The newborn division is four months old, but Craig has been part of the Videoscope team since its inception in 1997. Talking to him can be deceptive; who sees and hears him would say that his thing was the video since always and that his current position is a logical consequence of his precocious concern for electronics. This is not the case. Initially, Craig pinned his professional hopes on aeronautics, on the development, maintenance and repair of sophisticated aviation instruments., Een that area was formed and in fact closely linked to Miami International Airport for some years, but the unflattering situation of the industry made him think twice, and he wisely decided that his future was not there. At that time, airlines such as Eastern and PanAm were literally off the air, reasons enough to look for other horizons. Then he returned to another of his concerns: the video.
As a high school student he had gotten into the world of video: he recorded, edited, connected, disconnected and reconnected cables. This is how he learned, and when the dream of aeronautics vanished, this other dream clearly appeared, which today he describes as something that comes to him easily, understands it, knows it and enjoys it. When he finishes his work day, he dedicates at least one hour to technology magazines, studies them, attends seminars, there he feeds back. He is doing what the rest of them do not have time to do, busy in the day to day that does not allow them to see where they are going. He, on the other hand, is prepared: "We must be ready. In our industry, it is the engineer of the television station who receives the order from the company: 'We have to go to such a part, we have to make changes', and often that engineer has not investigated, and calls us; we have already done the task in advance, and I already have that information."
The seminars, the reflection, the trainings and the discussions allowed him to reach the conclusion that a fundamental industry is being ignored, that moved by television stations, production agencies, advertising companies that seek, every day with more effort, maximizing your business. It is here that "tapeless" technology makes its greatest impact. Today, when everything goes towards digital, and when many companies have changed their name to include the digital concept in it, it is clear that the tape died, and that the new technology takes the great leap towards a medium that completely dispenses with the tape:, is the "tapeless environment", mainly used in the production of news, where time is fundamental, and where much of the production has to do with the creation and editing of projects, where the steps conventionally went from the tape to the non-linear, then to the character generator, and then back, again, to the tape.
The Incite system: an open platform
Realizing that a whole niche was being neglected, Craig decided to go out to investigate., vViajó to Canada and dedicated himself to reviewing the technological offer of the different manufacturers, in order to find the best solution for the industry. There he found what for him is, so far, the broadest and most solid system to take the definitive step into the era of "tapeless": the Incite system of IMC, a Swiss company based in Geneva.
The Incite editor, a basic component of the system, allows a fluid process from beginning to end, where a reporter arrives from the street, pours his information into a server and can immediately start editing, without the need for all the content to be downloaded on the network, that is, the information is ready to be manipulated or edited as soon as it reaches the editing room. and start being captured. The same system records, captures or 'ingests', if you want to translate literally, the information at twice the speed, that is, in half the time it takes the conventional process; the editing can be started immediately and likewise its emission. The result is a fast, economical and productive process.
Incite also allows the management, not only shared but simultaneous, of the projects within the system, where different people can develop their responsibilities on the same content and have access to what the others involved are doing, to make adjustments, suggestions, etc. Likewise, video news files, which are always available, can be categorized and dated, and are accessed with a simple search system, which makes it possible to document, contextualize, track the information and reuse it when relevant and pertinent.
But while it is true that this technology is already being developed by several manufacturers, the interesting thing about IMC, and it is at this point where Craig emphasizes, is its open architecture. "Closed platforms don't allow for more construction, the technology expires, and new things come in every day," Craig says. IMC, on the other hand, offers the complete system, all the components are made to work together but on an open platform, which also makes it possible to configure them from the combination of components from different factories. This, in the case of enlargement or updating, is a point in favour both in the technological and economic sense. IMC has validated different components with which the system works smoothly, confirming its condition as an open architecture.
100% percent percent
With the clarity that an important part of the industry – which undoubtedly should be the object of attention – was being ignored, and with the obvious benefits of the Incite system, Videoscope creates this specific division aimed at marketing, selling and integrating its components, and with Craig at its head, it summons professionals with great experience in the industry. Among them Robert Clarke, with whom Craig works shoulder to shoulder on this project. Clarke has years of work under his belt, first with Matrox and then with IMC, where he managed the company's domestic sales in the United States, and began to redirect the market largely to the Incite system. Today, Robert Clarke is an exclusive Videoscope consultant, leads the Tampa office and, along with William Craig, provides technical support in South Florida, with the full backing of IMC.
The division has assumed the entire effort around the system, from marketing and sales to the design and integration of the different systems, and of course, technical support, not only in the United States but also in Latin America. "We are focusing on supporting resellers, integrators, the industry sector that we feel needs to be touched." And the truth is that their marketing campaign is working, now they call them, they want to know how it works, they want quotes, they want the system. Some companies just want to buy a publisher, but they want to integrate it in such a way that in the future it can be coupled to the needs that arise.
According to Craig, this technology is aimed at television stations, post-production agencies and, in general, anyone looking to make their production a more productive and efficient process, and, of course, the greater the efficiency, the greater the production capacity. But, as he says himself: "The needs are dictated by each client, there are those who only need lights and cameras, others instead look for a complete solution, and this is the solution, this is what my research has brought me and this is what I have to offer. Years ago it was very difficult because the technology was there but it didn't work well. Now it's different, I'm convinced of that."
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