Billerica, Massachusetts – With galleries dedicated to animals and habitats throughout the Pacific Ocean, the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, Calif., is the fourth largest aquarium in the United States. Last year, the nonprofit organization launched a marine biology videoconferencing pilot program anchored by a new Broadcast Pix™ Slate™ integrated video production system. So far, the aquarium has delivered more than 50 live presentations to classrooms across the country.

The aquarium already had an active education department, with a staff of more than 40, plus three classrooms and a 160-seat presentation theater. But for many students, the facility is too far away to visit – and with California’s current budget issues, field trips are not feasible even for many in-state schools. Sarah Swain, Aquarium of the Pacific education technology and media coordinator, said the aquarium wanted to broaden its outreach, but also wanted to maintain the creativity and interactivity of its classroom lessons in its videoconference offerings.

“We didn’t want to be a talking head sitting in front of the camera,” said Swain. “Our goal was to bring our programming to students who can’t come to us.” The vast majority of the aquarium’s distance learning programs are designed for K-12 students, though Swain is investigating potential programs for additional audiences.

A storage closet at the aquarium was converted into a small videoconferencing studio and outfitted with the Broadcast Pix system, which was purchased from VMI, Inc., and installed by RBL Engineering in September 2011. The studio and pilot program were funded through a grant from The Roddenberry Foundation.

There is no separate control room; one instructor operates the Slate and monitors the production through the built-in Fluent-View multi-viewer, while a second instructor conducts the class. The setup allows the instructors to switch between a webcam, document camera, video clips, and still images to produce compelling HD videoconferences. The distance learning programs rely heavily on chromakey to create unique live visuals, while prerecorded footage is accessed from the Fluent™ Clip Store during lessons. Swain has also incorporated live feeds from cameras installed in exhibits throughout the aquarium.

In the aquarium’s classrooms, instructors rely on customized DVDs for clips, but Swain said there is no convenient way to replay clips during a lesson if a student has a question. She prefers the Slate, which makes it easy to access and replay clips or still images instantly.

For the instructors, the move to videoconferencing required some adjustments from traditional classroom teaching, none bigger than learning to use the Broadcast Pix itself, as they had no previous video production experience. Swain admitted there was a learning curve at first, but the instructors are now comfortable with their “directing” duties.

“It’s been a really neat team building experience,” Swain added. “We’ve all really enjoyed learning how to use this piece of equipment. I love the flexibility. It’s a really unique tool.”

About Aquarium of the Pacific The Aquarium of the Pacific is a nonprofit institution that is dedicated to instilling a sense of wonder, respect, and stewardship for the Pacific Ocean, its inhabitants, and ecosystems. For more information on the Aquarium visit www.aquariumofpacific.org .

About Broadcast Pix Broadcast Pix is the leader in live video production systems. Its Video Control Centers™ empower operators with patented techniques that combine cameras, clips and graphics to create compelling live video. The integration of a multi-format switcher, clip store, graphics system with a Harris or Chyron CG, and device controls provides the lowest cost of ownership at a fraction of the cost of a conventional control room to buy, staff and operate. Systems range from compact systems controlled by a touch-screen or voice-automation to sophisticated 2 M/E control panels. Customers include leading broadcast, corporate, education, religious, government, webcast, entertainment and mobile studios in more than 110 countries. Learn more at www.broadcastpix.com.

Broadcast Pix, Slate, Fluent, and Video Control Centers are trademarks of Broadcast Pix, Inc. Patented.

When the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles acquired an early letter written by Adolf Hitler, it turned to Electrosonic to create an interactive exhibit for one of the most important archival documents in the history of the Second World War.

The letter was written in September 1919 and is the only document personally signed by Hitler, linking him to the elimination of the Jewish people. In the letter, Hitler calls for “an anti-Semitism based on reason…[whose]…final aim, however must be the uncompromising removal of the Jews altogether.” The letter was found by an American GI in Nuremberg in 1945.

The four-page typewritten letter was purchased last spring by Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who called the letter “the most significant ever acquired” by the Center. The letter was written six years before Mein Kampf was published.

The letter’s acquisition was widely covered by the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and the media around the world.

Electrosonic has been responsible for many exhibits and permanent installations since the Museum of Tolerance opened in 1993 as an educational arm of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Electrosonic sales consultant Les Hill and VP of Entertainment Chris Conte collaborated with Sue Burden, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer of the museum, to determine the best way to showcase the letter. In order to allow the guests to explore the letter in depth, Electrosonic recommended that a multi-touch surface be installed along with digital content generated from the letter itself. To insure that the best digital content was created, Electrosonic turned to long-time creative content partner Cortina Productions to develop the content and interactive software.

The artifact itself is housed in a wall-mounted glass display case along with a 65-inch Mitsubishi LED touchscreen. The touchscreen is powered by CyberTouch. Museum visitors stand in front of the touchscreen to view content crafted by Cortina Productions, which allows them to virtually interact with the letter, reading it in the original German language or translated into English. A graphic image of a magnifying glass enlarges portions of the letter for easier inspection.

“The GUI can be operated by two users at the same time,” says Electrosonic project manager Guy Fronte. “In addition to the user mode for one or two visitors, there’s also a docent mode for museum docents making presentations to groups.”

Visitors can also access major milestones in the history of the Third Reich, as well as, news articles, maps and still photos, plus video clips about the acquisition of the letter in 2011.

Electrosonic provided a Dell Vostro 460 Mini Tower with an ATI Radion HD 5570 graphics card as the interactive video source for the touchscreen display. A ceiling-mounted Dakota speaker array supplies audio for the film clips and sound design elements for the interactivity.

“The Hitler letter exhibit has been a very successful attraction with visitors,” says Sue Burden. “Electrosonic was very professional to work with, as always; it’s a pleasure to do projects with them, and we keep asking them to do more and more things for us.”

At Electrosonic, Win Roach was the exhibit’s lead installer and Julie Adgurson the engineer. All of the vendors worked with the architect, Hansol Park, a Senior Associate with Yazdani Studio of Cannon Design.

Bergen, Norway, Vizrt Ltd. (Oslo Main List: VIZ)

Vizrt Ltd., a leading provider of content production tools for the digital media industry, has completed the implementation of Vizrt’s “Newsroom Connect” ActiveX plug-in for Viz Content Pilot at TVE — Spain’s largest public television network. Viz Content Pilot is Vizrt’s core content control system.

Vizrt’s graphics creation tools are now fully integrated within the Avid newsroom environment of TVE’s GALICIA TERRITORIAL CENTER, making TVE one of the first broadcasters in Spain to implement this technology. TVE has used the system since December for its Territorial Journal.

Vizrt’s ActiveX plug-in allows users of the Avid iNews newsroom computer system (NRCS)—as well as many other NRCS — to create graphics for their news stories from within the NRCS. Newsroom Connect now goes a step further and interfaces with Avid iNews Command, Avid’s automation system that manages the “playlist” and playout of news stories in the rundown.

“The newsroom computer system, which is at the heart of any modern news broadcast operation, gives journalists all the tools they need to develop, write, and edit news stories without leaving a self-contained production environment. Now that Viz Content Pilot is fully integrated with iNews and Command, journalists, news directors, and producers can create, preview, control, and playout their Pilot graphics without ever leaving that workflow,” said Petter Ole Jakobsen, Chief Technology Officer at Vizrt.

Viz Content Pilot graphics can then be linked to specific news stories, along with their start/end timecodes and durations and dropped into the Avid iNews rundown. Once that rundown and the associated graphics metadata are loaded into Avid Command, the automated playout system generates a playlist that triggers playout from a Viz Engine real time rendering system, with video clips as primary and graphics as secondary events. The integration allows Avid Command automatically to see, request, and playout specific Viz graphics at the appropriate time during newscasts.

“With this innovative newsroom integration, our journalists who are most familiar with particular news stories can create their own animated graphics by adding elements such as text, lower third supers, data, images, and video into ready-to-use Viz Content Pilot templates, all from within iNews,” said Alberto Lema (Chief of Production and Media) at TVE in Galicia.

“This accurate, seamless integration between the Viz Content Pilot graphics system and Avid newsroom workflow enables us quickly to create visually rich graphics for our live newscasts,” Lema added. “For broadcast newsrooms, these are vital, empowering tools, and now they work seamlessly together.”

About Vizrt:
Vizrt’s content management system, Escenic Content Engine, manages media assets for websites and cross-channel publishing, allowing customers to publish online content onto numerous platforms. Content and page layout is be optimized and formatted to support the full capabilities of each individual device. The Widget Framework, a component of the Escenic Content Engine, is used to build and flexibly manage websites.

Vizrt’s product suite is used by the world’s leading broadcasters, publishing houses and telecom operators, including: YLE (Finland), TV 2 (Norway), The Sun, The Independent, The Telegraph, London Evening Standard (all UK), n-tv.de, Welt Online, Axel Springer (all Germany), The Globe and Mail (USA), and Aftonbladet (Sweden).

Vizrt is a public company traded on the Oslo Main List: VIZ, ISIN: IL0010838154.

Press contacts:

Martin Burkhalter Ofra Brown HåvardMyklebust
President & CEO CFO EVP Marketing
+41 22 365 75 01 +47 5351 8040 +47 9184 5602
mbu@vizrt.com ofra@vizrt.com hmyklebust@vizrt.com

Orad’s lineup will include state of the art on-air graphics, studio, sports, MAM, and video server solutions for the broadcast industry
 
February 8, 2012 – Orad, world leader of award winning, real time, 3D graphics, video servers, and media asset management solutions will be presenting its newest product lineup at the upcoming 2012 NAB Show (booth SL4524). Orad’s professionals will be on-site to provide attendees with informative demonstrations and presentations of its on-air, studio, MAM, sports and video server solutions.
 
“The 2012 NAB Show is the perfect forum to demonstrate our wide variety of unique broadcasting solutions. Visitors to our booth will enjoy exciting interactive demos, giving them a feel for the endless possibilities Orad’s solutions can offer,” comments Avi Sharir, President and CEO of Orad. “This NAB Show, Orad will also be presenting some new solutions that will greatly facilitate the production workflow.”
 
NAB Show 2012 Lineup – What to See at the Orad Booth
 
Press and attendees are invited to stop by the Orad booth (SL4524) to see Orad’s award-winning solutions.
 
• TD Control: Orad’s TD Control allows Technical Directors (switcher operator) to select different video box compositions and assign different video sources to each of the video boxes, enabling tasks that could not have been achieved before, like switching on air from six video sources to completely different video sources with one click of a button.
 
• PowerPlay: PowerPlay is a turnkey solution that manages fast turnaround sports productions from ingest, through instant highlight editing, to dedicated sports media asset management in a post-production environment. PowerPlay is designed to provide a complete solution for large-scale sporting events, focusing on fast turnaround and advanced data management tools.
 
• PlayMaker: PlayMaker, Orad’s SD/HD, slow-motion video server, is designed to meet the growing challenges of live sports productions. PlayMaker provides up to 8 I/O channels of high quality ingest in multiple video formats, including DVCpro, DNxHD and JPEG200, with synchronized slow motion replay and powerful yet simple editing tools. With its “PlayNet” module, PlayMaker provides Gigabit network file sharing between servers for preview, copy, or instant playout of clips from remote servers. For an extremely fast turnaround workflow, PlayMaker introduces instant import and export capabilities to almost any storage or NLE environment. PlayMaker supports tapeless workflow with the export and import of video footage to and from NLE systems.
 
• iFind: iFind is a sophisticated media management solution, which provides the user with the ability to manage the essential elements of a complete broadcast server, graphics and archive system from a web browser. Powerful search, workflow and management functionality is available, which can be tailored to a station’s individual requirements to maintain a smooth day-to-day operation. Simple to use, the combination of the iFind user interface and rules engine produces a powerful workflow management system, the benefits of which can be quickly identified to bring a fast return on investment. The system’s iFind Asset Core is the powerful database that underpins the media asset management system, providing flexible, user configurable metadata schemas. In addition, advanced business rules based and process driven workflows enable essential functions such as archiving, restore from archive, clip movement and deletion.
 
• RadioTV: RadioTV enables the automatic broadcast of radio shows, including live videos, real-time 3D graphics and promos, over digital media without human intervention. RadioTV is completely automated and relies on unique audio detection software to identify the talent’s voice and determine which camera should be on air. Camera switching does not require human intervention and the existing workflow is maintained without any additional costs. RadioTV offers a complete set of 3D graphic templates including supers, titles, logos, promos and other elements, and supports the playback of full-frame videos, opening new revenue streams for advertising and sponsorships.
 
• Interact: Orad’s Interact enables television presenters to control and direct the content on their touch screens, video walls and other input devices, helping them engage more with their viewers. Orad now offers its dedicated OradTouch application, which enables presenters to interact with the graphics using their iPad and control the content and flow of production while moving around the production space freely. Interact supports single, dual and multi-touch displays from a variety of manufacturers, allowing broadcasters to choose the device that best suits their production’s style and budget.
 
• MVP: Emmy Award-winning MVP provides fast preparation of captivating sports highlight clips to better visualize critical plays, the flow of the game, and post-game analysis. MVP can be deployed for any sports event and can be used for live productions or highlight shows, from either the OB VAN or the studio, and supports up to 32 different cameras without camera or lens modifications. New enhancement features include: virtual camera flights between two real cameras; viewing a play as it is drawn on the coach’s drawing board comparing the position and technique of individual athletes; drawing a specific player in color on top of a black and white background, and breaking down a play into a sequence of frames to better analyze the player’s movements, and more.
 
• Maestro: Maestro addresses all broadcasters’ graphic needs for real time, pre- and post-production environments. The latest version of Maestro introduces many interesting features that improve usability in a studio environment, and the connection to external systems and data sources. The new OradControl iPad application enables television anchors to control Maestro graphics by using an iPad. Also new are integrations with Avid’s Command and an NLE plugin for Adobe’s Premiere, further expanding Maestro’s extensive list of supported NLE systems.
 
• 3DPlay: 3DPlay, Orad’s advanced channel branding solution, offers stunning 3D graphics for promo over credits, multiple tickers, video clips playback, etc. 3DPlay covers the entire workflow from integration with traffic, scheduling and automation, to frame accurate graphic playout. 3DPlay offers user management, customized metadata, and logic-based, scripting free graphics.
 
• Morpho: Morpho is a real time, 3D character generator that offers uncompromised creation and playout capabilities from a single user interface. Powerful 3D real time graphics rendering, smart graphic design tools and flexible playout capabilities are packed together, offering an efficient and easy workflow. Creation and playout are performed from a single interface, increasing reactivity in production. Morpho is the perfect solution for branding, OB VAN, news and other studio productions.
 
• ProSet: ProSet, Orad’s high-end virtual studio solution, provides a powerful dimension to any virtual studio production. ProSet can utilize any of Orad’s many tracking solutions, including its high-end Xync infrared tracking system with 360 degrees of free camera movement. By combining state of the art tracking with sophisticated graphics, ProSet enables the broadcaster to display a big studio look from a small location.
 
Book A Private Press Briefing
To set up a press briefing with a member of Orad’s management team or a private product viewing, please contact Janice Dolan at janice(at)zazilmediagroup(dot)com.
 
About Orad
Orad Hi-Tec Systems is a world-leading provider of real time 3D broadcast graphic and video server solutions including news, channel branding, sports production and enhancement, elections and special events, virtual studios, and virtual advertisement. Orad’s compelling solutions streamline production workflow, enhance viewer experience, and improve production value. Founded in 1993, Orad is a public company listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (OHT). More information is available at www.orad.tv
 
Press Contacts
Ofir Benovici
VP Marketing
Orad Hi Tec Systems
ofirb(at)orad(dot)tv
 
Anya Oskolkova
Zazil Media Group
anya(at)zazilmediagroup(dot)com
(p) 617.817.6559

Units Deliver Announcers’ Audio Via Fiber from Headsets to Production Desk

ATLANTA, GA – Studio Technologies’ 5110 Mic/Line Input Module and 5120 Line/IFB Output Module were chosen to be part of the fly pack kit used to produce Turner Sports Internet coverage of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) season championships. Production services for the web-based streaming broadcasts of each event are being provided by Indianapolis-based WebStream Productions, a leading supplier of video production, streaming and content creation. The production schedule covers 87 championship games across all NCAA-sanctioned sports played at more than 1,200 Division I, II and III schools across the United States and Canada. A compact custom rack enclosure houses the 5110 and 5120 modules along with audio-over-fiber transport gear. Located at the announcers’ location, this allows direct connection of each announcer’s on-air headsets. more

grandMA’s in the house at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County where a pair of grandMA2 lighting consoles, installed by Miami Stagecraft in the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall, are in demand by an array of artists. Miami Stagecraft also upgraded the hall’s entire network to 1gb to promote fast, high-speed response time. A.C.T Lighting is the exclusive distributor of grandMA in North America.

“The space is designed to host everything from symphony orchestras to Willie Nelson, Cindy Lauper and BB King,” says Tony Tur, head electrician at the Knight Concert Hall. “We were running another console, and a lot of people were asking for the grandMA. I attended a grandMA2 training course and really liked the console’s features and versatility. It was the kind of technology we needed, capable of accommodating a rock show, a symphony or a musical comedy, and meeting the needs of their designers.”

Steve Welsh, vice president of Miami Stagecraft, echoes Tur’s observations that many touring groups appearing at the Knight Concert Hall were accustomed to using grandMA. In addition, “because of the way the hall is configured there are very few conventional lights,” Welsh points out. “The space is highly-dependent on moving lights mounted to the ceiling and that also helped tip the scales in grandMA’s favor.”

Welsh notes that in order to give the grandMA2 fast, high-speed response time, the hall’s entire network required an upgrade. “grandMA runs flawlessly on a gigabit network,” he says, “so we upgraded the whole system to be 1gb capable. The movable ceilings feed data down to fiber-optic cables even when they’re moving – we had to upgrade all that to 1gb with industrial-grade components.”

Will Murphy, A.C.T Lighting technical support, says that the hall originally had “a big fiber network and all these little gangbox two-universe nodes around the space. When Tony (Tur) fell in love with the grandMA2 they needed to decide what to do with the existing network. So we started to talk about what would make their life easier.”

He explained to Tur that “MAnet is the only protocol in the industry with frame-synchronous DMX. If you have a properly-designed gigabit network, no matter how close or far apart ports are, everything is going to be frame synchronous: the frame comes out of every port at the same time regardless of length. No protocol but MAnet can do that and deliver two-way communication.”

Tur specified a grandMA2 console with NPU and a second unit with 18 2-port nodes. “Tony chose to go all-MA to get 100 percent support,” Murphy says.

The upgraded network “eliminated a lot of equipment on the racks and a lot of connection points with the possibility of faults,” says Tur. “The network was very simple to put together and worked from the get-go: It was all done in two days. Now I have a system where I can communicate right to the nodes from the console; I don’t need another computer to do that. A.C.T’s customer support was another reason I decided to go with the nodes – it’s just amazing. They are there to help me out.”

Welsh concurs that the installation “came out very nicely. There are very reliable communications throughout the system, especially the fiber-optic cable reels.”

Tur reports that the grandMA2s and network are “working great. We just ran BB King and a couple of symphonies, and it’s been very smooth. The grandMA gives us the versatility to do everything. That’s just what people were requesting.”

Welsh believes that the hall’s installation represents “a new phase in the lighting of the theater. They now have a control system that will carry them into the future with LEDs and new lighting fixtures.”

About A.C.T Lighting

A leading importer and distributor of lighting products, A.C.T Lighting, Inc. strives to identify future trends and cutting-edge products, and stock, sell and support their inventory. The company provides superior customer service and value for money to all of its clients.

For more information call 818-707-0884.

About the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County
The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is one of the world’s leading performing arts organizations and venues. Made possible by Miami-Dade County’s largest ever public/private-sector partnership, the Center is home to the Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet and New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy. In addition, numerous South Florida arts organizations perform in its theaters regularly. Since opening in 2006, the Center has emerged as a leader in offering and presenting innovative programming that mirrors South Florida’s diversity, as a catalyst for development in Miami, and as a host of impactful community outreach and education programs.

Designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, the venue is comprised of the 2,400-seat Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House, the 2,200-seat John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall, the black box Carnival Studio Theater, a restored Carnival Tower, the Peacock Foundation, Inc. Studio, the Peacock Foundation, Inc. Education Center and the outdoor Parker and Vann Thomson Plaza for the Arts. The Carnival Tower, an architectural icon and one of Miami’s oldest Art Deco buildings, houses the street-level BOMBAY SAPPHIRE(r) Lounge. Events impresario and restaurateur Barton G. Weiss brought his signature style to the Center in 2009 with PRELUDE BY BARTON G, a full-service upscale restaurant.

Top Hollywood Facility Relies on Nucoda for Versatile Workflow

(Los Angeles, CA/London, UK) Image Systems – the leading manufacturer of image enhancement and mastering systems for post production – has announced that MTI Film in Hollywood, California, has installed its third Nucoda Film Master into its state-of-the-art facility. Opened in 2010, MTI Film is a full service post production facility providing high quality dailies, editorial, visual effects, color correction and assembly for film, television and commercial projects. MTI is currently at work on a number of projects, including AMC’s Hell on Wheels, CW’s Ringer, Good Christian Belles on ABC, and for TNT The Closer, Dallas, and Rizzoli & Isles, as well as a number of feature and restoration projects.

MTI installed its first Nucoda Film Master in 2010, as the facility prepared to open their Hollywood facility. Barbara Marshall, Executive Producer at MTI, noted, “The Nucoda is central to the way we work with our customers, whether they come to us with a feature, or a network or cable program. Its interoperability with Avid and the versatility of the toolset is crucial to our work and underpins our entire pipeline. We have found it to be an incredibly powerful creative tool.”

Steve Porter, Senior Colorist, noted, “Nucoda’s color grading toolset enables us to be gutsy when necessary and subtle when needed. It is ergonomic and intuitive. The fact that we can do a show like Hell On Wheels, which is extremely vivid, and turn right to Ringer, an elegant, female-driven show, says a lot about its capabilities. Our focus is to support the story and the filmmaker, and Nucoda is an essential part of that.”

The built-in effects in Nucoda Film Master have been extremely useful. Jeremy Sawyer, Colorist at MTI, noted that, “In addition to the great color grading tools, all of the other plug-ins and effects that come straight out of the box are outstanding. They are great for beauty work, the grain tools are top of the list, and the visual effects tools are truly powerful. In television, we ‘re often up against a tight deadline, and the tools in the Nucoda are extremely beneficial to us in hitting our schedule.”

MTI is busy with television projects but has a history of quality restoration services. The Nucoda Film Masters have been involved in a number of recent remastering projects, including classics; In Like Flint, Our Man Flint, and The Flight of the Phoenix for Twentieth Century Fox, among others. All of these iconic titles were remastered at 4K in MTI’s DI theatre.

Larry Chernoff, President of MTI concluded, “A year ago, we started with Nucoda Film Master at the center of our color operations. Since then, we’ve found our decision was more than validated by the consistent development, support and innovative ideas coming out of Image Systems, and we are delighted to continue our work with them.

About Image Systems
Image Systems Media Unit, formerly Digital Vision, is a division of Image Systems AB, which specializes in high-resolution image processing, film scanning and motion analysis solutions. Headquartered in Linköping, Sweden, Image Systems has offices in Stockholm, London and Los Angeles. The company has three business units: Media, Defense and Motion, managed via a global network of qualified distributors. Its Nucoda and Phoenix image grading and restoration software solutions and Golden Eye range of scanners provide innovative tools to create and master media in HD, 2K/4K and stereoscopic 3D. The TEMA software platform provides a range of user friendly, high-speed motion analysis solutions for the automotive industry and other industrial test and design applications. The TrackEye system provides image analysis solutions for the military reconnaissance and testing markets. For additional information, visit www.imagesystems.tv.

All trademarks used herein, whether recognized or not, are the properties of their respective companies.

About MTI
MTI Film is a full service Post Production facility providing high quality dailies, editorial, visual effects, color correction and assembly for film, television and commercial projects. MTI Film’s talented staff of seasoned industry veterans have served a number of high-profile projects including Rizzoli & Isles, Ringer, The Defenders, Through the Wormhole, Hell on Wheels and Dallas. As a leader in post-production technology, MTI Film’s facility is state-of-the art. With MTI Film’s award-winning Control Dailies at the head of the workflow, MTI Film offers unparalleled flexibility in the production’s choice of cameras, preferred editorial platform and deliverables formatting. MTI also boasts a brand new DI theater that is fully calibrated and capable of 4k playback. For more information visit www.mtifilm.com.

# # #

Image Systems Marketing Contact:
Alexa Maza | alexa.maza@imagesystems.se | Tel: +1 (818) 769-8111
Ulrika Liiv | ulrika.liiv@imagesystems.se | 46 (0) 8 546 18232

Image Systems USA PR Contact:
Ignite | Christine Purse | chris@ignite.bz | Tel: +1 818 303 8088 | Mobile: +1 323 806 9696

Image Systems EMEA & Asia PR Contact:
Jump PR | Kate Ford | kate@jumppr.tv | Tel: +44 (0) 1932 240001 | Mobile: +44 (0) 7740 948 065

CES 2012 in Las Vegas celebrated the ability of three companies, all siblings, to come together and provide unique solutions for the Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm and Ericsson keynote presentations. High Resolution Engineering provided the screen switcher processing technology for the keynotes, Lightware USA supplied hardware for Digital Multimedia Matrix Routing, and High Resolution Systems furnished the UDC control software and hardware options.

“Every year the CES keynotes are more challenging due to the growing number of mobile devices – tablets, cell phones and other handheld systems – that participants want to use as sources on screen for their presentations,” says High Resolution’s Drew Taylor. “CES is such a big show that you really need to have some experience under your belt to master the logistics. I’ve been doing the keynotes for the last four years and [High Resolution Partner] Mike Taylor has over a decade’s worth of CES credits. We spend about 10 days on site working with each group to ensure the maximum amount of rehearsal and set up time – we’re going nonstop!”

This year the Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm and Ericsson keynotes in the Venetian Ballroom all featured multiple big screens that spanned the width of the space.

High Resolution Engineering provided the screen switching technology with Vista Spyders, Lightware routers, DVI cables and control systems. The Lightware UMX and HDMI and DVI routers were supplied by Lightware U.S.A., the US distributor of professional AV products manufactured by Lightware Visual Engineering in Budapest, Hungary. They were utilized for onstage demos of tablets and other HDMI handheld devices.

High Resolution Systems supplied UDC Software and UDC 400, Lightware Touch controllers front of house and Spyder Touch controllers backstage to switch the screens. High Resolution Systems’ own Universal Device Controller (UDC) software ran on a Microsoft Windows 7 tablet backstage for router control.

UDC software was also employed in Panasonic’s booth on the convention floor. UDC was used in conjunction with a PESA HD router to switch and route signals to a huge wall of monitors and to play back clip information on Grass Valley T2 iDDRs (Intelligent Digital Disk Recorders) and KG 4K and 8K video servers. UDC allowed the manufacturer to access the clip names of all the files in its playback servers and configure the buttons to recall certain clips. UDC also read timecode from the 4K server and executed presets based on timecode of the current playing clip. Todd Hewitt was the UDC consultant at the booth.

Also on the convention floor, High Resolution Engineering helped fulfill the equipment needs of the Canon booth, providing a Spyder X20 for image processing.

“Only our trio of companies can offer such a comprehensive technology-equipment-control solution for the high-profile keynotes and meet the needs of major manufacturers like Panasonic and Canon on the show floor,” says Drew Taylor.

About High Resolution Systems
High Resolution Systems, a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers is a company with a strong systems engineering and applications background. Its founders have decades of experience in the audio visual rental and staging industry, broadcast applications, A/V installations and system design. This combined experience allows them to provide the highest possible quality solutions to its customers in the most efficient manner. For more information, visit www.hrscontrol.com.

BALTIMORE, Maryland – To help the world’s leading broadcasters and advertising agencies fully realize their ideas and visions, Baltimore, Maryland-based Producers Video relies on Fairlight’s XCS Constellation with the Xynergi as a center panel for a professional A/V solution. As Maryland’s premier film, video, audio production and post-production house, Producers Video runs campaigns for nationally known brands such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, Under Armour and Toyota, among others.

The addition of Fairlight’s XCS Constellation to Producers Video’s facility has been a catalyst for its continued success and expansion. “We never want to turn away clients or work opportunities as the flexibility and options we receive with Fairlight products is our major strength,” says Bob Bragg, Senior Audio Engineer at Producers Video. “Since the installation, we’ve been able to evolve and learn to incorporate more features that help expand our business and capabilities.”

One of the benefits of Fairlight’s XCS Constellation and Xynergi is their flexibility to work with many file formats. Bragg notes, “Fairlight continues to add new levels of innovation by adding HD video to the timeline as well as the capability to import and export different file formats and VST plug-ins. The ability to work on audio and signal processing on every channel, without a separate program saves a great amount of time and helps to keep workflow constant. There is no need to launch another program or extension, and all the native EQ’s and dynamics are all instantly there.”

On a day-to-day basis, Bragg mentioned some of the challenges of production and how Fairlight consoles help to eliminate issues that can slow down workflow and productivity. The user-friendly footprint of the Constellation provides plenty of inputs and outputs, and the ability to instantly adjust feeds to send to other studios via ISDN with picture lock makes it easy to keep workflow constant.

“It’s great to work with other studios and be able to have both sessions running at the same time, helping to judge the performance and make creative decisions instantly even if you’re not on site. Many of the more compact systems don’t have the versatility and ease of use with parameter adjustments and routing that you get with Fairlight and the Constellation.”

The system comes with very good sounding native EQ and dynamics that are superior to most plug-ins Bragg has used. “The native processing really sounds rich and detailed plus you still have the five plug-ins available to drop in per channel if needed, giving multiple options,” stated Bragg.

“Other features we use often are the AAF import and EDL conform capability. We drag and drop multiple cuts onto a single timeline. When a version is finalized, it’s great to be able to access the original polyphonic broadcast wav files recorded during production. This gives us access to every microphone that was on set or location and can help us sort through the feeds to pick the best audio for the circumstance.”

Working under continuing deadlines makes maintaining constant workflow crucial. For one project, Bragg described that the timeline was extremely short and the project needed to be set up on Friday and mixed for completion by Monday. With no room for leeway, strict deadlines and a tight budget, the quality still needs to be at the highest level. “At Producers, we pride ourselves in being able to do everything in house; production, editing, motion graphics, audio, and color correction. With the Fairlight Constellation and Xynergi,” said Bragg. “We can do audio post for every kind of project. It is a very versatile tool and we use its networking strengths facility wide. We can have different engineers working on different aspects of the project and it’s extremely easy to bring it all together for the final version. We really rely on the gear to perform and push the project through workflow-wise.”

The intuitive layout and ease of use of the Fairlight consoles continue to make the learning process for engineers very easy. “The ongoing support we receive is impeccable. We are constantly reassured of our decision to go with Fairlight and continue to enjoy working with them and the systems,” Bragg continued. “It’s clear Fairlight truly cares about our professional needs.”

For more information on Producers Video, please visit: http://www.producers.tv

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About FairlightUS:
FairlightUS is headquartered in New Jersey USA and is the exclusive distributor for Fairlight products in the North American market. Fairlight has been at the forefront of digital audio development since its inception in 1975. Fairlight designs and manufactures media creation tools including digital audio recording, editing and mixing systems for standard and high definition audio post, broadcast and music production applications. www.fairlightus.com

About Fairlight:
Headquartered in Sydney, Australia Fairlight designs and manufactures media production systems powered by the company’s groundbreaking CC-1 FPGA digital processing engine. The Fairlight product range includes EVO, Xynergi and the new PyxisG2, all of which feature in the world’s leading broadcasters, commercial post facilities, music studios and film production studios. Fairlight has a rich tradition of innovation and development and is at the forefront of green computing technology.

Millburn, New Jersey –T-VIPS America Inc, a global leader in professional video transport solutions for contribution, distribution, and digital television, today announced that one of the top providers of IP-based metro and long-haul services has purchased T-VIPS TVG425 Transport Stream Gateways for real-time contribution and distribution of broadcast-quality, MPEG transport streams over its worldwide media and content delivery networks.

The Video Gateways will transport high-quality video all over the world for the company’s broadcast customers. Customers will range from those looking for global content delivery of a major live event over IP to enterprise video communications and wholesale customers. The TVG425’s leverage the inherent flexibility of IP and Ethernet and provide output diversity and input switching capabilities that enable cost effective and highly reliable IP video transport networks.

T-VIPS’ TVG425 provides transparent handling of up to 8 independent MPEG Transport Streams (TS), flexible interfacing with support for ASI, Ethernet and SONET/SDH. Each stream may be sent to multiple destinations over an IP network. The Video Gateways provide extensive real-time integrity monitoring of IP streams and the transport stream content, with graphical information about the various programs and their associated components. With its powerful monitoring and switching capabilities, the TVG425 can provide redundancy protection for all its input streams.

For further information:

Robin Hoffman, Pipeline Communications, +1 973 746 6970, robinhoffman@pipecomm.com.

About T-VIPS

T-VIPS, a global leader in professional video transport solutions for contribution, distribution and Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), offers a comprehensive portfolio of powerful, efficient and intelligent solutions for processing and transporting high-quality video. T-VIPS’ close involvement in video standards bodies, leadership in JPEG2000, expertise in IP and transport stream multiplexing, processing and monitoring results in state-of-the-art technology that makes complex broadcast network operations simpler and preserves the integrity of high-end video streams.

T-VIPS solutions are utilized in many demanding applications, including 1080/60p, 3DTV, alternative content for digital cinema, live HD sports and news back-haul, and the transport of HDTV programming over IP networks. T-VIPS is leading the IP-based video network revolution by empowering high-profile network operators, broadcasters and post-production customers in over 50 countries with innovative solutions that deliver significant operational and financial benefits. The privately-held company is based in Oslo, Norway, with Americas’ headquarters in New Jersey.

For further information, visit: www.t-vips.com