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IBC 2006

Aug 1, 2006 12:01 PM, By Dan Ochiva

The Multicasted Landscape

Ready for more? For many traveling to the International Broadcasters Convention (IBC), the annual Amsterdam, Netherlands-based show remains one of the best ways to follow up on the overwhelming number of presentations and exhibits at NAB.

This year is no exception. From Sept. 7 to 12, attendees can choose to attend day-long sessions such as the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) workshop or the ongoing program series, Mobile TV and Media on the Move. Meanwhile, the exhibit show floors, consisting of 12 massive halls, overflow with some 800 exhibitors. Some are familiar names — Sony, Thomson (though no Panasonic) — while others include companies based out of Norway, Russia, or just about anywhere else outside the continental United States.

IBC's Innovation Awards offers a second opinion about the most relevant of today's technology trends. Short-listed awardees include Mars Callahan's feature What Love Is (for its integrated use of Thomson's Viper FilmStream cameras and LUTher color space converter, and Technicolor's new Digital Lights software, which carries the color decisions made on set through the DI process), and T Systems Business Services (for its Digital Cinema Global Network Platform, an “end-to-end integrated solution” that marries a carrier-grade global communications network, distribution management system, and feature film playout).

Here's our own shortlist of just some of the interesting technology you'll see while strolling through the corridors of Amsterdam's RAI convention center.

Boris FX's enhancements and new versions of Boris Blue, Boris Red, and Boris Continuum Complete should appeal to anyone looking for price competitive post software. Boris Blue brings the company's well-regarded, easy-to-use motion graphics software into the production suite by offering realtime 3D interactivity. Updates since NAB include new image processors, such as Glow and Film effects as well as Deformer effects, that enable users to shatter and explode 3D objects.

Splice is Da Vinci's newest product. Released in April, Splice offers a nonlinear workflow for Da Vinci 2K/2K Plus users by creating a “virtual” telecine that delivers pan, tilt, zoom, and rotate capabilities in realtime. The hardware product blends key technologies from Da Vinci's Resolve digital mastering suite to enable Da Vinci users to expand and leverage their equipment.

One of the “turn to” companies for hardware- and software-based control solutions, DNF Controls offers an updated DMAT-EZ Sports Controller. Its VTR-like interface delivers a simpler method to handle instant replays, highlight-list creation, and playout by supporting 100 cue points and 10 playlists of 20 elements each per record/playback channel pair.

The Foundry, which always seems to have another neat visual effects trick to pull out of its hat, unveils Tinderbox 4. This is a new addition of filters for Adobe After Effects — as well as for its own products, Furnace 3 for Discreet and Forge, an automated dust-busting solution. Tinderbox 4 delivers 18 visual effects filters featuring new plug-ins such as Colorist (for automatic color correction and balancing), Cartoon (for a hand-drawn cartoon look), and Fire (for animated flames).

Front Porch Digital's DIVAnet works with the company's DIVArchive to provide content replication, disaster recovery, and business continuance functions across multiple facilities. The product replicates content between facilities, while offering a toolset for advanced content-lifecycle control for effective multi-site archive management.

While many thought Media 100 and its NLE software gave up the ghost long ago, version 11.5 debuts at the show. Highlights of the release include support for FireWire devices, P2-based camcorders, and SDI audio (for Media 100 HDX hardware), along with improved Boris Red, Boris FX, and Graffiti integration with faster rendering.

MTI Film's Control Dailies generates and resizes DPX 2K files to HD and SD. Be sure to check out the new Control Color feature, a fully integrated primary color corrector with built-in still store co-developed with Silicon Color, creator of FinalTouch. The image and audio control environment helps speed the delivery of motion picture dailies via faster-than-realtime image transfer and audio ingest, metadata collection, post synchronization in SD and HD resolutions, and output to various deliverables. The new Convey feature offers multi-format deliverables,

Network Electronics' VikinX Sublime is the Norwegian company's second generation small and medium routing switcher. Matrix sizes range from 8×8 to 64×64 and 128×2, while covering signal formats from analog AV to HDTV.

ScheduAll is probably the most widely used production and operations management software. ScheduAll's new browser-based Web Products suite help to increase the range, functionality, and usage of ScheduAll itself with modules such as WebScheduler (allows remote-access users to create, search, request, and modify client-scheduled work orders and detailed events across an entire facility network), and WebLibrary (allows users to view, update, and request media assets from the ScheduAll Media Manager library system).

Although it's not a new technology, it's interesting nonetheless that Grass Valley's Infinity camcorder and related Thomson products are now part of the BBC Technology Group's Starwinder project to move to tapeless HD production by 2010. The initial phase of the project will use tapeless acquisition systems from Grass Valley and one other manufacturer for an intensive series of trials over the next year to determine the corporation's future policies.

Another Grass Valley project offers London's Soho post community a “rapid response” service plan in which a team of central London-based telecine engineers (“within walking distance of virtually all sites”) deliver quick service to owners of Spirit DataCines, Spirit 4K and 2K Scanners, Specter Virtual DataCines, and the new Bones image processing platform.

© 2009 Penton Media, Inc.