NAB 2023: Blackbird collaborates with Microsoft to highlight speed and cost benefits of professional web editing

Blackbird is collaborating with Microsoft at NAB 2023 to showcase the multiple benefits of its cloud-native video editing and publishing platform.

Providing instant access to content, browser-based Blackbird enables the fast creation of clips, highlights and long-form content for rapid publishing to digital channels. Blackbird also reduces time and resources for content reversioning and enables universal content access for creation and distribution.

Due to its cloud-native architecture, Blackbird reduces production infrastructure costs by up to 75% and carbon emissions by up to 91% when compared to on-premise and cloud-based workflows. It has also been shown to be up to four times faster than on-premise editing platforms for popular workflows.

Blackbird Edge can be deployed on the Microsoft Azure public cloud platform in minutes. Blackbird supports the use of Azure Blob Storage of video for ingest and publishing which enables transparency of operation between traditional and cloud workflows for high-quality content creation and delivery to any device. It integrates Azure services for stream handling and video-on-demand (VOD) encoding of edits.

Last year, Blackbird was successfully deployed on Azure by a global sporting federation for a major international event to make near-live match content available to fans instantly on their OTT channel. Other leading organisations running Blackbird on Azure include Deltatre and the National Rugby League (NRL).

During NAB, Blackbird is demonstrating how its platform runs on Azure and integrates seamlessly with other leading media production platforms for the fast, efficient turnaround of live content.

Blackbird CEO Ian McDonough said: “We are delighted to once again collaborate with Microsoft at this major trade show. In late 2022 the companies successfully combined forces on one of the world’s largest sporting events with the organising federation. As more and more businesses move to the cloud the importance of speed, functionality and cost becomes increasingly evident.”

Simon Crownshaw, worldwide strategy director, media and entertainment, Microsoft, commented: “We’re pleased to collaborate at NAB again with Blackbird. Our companies share the same vision of providing organisations with cost- and carbon-efficient tools that accelerate content creation and distribution. We welcome visitors to our booth to see the multiple benefits Blackbird running on Microsoft Azure delivers.”