LONDON, (PRNewswire) -- AmberFin (part of the Snell & Wilcox Group) today
announces the launch of the newest upgrade to its iCR software, the open
standards, future proof platform that digitises and transforms new and archived
content, across multiple delivery platforms.
The latest version of
AmberFin iCR incorporates enhanced compatibility features, supporting evolving
customer needs, including support for the Sony XDCAM and Panasonic P2 DVCPRO
SD/HD encoding standards as well as increased interoperability with Apple Final
Cut Pro and Avid editing systems. This combats the compatibility challenges
faced by content owners today.
Scott Allen, VP of
Marketing at AmberFin, comments: "Incompatibility is a key issue facing
the TV, film and broadcast industry today. At any stage of the content creation
process, incompatibility can increase the time and cost in getting content to
market and can prevent owners from making the most of the revenue potential
from their content. The latest version of AmberFin iCR provides further
functionality that eliminates incompatibility barriers and easily creates
content for any required format."
Sony XDCAM and Panasonic P2
DVCPRO SD/HD
By incorporating the latest
Sony and Panasonic formats, AmberFin iCR 3.5 eliminates the need for
re-encoding and maintains quality while improving the speed of operations and
reducing costs. Content owners can seamlessly mix camera resolutions and
formats, solving numerous compatibility issues between different types of
production formats without tying up creative staff and equipment.
iCR 3.5 also allows easy
conversion between standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) formats,
without extra equipment. As HD becomes more essential to deliver, from
traditional TV to the internet, this ability to convert content from one format
to another and between platforms is becoming increasingly critical.
AmberFin iCR can also be
used to review and quality control any of those formats in real-time allowing
detection of faults that are invisible to the human eye. With as much as 40% of
ingested content needing to be re-encoded due to issues that could have been
detected and fixed at the mastering and quality control stage, iCR brings
significant improvements to a facility's throughput.
Apple Final Cut Pro and
Avid editing
AmberFin iCR 3.5 supports
background ingest to generic centralised storage systems for both Apple Final
Cut Pro and Avid, supporting both P2 DVCPRO and XDCAM SD/HD formats. iCR can
also enable content capture of DVCPRO and XDCAM directly to the Apple Final Cut
native QuickTime format, thus eliminating time intensive clip imports. The
system can also be fully controlled by automation or asset management systems,
helping to industrialise the encoding process for production or archive ingest.
As content owners increase
their focus on expanding the reach of their assets there is an enormous
opportunity for those who can deliver the same content at a high-quality across
multiple platforms. Content must be delivered quickly and cost-effectively to
meet consumer demand, but in order to do this content owners are looking at
ways to resolve the challenges inherent in the traditional workflow. AmberFin
iCR's modular approach enables content owners to select the applications most
critical for their business needs, creating the most effective processes for
their market segment.
About AmberFin
AmberFin enables content
owners to maximise the value of their TV, film and video content, from capture
through to distribution, while increasing revenues, reducing costs, saving time
and eliminating incompatibility issues. AmberFin iCR, with four-time Emmy-award
winning technology, plays a key role in turning the content that owners have
into the content their customers want. As an open standard, future proof
platform that digitises and transforms new and archived content, AmberFin iCR
delivers the best quality pictures at smaller file sizes across multiple
delivery platforms, including the Internet, VoD, mobile and other small screen
devices. AmberFin already has 100s of iCR systems in the field, and is trusted
by some of the world's most prestigious companies including Sony, NBA, Turner
Broadcasting, BT, Channel 4, RTM and Warner Brothers, managing the digitisation
and repurposing of their content.
Privately held by Advent
Venture Partners, AmberFin is part of the Snell & Wilcox Group,
headquartered in Basingstoke,
UK. More
information is available at: http://www.amberfin.com
PR contact: Hotwire, amberfin@hotwirepr.com , +44(0)207-608-2500.