Digital Rapids Ships Workflow Support for Transcode Manager 2

MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA—Digital Rapids has released new software components adding new capabilities to the Digital Rapids Transcode Manager 2 automated media processing software and its underlying Kayak technology platform. New functionality now shipping includes support for mixed-platform distributed workflows including ProRes encoding on Mac OS X; DVCPro and DVCPro HD input format support; and new video mixing features for overlaying text, graphics, timecode and additional video such as full-motion logo bugs into rich, multi-layered compositions.

The new mixed-platform workflow capabilities build on Kayak’s distributed processing flexibility, enabling select tasks within individual workflow designs to be allocated across a combination of Windows-based and OS X-based systems. The ability to distribute workflows across these disparate platforms lets users leverage platform-specific tools and advantages within a single workflow while managing it seamlessly in Transcode Manager 2 and spreading the processing load between the systems.

Initial Kayak Engine functionality on OS X enables encoding to the ProRes format on a Mac system alongside actions running on a paired Windows-based Kayak Engine as part of a larger media process. The complete, combined process appears as one unified workflow in the Transcode Manager Server interface for easy job management.

Using Kayak’s floating licensing architecture, Kayak Engine licenses are portable between Windows and OS X hosts. Licenses can be dynamically re-assigned between Windows and OS X based host resources as job requirements demand, maximizing deployment flexibility.

The new Video Mixer capabilities let users combine multiple layers of video, graphics, text and timecode, enabling the easy incorporation of promo overlays, animated logo bugs, titles and more into their deliverables. Integrated scaling, alpha channel support and keyframeable transparency provide precise control of the layered result.

Also the new component for decoding DVCPro and DVCPro HD compressed media further expands Kayak’s extensive roster of supported formats, enabling files in these formats to be used as input sources within Kayak workflows.