6 minute read
Avid
from PRO50 2016
Avid is the world’s leading provider of audio and video technology for media organisations and independent professionals. Customers use Avid solutions to create, distribute and monetise the most prestigious and award-winning films, videos, music recordings, TV shows, live concerts and news broadcasts.
Ever since Avid led the revolution in non-linear editing over 25 years ago, the company has continued to invest heavily in research and development and currently holds over 200 patents. By envisioning and delivering groundbreaking and innovative solutions that fundamentally improve the way media professionals work, Avid has become the leading technology provider and trusted strategic partner for video and audio production, broadcast, live sound, shared storage and more.
The Avid Everywhere strategic vision addresses the entire media value chain - from the way media is created and managed to the methods used to monetise, distribute and track content - enabling broadcast, video and audio professionals to connect with their audiences in powerful, efficient, collaborative and profitable ways.
Avid solutions have been recognised with numerous industry and technology awards, including two Oscars, a Grammy and 14 Emmys.
The Avid Line-up To bring the Avid Everywhere vision to life, the company introduced the Avid MediaCentral Platform - the foundation of the industry’s most open, extensible, and customisable media production environment. The Avid MediaCentral Platform streamlines and simplifies workflows by tightly integrating all products and services that run on top of it, enabling customers to create, deliver and monetise content in smarter, faster, easier ways - with whichever Avid or third-party solutions they choose to use.
From large enterprises to post facilities, schools, recording studios, editing suites and professional home studios, the secure and protected Avid MediaCentral Platform offers common services and a unified front-end experience, no matter how professionals choose to access it.
Building on the Avid MediaCentral Platform, Avid’s industry-leading Artist Suite, Media Suite, Storage Suite and marketplace solutions provide customers with all the tools needed to create, manage, store, distribute and monetise content. Cutting-edge solutions, powered by the Avid MediaCentral Platform, enable media organisations and professionals to enhance collaboration, streamline production and
distribution, create and deliver higher quality content and maximise asset value with unparalleled power, speed and precision.
Broadcast Solutions Today’s broadcast industry is going through unprecedented change. In order to survive and thrive in this transformative era, broadcasters need to increase collaboration among their teams, optimise the value of their media assets and deliver higher-quality media that engages audiences on multiple screens. Broadcasters worldwide rely on Avid’s robust and scalable solutions, from iNEWS and NewsCutter to Interplay MAM, PAM and ISIS shared storage.
When Al Baghdadia TV, the independent Iraqi-owned satellite TV network, wanted to overhaul its operations in order to take advantage of file-based HD workflow efficiencies, it required a holistic strategy that saw the broadcaster fully embrace Avid Everywhere. The broadcaster had two key issues in mind when it decided to overhaul its technical operations: a phased station-wide migration to HD to maximise efficiency and quality of content, while significantly improving time to air for its news division.
Al Baghdadia decided to introduce Avid MediaCentral Platform as the foundation that would unify and streamline workflows across the breadth of its studio, local affiliate and field operations and has achieved a major business transformation encompassing full file-based operation, transition to HD and a closer integration of its studio production and field news gathering workflows.
Pro-Video Solutions Video professionals and post-production houses are facing unprecedented challenges. As media technology continues to evolve, projects are getting larger and more complex. It has become necessary to connect creative professionals in distributed workflow environments from wherever they may be. And there is unrelenting pressure to quickly create and deliver the high-quality content that today’s audiences demand. Avid’s best-in-class solutions, including Media Composer editing software, Avid ISIS | 1000 shared storage and the MediaCentral platform, streamline production, enhance collaboration and give video professionals the power and flexibility to create the best story possible.
Jordan-based production house Arab Telemedia Group produces a high volume of content, often under intense deadlines. In the past, fragmented technology workflows slowed turnaround times and made it difficult to access and monetise archived media. They also needed to begin producing content in 4K without dramatically straining their production infrastructure.
Media Composer’s video editing software with Avid Resolution Independence gives Arab Telemedia’s creative teams the ability to acquire, edit and deliver content in any format and resolution, from 4K and beyond. Media Composer’s floating licensing also
enables Arab Telemedia Group to easily share licences across its entire network and scale workgroups on demand.
In order to streamline and centralise its media production processes, Arab Telemedia Group also implemented advanced media management solutions from the Avid Media Suite. To effectively archive a massive volume of 4K media, Arab Telemedia Group deployed cuttingedge media storage solutions from the Avid Storage Suite, including multiple ISIS shared storage systems and AirSpeed servers. Thanks to the openness of Avid Everywhere, contributors throughout the organisation can now quickly access and monetise the extensive archive of valuable media assets.
Pro-Audio Solutions Avid audio solutions, from the Pro Tools DAW to the Pro Tools | S6 console and Venue family of live sound solutions such as the latest Venue | S6L and its smaller counterpart the Venue S3L-X, enable users to create and deliver premium-quality audio, manage complex sessions and high volumes of digital assets and operate more efficiently. With Avid, audio professionals of all backgrounds take on the most demanding sessions and maximise their creativity without holding anything back. With almost 4,000 speakers driven by 400kW of power and in use for 20 hours a day, the sound system for the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina is one of the busiest in the world and requires almost constant attention and upgrades. During peak season, the Mosque services almost 1,000,000 worshippers daily, so it cannot afford a second of audio loss. Having logged around 31,000 hours of usage over five years, it was time to make a console change in time for Ramadan 2015.
The sound system manager wanted to get the benefits of going digital and purchased a pair of Avid Venue | Profile desks which matched both his requirements and budget. Features including a headend that had an integrated audio analyser system, as well as a multichannel recording option were nonnegotiable, as were extensive plugin options. The integrated Pro Tools recording and playback as well as the virtual sound check functionality also proved very attractive.
The installation, while straightforward, took rather longer than usual as it had to be done live while the grand mosque was in daily use without a sound check. Another major challenge was the need to create a total of 114 snapshots to match the various combinations of nine Imams and 11 Muazzins. That alone made 99 snapshots for every possible occasion during prayer sessions. With the desks now installed and in constant use, the sound system manager is positive about the effect they have had on working life for the audio team.
With Avid’s 25-year heritage of innovation and leadership, Avid is uniquely positioned to help organisations and professionals succeed in the highly competitive and rapidly changing media industry.
CONTACT
Avid Aurora Tower, 19th Floor O ce 1903, Media City PO Box 500646, Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 559 0602
Social media: Website: www.avid.com YouTube: avid Facebook: AvidTechnology Twitter: Avid LinkedIn: avid-technology
