AmberFin and ATG Broadcast jointly promote versatility and flexibility of file-based workflows at CABSAT

"Increasingly, we are seeing broadcasters and facilities worldwide move over to digital file-based workflows and many regional middle eastern broadcasters are actively looking for partners that are able to support them through this change process," commented Tim Felstead, Head of Sales and Marketing at ATG Broadcast.

"Through our partnership with AmberFin we can offer a strong combination of some of the best technical and most creative brains in this field together with a strong local presence and a real understanding of what drives broadcast operations in this region," he added.

Building on a long-term presence in the Middle East, ATG Broadcast recently opened a new sales and support office, ATG Broadcast Middle East FZ-LLC in Dubai Media City, Dubai, UAE enabling them to promote AmberFin in the UAE, Lebanon and Qatar.

ATG Broadcast's channel partnership agreement will help AmberFin build a higher profile with potential customers in an important regional market.

"The Middle East is a focus in our market development initiative and we recognise the need for a local presence," commented Jeremy Deaner, Chief Executive Officer at AmberFin. "AmberFin's decision to strengthen its presence in the Middle East comes at a time when many regional broadcasters are investigating the increased efficiency and cost-effectiveness that file-based workflows offer," he added.

The evolution of the media factory
With the evolution of digital file-based workflows, the way that broadcasters and facilities approach the multi-platform media transformation or transcoding process has become more efficient and the potential for a significantly greater amount of process automation has evolved. However, there remains a key issue in terms of the way that facilities approach this media creation challenge.

In today's multimedia world, money talks like never before. The focus is on the financial aspects and the business process rather than the evolution of technology as in previous eras. Organizations are looking to make more money from their assets and to insure against possible financial losses because their media is not fit for purpose.

File-based workflows offer any facility the opportunity to transform the way they work, making great efficiencies at the same time as maintaining, or even increasing, the quality of their media output. The challenge is taking the technology building blocks that exist today and configuring them into a workflow that is uniquely appropriate to a broadcast facility's resources and business needs.

AmberFin iCR offers elegant solutions for a variety of file-based workflow requirements that a broadcaster or facility will encounter including media ingest, file transcode, playback and quality control.

A central principle applied throughout iCR is scalability - the same technology is used in the single standalone PC used in the proof of concept as is used in a network of 100 workstations. Furthermore, each iCR workstation operates all the software required to implement the four main functions of media ingest, file transcode, playback and quality control.

By combining this technical expertise with ATG Broadcast's system integration capabilities and outstanding knowledge of the Middle Eastern region, the two companies have created a powerful proposition for any broadcaster that is seeking to develop and strengthen its digital file-based media production capabilities.

"AmberFin iCR is a nimble solution - it offers the right technology at the right time with inherent scalability and the ability to respond to business needs," commented Jeremy Deaner. "Combine this with ATG Broadcast's systems integration capability and regional intelligence, and for enterprises of all sizes, this means that ROI on every dollar spent is maximised," he added.