Convera (Nasdaq: CNVR) announced that
it has completed the integration of its Screening Room® video content
management solution with EMC“s Avalon Archive Manager (AAM) technology and
the Grass Valley Group“s Profile® XP Media Platform, two market-leading
systems already in use by hundreds of television stations and video
production houses around the world. By doing so, Convera“s video content
management capability becomes a fully integrated element of the broadcast
environment, from content creation throughout its lifecycle, ultimately
enabling broadcasters to streamline workflow and reduce the duplication of
effort.
With this integration, Convera has completed the first and most significant
phase of delivering the industry“s first fully-integrated digital content
management solution for broadcasters. Designed to consolidate all the
functional capabilities currently used in the video broadcast production
process, Convera is uniting its Screening Room video content management
capability with separate heterogeneous solutions for video encoding,
editing, storage and syndication. The combined integration provides
broadcasters and video producers with an open architecture solution for the
seamless indexing, management, production, manipulation, storage,
distribution and syndication of digital video assets.
EMC and the Grass Valley Group join Anystream and Context Media as part of
the first phase of Convera“s new digital broadcasting solution. Designed to
provide alternate distribution capability via the Internet, Convera
Screening Room also has been integrated with the Anystream Agility
Enterprise encoding platform that automates the creation and distribution of
top-quality Internet streaming media to any platform or device, regardless
of connection speed or media format, and the Context Media Interchange
Platform(tm) that enables digital assets to be shared, licensed and
syndicated to all relevant partners.
„As broadcasters make strategic and operational changes to support their
entry into and success in the digital media arena, Convera“s solution
provides them with the integrated infrastructure and capabilities needed to
accelerate their transition from analog to digital television formats,“ said
Pat Condo, president and chief executive officer, Convera. „Through
collaborative partnerships with industry leaders such as EMC and the Grass
Valley Group, we will continue to enhance the Screening Room product and
help the broadcast community improve operational effectiveness.“
Convera“s digital broadcasting solution, available today, is being
demonstrated for the first time at NAB 2001, the world“s largest trade event
covering the convergence of broadcasting, multimedia and the Internet, audio
and video communications, and telecommunications.
„EMC is pleased to be working with Convera in providing information storage
systems and storage management software for digital broadcasting solutions,“
said Doron Kempel, Vice President and General Manager of EMC“s Media
Solutions Group. „As broadcasters implement digital archive management
solutions, we believe that highly scalable and extensible architectures will
enable them to achieve new levels of operational efficiency and revenue
growth.“
„More than ever, broadcasters are driving for greater workflow efficiency.
As they transition to centralized models, they want to be guaranteed that
the assets and applications their users need are available across an
enterprise,“ said Mike Cronk, Vice President of Marketing for the Grass
Valley Group. „The combination of the Convera Digital Broadcasting Solution,
the Profile XP Media Platform and the ContentShare(tm) software platform
delivers finger-tip accessibility to these video professionals.“
The Grass Valley Group“s Profile line, with more broadcast content on it
than any other server, offers the industry“s most open platform, supporting
both the high-quality standards required for broadcast television, including
SD and HD, and low-resolution required for the Internet, as well as MPEG,
DVCPRO, MPEG Transport Streams (MTS) formats and Windows Media and RealVideo
streaming formats. The Grass Valley Group“s XML (eXtensible Mark-up
Language)-based ContentShare software platform provides an open framework
for information access and exchange that any application can use.
Enhancements planned during 2001 for Convera“s digital broadcasting solution
include tighter integration with non-linear editors and the addition of
broadcast automation systems and newsroom computer systems.
