By A SHOOT Staff Report

Keeping current in a constantly changing marketplace can be a daunting challenge. So to get a better handle on significant new product intros, to sift through developments unveiled at IBC2015 and SIGGRAPH, and to gauge the impact of technologies on artists and clients, SHOOT initiated this Production & Post Equipment, Software and Technology Editorial Survey canvassing a cross-section of execs from leading manufacturers spanning production, post, visual effects, workflow, storage software and tools.

Respondents are from such companies as Panavision, FilmLight, SGL, Blackmagic Design, AJA Video Systems, SGL, Autodesk and Shotgun.

The following six questions were posed to these execs:

1) What’s the most substantive new product you’ve introduced to the market this season and why is it significant in terms of the void it has filled or the need it has addressed?

2) What was the biggest development at the recent IBC2015 in terms of your company and/or the industry at large? And what lesson(s) did you learn from that development or your IBC experience?

3) What was the biggest development at the recent SIGGRAPH confab in terms of your company and/or the industry at large?

4) Share a recent client success story relative to a tool or technology you provided.

5) What is (are) the biggest challenge(s) faced by your company in a changing industry landscape? And how do you plan to meet that (those) challenge(s)?

6) How have the markets you serve changed over the past year or two and how has your company evolved to successfully meet those changes?

Here are excerpts from the industry feedback. 

Bryce Button
Product Marketing Manager
AJA Video Systems
1) While the move to 4K in recent years has become more prevalent for camera capture, the reality is that to launch 4K channels opens up the requirement to scale huge archives of HD material—both commercials and programming for compatibility with the newly generated material. We recently introduced FS3, the newest product in the company’s line of professional frame synchronizers that helps producers, broadcasters and production companies easily combine their new 4K material with HD library content seamlessly, using AJA’s proven and leading scaling technology. With FS3, HD or SD source material can be upconverted to three different 4K outputs simultaneously, filling a significant void in the 4K production chain.

4) AJA’s first 4K production camera, CION debuted last year and has been gaining popularity with commercial shooters among many other genres. Director/DP TJ Derry has shot several great spots with CION, including one for EZ Seed. Using CION with Zeiss Super Speed MK2 primes, the commercial was shot almost wide open with very minimal light, and Derry was impressed with how good the footage looked and the extremely low noise floor of the captured image. CION’s ergonomics also simplified run-and gun-style shooting for Derry who has been shooting and directing for almost ten years.

6) In the past few years, AJA has been servicing many more new clients moving into AV markets and now IP-based broadcasting. On the AV side, we’ve seen a great demand for support of streaming workflows—and we’ve gone down that path with both our KONA and Io product lines working with partners like vMix and Telestream’s Wirecast system. We also recently introduced a line of HDBaseT products that are all about utilizing a facility’s legacy infrastructure to get professional broadcast baseband video moving throughout locations over Ethernet cabling. On the IP front, the fact that the newly introduced Newtek NDI platform will work with our KONA, Io and T-TAP products, means that many of our customers can leverage existing technology investments in AJA products to drive IP networks.

Bob Caniglia
Senior Regional Manager, Eastern North America
Blackmagic Design
1) The Blackmagic URSA Mini provides a lightweight solution for cinematographers looking for a Super 35 digital film camera that’s comfortable enough to use all day. Designed for handheld use during commercial shoots and more, the miniaturized camera features a 4.6K sensor, up to 15 stops of dynamic range, and a switchable global or rolling shutter.

It includes additional features – built-in histograms, focus assist, audio level meters, dual RAW and ProRes recorders, high-quality stereo microphones and a 5” fold out screen that can be used as an on set monitor – that reduce needed on-set equipment for shoots since so much is already built into the camera.

Furthermore, we announced a B4 lens mount modification for URSA Mini PL that allows it to use broadcast HD lenses

2) During IBC2015 we announced that our professional editing and color correction software, DaVinci Resolve 12, was shipping, which marked a significant update for the software.

We worked with thousands of our customers, including a significant number of those in advertising post production, when designing the solution and fine-tuning it’s editing and color correction features. Taking their workflows and preferences into account during development allowed us to best meet our customers needs with the end result that rolled out at IBC2015.

It was no surprise that one of the first projects created with DaVinci Resolve 12 Studio right after it’s rollout was a national Brazilian McDonalds spot that production and post house O2 Filmes shot, edited and color graded with Blackmagic Design products.

3) Fusion 8, the latest version of our visual effects (VFX) and motion graphics software, became available for public beta. This was especially important to the advertising post production community that uses Macs or open source, as Fusion 8 is the first version of the software that supports Mac OS X and Linux.

Now, anyone with a Mac or Windows computer can get access to the same high-end VFX tools used by Hollywood’s elite artists. In addition, projects can easily move between Mac, Linux and Windows versions of Fusion so customers can work on the platform of their choice.

The beta for Fusion 8 Studio, the paid version that adds stereoscopic 3D tools and is designed for multi-user workgroups and larger studios, will be available shortly.

4) O2 Filmes, the largest production and post production house in Brazil, recently shot a national McDonalds spot with Blackmagic URSA EF and Production Camera 4K, and then edited and color graded it with the recently released DaVinci Resolve 12 Studio.

O2 Filmes creates a wide range of commercials, films and televisions shows that air around the world. The new McDonalds spot, which is currently airing, was their first project to be completely shot, edited and color graded using only Blackmagic Design’s solutions. With the help of DaVinci Resolve 12’s project sharing features, O2 Filmes’ colorists and editors were able to collaborate in real-time and meet the project’s quick turnaround of just three days from filming to distribution.

Melissa Davies-Barnett
Founder
Arc 9, Inc.
1) We introduced a comprehensive creative collaboration platform to present, manage, review and approve all creative content. Arc 9 combines features in many applications into one simple to use application eliminating the need to use 4 or 5 other applications saving time, money and technical headaches. Arc 9 is also fully customizable allowing companies to create their own branded media cloud platform.

3) A lot more interest in enterprise cloud applications. Companies are actively seeking solutions to increase their productivity and make it easier for their teams to collaborate globally.

4) One of our user companies services over 1 thousand creative companies Arc 9 has allowed them to bring all of their clients into one platform for creative collaboration with full version control. They have also been able to create custom reel presentations for sales and review/approval in one application. Arc 9 has allowed them to communicate and quickly make changes as well as growing their company without adding additional technical management staff.

5) Educating the market as to how Arc 9 tools can save time, resources and costs as well as seamlessly connecting internal teams, clients and vendors globally is a our biggest challenge. Technology has made it possible to do things faster and more cost effectively but old habits die hard. Arc 9 uses social channels and updates to continually educate the market.

6) More and more companies are embracing cloud technologies and actively participating in the development of the tools they need to run their companies. At Arc 9 we actively communicate with our users live online helping them educate their clients and vendors to seamlessly collaborate on a global scale. We also develop custom solutions to integrate existing tools companies are using.

Marc Hamaker
Senior Industry Marketing Manager, Media & Entertainment
Autodesk
1) This year we introduced the Stingray game engine, which brings real-time, photorealistic rendering technology to our product portfolio. While we’re not announcing new workflows or capabilities outside of game design or design visualization, it’s not hard to imagine how the core technology of a game engine could be implemented in a variety of entertainment workflows – from pre-visualization and virtual production in film to Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality applications in post. What’s most groundbreaking in terms of Stingray is that Autodesk is uniquely positioned to build new workflows between our 3D tools (3ds Max and Maya) and Stingray’s real-time rendering capabilities. This has the potential to be a game changer across the entertainment industry, and technology like real-time rendering will certainly be at the core of the future of storytelling.

4) One of our customers, Framestore, created some great VFX for the recently released Everest, a film about Mount Everest climbers who are engulfed by a violent storm on their climb, but survive against nearly impossible odds. The Framestore team used Autodesk Maya and Shotgun Software on the production, which involved the creation of matte paintings; shots with iconic views of Mount Everest, including the summit on Hillary Step; and big panoramic views.

5) The media and entertainment industry continues to face disruptive challenges with growing complexity, tighter budgets and new consumption habits that make it easier than ever for consumers to demand and expect high-quality content. We want to continue to make sure our customers are armed with the best creative tools to do what they love, and we’re also trying to help them by offering new ways to access our software on-demand with a variety of subscription options. We’re also investing in technology like Shotgun Software to help our customers collaborate better, even in the most complex creative environments.

Robin Kirchhoffer
Solutions Marketing & Strategy Manager
Dalet Digital Media Systems
1) With the launch of Dalet AmberFin version 11 at IBC2015, we introduced many enhancements to our scalable, high-quality media processing platform, such as native support for subtitle processing, UHD support on playback, DPX and HEVC support for transcode-in and XAVC HD / 4K support for transcode-out.

However, the real game-changing feature in version 11 is the combination of Dalet AmberFin with the Dalet Workflow Engine, which leverages a Business Process Model & Notation (BPMN) 2.0-compliant workflow designer to greatly simplify the orchestration and automation of complex media workflows.

Simple drag-and-drop design tool lets administrators easily model and deploy workflows combining user and automated tasks, and then monitor workflow instances in detail.

By clearly addressing the needs of media professionals, this solution is highly sustainable and likely to change the game for those of us in the business of transcode and workflow orchestration.

2) When I try to analyze the blur that was this IBC, I can’t help but think of the tagline for the latest iPhone advertisement: “The only thing that’s changed is everything.” OK, the tense might be a little off – perhaps “changing” or “will change” would be more accurate, but the announcements and discussions of this show have clearly indicated that we are on the threshold of a new era in broadcasting, media and entertainment.

As a first example, Video-Over-IP, now implemented in our Dalet Brio video server, promises to change production, acquisition and distribution workflows. IP fundamentally decouples the format and the transport, meaning that the same infrastructure could potentially be used for all resolutions and formats – taking advantage of which will however require a rethinking of how we provision production and playout properties.

On another note, “cloud” and virtualized infrastructure have been once again part of many discussions on the showfloor. At Dalet, we think that, rather than doing what we’ve always done but “in the cloud,” we need to take a slightly different approach. That’s why we introduced Dalet xN, our vision of how cloud and virtualization will enable new business and technological opportunities in the creation, management and distribution of media. Dalet xN solutions go beyond the concept of migrating a workflow or specific element of one’s workflow to the cloud or virtualized environment by extending and augmenting cloud and hybrid environments to provide a truly dynamic and flexible business infrastructure.

A lesson one must never forget is that innovation and breakthrough lie as much in new technologies as they do in smart rethinking of the way we do things.

4) We recently completed a high-profile project to allow digital media company Perform to expand its global operations. Dalet business solution provides MAM and NRCS advantages to power Perform end-to-end sports production workflow.

Thanks to Dalet powerful but user-friendly production and distribution capabilities, Perform was able to both reduce the number of different systems required and demystify the technical complexities that come with managing large amounts of content.

Specifically, Perform is using Dalet as the basis of remote workflow operations between the lead UK operation and offices in Munich, Amsterdam and Uruguay. This remote workflow, which is individual for each location, has enabled Perform to grow its offices and further plans for expansion globally.

Wolfgang Lempp
Managing Director
FilmLight Ltd
1) FilmLight has released Daylight, a dailies and transcoding application, into an already crowded market. Why? We believe, far too much effort gets lost between production and post. The creative intent doesn’t always keep up with modern workflows. Consistent colour across production, editorial, vfx and finishing is essential as a basis for achieving this. Daylight provides the missing link between our FLIP product for on-set pre-visualization, Baselight Editions for post, and Baselight for finishing. But it is much more than that. It supports a metadata based workflow through our BLG interchange format, that offers consistency as well as complete creative freedom at any stage. Using BLG colour metadata offers a level of productivity that is unmatched by other tools in the market.

2) HDR was the buzzword at IBC, and FilmLight has been working with its partners for a number of years now to make the most of this exciting technology. And again, our complete understanding of the colour science involved, and our framework for not only displaying, but grading and processing HDR content consistently and to best effect, has been absolutely crucial. HDR content is being created now, even before there is full agreement on the underlying standards. We can support our customers to navigate through this uncertainty with complete confidence, whatever their requirements are.

4) Our introduction of the “renderless”, metadata based workflow between editorial and grading has resulted in big improvements in productivity for some of our clients who have adopted it early.

Coronation Street, a longstanding episodic TV program made by ITV, were able to fully integrate creative grading into their incredibly tight schedule. Chainsaw in LA and Technicolor PostWorks in NY are two more of the many clients who have adopted a similar workflow, combining Baselight systems with the plug-in Baselight Editions for Avid. Instead of rendering new versions, they exchange metadata of the latest cut or grade, and cut post production time. The benefits are so obvious that by now a large part of the factual entertainment programs on television in the UK are going through Baselight and Baselight Editions.

5) As the commoditisation of the industry carries on, there is a split that becomes more and more apparent. On the one hand we have high-end post with stable budgets and demanding creative requirements, on the other a general race to the bottom for everything else. Unless you are exceptionally talented as a creative, it is hard to compete in a global market without barriers to entry.

We have been concentrating unashamedly on the high-end, and as a small company we can afford to do this. We want our customers to have successful businesses, and a bit of exclusivity does no harm at all. But you have to keep earning your reputation. That requires innovation and constant development. It also requires sticking to your core competence. You can’t be the best at everything.

6) As the cost of production and post production equipment comes down and everyone claims to be an expert colourist, there are three areas where we as a manufacturer can help our clients. Expand the creative toolset, increase productivity by improving workflows (within our own product range and also with partner’s products), and have experts directly supporting our customers. We are doing all three. To make colour grading an integral part of the production pipeline, not just a task at the end of the process, offers huge improvements in productivity. It requires dedicated tools at each stage of the process, tools that are integrated, flexible and that expand the creative freedom. All constantly changing as the technology evolves. That is what we have been working on, and that is what our customers care about.

Don Parker
Shotgun Co-Founder & Senior Director at Autodesk
Shotgun Software
1) We recently released Shotgun Panel for all Shotgun Pipeline Toolkit users. First revealed at last month’s SIGGRAPH Conference, the Shotgun Panel gives artists a simple mini-Shotgun user interface directly within the creative applications they use every day, such as Autodesk Maya and The Foundry’s Nuke, so they can quickly and easily access key information from Shotgun relevant to the tasks they’re working on and communicate with other artists on their team, without having to switch over to a web browser. A big focus for us has been tackling bottlenecks we see affecting our customers, and this panel helps eliminate extra steps that take the artist out of their creative tool and making it easier for them to connect with people on their team.

4) We’ve always worked very collaboratively with our clients and oftentimes that benefits the entire Shotgun user base when co-developed tools go back into version releases of Shotgun. The Mill recently developed a custom VR Shader within the Shotgun RV player that enables filmmakers to review scenes for 360-degree and virtual reality projects. The VR Shader, dubbed the LatLong Viewer, plays back all image formats supported by RV regardless of whether the image was stitched together from multiple cameras or rendered in CG. The same technology is now also available as LatLong Viewer in the latest version of Shotgun RV, so other studios will be able to benefit from it as well.

6) Over the past year or two we’ve seen a huge rise in interest in cloud and mobile functionality for visual effects, animation and production. We released an iOS App version of Shotgun that has been incredibly popular so far, and gives supervisors and artists the flexibility to review work from anywhere. We’ve also seen a big shift in the business structure of visual effects, with many studios collaborating among several global, remote located teams (or locations?)–those teams rely heavily on tools like Shotgun to keep projects organized, moving forward efficiently and to maximize the creative. Finally, we’re also impacted by the huge groundswell of interest in VR—and since Shotgun is a scalable and flexible platform, it’s adapted well to accommodate VR production needs.

Art Raymond
CEO
Levels Beyond
1) Levels Beyond produces Reach Engine, a platform enabling creative businesses to automate, enhance and measure every phase of media cycles. This has been our most exciting year of releases as our cloud and creative tools have undergone significant innovation. If we have to choose one to highlight, our Craft line of creative user tools is the winner. Craft allows creative staff to share in-progress image and video work with managers and clients, without leaving their creative software of choice. Those in Adobe® Premiere® simply tap “mark-in” and “mark-out,” then hit “review.” Reach Engine does the work behind-the-scenes to send notes to the right people, show them the clip, and then display feedback right in the editor’s NLE view. No more dreaded email chains and spreadsheets.

2) IBC hosted advertising agencies asking a lot of the same tough questions as traditional broadcast companies. Everyone who touches video in one form or another is looking hard at building media workflows that allow successful participation in the new data-driven advertising opportunities of tomorrow’s marketplace. Two Levels Beyond customers in the European advertising space demonstrated impressive client solutions at IBC that they built on Reach Engine APIs. Our company leaders were so impressed they’re working on partnership agreements that will make those new tools available for use by US ad agencies. More than ever, the statement that “all companies are now media companies” was accepted as a fact and no longer as a question.

4) Reach Engine Collaborate, our new task-based cloud manager, was well accepted and is being implemented by clients like The Mill in the UK. The tool set combines the best of on premise production efficiency with the best of cloud application support, enabling incredible new ways to work. Teams can post collections to the cloud and share them in a workspace. They can order high-resolution content after reviewing it in the cloud, to be delivered with acceleration technology worldwide. They can initiate tasks, plan work, and review team input, all while letting the system manage how best to be working – from the cloud or on premise. Best of all, our clients are using our open APIs and cloud framework to build their own applications and services.

5) We’re helping media companies and executives understand the landscape of the industry, how it is changing and what positions they need to take to maximize their company’s ability to adapt, test and talk to their constituents and customers. The world we work in is getting more complex, not less. The foundation and tools required need to be modern, meaning fast with a low cost to develop on, and open, with API’s that are available to all and easy to use. They also need to be multi-channel, with a user interface across all devices, and measurable in that they talk to analytics. With these elements at your core, which Reach Engine delivers, you’re in a fight over your business decisions, not your technology.

6) Our product teams are interested in the concept of Programmatic TV and how the Reach Engine platform can support businesses through the evolution of the 30 second spot into other kinds of creative, engaging video executions. We have built a media supply chain system making it easier for creative people to stay within their chosen tools. They can spend their time thinking about creative challenges, while Reach Engine automates the things that used to derail the creative process. Video formats, audio sync issues, captioning delivery, multi-site collaboration; we handle all of these issues with an automated workflow behind-the-scenes, leaving creative people free to conquer the key to a successful ad business – “What do I make that engages a consumer in the moment?”

Ramki Sankaranarayanan
Founder & CEO
Prime Focus Technologies
1) With 800 million iTunes users, 60 million subscribers on Netflix, and with 19 percent of U.S. Millennials using Amazon Prime, content providers are in a mad race to get content to digital platforms faster and cheaper. They need to do that with not only the lowest total cost of delivery but enable it to be more discoverable for the consumers quickly.

PFT’s CLEAR Operations Cloud helps do just that – not just store and transcode, but perform end-to-end content operations on the cloud. PFT’s Operations Cloud is a unique infrastructure that offers content enterprises the ability to choose the transcoder that suits them best, including Elemental, Rhozet, AmberFin, Digital Rapids and more, while utilizing PFT’s custom workflow orchestration to package and deliver.

2) We see the industry shifting to focus on the hyper digital consumer, going Over-the-Top, the increasing number of digital outlets globally, volume, speed and everything digital is the new normal. We call these Digital Next Realities. Being in the digital space, they’re dealing with challenges of discovery and providing a better engagement so the consumers keep coming back to their platform.

We learned our customers do have solutions to work from a linear broadcasting perspective, but when it comes to digital, they don’t have the tools to deal with the cycle time requirements. That’s where PFT jumps in to help, utilizing our enterprise software, CLEAR Media ERP Suite, we help companies reduce overhead costs and increase efficiencies.

4) Prime Focus Technologies recently partnered with HOOQ, Asia’s new Over-The-Top (OTT) service from Singtel, Sony Pictures Television and Warner Bros. Entertainment. HOOQ planned to roll out its existing service delivering Hollywood blockbusters and television series, as well as popular local movies and programs to customers anytime, anywhere, to consumers across Asia, including India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

The biggest challenge for any OTT platform is speed of delivery as content exists in different formats, varied quality standards, no subtitles, dubs, edits etc. Piecing this puzzle quickly for consumption requires technology. PFT’s CLEAR Operations Cloud is able to manage key workflows including content processing and packaging for HOOQ, initially managing over 20,000 hours of Indian and Hollywood content.

5) M&E companies must embrace technology to drive outcomes like greater efficiencies, lower cost of operations and new revenues. This is spurring companies to consider new models of IT, and Cloud is the new business elixir.

Reality is, content owners already have MAM on premise with content operations across the world that are functioning in silos. There needs to be a fundamental shift in thinking. They need to move away from a stand-alone MAM and think ‘Supply Chain.’ They also need to adopt technology that seamlessly integrates with their existing investment. With our revolutionary CLEAR™ Media ERP Suite on the Cloud, deployed successfully for the last 7 years, we think we’re in the best position to help our customers digitally transform themselves in this digital era.

6) With the continued growth and expansion of internet and internet-based technology, we are seeing more global collaboration than ever before. We are not only working with various teams across the globe, but we are working with global companies that are filming content in one country, sending it for approvals in another, and publishing in a third location. PFT has grown to a team of more than 1,500 people globally with main hubs in Los Angeles, Mumbai, London, New York, Toronto and Johannesburg. This allows our clients to have direct access 24-7.

We have also transitioned our technology to be mobile-friendly. So that no matter where you go, PFT’s technology can go with you.

Kimberly Snyder
President and Chief Executive Officer
Panavision
1) Panavision recently introduced the Primo 70s, a family of lenses designed and optimized for larger sensor digital cameras, including the Arri Alexa 65 and Red Weapon. The cohesive set includes 13 prime and 4 zooms. These are the highest performance cinematography lenses ever developed. Notable imaging characteristics include flat field, natural sharpness, minimal chromatic aberrations, excellent field illumination and close focus performance. Customers appreciate their pleasing aesthetic traits including roundness, dimensionality, pleasing skin tones and good bokeh. Primo 70s are compatible with all digital cameras equipped with Panavision 70 mount systems. Cinematographers on Spectre, Gods of Egypt, and Ride Along 2, have used the news lenses, as well as the TV series Scream Queens and many commercial shooters.

4) Panavision is proud to have closely collaborated with Robert Richardson, ASC on Quentin Tarantino’s new feature The Hateful Eight, releasing this December in Ultra Panavision 70. Ultra Panavision 70 anamorphic provides a 2.76 aspect ratio with 1.25x squeeze making it the largest widescreen theatrical experience available today. Panavision reengineered and modernized a complete set of Ultra Panavision 70 anamorphic lenses, last used over 40 years ago on the feature Khartoum. We also designed a special 2000-foot film magazine for the Panavision System 65 cameras—resulting in about 18 minute’s worth of running time for Richardson—to accommodate the long dialog scenes favored by Tarantino. This production required the unique talents of Panavision’s optical, marketing and engineering teams to develop the necessary technology and innovation.

6) Over the past decade, technology advancements have created an increasing array of content delivery platforms and viewing options.  4K, HDR, and wider color gamut displays are becoming viable options in the home and on the go – expanding the visual storytelling choices for content creators.  In response to this trend, Panavision has diversified its service offerings by including all the processes necessary for our clients to navigate these options.  Through the recent acquisition of Light Iron, Panavision now provides end-to-end creative services including cameras, lenses, mobile dailies, offline, and color correction as a single vendor.  The key to Panavision’s sustainable business is knowing how to draw from the success of the past while simultaneously innovating for the future.

Douglas Wynn
VP Sales Americas
SGL
1) SGL FlashPack: A complete archive and content management system solution. Everything you need for an integrated infinitely scalable media archive including: hardware, software, support, and integration with the Production Asset Management system of your choice. With no hidden costs the SGL FlashPack is ideal for Post Production, Corporate, Disaster Recovery, or entry level Broadcasters.

2) One of the biggest developments at IBC was the proliferation of UHD (4K). Obviously this means storage requirements will be increasing significantly. For SGL this reinforced the importance of Partial File Restore, (something that is included at no charge with FlashNet), as no one is going to want to restore a 2 hour event shot in UHD, unless absolutely necessary.

4) Migration from one an older version of LTO (be it 2,3,4, or 5 and in the future 6) to later version is a time consuming process. Recently SGL introduced FlashNet Migration Service (a component of FlashNet’s StorageManger) that will allow users to manage migration much more effectively and at no additional cost to the user. In the past files would be copied one at a time to from LTO-5 to LTO-7. With Migration Service the entire content of the LTO-4 tape is copied via cache to the LTO-7 tape. In the case of a migration of LTO-5 to LTO-6 up three LTO-4 tapes can be copied to an LTO-6 tape. While the copy to the target tape is executing, the system in parallel copies the next source tape into a second cache, enabling parallel copying. By using this process the customer realized a 50-75% faster migration than had they used the standard file based transfer.

5) Every sector has its challenges and archive is no different. Budget is key. How do you enable an ROI statement for an archive? Less than 10 per cent of all archived material is restored so it’s difficult to justify the cost. Other challenges include the choice between technology driven tape and disk or hybrid models and central archive versus local, Cloud, etc. DR workflows are also a factor, finding one that fits requirements and budget can be a challenge in itself.

To overcome these challenges ROI statements should be based on each individual customer’s needs. In NYC where property is a premium, something as simple as freeing up physical space by digitizing and eliminating large analogue tape vaults may be enough to overcome the capital investment. In terms of technology, the choice between central and local archives should be based on connectivity between facilities and station requirements. With regards to DR, workflows can vary from creating duplicate copies of all tapes in LTFS and storing the second copy remotely, to creating a mirrored facility connected by Fibre several streets or many miles away

6) SGL is seeing opportunities for development and growth in the small-to-middle sized markets of the broadcast, media and entertainment sectors. Price points of archive and MAM systems have reduced dramatically, making them more accessible and the importance of content preservation is now widely accepted. Other growth areas relate to DR and UHD.

The introduction of SGL’s entry-level FlashPack, providing the industry’s most effective content storage management system in-a-box, is specifically targeted for these evolving markets.

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