LONDON—Prime Focus Technologies is opening the doors to a new hybrid-cloud media center in Leeds, U.K., which will serve as the new national headquarters for Channel 4. Using the CLEAR Media ERP platform, the new facility will help manage Channel 4’s media processing and centralized content operations, including live simulcast and VOD services.

PFT and Channel 4 agreed to develop a new facility in 2019 and spent 2020 building it, including constructing it in line with social distancing norms and U.K. government guidelines for Covid-19.

The facility houses infrastructure for end-to-end supply chain management through SLA-driven media processing services powered by cloud-based workflows running on CLEAR.

The end-to-end content supply chain services offered include QC services; editing and remastering services; archive services; compliance and global re-versioning services; digital distribution services; and access to PFT’s Global Media Services pipeline, which includes localization services, re-mastering services and creative services.

The Leeds facility is now open and will employ more than 70 professionals, per PFT.

LOS ANGELES—Prime Focus Technologies announced the addition of Apple TV app enhancements, schedule-driven acquisition of live content and other new features to its Clear Media ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) suite.

The update includes “some power-packed features” that are “focused on making micro-tasks in the content supply chain faster and easier for users,” said Vimalesh Melwani, senior vice president, Product Engineering, Prime Focus Technologies.

“Clear is known for its interoperability, and we’ve further expanded our product integration portfolio to support 11 more partner products in this release,” he said.

The updates include enhancements for production, acquisition, asset management operations, localization and mastering operations and distribution, the company said.

Regarding production, the product now enables Android-based log-in and the ability to browse assets or review incoming assets via Apple TV as well as direct asset downloads from Azure BLOB using Aspera and HTTPS.

New acquisition features offer expanded package ingest, including essence-like metadata XMLs, package structure manifests and audio/subtitle in the content package. There is also new support for ingest via ad-hoc or task-driven acquisition mechanisms and the addition of AWS SNS notification-based ingest. Clear also now supports schedule-driven acquisition for live content.

Among the many new asset management features are asset preview via integration with PDFTron, DR enablement for both SaaS cloud and edge location, new APIs to support more requests from external systems, expanded partner and vendor onboarding and Microsoft Power BI reporting enhancements.

Clear updates to localization and mastering operations include multiformat export, script import and enhanced compliance review. Its new distribution features enable users to invite recipients to download a package directly from Clear; allow users to select a packaging standard and DRM that meets their OTT requirements; offer support for more delivery platforms; and process subtitles for distribution.

Prime Focus Technologies is the technology subsidiary of Prime Focus. More information is available on the company’s website.

LONDON—Channel 4 has inked an agreement with Prime Focus Technologies for its Clear Media ERP software, which PFT will use to manage the public service broadcaster’s media processing and centralize its content operations, the company said this week.

“We are delighted to be forming this new partnership with PFT, a company which shares Channel 4’s innovative spirit,” said Keith Underwood, COO, Channel 4. “PFT has proven experience of managing content operations for major international broadcasters, and we look forward to working with them to establish their new U.K. base.”

Prime Focus Technologies will manage:

• Media processing, including ingest, content remediation, media management, content aggregation and quality assurance; and
• Online services, including digital rights management (DRM), VOD transcoding, packaging and delivery, simulcast and live to VOD.

Under the agreement, PFT is tasked with providing all content for Channel 4’s online presence on its own AII4 platform and third-party platforms, the company said.

PFT’s CLEAR software combines MAM capabilities with work order management. The software will allow Channel 4 to manage media operations, including those related to assets, resources, tasks and workflows, the company said.

The software’s framework will improve internal collaboration as well as those with external stakeholders, such as Channel 4’s Access services and Playout partners.

PFT is also launching a media center in the U.K. to act as a centralized content hub for Channel 4.

See Prime Focus Technologies at IBC 2019 stand 7.C05.

More information is available on the company’s website.

LONDON—Prime Focus Technologies has developed a series of updates for its DAX Production Cloud, which is part of its CLEAR Media ERP line. The updates will allow the software to help with the collaboration and sharing of content across the production supply chain.

The DAX Production Cloud is based on the DAX with Digital Dailies and provides ONE software across the production supply chain. It serves as a repository for media and ancillary files, including on-set dailies, post-production cuts, editorial, VFX, marketing, localization and distribution.

With these new updates, DAX adds a new Asset Share feature that allows for the collaboration and sharing of content with DAX and non-DAX users with automatic expiring links. Additional upgrades include the DAX Administration tool that offers greater control via custom folder structure, watermarking variation and email/notification settings; there is also the Virtual Playlist Editor that delivers a cloud NLE to create custom playlists.

Users can also access the updated DAX Production Cloud within an iOS or Android mobile app, which features an offline option to download content at a later point.

PFT will demonstrate the latest features of the DAX Production Cloud at the Media Production Show 2019 in London at booth #621. The Media Production Show is taking place June 11 and 12.

NEW DELHI—A new partnership between Prime Focus Technologies and Microsoft has come to be in the attempt to strengthen PFT’s Clear hybrid cloud-enable Media ERP suite. Clear, which PFT reports handles up to 1.5 million hours of content, will now be combined with Microsoft’s Azure Cloud Services to be implemented across global regions covered by Azure.

This deal will begin with the immediate migration of all consolidated data storage to Azure before the migration of core Clear Media ERP to Azure couple with Microsoft’s Cognitive Services. The companies plan to work together on the go-to-market approach, which will seek to help clients migrate to the cloud.

Clear will now be available through Azure’s 42 regions, allowing M&E organizations to manage workflow orchestrations across the entire content supply chain of one system, including processes like acquisition, review and approval, cataloging, QC, mastering, distribution, promos and localization.

CULVER CITY, CALIF.—Users of Prime Focus Technologies’ hybrid-cloud enabled Clear Media Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software have some new features available to them. These new additions will be showcased at BroadcastAsia 2017.

Clear is designed to automate the content supply chain from creation through distribution and promotion. Among some of the new additions to the software to do this is the DAX Production Cloud, a software for dailies and post workflows that enables stakeholders in the production chain to collaborate, service and distribute media on the same software. Also new to Clear is Promo Operations, a new functionality that provides end-to-end business process orchestration for promo creation.

Other new features for the Clear software include mastering automation for domestic and international syndication; and an Interoperable Master Format media player for playback over streaming proxy.

BroadcastAsia 2017 runs from May 23-25 in Singapore.