Continuing to add features and capabilities based on customer feedback, Avid has unveiled several new upgraded versions of its established news production product lines that reduce costs and increase productivity.
The new Avid iNEWS (3.0) newsroom computer system, iNEWS Command (2.5) device automation system, Unity ISIS (2.1) media network storage system and AirSpeed Multi Stream (1.3) video server all deliver an open architecture that integrates with a variety of third-party newsroom systems and applications.
iNEWS 3.0 and iNEWS Command 2.5 offer new levels of openness and integration that streamline newsroom workflows and provide broadcasters and journalists with a greater advantage in meeting the demands of news production. New features include a NEWS Web Services API that gives broadcasters the ability to integrate third-party systems with the iNEWS system to access and modify news content.
There’s also an enhanced iNEWS user interface that allows customers to preview a video associated with an Interplay production asset management sequence directly in the iNEWS workstation, create hyperlinks within iNEWS stories and standardize the entry of story data using drop down lists and checkbox fields.
Finally, with iNEWS Command Control of third-party graphic systems, users can integrate third-party graphics systems like those from Chyron, in addition to Avid Deko graphics systems. Additionally, a graphics SDK/API is now available that allows any vendor of character generators, logo inserters, tickers and branding applications to build plug-ins that leverage their device’s capabilities.
The newest versions of the company’s networked shared storage solution, Unity ISIS, and the AirSpeed Multi Stream ingest and playout server are designed to optimize workflow efficiency and help customers reduce costs, as well as accelerate collaborative productions. New features include RAID 6 media protection within Unity ISIS. This provides customers with a lower-cost storage option to support broadcast production. Unity ISIS with RAID 6 provides highly-reliable media protection with 50 percent more capacity than mirroring technology, which is ideal for the handling of less bandwidth-intensive media.
In addition, the new Unity ISIS File Gateway allows any contributor to store and access content such as graphics, still imagery, text or lower-resolution video in Unity ISIS. Customers may do this from any Windows, MAC or Linux workstation, via standard network attached (NAS) protocols. There’s also Mac OS X Snow Leopard client support on Unity ISIS
AirSpeed Multi Stream server now includes support for the company’s DNxHD codec, which features ingest and playout support for an end-to-end HD workflow in a single chassis. The new AirSpeed Multi Stream server now supports the ingest and playback of DNxHD 185 and 220 10-bit HD video, and twice the number of DNxHD 120 and 145 8-bit HD video streams compared with earlier generations of AirSpeed Multi Stream.
AirSpeed Multi Stream IsoSync saves customers production time and effort in live, multicamera television by enabling frame-accurate, simultaneous video capture from multiple cameras directly into Unity storage systems through AirSpeed and AirSpeed Multi Stream servers for immediate editing. The record, start and stop of any AirSpeed server can now be synchronized — optimizing multicamera workflows by ensuring all feeds are on the same frame at the same time.
iNEWS v3.0, iNEWS Command v2.5 and AirSpeed Multi Stream v1.3 are available now. Unity ISIS v2.1 will be available later this month.
