Avid Interplay, workflow engine

It's hard to define what Interplay is. Avid states that it is a "revolutionary system that integrates asset management, workflow automation and security, in an open system; it also provides unprecedented productivity to production teams."

In other words we can say that it is an asset management system for extensive post-production systems and for transmission operations that integrates with all Avid products to make possible an efficient management of the available material and contribute to the optimization of processes such as the transfer of material between workstations, format conversions, and change tracking. A tool that allows to provide intelligence to the complex network installations of the Avid world - in essence it is about controlling the content that transits through the monumental networks that support the operation of systems as complex as Isis or Unity.

Each workstation, be it visualization, editing, audio, playout or graphics production becomes an Interplay client, and in this way all stakeholders can know what they need, when they need it - and also automate processes as tedious as the recapture of material in online editing processes, or the massive coding of material for the web.

Avid Interplay defines a new category in production media technology and connects equipment to a shared central system, and smoothly manages the flow of projects from start to finish using control and security reviews. The system offers a wide range of low-cost tools for scanning, archiving, viewing, recording, automatic transcoding, dual-resolution encoding, and intelligent multi-resolution file tracking. All of the above energizes collaboration between colleagues and eliminates time-consuming tasks. Additionally, the Avid Interplay system can be adapted to any production medium, accommodating more than 100 types of files, and is compatible with the production tools of any other company.

According to Chas Smith, vice president and general manager of Avid's video division, "In working with our customers identifying obstacles in production we have established that users require help finding and storing files, tracking and managing signoffs and approvals. Avid Interplay addresses these, and other, workflow challenges by providing open access to shared assets, tasks and connected systems in a secure environment. Anyone with production responsibilities can use Avid Interplay, including producers, graphic artists, assistant editors, IT administrators, directors, archivists, writers and librettists, audio and video editors, and even legal and finance departments."

Brendan Mallon, chief technology officer at BBC Scotland, who is taking part in an Avid Interplay beta programme, said: "In recent years we have seen massive growth in the volume and type of digital assets in production. With media breaking in with a wide variety of resources and multiple teams contributing to processes, we are constantly making efforts to work more efficiently. Avid Interplay will allow us to integrate the entire production process into a single machine, making our equipment more productive."

The core of the Avid Interplay system is a client-server machine that works with any member of the Avid Unity MediaNetwork family of storage solutions to form the pillars of a fully interoperable production medium. As it comes out of the box, Avid Interplay can be integrated with the latest versions of the Avid Media Composer, NewsCutter, iNEWS Instinct and Symphony Nitris systems. In addition, it offers a comprehensive workflow that follows the trajectory of all Avid projects and more than 100 types of media files, including multi-resolution video, Microsoft Office documents, Adobe Photoshop and layered files from AfterEffects, MPEGs, TIFs, spreadsheets and more. Standard components are the Interplay Engine, a PC server connected to an Avid networked unit, acting as the central nervous system, providing reliable access to archived data, and Interplay Access, the client software that features excellent search, check-out/check-in, control review, and management capabilities for laptops and networked desktops.

Multi-resolution file tracking
The Avid Interplay system eliminates the time spent initiating and managing media transcoding, and then chaining and tracking various resolutions for proxies review, offline, completion, delivery, and archiving. The system allows its users to work in any resolution, and with as many formats as necessary. Because all Avid tools can work with any resolution, the process of switching from one resolution to another is quick and easy. Options offered by multi-resolution workflows include:

Interplay Transcode: A networked service that automatically and transparently converts media resources to any production format that is necessary to be compatible with the user's system preferences and capabilities, and

Interplay Low-Res Encode: An assisted hardware system for ingesting and capturing low-resolution footage from any tape while the high-resolution version is being captured simultaneously on the same storage system.

Interplay Archive: A networked service for intelligent tracking of archived material. So editors can work with low-resolution files, accessing and restoring only the material they need, directly from the interface or automatically from the Interplay Access tool.

Interplay Transfer: A networked service that allows users to initiate transfers from another workgroup or file, move files between distant locations, and exchange media with supported accessories on a third party and other systems. With Interplay Transfer, redundant files are never created and all files are constantly tracked.