MAM platform, further highlighting the scalability and flexibility of the solution.

Tedial and Ebantic are currently working together on two important projects in the Spanish market. These projects include the management and distribution of content for FOX Network Group and the content and sales management platform of The Mediapro Studio.

Both projects have demanding integration requirements that have led Tedial, with the support of Ebantic, to further develop its Integration API for its content and management Evolution solution. As a result, Tedial has granted an Advanced Developer certification to Ebantic, in recognition of the company's in-depth knowledge of the Evolution integration layer. This enables broadcasters to expand their solutions using Ebantic’s services.

Three Media, media specialist and product provider of XEN:Pipeline, today announced the completion of an 18-month project in conjunction with Imperial College London. The goal of the project was to make media supply chain processing more affordable by identifying ways to reduce costs and maximise workflow, process and resource efficiencies.

The project, called Digital Media Data Analytics (DMDA), was initiated and led by Three Media in conjunction with an Imperial College London team headed by Performance Engineering expert Dr Anthony Field. The combined team applied its expert knowledge of data analytics and optimisation techniques to Three Media's XEN:Pipeline development programme.

XEN:Pipeline enables users not only to evaluate and optimise existing workflows and business processes in near real time, but also to model new and changing virtual revenue streams either as stand-alone or alongside the existing. It also provides opportunities to identify, model, and prove new and innovative services and chargeable functions. XEN:Pipeline is a highly configurable, scalable, storage agnostic and performant system that can operate across multiple company and supplier locations and departments, identifying and resolving often-hidden bottlenecks, pinch points and under-utilisation from existing workflows and processes.

Intinor, Sweden’s leading developer of products and solutions for high-quality video over internet will, with its partner Rahul Commerce, feature Direkt link at Broadcast India on Stand F610.

Intinor CEO Roland Axelsson said, “Direkt link has enormous potential, not only in terms of power and flexibility, but also because it is extremely easy to use and very robust, thanks to an ingenious construction that includes a minimum of moving parts.

Tedial, the leading independent MAM technology solutions specialist, is responding to the rising demand for improved business and operational efficiency in live sports production and media content distribution with enhanced versions of its flagship solutions. The latest improvements to the Company’s award-winning platforms will be showcased at NAB Show New York 2019 on October 16th & 17th in Booth N244 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

PHABRIX, a worldwide leader in test and measurement solutions will demonstrate its full range of hybrid IP/SDI, 4K/UHD and HDR/WCG instruments at NAB New York 2019, on booth N4508.

TSL Products, a leading designer and manufacturer of broadcast workflow solutions, will feature its latest audio and control offerings at NAB NY 2019 (Booth N155). The brand continues to evolve its solutions to meet the changing needs of its customers and the transition towards IP workflows. TSL will highlight updates to its audio monitoring offerings, including its SAM-Q platform, PAM-IP and its MPA1 lines. In addition, it will showcase updates to its advanced broadcast control offerings as well as its IP Control Buddy, range of Anywhere Interface Boxes and Flashboard updates.