Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 2, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The Avid trend in the newsroom continues: in recent months, the digital-media all-rounder not only gained a number of notable new customers but also received new orders from customers that had long supported their newsrooms successfully with Avid products. Alongside German customers such as ProSiebenSat.1, ZDF and WDR, Avid once again convinced production and media companies in Eastern Europe with its products and services. The recent customer wins again demonstrate that Avid-based production systems have become almost indispensable in today’s television-production landscape.
ProSiebenSat.1’s production operation in Berlin was equipped with new Avid Unity 5.0 networking. Unity MediaNet 5.0 with Interplay replaces the previous Unity Media Manager systems. Avid Unity 5.0 enables shared use of real-time storage at lower cost.
In its Digital Production Current Affairs department in Mainz, ZDF upgraded the production system from Unity MediaNet to Unity ISIS and now has a total of twelve 16 TB ISIS chassis. In addition to an open IT architecture, the expansion provides powerful, user-friendly tools and the possibility of tapeless HD production. Important requirements included integrating existing Avid clients and supporting third-party products in mission-critical environments.
Russian broadcaster TRK 5, a major private station based in St. Petersburg, purchased a new post-production solution for US$1.7 million. Among other things, Avid is providing the broadcaster with a clustered Interplay archive with FPD middleware, twelve AirSpeed systems and a Capture Manager. Avid also supplied the corresponding instruction and training and supported TRK 5 in introducing the system into broadcasting.
Another Russian broadcaster working with Avid products is RTTV-Russian Today. The news channel upgraded its Unity MediaNet v4/Interplay system and will now work with Avid Unity ISIS. For US$750,000, Avid supplied six ISIS chassis as well as two System Directors and two 4948 Cisco switches. Avid also handled training, support, all contractual matters and other necessary services.
Avid is also present in Romania: Pro TV Romania chose a solution consisting of Avid Media Composer, AirSpeed, Capture Manager, Unity ISIS and Interplay. The background is the broadcaster’s move to a new building and the associated goal of implementing a top-level post-production infrastructure with Avid.
The following customers were also convinced by the advantages of Avid solutions:
· Süddeutsche TV Munich acquired Unity v5.0 with seven Media Composer Nitris DX systems. Media Composer Nitris DX combines the Media Composer toolset with the Avid Nitris DX hardware introduced that year to create a highly responsive, high-performance multi-codec SD and HD editing solution.
· WDR now also has networked Avid solutions in its Bielefeld and Bonn regional studios. The conversion to digital, tapeless technology in eleven regional studios is planned for completion by 2010.
· Private broadcaster bTV Bulgaria purchased an Avid/SGL solution based on Interplay Archive—the network service provides desktop-based archiving and retrieval of clips, sequences and other media assets through fast drag and drop—as well as the SGL FlashNet Server Cluster and a 40 TB disk-cache archive. These complement its existing Unity ISIS and Interplay applications.
