AmberFin Announces Second Generation Unified Quality Control Solution for Content Ingest and Transcoding Operations
Enhanced system enables quicker, easier and more effective QC decision making: establishes QC mark that industry can trust
Basingstoke, UK(19 Mar 2012)
At NAB 2012 on booth SU9005, AmberFin, a leading developer of file-based media ingest and transcoding solutions for content owners, broadcasters, sports organizations and post-production houses, will unveil the latest version of its Unified Quality Control solution for content ingest and transcoding operations. Called iCR Unified QC (UQC), this unique approach to media quality control combines multiple tools for baseband checks during tape ingest, file-based QC after ingest, and overall operator-controlled QC, including annotation and mark-up.
First introduced at IBC last year, already, the system has been installed in many facilities worldwide, including UK-based television network, ITV, and multinational media factory, TVT.
When first launched, UQC integrated Digimetric's Aurora system to provide file-based QC after ingest and checks for common file wrapper anomalies to prevent expensive mistakes. Aurora tools also automatically check for a variety of compliance violations, including container metadata and delivery metrics, thereby reducing the burden on operators.
At NAB, AmberFin will showcase development work intended to increase the number of third-party QC systems including vendors such as VidCheck (VidChecker), Tektronix (Ceriphy) and Metaglue (MXFixer). The provision of wider choice enables users to integrate UQC seamlessly within their existing workflows more easily. Also, the option of integrating multiple third-party systems within UQC empowers the user to compare and contrast measurements from the different systems, increasing overall confidence in the quality of their media files.
Customer feedback drives UQC's evolution
Incorporating customer feedback from existing UQC users, the latest version comes with metadata workflows and possesses additional logic which increases the system's overall efficiency and enhances the user experience.
The QC and segmentation workflows are integrated so that both timelines run in parallel on the same screen, which enables very fast and efficient operation, especially sending QC'd and segmented content to a cut and splice engine within iCR.
"With this new version of UQC, the operator can perform tasks with two mouse clicks with no need to import or export EDLs," explains Bruce Devlin, Chief Technology Officer at AmberFin. "This leads to very fast and efficient workflows where QC is not a means in itself but makes the whole workflow better. These refinements lead to an enhanced user experience with higher levels of trust in media assets for facilities and their customers."
AmberFin UQC establishes a QC mark the broadcast industry can trust
UQC empowers users to create a high quality file-based HD/SD master, provide unique file conversion to multiple formats and implement appropriate levels of automated and manual quality control, all within a single unified software environment. New levels of trust and confidence in the file/media quality are introduced, freeing up staff to focus on other revenue-generating tasks. AmberFin's intention is that iCR UQC will become regarded as an industry benchmark in media quality control
"With media organizations worldwide seeking to exploit the opportunities presented by new distribution channels and new media consumption patterns, QC across all these media forms is an increasingly important issue," comments Jeremy Deaner, Chief Executive Officer at AmberFin. "Our intention, by introducing unified quality assurance systems that integrate best in class third party technology alongside its own proprietary systems, is to create a QC standard that will rapidly become accepted as an industry benchmark."
About AmberFin
AmberFin is a company at the heart of solving file-based workflow problems for content owners, broadcasters, sports organizations and post-production houses. The AmberFin Media Factory, based on the iCR family of modular software products, digitizes and transforms new and archived content, combining a service oriented design philosophy with intelligent use of cost-effective generic IT. This enables customers to save time, increase revenues and grow in-line with business demands.
Unique to the Media Factory system, AmberFin's industry first approach to Quality Control, known as Unified Quality Control (UQC), introduces a QC mark that brings a new level of trust to media assets. UQC uniquely combines an automated process with a human touch, enabling more efficient and effective decision-making and new levels of confidence in the file creation and transformation processes.
AmberFin has experienced growth of 90% in the last year thanks to hundreds of iCR systems being deployed worldwide. Systems that are trusted where quality matters by some of the world's leading media organizations including Sony Pictures, NBA, Turner Broadcasting, ZDF, NRK, National Geographic, BT, Discovery and Warner Brothers.
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