5D Cyborg Teams with BEAM.TV to Demonstrate New Collaborative Production Tools

Media solutions developer 5D is linking up with BEAM.TV, theindustry standard in online approval for television advertising andpostproduction, to demonstrate the power of internet delivery intoday’s film and television industry.

The first fruits of the technology partnership between 5D andBEAM.TV were shown at NAB 2002, where 5D Cyborg v2 compositingdemonstrations were published directly to the Internet via BEAM.TV forviewing anywhere in the world.

The NAB installation also featured BEAMBOX, a specifically developedplayer that enables all assets sent via BEAM.TV to be viewed on atelevision monitor. MPEG, QuickTime, Real, and Windows Media files canbe stored on-line but viewed as reels and annotated with real-timetext-based comment. BEAMBOX is currently being shipped to agenciesincluding Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Publicis, M&CSaatchi, BBH, and Lowe who store their assets on the central BEAM.TVserver.

“Film and television production and post production havebecome ‘global’ propositions,“ said Marc Dando, adirector of 5D. “Motion picture and advertising agencyexecutives, directors and digital artists are often in differentplaces, often on other continents, as projects progress through thepostproduction cycle. One of the biggest requirements is the need toprovide effective online communications. 5D’s link with BEAM.TVdemonstrates how simple and cost effective it is to send, view andarchive the result of a 5D Cyborg compositing session in a range ofdifferent film and television media. It’s the next best thing tobeing there.”

Andy Barmer, director of new media at BEAM.TV, commented, “Thefuture of postproduction is the movement of files straight from toolslike 5D Cyborg allowing agency and production staff to view cutswherever they are in the world, without being in the suite with thedigital artist. The idea of exporting out of 5D Cyborg and publishingstraight to BEAM in any chosen format will create a fast and simpleworkflow, which is something that BEAM has been advocating for the pasttwo years. We are excited at the possibilities of working with 5D tobring this to fruition.”

BEAM.TV is a global network of production partners founded byOscar-winning postproduction facility The Mill. BEAM provides fast andefficient management of on-line video via a series of complementaryservices. Review and Approval is conducted via secure personalisedwebsites and is complemented by tape-in tape-out delivery via BEAM.TVglobal partners. The BEAM.TV archive is a cost effective alternative toproprietary methods of media asset management and supported by a robusttechnical architecture and an unsurpassed level of service.