NAB2001: iQ's Debut, Clipbox Studio's Premier and Much More
NAB 2001, #L11520: Quantel Thinking comes to Las Vegas in style as the new independent Quantel makes its debut at the industry's biggest tradeshow. Just some of the highlights on the award-winning booth include the NAB debut for iQ, the premier outing for Clipbox Studio, further enhancements to Quantel's editing and graphics line-up and yet more announcements about third party tie-ins.
Since its launch at IBC in September last year, iQ has gone down a storm amongst the post production community. With systems already installed in every continent, iQ is living up to its promise of changing the working practices of post production houses globally, offering the first truly integrated production powerhouse. iQ brings together the performance and quality of Quantel hardware with the flexibility of the software-rich PC world. Its unique resolution co-existence facility maintains the highest possible quality throughout the edit, and makes versioning a highly efficient operation, ideal for working in HD. At NAB, for the first time, Quantel will also be showing iQ working with 2K resolution for film and commercials. iQ also increases in effects power, with dual bandwidth disk recorder emulation opening up new applications such as colour correction.
Clipbox Studio, Quantel's all-in-one production centre makes it possible for broadcasters of any size to produce an entire news broadcast with only a single operator and at an affordable price. Now local news operations can produce programming of international quality, with strong branding and great visual effects. Much more than a server, Clipbox Studio also offers live DVE, mix/effects and keying. We'll be demonstrating the power of Clipbox Studio on the booth with live news presentations, including late-breaking stories and changes to the running order.
Quantel will also be showing a new development at NAB in the form of MOS integration. MOS, an AP initiative, provides a much-needed link between newsroom systems and media servers. Quantel's implementation will mean that journalists will be able to access the Clipbox Studio's library, browse clips and then place them in a rundown which can then be published back to the Clipbox Studio.
In addition, Quantel will be demonstrating the latest improvements to its editing range, with Version 8.2 software being previewed at NAB and available for shipping immediately. Editbox FX continues to uphold its position as the world's number one non-linear digital editing system and the latest software enhancements have been designed to make the editing process even easier. Quantel has also introduced the Editbox Choice program, adding a ‘built-to-order' option, allowing users to self-configure an ideal Editbox for their particular application from a combination of options.
Paintbox FX will also be on the booth, proving once again why it is the graphics system of choice for close-to-air applications. The Paintbox FX platform, which comes complete with the industry standard Hal toolset, now also includes a powerful moving key output option, giving it dual stream playback capability.
Quantel has also continued its program of third party co-operation, working with other manufacturers to give end users the best possible combination of tools they need to produce high quality finished work. Inscriber, Photron, Ultimatte, Alias|Wavefront and Imagine are just some of the companies who have come on board to port their applications and plug-ins to Quantel powered systems.
"We are hugely excited about what we have to offer at this year's NAB," said Nigel Turner, Quantel's Marketing Director. "The iQ platform offers the post community something radically different - the performance they have come to expect from Quantel combined with the openness of the PC. For the first time iQ offers the opportunity to forget about format issues and concentrate entirely on the content - without compromising in any way.
"With Clipbox Studio we are offering a solution that any broadcaster anywhere can take advantage of to reduce costs and make better programs - we believe it will be a winner and we are looking forward to showing it to customers," he said.
Quantel Inc., 28 Thorndal Cir., Darien, CT 06820. Tel: 203-656-3100; Fax: 203-656-3459.