Pronology, a developer of tapeless workflow solutions, has announced its new Location Intelligence feature for its flagship media asset management (MAM) system at IBC 2015 (Hall 10, Stand A26). Ideal for editors and producers, Location Intelligence enables a user to determine at a glance whether the content required is available immediately or needs to be transferred. This ensures the most efficient use of bandwidth and storage resources.
Many productions acquire and store their high-resolution footage-and even multiple copies of that footage-in locations that are often separate from where producers and editors need to work with it. The material could be located in various locations from storage pools in the same building, an OB van across town or even a facility across the globe. Instead of wasting valuable time and resources transferring unneeded media, or creating superfluous copies of assets that already exist, Pronology’s Location Intelligencemanages the entire process for maximum efficiency.
Pronology’s browser interface gives users instant access to view streamable proxy files of their content regardless of location. Users are then able to select their favorite shots, organize them into custom bins, and send them to edit stations or delivery targets as desired. At this point, Location Intelligence determines the best source to use for the request. If the media already exists in the proper location, it will be used in place; if it does not exist, it will automatically be transferred from the most convenient location, either as a full asset, or partially extracted “sub-clip,” and sent where desired.
“With this latest evolution to our system, Pronology has continued to evolve beyond the task of establishing a customer’s tapeless workflow, to giving them the tools they require for working more efficiently with their assets in that workflow,” said Mike Shore, co-founder, Pronology. “The Location Intelligence feature is the first of its kind and gives customers a powerful means of discovering where the content they need is being stored. This essentially erases the barrier of distance, adding greater efficiency to the production and post workflow, and providing economy of effort within an organization.”
As an example of how Pronology’s new Location Intelligence feature works, a large media company located in London, with multiple regional studios, might contract its postproduction services to an editing facility in Los Angeles. An editor working at the Los Angeles facility might need archival footage for a promo, but doesn’t know if those assets are already in house, or somewhere else. Now, with Location Intelligence, he or she can simply glance at an icon to pinpoint its location. If they need high-resolution material that is not available in their current storage pool, they can then simply request a copy to be delivered to their location. With Location Intelligence, geography presents no limits as the system is aware of the user’s location and how to best deliver content to that location.
Pronology’s Location Intelligence feature was recently deployed during the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015, in order to manage the multiple locations between the events and broadcast facilities in Canada and the edit facilities located in the United States.
The Pronology Location Intelligence tool manages all content formats, including 4K, enabling users who wish to access the highest resolution of an asset to do so, as well as facilitate those who can use down-res versions of the same asset. The feature is now available to all existing customers’ Pronology MAM systems.
