National Geographic Creative Turns to Wazee Digital for 4K Transcoding, Delivery

National Geographic Creative has upgraded its Wazee Digital-powered licensing portal to support 4K content transcoding and delivery to its customers, which include content creators, filmmakers, and documentarians. NatGeoCreative.com is one of the first portals in the industry to grant users the ability to transcode and fulfill 4K content automatically.

“More and more of our filmmakers are creating 4K content. The demand for that footage continues to grow as major entertainment companies, brands, and ad agencies look for the best-possible video content they can get for their projects,” says Alice Keating, senior vice president, National Geographic Creative. “With this enhancement, portal customers who search for footage in National Geographic’s motion collection can now download higher-quality content in the proper format that meets the needs of their project.”

National Geographic Creative portal showcases the work of hundreds of award winning cinematographers.

Since 2006 National Geographic has relied on Wazee Digital Core, the company’s media asset management system built specifically for the cloud, to store and manage its video content. Wazee Digital Commerce, a solution powered by Core, has powered the portal through which buyers search the National Geographic library and view and/or license the footage. Prior to the 4K upgrade, automatic fulfillment was limited to HD or SD content only. With the 4K upgrade, National Geographic portal users can now order, transcode, and download true 4K content directly from the portal.

“Granting direct access to 4K video will allow National Geographic Creative customers to use some of the highest-quality content for their films, documentaries, brand campaigns, and other projects, which will improve the overall quality of the productions and the time it takes to complete them,” says Greg Loose, chief technology officer of Wazee Digital. “True 4K transcode and fulfillment from a video portal is rare, if not unprecedented, and it’s been gratifying to work with a partner like National Geographic Creative to make it happen.”