Telestream FlipFactory HD automates workflows for 78th Academy Awards

Telestream has announced that its new digital media workflow automation application, FlipFactory HD, performed a major behind-the-scenes role in the production of the 78th Academy Awards ceremony held Sunday, March 5 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.
FlipFactory HD was selected by Telestream customer ProQue, LLC to automatically receive, convert and move a combination of high-definition (HD) and standard-definition (SD) movie clips destined for on-stage display at the Academy Awards presentation.
“FlipFactory gave us the ability to ingest new material without slowing down or impeding the production workflow itself,” said ProQue, LLC partner Jonathan Aroesty. “We were able to receive both HD and SD files, rather than videotape, and ingest was done automatically in the background while we were rehearsing.”
ProQue, LLC, a facilities rental and service company that provides video playback equipment for live and taped events, was hired by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to provide onsite services for the 78th Academy Awards presentation. ProQue, LLC partners Rick Edwards and Jonathan Aroesty jointly operated and oversaw the equipment used in Los Angeles. This included Telestream’s FlipFactory HD to automate the process of receiving inbound movie clips, conversion, and delivery to Grass Valley HD and SD Profile servers for playout on stage.
Movies clips were converted to high-definition for delivery to an HD Profile for playout on a unique Marquee that spanned the width of the stage and included graphical elements such as the winners’ names. Telestream’s exclusive Motion Resolve up-conversion technology ensured pristine HD picture quality. FlipFactory HD was also used to transcode and deliver files to SD Profiles for playout on SD projection and plasma displays which were used as differing set pieces throughout the presentation.
The dozens of movie clips used during the production were received as digital files from postproduction and graphics studios on FireWire drives. FlipFactory HD automatically picked up the files and transcoded them to specified HD and SD formats for delivery to the Profile servers. Importantly, these tasks were performed in the background without tying up any of the Profile channels which were being used for playout.
Following successful use of Telestream’s FlipFactory HD at other major events, including the recent Grammy Awards and Emmy Awards, Aroesty said. “FlipFactory provides a vastly more efficient multiformat, file-based workflow compared to the more conventional, time-consuming process of manually receiving and digitising tapes into servers.”
David Heppe, President of Telestream, added: “We’re proud to have been selected once again by ProQue to contribute to the prestigious Academy Awards presentation. It’s clear that FlipFactory plays a vital role in automating the most demanding workflows for our broadcast and entertainment customers, helping them to achieve greater efficiency through automated file-based workflows.”
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