Primestream FORK Logger 1.0 Set for NAB Debut

The Primestream FORK Logger 1.0, a new cross-platform module that is part of Primestream’s acclaimed FORK Production Suite, is making its North American debut at the 2013 NAB Show in Las Vegas. FORK Logger is the industry’s first completely configurable and customizable metadata logging application that enables users to add metadata to live or prerecorded video clips.

FORK Logger offers the unique advantage of a dual monitor interface, allowing users to monitor and log live streams and also scroll back in time to add more detail to earlier sections of the ingesting clip. This user-friendly interface can be configured in an unlimited number of ways so that users can set it up to enter data specific to the kind of programming they are working on. Logged content is transformed into metadata-enriched subclips and markers inside the FORK Content Navigator for media asset management (MAM), where it can be quickly searched, edited, and made ready for an on-air highlight or teaser. FORK Logger supports multiple themes and layouts while being tightly integrated with craft editors such as Final Cut Pro, Media Composer, Premiere Pro, and FORK Editor. The FORK Live Assist Playout and Social modules can each output finished media to be distributed everywhere — all from within the same ecosystem.

“An unorganized or ‘metadata-less’ MAM is like walking into a tape room full of mislabeled cassette tapes. Descriptive metadata is basically a content owner’s bread and butter. If you can’t find the content, you can’t monetize it, but the more metadata you have, the greater the speed and control over the workflow,” says Claudio Lisman, Primestream president and CEO. “Enabling these dynamic ways to get data into the system in a highly configurable, user-friendly way is the driving force behind FORK Logger.” 

At the heart of the FORK Logger is a dynamic user interface (UI). The UI contains elements that can be combined to suit the needs of the content. These elements include:
• Dynamic forms that can contextually reveal team, league, and conference names
• A button panel with defined actions and metadata such as game plays and camera angles 
• Live video viewer and clip viewer for logging recorded video
• Marker list
• Subclip list of created events
• Content Navigator view for searching, filtering, and organizing content

FORK Logger supports multiple layouts per system. Users can work live with ingesting feeds or can call up existing clips inside FORK to log key information with a FORK-generated proxy or the high-resolution video. In addition, FORK Logger creates markers and subclips that can be seen and used across the FORK platform. 

FORK Logger allows more than one user to log the same clip at the same time, and all created events are accessible instantly by other loggers and FORK users. Any FORK client can become a FORK Logger with no special station required. FORK Logger is available for both Mac and Windows^® operating systems, and supports AVC-Intra workflows with FORK 4.0 on both live ingest and prerecorded material.

“Initial demand for FORK Logger is coming from sports broadcasters, but customers are now using the system for live reality TV. It seems if you can see it on the screen, you can log it and make use of the content in so many ways — it’s quite exciting,” commented Lisman.