Omnibus Systems has introduced Colossus v.3.5, the latest version of the Colossus multichannel automation system.
With recent installations at AETN, Technicolor Netherlands, BBC Nations, and Chellomedia, further system development has extended the Colossus feature set and support for third-party devices.
“2007 was driven by our development of new features that exploit the expandable, open architecture of Colossus,” said John Cunningham, executive vice president, development and services for Omnibus. “Colossus has now reached an all-time record channel count, running complex, multi-channel operations in a multi-platform environment.
The added capabilities available in Colossus include support for new video servers from Omneon, Quantel, Harris and Thomson/GVG; feature-rich support for such master control systems and protocols as Pro-Bel 520, Miranda Presmaster, GVG Maestro and Nvision; regional breakouts for multiregional broadcasting; enhanced vision mixer control with complex lead/lag audio control; plus scheduled multilanguage play-out from a single channel with track-stacking.
Colossus v.3.5 also includes support for the SMPTE BXF (Broadcast eXchange Format) interface, allowing third-party traffic systems to integrate seamlessly with the Omnibus automation system, using XML-based formats to create and modify schedules as well as dynamically retrieve “As Run” information.
Colossus also has extended customization of the user interface enabled by the Omnibus G3 Desktop architecture. These capabilities include live record support for later repeat; search-and-replace functionality for instant global changes throughout a schedule; advanced content searching through Omnibus OPUS Content Management integration; and customizable reporting, such as to produce a missing materials list or schedule grid.
