With economic hardships limiting staff and resources, station groups are being challenged to find new ways to increase productivity. For some, this has meant the use of outside services to help pick up the slack, particularly in the area of graphics production. Every vendor now offers some type of template-based software architecture that allows anyone involved in content creation at a station to create graphic elements fast and relatively inexpensively. Chyron's AXIS online graphics creation services have been catching on with those looking to save on production costs.
The FOX Television Stations Group has signed a multiyear agreement to use the AXIS online graphics creation services. The system allows stations to develop graphics using a simple online interface and requires less computer power and specialized software than traditional systems. Gannett Broadcasting adopted the Web-based graphics creation services across all 23 of its TV stations nearly a year ago.
FOX stations currently use Chyron’s graphic asset management server CAMIO, the multichannel clip and still store system XClyps and HyperX graphics systems. Integration with AXIS enables the participating FOX stations to maintain a consistent on-air look and feel.
Using the AXIS service will enable FOX to quickly turn around graphics packages from a series of prebuilt templates. The service includes high-resolution maps, real-time weather displays, 3-D charts and graphics, financial quotes and a virtually unlimited set of tools to create topical news graphics.
The AXIS tools, accessed via an Internet connection, are designed to be used by everyone at the station, from reporters to production assistants to news producers. Stated benefits include making graphics production far more efficient, while allowing journalists and news producers to maintain control of content and graphic elements.
Chyron purchased Axis Graphics in January 2008. New features for the service, which were revealed at NAB, are a new library and order management system, integration with Microsoft Visual Earth images and a third-party developer platform to integrate the order system with a database.
