Telestream Enhances Avid Workflows

Solution Brief Rev July 2005 Telestream Enhances Avid Workflows Telestream s digital media transcoding and delivery products FlipFactory and ClipMail Pro allow you to re-purpose and deliver inbound media directly to Avid systems, and to accept outbound media from Avid systems for transcoding and delivery to production servers and other media systems. Contents Telestream Enhances Avid Workflows 1 Real Applications with Real Efficiencies 2 FlipFactory is a Powerful and Flexible Avid Companion 3 FlipFactory with ProEncode 4 FlipFactory as a Client on Unity 4 Sharing Media on Non-Unity Servers 5 Ingest via TransferManager 5 ClipMail at Work with Avid 6 Export & Import Specifications 7 Telestream products are designed to integrate and interact with Avid to improve the efficiency and extend the reach of Avid systems, saving time and preserving Avid resources. Telestream adds significant value in a wide variety of workflow environments and applications in the news, entertainment, television, corporate and education markets. For workflow descriptions specific to news, please see the separate FlipFactory and Avid News solution brief. For remote news gathering, please see the separate Telestream Launch and Avid Editing Systems solution brief. Page 1

Real Applications with Real Efficiencies FlipFactory and ClipMail are specifically designed for you to transcode and deliver your content whenever and wherever you want automatically and reliably. Automate Broadcast Server Delivery For promo and spot production, you can set up FlipFactory to pick up completed jobs ready for automatic distribution from Avid. As each completed job hits the monitored folder, the factory encodes it for broadcast and delivers it directly to the on-air server, and notifies operations personnel. FlipFactory frees the workstation from rendering the media, recording to tape, and eliminates the task of moving the tape to the on-air server and reloading it for broadcast. Approvals Editors can drop completed media into an Approvals folder, where a pre-configured factory transcodes and delivers it to each destination you ve set up in the appropriate format QuickTime, Windows Media, or high-res MPEG for example. Reviews and approvals around the world are also more efficient with ClipMail appliances. You can connect an Avid workstation via RS-422 and encode media on a ClipMail appliance via the VTR interface. You can also configure FlipFactory to automatically deliver MPEG files directly to ClipMail appliances for review and approval. Off-Station Rendering Instead of using your Avid workstation to render to tape, you can save a reference movie in a FlipFactory-monitored folder. When the reference movie is exported, the factory processes the file, rendering or flattening the media and encoding it as specified without consuming Avid Workstation resources. MAM Systems via FlipFactory FlipFactory can be configured to deliver media directly from Avid editors into Media Asset Management systems. In addition to transcoding and delivering high resolution clips for archive and low-resolution proxies, FlipFactory s optional Indexing Module can automatically extract metadata, thumbnails and audio levels. The metadata is delivered to a downstream database or content management system to facilitate search and retrieval. Page 2

FlipFactory is a Powerful and Flexible Avid Companion FlipFactory s powerful monitoring, transcoding and delivery features are an asset in any Avid environment. You can set FlipFactory to monitor media servers and transcode incoming media for direct import into Avid or storage on an Avid Unity SAN. FlipFactory can also encode completed projects for automatic delivery directly to media servers. FlipFactory works with Avid workstations via Fibre Channel or Ethernet, and can be configured as an Avid Unity client. No other product has the flexibility and power to integrate with Avid NLE systems as FlipFactory. FlipFactory Automates Avid Delivery to Production Systems Use FlipFactory s Avid Monitor or Avid s ProEncode front end to automatically flip media to other systems or servers. FlipFactory accepts exported media in popular Avid-compatible formats including QuickTime, OMF/MJPEG and AVI. FlipFactory works with flattened (rendered) files and QuickTime reference movies. Using predefined Automation Templates called factories, each file is transcoded and delivered based on the factory to which it was submitted. Use FlipFactory to deliver your final product to on-air broadcast servers, streaming servers, ClipMail appliances, FTP servers and other digital media devices over the same network. FlipFactory Reduces Avid Workload You can reduce Avid workload by exporting media to FlipFactory in reference movie format, saving valuable CPU time and resources while transcoding. You can also import media from other systems via FlipFactory without tape or manual encoding FlipFactory encodes files independently into DV or Motion JPEG format for direct ingest to an Avid NLE or storage on Unity via TransferManager. FlipFactory accepts media via a Telestream ClipMail, archive servers, HTTP/FTP servers, broadcast servers, edge servers and other sources. FlipFactory Delivers to Avid Systems FlipFactory delivers content to your Avid and Unity systems for editing over local and wide area networks, without special media cabling. Connect FlipFactory via Fiber Channel or Ethernet to match your network configuration. Factories Set em and Forget em Designed specifically to reduce manual production steps, you can configure factories in FlipFactory to monitor directories in Unity MediaNetwork or LANshare environments for hands-free submission. If you create a factory that monitors a Unity or other device, every time content is moved to the folder, the assigned factory in FlipFactory transcodes and delivers it to one or more destinations without manual intervention or management. Page 3

Using FlipFactory with ProEncode Avid s ProEncode provides a valuable interface tool, allowing Avid Unity MediaNet customers to easily send media to FlipFactory for transcoding and delivery to broadcast servers, streaming servers and other systems. Avid s ProEncode is a broker application, providing Avid users with an interface that integrates media submission seamlessly with their Avid environment. In addition, ProEncode comes with a Unity client license, which provides fast access to all the media on the Unity network. With ProEncode, Avid also provides their DV codec that enables FlipFactory to transcode Avid DV files into other formats. Using FlipFactory as a Client on Unity In an Avid Unity MediaNetwork SAN, LANshare or LANshare EX system for fast-paced or mission-critical media workflow, FlipFactory operates efficiently as a Unity client. The FlipFactory server can be configured as a Unity client with a Unity Connection License for Windows, including Fibre Channel HBA and GBIC. Because Avid workstations and FlipFactory access the same workspace in the Unity environment, the media is local to both the Avid workstations and FlipFactory, and FlipFactory shares the same privileges and rights as the Avid stations, simplifying media selection and access. Sharing Media on Non-Unity Servers FlipFactory can access media stored on standard servers, including Windows, Unix, Macintosh and others. In these environments, FlipFactory s Avid Monitor automatically scans QuickTime reference movies to correct media pointer references before localizing the file assuring trouble-free workflow. Page 4

QuickTime reference movies speed processing by localizing only the reference movie; not the media files. FlipFactory only accesses small packets of video and audio frames from the media files, so productivity on the Avid is unaffected. FlipFactory can simultaneously process files on an Avid workstation while your editors continue working as FlipFactory automatically does the work. Ingest via TransferManager The FlipFactory Avid TransferManager Notification Plug-in enables automated ingest of a newly transcoded FlipFactory media file into an Avid Unity media network or Avid DV editing system via Avid Unity TransferManager. The Avid Unity TransferManager product provides a mechanism through which media, not already in a native Avid format, can be easily moved into Avid workspaces. TransferManager is available as a Standalone application for an Avid editing system or as a Workgroup version using a dedicated server. The FlipFactory TransferManager Plug-in couples the flip process with TransferManager ingest, so that when the job is complete, the DV media with timecode are ready for editing. No import steps are required. Supported Avid editing platforms include NewsCutter and MediaComposer DV. Other networked media devices FlipFactory with TransferManager client software Avid TransferManager Avid MediaComposer DV NewsCutter or Unity Can run on the same server Page 5

ClipMail at Work with Avid Systems Review and approval around the world is more efficient with ClipMail appliances. You can connect an Avid station via RS-422 and digitize media to a ClipMail appliance via the VTR interface. The ClipMail family of MPEG encoding and delivery products can be frame-accurately controlled from any Avid editing system, allowing you to send video and audio directly from your Avid edit suite to your clients effortlessly, without tape. Print to ClipMail ClipMail systems can be frame-accurately controlled by your Avid edit workstation using Avid s Digital Cut feature. The ClipMail system is treated like any other RS- 422 controllable device. Instead of printing to tape, you can now create a digital file using the ClipMail slave mode encoding feature. ClipMail can then automatically send the files to anyone, anywhere in the world, over any IP network. Telestream s seamless integration between Avid and ClipMail is a great time saver for people editing on Avid systems. No longer do you need to print to tape for approvals or final delivery. Page 6

Export and Import Specifications Avid File Types for Direct Submission to FlipFactory: Flat (embedded) files: o DV Stream o QuickTime Movie (Note: for DS, the BlackMagic codec must be installed.) o OMFI Version 2 o AVI Reference (linked) files: o QuickTime Reference FlipFactory Output Formats for Import into Avid systems: DV Native QuickTime DV QuickTime with an Avid codec (Meridien, NuVista, AVBV) OMF (Meridien, NuVista, AVBV) Option OMF (DV) via TransferManager option Media Submission Methods from Avid to FlipFactory For automatic submission to FlipFactory, export the file to one of the following monitored folders: Avid/QT monitor (compatible with embedded or reference files) Local folder monitor (compatible with embedded files) Network monitor (compatible with embedded files) FTP folder monitor (compatible with embedded files) For manual submission to FlipFactory, utilize ProEncode or export the file to: Local folder Network monitor FTP folder monitor When submitting an Avid exported file to FlipFactory manually, use the appropriate source types when selecting the media file from the FlipFactory Submit applet: Flat (embedded) files can be sourced from: Local folder selection (or copy from local folder selection) HTTP or FTP folders Network folder selection (or copy from network folder selection) Reference (linked) files can be sourced from (depending on their format): QuickTime reference selection Open Media Format (OMF) selection Connecting ClipMail Systems to Avid Systems: Patch Video and Audio output from Avid system to ClipMail Connect RS-422 master port from Avid to remote control port of ClipMail ClipExpress has a single RS-422 port which should be switched to slave mode using the Client application. An RS-422 cross-over adapter must be used as well. Copyright 2005, Telestream, Inc. Telestream, FlipFactory and ClipExpress are registered trademarks and ClipMail Pro and Launch are trademarks of Telestream, Inc. Avid, Avid Unity, Media Browse, Media Composer, NewsCutter, OMF and ProEncode are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. July 2005 www.telestream.net/partners/avid.htm 848 Gold Flat Road 1 530 470 1300 tel Nevada City, CA 95959 1 530 470 1301 fax USA info@telestream.net Page 7 www.telestream.net