TEWKSBURY, Mass., January 13, 2010 - Avid® (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced that a number of the world’s most prestigious productions have recently selected Avid’s industry-leading audio and video solutions to enhance productivity, streamline workflows and facilitate HD production. Some of the latest customers to leverage Avid solutions include: C2K, Clair, Eurosport, FotoKem, Maryland Public Television, Perth Theatre Trust, Sendai Television, “The Colbert Report,” University of Las Vegas (UNLV) and UTV.
Studio and Television Production
Television’s hottest productions, including “The Colbert Report,” “Californication,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Make It or Break It” and “10 Things I Hate About You,” rely on Avid audio and video editing solutions to create today’s most popular programs, both in the studio and in the field.
• In order to achieve a studio-grade production workflow while working in the field, “The Colbert Report” selected Avid Media Composer® Mojo DX solutions for its recent broadcast from Iraq. During a two-day and four-episode location shoot from Camp Victory in Baghdad, the Colbert production team created a makeshift postproduction studio equipped with a total of four Media Composer systems for both editing and playback. The team was able to deliver studio-quality programming as a result of the systems’ real-time effects processing and audio ingest and playout features.
• FotoKem, a full service post production and rental facility in Burbank, Calif., recently upgraded its fleet of Avid solutions to help clients working on television shows such as “Californication,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Make It or Break It” and “10 Things I Hate About You.” The team added multiple Avid Unity™ shared storage, Media Composer® Nitris® DX and Symphony™ Nitris® DX systems to smoothly share files and enhance productivity during the editorial process.
“The ‘Dancing with the Stars’ production team requires a high-performance editing workflow to keep pace with the rigors of reality show production,” said Jon Mauldin, director of technology and support at FotoKem. “Using an end-to-end Avid workflow within the show’s tapeless environment, DWTS’ creative team is able to ingest HD footage directly into the edit bays during live, multi-camera broadcasts. The team can begin editing immediately to ensure broadcast production deadlines are met, while maintaining the quality of the programming.”
Additionally, editors at FotoKem’s “Keep Me Posted” facility are able to view and cut footage as it arrives to create dailies for “Make It or Break It” using an Avid workflow. Shot on Sony’s EX3 XDCAM HD camcorder, media is brought in via Avid’s AMA for output from the Symphony Nitris DX system, giving editors a head start on editing by providing direct access to file-based video without having to move, import or transcode media.
Broadcast
Broadcasters including Sendai Television (Japan), Eurosport (France), Maryland Public Television (United States) and UTV (Northern Ireland) have invested in a number of Avid HD news solutions to improve production efficiencies and ultimately provide an enhanced experience for viewers.
• Sendai Television reports that it reduced production time of its news and sports broadcast by nearly 50 percent with its Avid AirSpeed® Multi Stream and Avid Unity™ MediaNetwork-based shared storage system —part of an end-to-end Avid HD workflow— which allows them to begin editing of news and sports content during the ingest process.
• Eurosport was looking to transition its operations to a completely tapeless, end-to-end HD workflow. The company deployed multiple Avid Unity ISIS® shared storage and Avid Interplay® production asset management systems. It also deployed Interplay® Assist, NewsCutter® and Media Composer Nitris DX systems and AirSpeed Multi Stream ingest and playout servers, as well as Avid Deko® and PostDeko™ graphics creation plug-ins.
• Maryland Public Television is completing the transition to a tapeless HD workflow and establishing a file-based delivery system for broadcast and post production. In order to ensure a dynamic and efficient editing process that could meet evolving resolution requirements, they purchased a number of solutions including: a Unity shared storage system, several Symphony Nitris DX editing and finishing solutions as well as Avid Pro Tools® and ICON D-Control™ ES systems. For graphics production and branding, they also selected Deko 3000 and PostDeko graphics systems and a DekoCast™ automated edge-graphic system.
• UTV has been able to speed ingest, viewing and editing of Panasonic P2 media —including live external feeds seconds after recording begins— by using Avid HD News solutions. Now, UTV reports news material can be ingested at up to 20 times faster than real-time. Additionally, UTV’s television, radio and online news editors are streamlining the editorial process and maximizing speed-to-air for breaking news stories across mobile, Web and broadcast platforms with centralized and immediate access to broadcast production assets.
Live Sound
Audio system providers CLAIR and Perth Theatre Trust are tapping Avid’s family of VENUE live sound production systems to provide its sound engineers with easy-to-use digital mixing tools that deliver studio-grade sound, regardless of venue size.
• CLAIR, a leading global sound reinforcement provider, added multiple VENUE SC48 live sound solutions to its inventory to provide state-of-the-art mixing and monitoring for its repertoire of live acts. The company is now equipped with more than 100 VENUE consoles.
• Perth Theatre Trust (PTT), a management company in Western Australia, upgraded to multiple VENUE Profile digital live sound consoles with Pro Tools recording interfaces to replace analog sound systems at flagship venues, including The Perth Concert Hall and His Majesty’s Theatre.
Education
The University of Las Vegas (UNLV) recently deployed Avid’s audio and video solutions to provide students with marketable digital content production skills to compete in today’s complex news production industry.
• The university has furnished its new state-of-the art media lab, The Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies, with Avid HD news solutions to provide students with hands-on experience using the same solutions found in the majority of professional broadcast environments.
“All of our journalism students — whether they are studying print or broadcast media — need to learn the art of digital news production to keep up with today’s 24-7, any where, any time news world,” said Laurie Furth, assistant director, Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies at UNLV. “With Avid’s industry-standard newsroom solutions, we’re able to provide our students real-world training that gives them a leg-up in their post-graduate job search. And tools like Avid Active Content Manager — which make it easy for our students to simultaneously edit stories for both broadcast and Web distribution — helps them hone the ability to quickly and cost-effectively produce a multi-point newscast; a real value to any news group.”
About Avid
Avid creates the digital audio and video technology used to make the most listened to, most watched and most loved media in the world – from the most prestigious and award-winning feature films, music recordings, television shows, live concert tours and news broadcasts, to music and movies made at home. Some of Avid’s most influential and pioneering solutions include Media Composer, Pro Tools, Avid Unity, Interplay, Oxygen 8, Sibelius® and Pinnacle Studio™. For more information about Avid solutions and services, visit www.avid.com, del.icio.us, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube; connect with Avid on Facebook; or subscribe to Avid Industry Buzz.
© 2010 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Avid, the Avid Logo, Avid Active, Avid Unity, Airspeed, D-Control, Deko, DekoCast, iNEWS, Interplay, ISIS, Media Composer, NewsCutter, Nitris, Pinnacle Studio, Post Deko, Pro Tools, Sibelius and Symphony are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. The Interplay name is used with the permission of Interplay Entertainment Corp., which bears no responsibility for Avid products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.