In Broadcast - October 2017 - 44

44

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 7 - Issue 10 | October 2017

InFocus

Graphics & Editing
Avid moves to the Cloud, Adobe offers
collaborative editing and Blackmagic's
focus is on real-time composites, writes
Contributing Editor Adrian Pennington...

T

he product strategy of most
production and post-production
vendors continues to be one which
shifts functionality and services into
the Cloud. Perhaps the biggest thing
in Avid's favour is that its brand
offers a familiar and trusted on-ramp
for content creators, facilities and
broadcasters moving to the Cloud.
At IBC, the company debuted
MediaCentral, a suite of tools accessed
by browser which promises to help
create, distribute, and manage content
using one common platform.
According to Chairman & CEO Louis
Hernandez Jr., Avid has spent half a
billion dollars on re-engineering its
product for the Cloud.
He said: "We've not just completed a
full transformation, we have created
a platform that is flexible and open
and agile enough to allow us to move
forward."
The MediaCentral production suite
is the firm's centrepiece. It costs from
US$20,000, includes Media Composer
and NEXIS storage, and has modules
and apps for editorial, news, graphics,
and asset management, as well as an
array of media services and partner
connectors.
Nor is it exclusively an Avid domain.
One of those 'partner connectors'
could be Grass Valley or Adobe,
should Premiere be your craft tools of
choice.
"MediaCentral delivers a unified view
to all media - whether stored on Avid
or another platform," said Hernandez.
"The user experience is common for

everyone." Avid is now rolling out webbased applications like search, edit,
logging, and publishing.
Media Composer VM is debuted for
a user to access a Cloud-based version
of Media Composer from a tablet or
computer. Media Composer Cloud
Remote is an application run from
the computer but it accesses content
located in the Cloud.
Microsoft is Avid's preferred Cloud
provider. Dana Ruzicka, VP and Chief
Product Officer, said: "The move to
Cloud is imminent for almost all of
our customers - but it's not a lift and
shift. It's an evolution based on their
business needs. This really is the
beginning of the Cloud era for our
industry."
ProTools news workflows and
archiving are already available via
Azure. Avid is also allowing users to
tap into Microsoft's machine learning
tools, for example, facial recognition
and social media analytics.
Avid also unveiled Maestro Sports
described as an all-in-one broadcast
graphics and video control system
targeting live sports production.
Its selling points include operation
by a single person so broadcasters
can save on costs. An operator can
integrate tracked-to-field graphics
and augmented reality to highlight
and analyse plays, as well as visually
tie sponsors into the game. All from
the same UI you can create virtual
formations and starting lineups,
nine-metre circles, distance to goal
indicators, and even virtual elements

Motion graphics templates were introduced to Adobe Creative Cloud,
bringing the power of After Effects to Premiere Pro

Motion graphics are in demand particularly for sports (Avid)

such as team logos, 3D objects, and
advertising.
The system includes a video server,
for graphics and video rendering,
and playout as well as connection to
external storage such as Avid NEXIS in
the studio.
Blackmagic Design's main focus at
IBC was on the Ultimatte 12, the latest
version of the keyer which Blackmagic
acquired this time last year.
Preferring to describe it as an
advanced
real-time
compositing
processor, Ultimatte 12, is for creating
composites with both fixed cameras
and static backgrounds, or automated
virtual set systems. It can also be used
for on set pre-visualisation by allowing
actors and directors to see the virtual
sets they're interacting with while
shooting against green screen.
Ultimatte 12 also features one-touch
keying technology that analyses a
scene and automatically sets over
a hundred parameters to make live
compositing easier. Based on a new
hardware processor, the machine costs
under US$10,000 and is available now.
Ultimatte 12 is controlled via Smart
Remote 4, which is a touch screen
remote that connects via Ethernet. Up
to eight Ultimatte 12 units can be daisy
chained together and connected to the
same Remote.
Announced at NAB and now released
are DaVinci Resolve 14 and DaVinci
Resolve Studio 14. Enhanced editing
capabilities,
multi-user
abilities,
increased native OFX plug-ins and,
certainly not to be glossed over, the
inclusion of Fairlight all combine to
make Resolve and Resolve Studio 14
a major post production tool. The

price of Resolve Studio has been
substantially lowered, making the
jump from the still-free Resolve to the
more feature-laden Studio easier.
New features coming to Adobe's
Premiere Pro via Creative Cloud
include shared projects, which are
like bins in Avid. These allow different
subprojects to all be stored inside a
master project. This means editors
can work on different scenes at the
same time while all having access to
each other's subprojects with different
permissions set for who can read/
write vs. who can just read and refresh
changes. Other useful new features
include more marker colours, close
gaps, and font previews. This could be
a 'game changer' for Adobe's place
in the multi-editor workflow of large
feature films and TV shows, which Avid
has dominated.
VR integration between Premiere
Pro and After Effects is made possible
by Immersive, a toolset which includes
Adobe's new VR Comp Editor in AE
with the ability to transform 360
degree footage into flat rectilinear
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.avid.com/products/maestro-sports http://chyronhego.com/virtual-graphics/silver http://www.adobe.com/uk/# http://chyronhego.com/virtual-graphics/silver
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast - October 2017
