Archive for March 21st, 2012

MUSIKMESSE, FRANKFURT – MARCH 21, 2012: Today at Musikmesse, Metric Halo announced the release of the Metric Halo Production Bundle for Pro Tools 10. The software will be available starting on March 26, 2012 and consists of seven AAX plug-ins compatible with both Native and HDX DSP systems: ChannelStrip 3, Character, Haloverb, Multiband Dynamics, Multiband Expander, Precision DeEsser, and TransientControl. The software may be seen at the Audiologistik booth – Hall 5.1, Stand A85.

This bundle provides the all the tools necessary to sculpt a mix. Four of the plug-ins contain audio analysis tools from SpectraFoo, giving the user visual feedback of the plug-in’s processing. “We’re thrilled to release the Production Bundle for AAX,” said Allen Rowand of Metric Halo. “We wanted to do more than simply port our existing ChannelStrip plug-in to the AAX format. We wanted to release a suite of more

See Calibre UK at NAB 2012, Booth N1817, 16-19 April 2012, Las Vegas

Cost-effective HD and SD motion compensated standards converter with real-time noise reduction and image enhancement

British video image processing hardware manufacturer, Calibre UK will introduce the new FoveaHD MEMC motion compensated frame rate converter into the broadcast marketplace at NAB 2012.

“The FoveaHD is a completely new motion compensated standards convertor designed for cost-effective and smooth SD and HD broadcasting. Typical applications for FoveaHD include newsgathering, mobile operations, outside broadcasting and live events to studio dubbing and satellite broadcast communications,” says Tim Brooksbank, Chairman at Calibre UK.

The convertor has multiple SD and HD inputs and outputs to enable upconversion, downconversion, cross conversion, as well as converting between all common frame rates. Adding to its functionality, the FoveaHD convertor is equipped with 3G-SDI and Analog I/O. FoveaHD provides motion compensated HD and SD standards conversion at the price of a standard linear video converter.

FoveaHD also has powerful image restoration capabilities for archive conversion, a valuable library asset.

VITC embedded time code is supported and includes automatic delay and correction.

The 2U rack system has control via Ethernet or front panel keyboard ensuring smooth integration.

“The introduction of FoveaHD follows the success of our VideoExcel series broadcast grade universal format converters and frame synchronizers, which will also be on show at NAB alongside the latest HQView530 video scalers, format convertors and scan convertors aimed at the professional video market,” adds Brooksbank.

Calibre UK will exhibit on booth N1817 at NAB 2012 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA between 16-19 April 2012.

www.calibreuk.com

Lasika Productions uses Dataton WATCHOUT for wedding parties throughout Indonesia

Based in Surabaya in eastern Indonesia, Lasika Productions is the largest AV rental company in the region and produces, on average, 15 wedding parties per week. While not all of these are elaborate enough to justify large-scale video displays, there is growing enthusiasm among couples for wedding parties that incorporate compelling multimedia content.

“The lucky couples don’t have the in-depth technical knowledge to specify AV products themselves, but in terms of a concept and an effect, they know exactly what they want,” says Stephanus Nugroho, Managing Director of Lasika Productions. “For those who want large-screen displays, the solution is almost inevitably based around LED walls, and the nature of the animations required means that it is often necessary to combine different sizes of screen together to form a single wall. For this purpose, we always use WATCHOUT™ by Dataton.”

According to Nugroho, the AV specification for a typical wedding party can include motorised LED modules that move up and down to create different display areas at different times of the event. Another option often requested is for the LED screens to be integrated with motorised curtains so that the display area opens and closes to create screens of different widths. In both such cases, WATCHOUT is used to ensure that the image displayed is always perfectly synchronised, not just with the movement of the screens but also with otherelements of the show such as audio tracks and changes in lighting scenes.

While some parties confine their AV to a single ballroom location, others want additional displays to be positioned in pre-function meeting rooms and even on the outside of the building hosting the party, as Nugroho explains:

“For a pre-function room, which is typically smaller than the main ballroom, we would combine framed and frameless LCD screens together so that you see a mixture of single screens and multiple-screen displays. Regardless of the number of screens we use, driving them with WATCHOUT ensures that all the images are correctly scaled for thesize of the screen.

“Externally, we sometimes use outdoor LED screens – in either flat or curved configurations – as a kind of welcome motif for wedding guests. More recently there has also been a trend toward projection mapping, where the whole façade of the building is used as a dynamic, animated backdrop for multiple projected images. In either case, we again use WATCHOUT to combine the images seamlessly together and ensure consistent geometry and synchronisation.”

Fredrik Svahnberg, Marketing Director at Dataton, concludes: “From humble beginnings as an audio manufacturer and rental company, Lasika Productions has successfully diversified to become the most innovative supplier of multimedia entertainment in its region. With its ability to sync different media together seamlessly and to a common timecode, WATCHOUT is the perfect fit not just for Lasika’s company skill-set but also for the ever-increasing demands of Indonesia’s wedding couples.

“We are delighted that our products are being used so inventively, and in ways which make an already special day even more memorable for hundreds of newly-weds and their many thousands of invited guests throughout Indonesia.”

www.dataton.com

New sideKick HD(TM) and sideKick HD Studio(TM) Digital Video Recorders Enable Instant Import of Camera Footage Into Avid(R) Without Transcoding more

Sacramento, CA – Jampro Antennas, Inc. — a world leader in the manufacture and design of radio frequency components and antennas for radio and television transmission — today announced the successful installation and commissioning of a custom designed, digital television transmission antenna for CFAP-DT, a French language broadcaster located in Québec City, Québec, Canada.

The antenna is one of Jampro’s Prostar Series, a JA/MS-20/39 SHO Broadband UHF Slot set to transmit on channel 39 in a side-mounted, horizontally polarized omnioid pattern. Jampro customized the unit to fit and travel within the confines of a hi-rise elevator, thus significantly reducing the expensive installation costs normally associated with a traditional rooftop installation.

“We delivered the antenna with polarization and transmission pattern specifically configured for CFAP’s tower location, environment and broadcast frequency,” said Alex Perchevitch, president of Jampro. “In addition, we designed the antenna’s dimensions to fit within the tower’s elevator to facilitate installation.”

CFAP-DT is a V Interactions owned station, which promotes itself with the slogan “Be Entertained”. It completed its transition to digital operation in August 2011.

About Jampro
Jampro Antennas Inc., established to answer the need for quality broadcast systems at a reasonable price, is a leading supplier of antennas, combiners & filters and RF components for every application in the broadcast industry. Reputed for innovation and customization, Jampro builds each system to the specifications of the individual broadcaster. From the first system delivered in 1954 to those installed today, the Company is committed to consistent performance and quality founded on solid engineering. Today, over 15,000 broadcasters worldwide benefit from the quality and performance provided by Jampro systems. For additional JAMPRO information, please visit: www.jampro.com.
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Jampro contact: Sonia Del Castillo
916-383-1177 • Sonia@jampro.com

Press Contact: Desert Moon Communications
Harriet Diener • 845-512-8283
harriet@desertmooncomm.com

Unrivalled image reproduction, optics and performance for meeting and collaborative business usage

Advanced meeting room and collaboration users now have more choice when looking to upgrade or invest in new projection and display technology. They need look no further than the new F21 projector from projectiondesign®. The Norwegian projector manufacturer today announces that this entry-level projector is shipping.

“Renowned for having the world’s most advanced projector technologies, the F21 reproduces intense graphics reproduction and reliability with no compromise in image quality. The F21 meets the specific needs and expectations of professional corporate users and is available at an attractive price point,’ says Fredrik Brostrøm-Hansen, Product Marketing Manager at projectiondesign.

Designed in a breathtakingly stylish pearl white cabinet, the projector will grace any boardroom or meeting room environment. In saying this, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. The new high performance F21 single-chip DLP® projector comes with full HD native 1080p resolution. It incorporates a high quality zoom lens and a long life lamp.

The projector uses projectiondesign’s unique RealColor™ colour management suite for perfect picture, ideal for stand-alone or multi-channel blended environments. For greater accuracy, RealColor allows the user to define a desired white point, match the colours from the projector to the picture on the screen or a print for true colour imaging.

“Now that the F21 projector is shipping we are able to deliver an even stronger product offering for the important corporate meeting room and collaboration space. With the F21 what you see is what you get, and that is no less than the highest performing quality on-screen image!” adds Brostrøm-Hansen.

The F21 projector comes with projectiondesign’s standard 3-year 24/7 warranty which can be extended up to five years, all service inclusive.

- ENDS -

www.projectiondesign.com

Las Vegas, NV – Broadcast International (BCST.OB), a leading provider of digital signage services announced today the integration of Intel AIM Suite, anonymous viewer analytics (AVA) technology, into their Managed Media Services (MMS) platform. Intel® Audience Impression Metric (Intel AIM Suite) software suite provides anonymous, real time data to generate reports that furnish a clear and, accurate understanding of the overall audience. The data analysis also enhances the opportunity for marketers to fine-tune messages to viewers. End-users utilize AIM Suite data to tailor their marketing and communications efforts to develop the most effective message length and deliver it on the most effective day and time.

AVA’s accurate, continuous research delivers precise analytics in real-time, giving media buyers a well-defined barometer of ad performance throughout an entire campaign. It eliminates the expensive field studies that rely on extrapolation and data sampling to provide a limited snapshot in time.

“Intel AIM Suite is the perfect complement to Broadcast International’s application suite”, said Kevin Lawrence, Vice President of Broadcast International’s Managed Media Services. “Our Digital Signage, Digital Posters, Tablets, and Gesture Based Interaction Solutions will have an even greater impact as we can dynamically adjust content based on specific triggers. Now our customers will have real data to judge how their content is registering with their targeted audience.”

Haroon F. Mirza, Director of Business Development, Anonymous Viewer Analytics, for Intel said “Intel AIM Suite technology provides tools to measure the effectiveness of campaigns. It is a valuable resource that supports the growth of every aspect of the digital signage sector. Broadcast International manages some of the largest enterprise media networks in the industry and continues to deliver economic returns by managing real-time campaigns which increase revenue, improve retention, and lower the costs of customer acquisition.”

About Broadcast International
Broadcast International is a leading provider of managed media services, including digital signage, live and on demand video, and streaming.
BI’s patented CodecSys software is a breakthrough, multi-codec video compression technology that cuts video bandwidth requirements over satellite, cable, IP and wireless networks. By slashing bandwidth needs, CodecSys enables a new generation of applications such as streaming video to cell phones, and offers unprecedented price/ performance benefits for existing applications such as HD video.

Broadcast International is a public company (OTC Bulletin Board: BCST.ob – News) headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT. For more information, visit: www.brin.com and www.codecsys.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
All statements in this news release that are not based on historical fact are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (which Sections were adopted as part of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). While management has based any forward-looking statements contained herein on its current expectations, the information on which such expectations were based may change. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future events and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are outside of our control, that could cause actual results to materially differ from such statements. Such risks, uncertainties, and other factors include, but are not necessarily limited to, those set forth under the caption “Additional Factors That May Affect Our Business” in the Company’s most recent Form 10-K and 10-Q filings, and amendments thereto. In addition, we operate in a highly competitive and rapidly changing environment, and new risks may arise. Accordingly, investors should not place any reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. We disclaim any intention to, and undertake no obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statement.

Contacts:
Broadcast International
Company contact:
Cameron Francis
Vice President Products
Broadcast International
801-562-2252
pr@Brin.com

Press contact:
Harriet Diener
Desert Moon Communications
845-512-8283
harriet@desertmooncomm.com

Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.

New York City, March 21, 2012 – Through agency Deutsch, Gravity has produced the visual effects featured within a new 30-sec. “Got Milk?” spot starring Salma Hayek. The spot broke early March. Zviah Eldar, Gravity CEO/Chief Creative Director, and Bob Samuel, Gravity’s CMO/Executive Producer, made the announcement.

The new spot, entitled “Come Drink Your Milk,” can be seen here:

https://vimeo.com/38867203

In the spot, we see Salma Hayek drinking a glass of refreshing milk in her kitchen. As she places her glass on the counter, she hears in her mind her mother’s call, “Salma! Breakfast!” and begins to reminisce about her childhood. The spot flashes back to years ago, with an actress portraying Hayek’s mother calling, “Come drink your milk” to the future superstar, who now appears as a 6 year old youngster first on her bed, and then, suddenly age 10 posing in front of a mirror. The youngster greets her mother in the living room, and drinks a glass of milk. We next flash forward to a teenaged (16 year old) Hayek practicing her lines from a soap opera in front of a mirror, while, once again, her mother calls out to her. Seamlessly, we next see another young girl, this time Salma Hayek’s own daughter, who respond’s to the call “Mija…Come Drink Your Milk.” The mother and daughter meet in the kitchen, and Hayek wipes a “milk moustache” from her daughter’s lips, as we hear the VO announcer say, “Have breakfast with Milk, and set the stage for a great day.”

Bernie Hogya, the spot’s Creative Director with Deutsch, said, “Director Wally Pfister cleverly devised a single camera move to span a decade of Salma Hayek’s childhood. What he couldn’t get in camera, Gravity made happen in post.”

Adds Alex Postelnicu, Gravity’s Creative Director and VFX Supervisor for the spot, “For us, this was a wonderful collaboration with the agency and Wally Pfister, who as the Director and DP, had a keen eye for composition and lighting. We provided several visual effects to this spot, which included extending the bedroom for the scene of Salma Hayek when she was 6 and 10, and for the pullbacks when at ages 6 and 16 she joins her mother in the living room to drink

some milk. We also seamlessly stitched together a variety of shots that panned from decade to decade to decade, gradually speeding up into the future, where we see Salma and her daughter in present day. We did our best to make these transitions artful and tasteful. This was a really nice spot to work on, the cast and crew were incredibly happy to be involved with this project, and everyone on set truly seemed to be enjoying themselves.”

CREDITS FOR “COME DRINK YOUR MILK:”

Agency: Deutsch
CCO: Greg DiNoto
Creative Dir.: Bernie Hogya
Art Director: Richard Kolopeaua
Art Director: Tim Hancock
Copywriter: Matthew Moyer
Executive Producer: Crissy Cicco
Head of Production: Joe Calabrese

Production:

VFX: Gravity NY
CEO/Chief Creative Office: Zviah Eldar
CMO/Executive Producer: Bob Samuel
Creative Director/VFX Supervisor: Alex Postelnicu
Producer: Raena Singh
Head of Production: Karen Bianca Bisignano
Production Coordinator: Kelly Benenati
Editor: Lawrence Young @ Number Six

Live Action: Independent Media
Director/DP: Wally Pfister
EP: Susanne Preissler
Producer: Denise Rocchietti
ABOUT GRAVITY:
Gravity is an international visual effects, design and brand communications company with proven expertise in three integrated divisions: Features & Television, Commercials, and Digital. With 250 talented professionals across offices in New York, Los Angeles, Connecticut and Tel Aviv, the company is a widely renowned generator of high-end visual effects, creative content, motion graphics design, animation, branding, and digital strategy.

The company’s clients include Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., DreamWorks, Sony Pictures Entertainment, HBO, Paramount Pictures, The Weinstein Company, Dimension Films, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Mercedes Benz, Verizon, Pantene, MGA Entertainment, Carlsberg, Kmart, and Braun. Gravity’s recent feature film credits include “Tower Heist,” “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “The Adjustment Bureau,” “Arthur,” “The Other Guys,” “Salt,” “The Reader,” and “Ghost Town.” The company’s television credits include HBO’s “Bored to Death,” “The Sopranos,” and “Sex and The City.”
Gravity’s New York office is located at 315 Madison Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York, NY, 10017. The phone is 212/986-1584. The company’s West Coast office is located in the Lantana Building, 3000 West Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, CA, 90404. The phone is 310/264-3909. For more information, please visit www.gravityworld.com
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Two MediaGrid System Installations Provide Performance and Capacity to Support Growing Multiplatform Delivery Operations

SAN JOSE, Calif. — March 21, 2012 — Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that Modern VideoFilm has adopted MediaGrid(TM) shared storage systems to support high-volume preparation of movies and TV shows for redistribution by leading Web portals, and delivery to networks for mass distribution over satellite, cable, air, or the Web. The MediaGrid systems provide Modern VideoFilm with reliable, scalable storage, the high bandwidth necessary for fast media access, and the power and interoperability required to deliver a large volume of assets simultaneously to clients. more

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., March 21, 2012 – Clemson University’s busy sports program – which includes baseball, football, basketball, soccer, tennis, volleyball, and more – places heavy demands on the college’s Athletic Video Services Department for coverage of a full schedule of competitions. High-performance HD production equipment capable of multi-tasking for different sports assignments is a must at the department, which is why it has recently added the long-reach telephoto capabilities of the HJ40x14B portable HD Image Stabilizer lens from Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions.

“Everything at Clemson has a dual purpose,” explained Rick Bagby, director of Athletic Video Services, Clemson University Athletics Department. “Lenses need to work in the studio and for ENG assignments, and they need to be flexible enough to handle game coverage and production highlights, coaches’ videos, and in-game live production. We are a multi-use facility, and the Canon HJ40 lens fits right into that philosophy.”

Capable of extending to a remarkable 1120mm, the HJ40x14B is a highly telephoto portable EFP lens designed for capturing superb HD images over very considerable distances. Leveraging Canon’s world-leading optical and mechanical technologies, the HJ40 incorporates Canon’s proprietary Optical Shift Image Stabilizer (“Shift-IS”) system that makes possible the capture of rock-steady HD video under the most adverse of field conditions.

“Our football stadium seats 80,000 people,” Bagby noted. “Part of the fan experience today is when spectators see themselves on the jumbo-size stadium display. With the telephoto range of the HJ40, we can see parts of the stadium that we could never reach before, or get great tights shot on the field that used to be impossible. When you couple the HJ40’s zoom capability with its Shift-IS feature, it’s phenomenal. The Shift-IS feature is a must-have, and my testing showed that it makes a huge difference. With the extender on, I can read an 8 ½-by-11-inch piece of paper on a door a block away. All of this helps to improve the game-day experience of those 80,000 people in the seats.”

In addition to its highly telephoto and image-stabilization capabilities, the unique design-optimization strategies Canon employed on the HJ40 provide the lens with high optical specifications and superb HD image performance. High contrast is ensured by excellent control of black reproduction, with optical and mechanical design innovations that substantially reduce flare, veiling glare, and any internal reflections. Similar attention to the minimization of ghost images and other highlight-related chromatic distortions caused by strong light sources on-axis and off-axis further extend the operational contrast range of the lens and provide excellent sensitivity with flexibility for creative shooting.

“The crispness of what you shoot is essential, because coaches take this video and blow it up on a large projection screen,” Bagby stated. “Coaches want to be able to see certain things in their video, and if you record something substandard, you’re just blowing-up grainy images. That’s why the integrity of the imagery that the HJ40 captures is paramount in coaches’ videos.”

Zoom, focus, and iris control of the Canon HJ40x14B lens is highly intuitive via an ergonomically designed compact digital servo drive unit mounted to the lens at a 12.5 degree angle to comfortably accommodate the camera operator’s hand. Additional flexibility in controlling the HJ40 is provided by Canon’s Enhanced Digital Drive technology, which employs a microcomputer-driven servo control that enables operators to pre-set zoom-position memory and other user-defined settings for repeatable operation, if desired.

The Clemson Athletic Video Services Department’s acquisition of its new HJ40 lens brings the total number of Canon HD lenses in its inventory to ten. These include both portable zoom lenses and “box-style” long-field zooms. In addition to obtaining superior optical performance from these Canon products, Bagby also reports satisfaction with the company’s commitment to customer support.

“Sticking with Canon is important to us, because their service has been terrific,” he affirmed. “Our show goes on rain or shine. We’re constantly putting our lenses to the test in various weather conditions, and students are learning how to use this equipment on the job. Put those two factors together, and the need to have Canon’s level of support is obvious.”

“I’m as competitive as any coach or player in my job,” Bagby added. “I love to win. Being able to do great things with our productions, equipped with tools like Canon HD lenses, is how we do that.”

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. With more than $45 billion in global revenue, its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), ranks fourth overall in patent holdings in the U.S. in 2010† and is one of Fortune Magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies in 2011. Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. Canon U.S.A. is dedicated to its Kyosei philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company’s RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss.
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†Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office.
All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.