Omneon provides a collection of applications for both real-time control and file-based management of content within Omneon MediaGrid, Spectrum and MediaDeck systems. These tools provide convenient, cost-effective software solutions for maximizing the use of the Omneon platform.
MediaTools are specialized applications for performing a range of different functions in conjunction with Omneon systems. In a networked digital environment, operators need applications that allow specific control over the material stored within servers and storage systems. As use of Omneon systems increases, so too does the requirement to control the ingest, management, processing and playout of material within those systems, as well as to integrate with other third-party solutions. MediaTools provide both real-time control and file-based management of content within Omneon MediaGrid, Spectrum and MediaDeck systems.
| File-Based MediaTools | Function | Application |
|---|---|---|
| MirrorTool | Manual or fully automatic mirroring of content between multiple Omneon systems | For facilities using redundant Omneon servers and storage systems |
| TransferTool | Browsing, moving and copying of media files between Omneon servers and storage systems | For facilities requiring file transfers between systems to support a variety of workflows |
| TrackTool | Advanced track management and automatic tagging and routing | For adding multiple language tracks or descriptive audio commentary |
| MigrateTool | Easy conversion and transfer of content from legacy servers to Omneon systems | For facilities upgrading to Omneon media servers |
| ConformTool | Integration of Avid editors into an Omneon server and storage infrastructure | For facilities using Avid Newscutter®, MediaComposer® and Xpress® editors, and Unity workgroups |
| Realtime MediaTools | Function | Application |
|---|---|---|
| PlayTool | Powerful yet simple application for playout and QA | For facilities requiring an easy-to-use playout application |
| ClipTool/ClipTool Pro | Control and monitoring of Omneon players for simpler media operations | Software VTR-like control panel for Omneon servers |
| RecordTool | Recording automation tool | For facilities requiring scheduled recording capabilities |
| DelayTool | Delayed playout functionality with both real-time delay and dynamic control | For broadcasters with multiple time zone requirements |
Omneon offers a number of MediaTools to simplify essential content management tasks, including mirroring, transferring, tracking and migrating content. These tools capitalize on the IP-connectivity of Omneon systems, bringing basic media management to the desktop.
MirrorTool is a Windows® application designed to synchronize multiple file systems for facilities that use redundant Omneon media servers, including Spectrum and MediaDeck, as part of their overall media server infrastructure. In situations where one system is used as the primary machine and a second system is used as a backup, MirrorTool automatically copies ingested and edited media files to the backup system, duplicating the folder hierarchy as needed to make it an exact match.
Synchronization can be set to occur at a predetermined time every day when network utilization is lowest. Presets determine what the system should do in the event of a deleted file, or MirrorTool can be configured to prompt the administrator for confirmation whenever a file will be removed.
MirrorTool can dramatically reduce costs and manpower associated with managing multiple file systems, particularly for facilities with limited automation. With its unattended background operation and easy-to-use file explorer interface, system administrators spend significantly less time maintaining synchronized file systems.
MirrorTool can also be used to mirror content between an Omneon media server and an Omneon MediaGrid active storage system. Such a configuration allows content being ingested and edited on multiple media servers to be mirrored on a common central storage platform for disaster recovery and increased availability to the enterprise.
TransferTool is a Windows application that facilitates finding, moving and copying media files between Omneon server and storage systems.
TransferTool can be used to find, move or copy content between different media servers and/or an Omneon MediaGrid active storage system. TransferTool enables users to navigate through clip folders, identify a clip to transfer, and simply drag and drop the desired file from one window to another. TransferTool understands media file structures and will automatically identify all associated media files and transfer them so that a complete clip is moved efficiently.
TrackTool is a powerful Omneon application that allows users to modify content on an Omneon system, while also enabling intelligent management of the components that make up a media clip. With TrackTool, operators can easily add, change or remove components such as audio tracks, as well as incorporate unique metadata about specific components.
Omneon media servers have the advanced ability to treat discrete essence elements (tracks) of a media clip separately. TrackTool allows operators to easily add, change, reorder or delete individual components, creating new clips that can be processed by Omneon servers or archived. Video and audio can be managed independently and yet remain linked together as a complete clip within the system.
In addition to simply managing tracks within a clip, TrackTool can also "tag" them with an identifier. When used in conjunction with an Omneon Spectrum or MediaDeck system, a specific audio track can then be automatically routed to the correct output based on the identifier. No more duplication costs, no more on-air errors.
MigrateTool converts and transfers media from legacy video servers including SeaChange, Leitch, Quantel, SGI and Sony to Omneon media servers. MigrateTool is the ideal application where legacy content requires transcoding to be Omneon-compatible.
Media files are converted (no baseband video decoding and re-encoding) resulting in digital transfers that are much cleaner and faster than traditional digital conversion methods that rely on baseband video as the common denominator between file formats. Video, audio and accompanying vertical interval timecode are converted and transferred to Omneon media servers in an open MXF or QuickTime® format ready for playout. In addition, a transcode option is available to help with the migration of even older proprietary compression formats used by some early video servers from Grass Valley and SeaChange.
Omneon MigrateTool eliminates the cumbersome handling of tape and the need for digital-to-analog conversions previously required to move media from a legacy server into a new system. MigrateTool automates the complete process of converting and transferring an entire content library.
| Broadcast Servers Supported | Formats Supported |
|---|---|
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Input Formats
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ConformTool facilitates the integration of Avid edit workgroups with Omneon server and storage platforms, allowing customers to have the freedom to use the edit application of their choice.
With Omneon ConformTool, users can fully integrate Avid editors into an Omneon content infrastructure while working seamlessly in DV, DVCPRO 25, DVCPRO 50, IMX and even DNxHD with native interoperability. Avid editors use the Omneon MediaGrid active storage or Spectrum media server as shared storage, viewing files on the Omneon system using the Omneon ConformTool browser menu, and then simply drag and drop files into their workstation and then into an open bin within the Avid project. Clips are converted and transferred faster-than-realtime to Avid-compatible OMF or MXF files. Since media is transferred over a data network, multiple servers and editing stations are able to work together.
Omneon ConformTool is fully integrated with Unity network workgroups and individual standalone Avid NewsCutter®, MediaComposer® and Xpress® lines of edit systems to access Omneon stored media. Sequences are conformed, converted and ready for transmission.
The conform and conversion is performed in the background by ConformTool, either on the edit workstation, or, for high-volume environments, on a separate Windows server. Getting segments to air can hardly be any faster or more reliable.
Omneon also offers a collection of realtime MediaTools that includes applications for ingest, playout and media manipulation.
PlayTool is a transmission automation tool provided free of charge with every Omneon media server, providing the ability to create and manipulate playlists and manage scheduled playout of clips from any Omneon media server. Users are able to create playlists with any content from the server's file system using drag and drop functionality and can specify additional parameters such as hard start, auto follow or manual start times.
With connectivity to the Omneon server purely over TCP/IP, PlayTool can be installed on any Windows workstation in a facility with network connectivity to the media server, minimizing deployment complexity and maximizing flexibility.
Traffic applications can create a simple tab-delimited text file that can be loaded into the PlayTool application, allowing for quick start up and operation of the playout events.
PlayTool supports a load list event type that will automatically insert or append a schedule into a running schedule to allow a single text file to continue to loop playout of large blocks of programming.
PlayTool supports different event types for playout behaviors, including auto-follow, manual and hard-start event types.
Logs are created and stored for troubleshooting and clip-play verification.
ClipTool is a free software control application that is provided with all Omneon media servers to provide control and monitoring of Omneon players. A VTR-like graphical user interface allows basic control functions of the server from any Windows PC and includes the ability to load and save lists; trim clips frame-accurately; and dub clips between Omneon players.
Building on the functionality of ClipTool, ClipTool Pro was designed to enhance the functionality of Spectrum or MediaDeck servers with a number of intuitive functions to make media operations simpler.
ClipTool Pro provides both basic and advanced functionality, from displaying a listing of clips to "crash record" capability. ClipTool Pro was designed to make it easy to manage manual interaction with Omneon MediaDeck or Spectrum media servers. With a VTR-like soft control panel, ClipTool Pro provides powerful control for ingest, quality assurance and playout operations.
Creating new partial clips and throwing away unwanted tops and tails has never been easier. A copy clip function creates subclips from manually selected in and out points. Variable length handles can be assigned to allow for in- and out-point trimming in the future. The original clip can then be deleted, freeing up storage on the media server.
This feature allows users to take several small clips located on a timeline and merge them into a single, larger clip. Users can use ClipTool Pro to perform a cuts-only edit on these pieces of material using only I-Frame and reference wrapped content.
The jog and shuttle capabilities enable quick movement through a clip.
The instant crash record feature streamlines the manual ingest process and allows for a fast response when needed to record incoming material. Automatic naming of files in this mode allows for multiple open-ended records in rapid succession.
Operators can use ClipTool Pro to designate a section of disk storage for loop recording.
Bounce mode and standard loop mode allow product shots, bumpers and graphic elements to fill timeslots as needed.
The storage availability gauge is always displayed prominently in the user interface to keep users informed of the amount of record time remaining, critical when performing open-ended records.
RecordTool is a recording automation tool that connects to a single player on an Omneon server and manages scheduled recording events, specified by day of the week, start time, end time and segment size.
Users can manually create a schedule of content to be recorded or can import a list from a traffic system. When coupled with other MediaTools in the Omneon portfolio such as PlayTool and ClipTool Pro, the user has a comprehensive set of applications to provide ingest, media manipulation and playout capabilities.
Create events to capture multiple feeds of real-time sources. These events can be configured for single, daily or weekly feeds and tagged with time and date stamps.
RecordTool can manually start recording at the click of a mouse. The new clip can be configured to use a preset clip name with a time stamp for ease of access.
Traffic applications can create a simple tab-delimited text file for loading into the RecordTool application.
RecordTool can use a single event to create multiple segment clips.
Users can create events in the schedule at any time of the day for saving and reloading later.
DelayTool is a simple yet powerful Windows application for the provision of delayed playout functionality.
DelayTool adds real-time program delay capability to Omneon media servers. A single window is provided for controlling an ingest record feed and defining a transmission delay for one to six playout channels.
For each input, up to six simultaneous delayed outputs can be configured and controlled. The amount of delay can be changed dynamically on each delay channel and sections of the delay program can be copied as new media. DelayTool is perfect for broadcasters with multiple time zone requirements.
