Pinnacle Systems and Sony Electronics will announce several joint initiatives at NAB designed to more closely integrate their product lines. They include a broader agreement that will make it easier for Sony's integration services to offer Pinnacle products.
According to Pinnacle Systems Senior Vice President Bob Wilson, the goal is to make it easier for customers to take advantage of some of the newer technologies that both Pinnacle and Sony are introducing. Pinnacle's Vortex and Liquid nonlinear editing systems will be integrated with Sony's new optical-disk recording system, demonstrating how quickly content can move into the editing environment.
"It'll show top-to-bottom integration of editing systems with the optical-disk camcorders," Wilson says. "We've only been involved in nonlinear editing for a couple of years so this is an important deal for us."
Another editing demonstration will couple Sony's Liquid Purple NLE with Sony's DV-based DSR-DU1 camcorder with hard-disk recorder.
"The war has shown how important it is to move production into the field, whether for the big networks or stringers," says Wilson. "With this integration, the NLE and camcorder will link up instantaneously."
Sony's eVTR will also be integrated into Pinnacle's products, including the MediaStream server and Liquid Blue NLE system. Wilson says that allows eVTRs to be linked back into the MediaStream server and is designed to help customers handle network connectivity and collaborative workflow more easily.
The final agreement involves integrating the MediaStream server with Sony's PetaSite mass-storage system. Larger organizations increasingly use the PetaSite for offline archives while the MediaStream can be used for online and nearline storage. Wilson says a MediaStream gateway now manages data sent throughout the network: "The real trick is file format compatibility."
