Prime Focus Technologies (PFT) has announced the launch of CLEAR, a web-based media asset management service to help film studios, broadcasters and advertisers more efficiently manage their content and workflows. CLEAR manages the entire lifecycle of content from production to distribution, and offers a secure, fast and reliable digital delivery platform for advertising and entertainment content.

PFT has also launched CLEAR Live, a video-on-demand (VOD) package and creation service which can deliver custom VOD packages from live feeds in less than three minutes to new media platforms – including web, mobile, IPTV and catch-up TV.

CLEAR is a customisable and scalable subscription service, requiring no upfront capital expenditure. Clients benefit from a single point of contact and substantially reduced production and delivery times and costs – across all media and at every stage of the process. It allows organisations to preserve content and manage workflows that span geographies, helping advertisers and ad agencies roll out global or regional print and television advertising campaigns. CLEAR provides custom support for client business driven meta data models, processes, workflows and applications.

“In the digital media world, the management of content, processes and interactions is key,” said Ramki Sankaranarayanan, President and CEO, PFT. “With CLEAR, such workflow items can be managed across locations and the platform is customised to increase productivity. This is particularly pertinent at a time when companies are looking to cut costs and generate new revenue streams, while changes in the way content is produced and managed call for increased collaboration and efficiencies.”

CLEAR ensures that content is available across time zones and geographies without the need for round-the-clock IT support staff. It’s built on open standards, enabling integration with in-house systems and software, and is composed of four main components:

Media asset management – CLEAR manages audio, video, images and documents in all formats including HD, 2K and 4K. Workflows, user management, content security and portal interfaces can all be customised. Distributed storage allows clients to share content across multiple locations, using high-resolution content for workflows in each location, and low-resolution proxies for search, browse and interaction.

Digital archiving – CLEAR maintains more than one copy of the high-resolution content at any time, with one copy in the digital archive and another at a disaster- proof location under fire and earthquake resistant vaults. Content can be partially retrieved when just a small portion is needed.

Presentation – CLEAR’s web-based portal allows clients to search, browse and access content; review, approve and share content online; and create showreels and rough edits. It enables real-time input, status and tracking of campaigns at any stage of the process while providing a clear audit trail.

Digital preparation and delivery – CLEAR manages worldwide content delivery straight from the client’s desktop to email, mobile, iPhone, ftp, DVD, etc. Fulfilment services include repurposing, captioning, subtitling, language and quality control checks, and script and copy ‘transcreation’ in any digital video and print format.

Clients have the option of a completely hosted service, an in-house service, or a combination of the two with the archive stored at client locations while completely managed in a hosted environment and accessed over the internet.

http://primefocusworld.com/news/2009/10/prime-focus-technologies-launches-clear-media-asset-management-service