AMSTERDAM, SEPTEMBER 9, 2011 — RadiantGrid Technologies, the developer of leading-edge transcoding, transformation and New Media Automation service platforms, is making significant strides for New Media workflows at IBC 2011 as it announces that Version 6.5 of the RadiantGrid Platform (Stand 8.D29) is now available and being deployed. This latest version of the platform aims to eliminate the “Frankenstein” architecture in place at many media outlets and offers users a truly integrated New Media AutomationTM platform. The RadiantGrid Platform manages files through all the workflow required, from the non-linear editor (NLE) to the broadcast trafficking system.
“Though Over The Top (OTT) television and TV Everywhere distribution is ramping up in importance and Internet-based viewing is taking on more presence within the industry, many broadcasters are not prepared to effectively handle this large amount of content in a variety of formats,” says Kirk Marple, president and chief software architect, RadiantGrid Technologies. “This combined with the current ‘Frankenstein’ architecture found at many media outlets – different hardware and software pieces being linked together as needed with the pieces working independently, slows down the process. In this latest evolution of the platform, we have looked to further automate the process by integrating all processes under one simple user interface and worked with some of the leaders in the industry to implement live SDI capture, quality analysis and video and audio processing as well as integration with broadcast trafficking systems, all to help effectively deploy this content.”
Automatic Quality Analysis Module
With thousands of files coming into a broadcast outlet’s workflow daily from various sources, it is essential to have a process that checks media against outlet-defined quality control policies. With RadiantGrid’s new Quality Analysis Module, the platform will check the file for issues with the audio, video and ancillary data before moving it on to the Preparation Workflow Module and then on to the transcoding stage. If there is a problem with the file, it is quarantined and the user can decide how to proceed. Users can then triage their quarantined files and decide which files need to be handled immediately and what can be handled later. The Quality Analysis Module performs the same analysis post-transcode to ensure that all file formats are ready for distribution.
Preparation Workflow with Cinnafilm and Linear Acoustic
RadiantGrid has been working with industry-leading manufacturers Cinnafilm and Linear Acoustic to integrate their processing as part of RadiantGrid’s Preparation Workflow Module. Cinnafilm’s Dark Energy option will be offered as two plug-ins – Tachyon Convert, which handles pulldown removal and frame rate conversion and Tachyon Optimize, which performs grain and noise management. Users will be able to correct for loudness, upmix and downmix audio files and transcode to a variety of file formats via the Linear Acoustic AERO plug-in.
Scheduled Workflow Automation and Integration with Broadcast Trafficking and Other Scheduling Systems
RadiantGrid now supports BXF and other open standards to work along with many of the industry’s broadcast traffic and rights systems. As content is disseminated in various distribution formats, with each providing an opportunity for a separate ad placement, proper organization and coordination is essential. Through the latest version of the platform, intelligent scheduling of production material for future workflow and distribution management is possible. Users are now able to pre-define and schedule ad placement, lower thirds, branding and other NLE-driven functions within the RadiantGrid Platform. With the operational alarms built into the platform, notifications will be triggered when errors occur or a file assigned for processing does not exist.
Integration of Civolution Watermarking
With this new release, RadiantGrid now supports the integration of Civolution’s NexGuard forensic video watermarking into the RadiantGrid Platform. Forensic video watermarking for digital content that is pre-released can be a deterrent against content theft and provides a forensic analysis tool in the event piracy does occur. RadiantGrid supports grid-enabled transcoding with the insertion of the NexGuard watermark, in order to provide faster and more scalable performance during watermark insertion and transcoding. Civolution’s NexGuard watermarking applications for pre-release content are deployed in content production and post-production facilities worldwide and add imperceptible video watermarks — on a per content copy basis — which are resilient to analog/digital conversion, format change, recompression and various other forms of content manipulation. The process adds a unique imperceptible serial number to each copy of a given piece of content and for any output format. NexGuard offers enhanced content security, whether copies of content go to post-production houses for dubbing, circulate for review or are delivered to distributors. This watermark management service, offered by RadiantGrid, is based on an external watermark identifier repository.
Optimized Resource Management
Along with further automating users’ workflows, the new RadiantGrid Platform provides faster processing overall, due to the unique way it utilizes its server farm. The platform allows users to customize how many servers are being used for quality control and preparation processing, transcoding and metadata indexing. Now, with this new module, a user can designate three of their nine servers to handle all quality control and preparation processing while the rest would handle transcoding. The platform manages these workflow stages as separate queues and executes them independently so no single process is slowed down.
About RadiantGrid Technologies:
RadiantGrid Technologies is an independent software vendor which develops and markets the RadiantGrid Platform – a leading-edge media workflow services platform targeting Broadcast & Cable Operators, Content Owners, Advertising Vendors, Digital Cinema Companies, and User-Generated Content Portals. The RadiantGrid Platform provides media transformation capabilities including grid-enabled transcoding, multi-format transcoding, multi-track assembly, standards conversion, and closed caption extraction and upconversion, in addition to metadata management, storage management, and media publishing.
For more information about RadiantGrid Technologies, visit www.radiantgrid.com.
