Cinedeck and axle Video have launched SetMeUp, a complete, pre-packaged, cost-effective HD and 4K/UHDTV on-set workflow solution enabling acquisition/playback, radically simple media management and ingest storage for live and episodic broadcast TV production.
A solution for the approaching TV pilot season, SetMeUp is built into a convenient, wheeled, rackmount enclosure, and includes everything needed to capture, playback, store and manage HD and 4K/UHDTV video content on-set. With these capabilities, SetMeUp delivers an ultra-fast and easily affordable gateway from production-to-editorial, and frees production teams from the traditional expense and lock-in of proprietary systems.
The main components of SetMeUp are:
• Cinedeck ZX – a modular, on-set 4K/UHDTV-1/HD/SD record/playback platform with four simultaneous record channels and native encoding to ProRes, DNx, XDCAM, AVC-I, or virtually any other codec and wrapper. Cinedeck’s ingest channels also automatically create H.264 proxy files that are used for instant browsing in axle Gear Pro.
• axle Gear Pro media management system – offers browser-based cataloging, search, review and approval via a simple user interface. Axle’s easy and intuitive user-interface and storage-first approach mean the on-set team will be instantly familiar with how media is stored and managed, and no training is required.
• Ingest storage – SetMeUp comes configured with 18TB of storage optimized for capturing incoming media. The Cinedeck ZX is configured with 2TB SSD storage (with an 8TB option) for immediate capture, regardless of any network connectivity, while the axle Gear Pro is configured with 16TB of usable RAID10 NAS storage for longer-term capture and management of media.
These SetMeUp components are mounted in an easily-transportable rack case to simplify on-set deployment, along with a wide variety of support gear. This includes a powerful Gigabit Ethernet network switch, with 12 open ports, for the attachment of workstations, additional storage, routers, audio and wireless equipment, and a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) to handle intermittent loss of power.
The SetMeUp system makes media instantly available, while keeping native assets secure and easily searchable. It delivers seamlessly to non-linear editing systems from Apple (FCP7, FCPX), Adobe (Premiere Pro CC, Prelude CC, and Anywhere distributed editing solutions) and Avid (Media Composer).
The system also includes open rack space, Gigabit network interfaces and power connections to accommodate two types of optional integrated storage: editing and archival. Supported editing storage options include Facilis Terrablock, Avid ISIS 5500, SmallTree GraniteStor and DDP Dynamic Drive Pool disk arrays. Archival options include QNAP and SpectraLogic Verde NAS appliances, XenData SX-10 LTFS appliances and IBM LTFS tape libraries.
SetMeUp is available for purchase from resellers starting at $59,950, for rental at rates from $8,000 per month. There is also a range of lease-to-buy options and additional configurations include 10GB Ethernet connectivity. All configurations are available immediately. Axle Video and Cinedeck will demonstrate SetMeUp at a customer event to be held in February.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads โ essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More