NL Technology develops integration for Avid Interplay MAM and Spectra Logic storage

NL Technology has enhanced its NLT Archive for Avid Interplay Production Asset Manager to allow digital assets to be archived using the Spectra BlackPearl Converged Storage System. NL Technology used the .NET/C# software development kit to build a certified Spectra S3 client for its NLT Archive, providing a long term storage solution that i integrated with Avid’s MediaCentral | UX.

NLT’s Archive and Spectra Logic’s BlackPearl Converged Storage System provide Avid Interplay Production users in the broadcast news, film production and reality markets with an archive workflow. Sequences and master clips are moved to the BlackPearl system at any time — prior, during or after production — a viewable proxy and associated metadata remain in the Interplay database for later reference.

Using NLT Archive with BlackPearl is intuitive to Avid users, there are NO new tools to learn. Assets are easily selected for archive or retrieval using Avid’s search and browse tools, which are fully integrated within the MediaCentral Platform. A simple right-click performs the operation.

By combining NLT’s migration technology that provides the interface between Interplay Production, and a library management system, content can be moved quickly from online to a near-line position and later restored to Avid’s SAN for online reuse. Since clip and sequence metadata are always online within Interplay Production, users can quickly find and decide which assets to retrieve from the archive.

• NLT Archive provides desktop-based archiving and retrieval of media assets: clips, sequences and other asset types. The Interplay database tracks media files stored in the library, so users can look for both archived and online media using a single interface such as Interplay Access or MediaCentral | UX. Users simply select and right click to restore assets, NLT’s Archive moves the media assets to the Avid SAN, where they appear online automatically.
• Optionally, the solution indexes content and supports searching independently from the Avid Interplay Production database. All archived assets are cataloged by NLT Archive’s browser-based asset manager. This makes archived content searchable from any PC, Mac or iPad connected via Wi-Fi, allowing archived assets that originated in Interplay Production to be searched and retrieved by users not connected to the production workgroup.
• NLT Archive provides browsing of all assets in the archive via its built-in H.264 streaming player. When each master clip is archived, a streamable H.264 proxy file is also generated and associated with master clip and metadata. Users who are browsing assets can play back any clip, scrub within the clip, advance frame by frame and share comments on the clip with their colleagues.