24 Sunday 09.09.2012 In Brief


accessories Autocue has launched a range of accessories to complement its Master Series teleprompter range, including: a 22-inch talent feedback monitor with native HD-SDI; a new mounting system; a dimmable tally light that displays any camera number from 1-9, going green when live on air; an under-monitor talent clock; and new USB controls to ensure


compatibility with the latest PC hardware. 11.F34


Grade-1 monitor The new Cinemage monitors are replacing Ikan’s Cinetal line. They have been developed with Pandora International, and are claimed to offer an affordable, Grade-1 colour monitor for 2K post production. Suggested uses include: colour correction, resizing, aspect ratio, dirt removal and restoration, special effects and realtime 2K virtual telecine work. The Cinemage LCD panel will come in 24-inch and 42-inch models with SDI, HD-SDI, Dual Link and DVI-D I/O. 11.F84


Major Beijing order Jampro Antennas has inked a deal on a large order of television and radio systems for a new African network for Beijing BBEF Science & Technology Co. Ltd. The order comprises more than 50 Jampro JUHD horizontally polarised TV panels, and JFVD vertically polarised FM panel antennas. “We are very pleased to partner with BBEF, a noteworthy manufacturer in its own right, to implement a significant international project,” said Jampro President Alex Perchevitch. 8.B96


Synner on board Crystal Vision’s Synner 310 combines multiple functions on one board to save engineers money and rack space as well as simplify system designs. Synner 310 is a video synchroniser, tracking audio delay and embedder/de-embedder for 3Gbps, HD and SD sources and up to two groups of analogue audio and four groups of AES, which includes Dolby E decoding, audio and video processing, integrated fibre connectivity and flexible delay


compensation, all on one 100mm x 266mm board. 2.B11


Cinemage 2K Master Series


theibcdaily


Recordable mic gets new app


Yellowtec By David Davies


The iXm.app is a new downloadable app for Yellowtec’s recordable microphone. The app takes the form of a mobile production suite that will allow audio previously recorded with an iXm mic to be transferred and manipulated on a mobile device. Available for download and distribution from the end of September from iTunes and the Yellowtec website, the app is designed to make moving, editing and sending recorded audio and interview files easy and straightforward. Once the user has completed recording an interview, the audio is automatically


The downloadable app for Yellowtec’s iXm recordable microphone


saved to an SD card including 30 seconds of pre-port audio, which can be edited, removed or changed in any number of ways to suit the interviewer. Connecting the iXm


microphone to an iPad or iPhone device via cable allows the user to: rename files; drag & drop; undertake audio editing; transfer files via email and FTP; and employ other editors for more complicated editing. 8.A51


WorkAssure works with SkyCreek now


Arris By Ian McMurray


Arris’ WorkAssure workforce management solution has been integrated by the company with SkyCreek’s automated multichannel customer contact technologies. According to Arris, this will allow a service provider already using the Arris WorkAssure system to automate


communications to customers, confirming their availability for scheduled appointments. Combined with the WorkAssure AutoETA module, this allows for automated day-before reminder times, notification for tech arrival time within a 30 minute window, and post-visit surveys. When a customer is not available for a scheduled service appointment, or is inaccessible, Arris says that field-service engineers often waste time going to non-productive jobs. WorkAssure AutoETA, in combination with SkyCreek’s


Interact, are said to


accommodate any multichannel customer interaction strategy, then monitor and manage resulting customer experiences, and adjust customer-specific contact and ‘do not contact’ logic to achieved desired performance. Combined with the Arris


WorkAssure system, to eliminate bottlenecks and inefficiencies on the dispatch and service side, the result is said to virtually eliminate all factors contributing to wasted field-service resources. “We believe the WorkAssure


AutoETA solution in combination with SkyCreek’s solution will greatly improve how our customers manage their field- service deployments,” said Deborah Horan, director, business development, Arris. “It removes virtually all bottlenecks in the field-service process, saving service providers and operators valuable resources which would otherwise be allocated to unproductive appointments.” 1.D41


Software companies have historically not focused enough on their APIs, says Bernie Walsh, worldwide sales and joint managing director, SGL


There’s hardly a single software system in the broadcast media and entertainment industry that doesn’t have hooks that allow the exchange of data or remote control from another system or platform. Whether it’s file-based QC, ingest, archive, playout or just plain old MAM there are nearly always contact points between specialist applications or services.


For many years, the need to parachute software engineers into a customer site was pretty much a part of everyday life. However, as the industry has become more comfortable with the concept of software systems, so too many customers have become comfortable with integration mechanics and processes. Technology has played a significant part in this transition aside from bespoke interfaces. It’s become much easier with languages like XML. But the human readable nature of XML is not enough though: there’s still a responsibility for those implementing it (on the server side) to ensure that commands to control the software are not


ambiguous, but can be easily understood. From an archive installation perspective the easiest and most important aspect will always be the need to backup and copy content into a protective archive environment. The increase in the number of broadcasters and end users that have the skillsets to develop their own tools in- house to perform these tasks is significant. But although IT protocols like REST offer simple commands for basic storage, a true media-based archive system is far more complex, the most obvious differentiator being the use of Globally Unique Identifiers (GUIDs) within any larger workflow


Working on the interface Opinion


One of the key definitions that separates an archive content management system and a Hierarchical Storage


Management system (HSM) is the use of these GUIDs. With solutions like SGL’s FlashNet it’s possible to get the status of any content held within the archive based on this GUID. Generally an overarching Media or Production Asset


Bernie Walsh: ‘No need to parachute in software engineers’


Management (MAM or PAM) platform will be responsible for administering these.


A key aspect to implementing


an archive system to a MAM/PAM platform is to ensure that specific content is available at any given time – the most


obvious scenario being that a clip has been archived and the tape containing that clip has been removed from the robotic library. Systems like FlashNet have to deal with this situation regularly. From an API perspective, though, how does the MAM system know that the clip is available directly from the library or if human intervention required? An API call will check that any given GUID is available right now. The MAM/PAM system (which would be the primary user interface in this case) can then prompt the user to locate the appropriate tape and put it back into the library. From there the automated retrieval of the content can continue.


It’s often been the case that


software companies have not focused enough on their APIs. As a result they have implemented features within their applications that have taken them away from their core competencies and strategic partners. Customers still want the choice of best of breed for many solutions. 7J15a


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