Archive by Jan Ozer

AmberFin iCR Software is an end to end system that ingests a range of video formats, pre-processes and encodes the video, performs quality control and then delivers the files in the necessary formats to a range of delivery options. The feature set is so broad that it would take weeks to understand and assess the individual features, so I focused my time with the company in several key areas.

In terms of ingest, the system is one of the few that can input footage and convert it to Avid DNxHD and QuickTime format for Final Cut Pro, getting editors up and running as quickly as possible. The system can also start processing and encoding during ingest, which obviously shortens overall processing time. In addition, AmberFin uses industry standard capture hardware and storage, so users aren’t locked into buying expensive proprietary systems like some of their competitors. more

Grab Networks’ (nee Anystream) Agility 2G (for second generation) can pretty much grab video from anywhere, process and encode it, and deliver it in the necessary format for an expansive range of broadcast and streaming formats. I looked at Agility last year; since then, it’s been completely redesigned from a standalone application to a web based interface that’s obviously more accessible to multiple users from different stations on the network. For example, here’s a screen of the new web-based encoding preview screen.

I spent 30 minutes late in the day looking at a demo of the new system, and it was impressive. I’ll share my major takeaways.

First, the system is very flexible regarding licensing. If you buy a five license system, you can float the licenses over ten or twenty systems as they become available on the LAN, you can just run five instances simultaneously. This makes the system very easy to deploy. more

Next time you watch a newsfeed of a reporter out at a really remote location (like really remote), you may notice that the picture quality is better than you previously remembered. If so, it may be because Inmarsat just boosted the bitrate of their BGAN (broadband global area nework) X-Stream service from 256 kbps to a minimum of 384 kbps, with the potential for streaming up to 450 kbps. At these rates, according to Frank August, Inmarsat’s Director of Business Development for the Americas, quality is sufficient for wide shots and real action, not just jerky postage stamp talking heads.

Don’t know much about satellite delivery? I didn’t either; here’s the Cliff Notes version I got from August. Inmarsat is the world’s leading provider of global mobile satellite communications. When I say mobile, I mean a dish that’s smaller than a 17” notebook. Obviously, if you can get a satellite truck involved, with a huge dish, you get much higher speeds, but such dishes tend to be tough to check on a plane, or for roving reporters to carry. more

Kulabyte caught my attention as a brash startup several years ago, with an oversized NAB booth and bold claims of the fastest VP6 encoder available. Though I frequently asked for review copies, the software never materialized, and the company seemingly went into stealth mode.

I just met with the president, Peter Forman, in a considerably smaller booth on the show floor. Over the last two years, Kulabyte focused on the live event streaming market, with some impressive results, including contracts with the US government for gear deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, Kulabyte was MySpace’s technology partner for the 2008 “Operation MySpace” live concert webcast from Kuwait, which was streamed at 720p at less than 1.5 megabits per second. more

One of the most significant issues that makes me uncomfortable with tapeless workflows is the lack of backup for my source videos. Though I seldom have to recapture my DV or HDV video once I’m finished with a project, sometimes I do, and there’s a comfort factor to knowing that the tape is there. Sure, I should dutifully back up every SD or P2 card during capture, but I should also watch what I eat and do more yoga, and you know what happened to those two resolutions.

Well, Primera Technology has gone a long way towards quieting my fears with a tapeless video production workflow created by integrating Imagine Products‘ ShotPut Pro with their line of CD/DVD/Blu-ray recorder/printers. When you install ShotPut Pro, you can designate up to three archive locations, which can include the Primera printer. more

According to my tests, MainConcept has the highest quality H.264 codec, with a number of well heeled licensees, like Adobe, Rhozet, and Sorenson. So it was pretty natural that I would chat with the Germany-based company about their plans for H.264 SVC, for Scalable Video Coding. What’s that, you ask?

Let’s start with the problem. As a streaming producer, you want to customize your streams for the connection speed and playback capabilities of your viewer, as well as changing line conditions. There are a number of proprietary technologies for doing this, including Multiple Bit Rate video (MBR) and Smooth Streaming from Microsoft, Dynamic Streaming from Adobe and Adaptive Streaming from Move Networks. H.264 Scalable Video Coding is an extension of the H.264 standard that does the same thing, but is a couple of years behind in development and deployment. You can read all about it here. more

At least, I hadn’t. Broadcast International sells the patented CodecSys encoding program that utilizes multiple H.264 codecs to compress video more efficiently than a single H.264 codec could (at least that’s their claim). Why multiple codecs?

According to the company, they’ve fine tuned different H.264 codecs for different types of footage; high motion, low motion, pans to the left, tilts downward, and so on. During encoding, the company analyzes the footage, applies the codecs as necessary and then produces a single standard H.264 encoded file that should be compatible with any H.264 player. more

Rhozet Carbon Coder is one of my favorite batch encoding and workstation testing tools because it produces very good quality video and is extraordinarily efficient at multi-threaded operation. Throw a 16-core Nehalem-based system like HP’s Z800 at Carbon Coder, and you’ll see 100% CPU utilization on all 16-cores. (See my review of the Z800.)

Things have been all quiet on the Carbon Coder front, however, and I’ve been working with version 3.0 seemingly forever without significant upgrade. Well, the company changed all that this week, with enough press releases to choke a Wal-Mart paper shredder (hey, if you can think of a better simile, let me know). more

CD/DVD/Blu-ray replication systems have long been the province of wonderfully functional hardware and dog-ugly software. Last year, Microboards announced their own home-grown Windows software for their line of duplicators, and while it’s a great improvement over the third party software that they used to ship, it’s more about workflow functionality and ease of use than sheer design brilliance.

I just saw their new home-grown Mac software, and as you can probably tell from the title, Mikey likes it. It merges a sexy, cover-flow based label selection function with a unique print preview function that should eliminate the most frustrating problem encountered with disc printers, which is hosing the inner ring diameter. If you’ve printed discs in the past, you either have a Mr. Spock-like focus or will know instantly what I’m talking about. If not, here’s a brief description. more

According to Telestream VP of Marketing Barbara Dehart, in the workflow automation market, which includes ingest/encoding/distribution, the company’s FlipFactory product has a greater share than “all the other competitors combined.” Now Telestream isn’t public, so Ms. Dehart can stretch the truth without fear of the SEC (not, of course, that they’ve done anything lately—can you say Bernie Madoff?), but I tend to believe her.

This raises the question, if FlipFactory is so successful, why haven’t I reviewed it? Not sure, but we’re going to fix that with version 7, which is schedule to ship by end of summer, 2009. By way of background, according to product manager John Pallet, what’s distinguished prior versions from other tools is fast, high quality encoding (which all product managers say, of course), and integration with editing tools for ingest and video servers for distribution (which most product managers can’t). more