IBC 2017: Prime Focus Technologies upgrades CLEAR Media ERP Suite

Prime Focus Technologies (PFT), the technology arm of Prime Focus, is set to unveil a host of  upgrades to its flagship product, CLEAR Media ERP Suite, at IBC 2017. CLEAR now offers a brand new functionality for end-to-end Work Order Management, pre-integrated with its Media Asset Management (MAM), Workflow Engine and Video Tools. Prime Focus Technologies will be at booth #7.B12 at IBC 2017.

This further elevates CLEAR’s promise of enterprise digitization to the next level, by enabling users to manage all of the following on ONE system:

• Assets, with associated metadata and essences
• Resources, including internal and freelance resources, as well as 3rd party vendors
• Tasks, including generation, timeline estimation, scheduling, assignment and execution (using tools within or outside CLEAR)
• Orchestration of content workflows across the content supply chain

“To lead in the industry, broadcasters and studios have to move beyond managing just content and focus on successfully running the business of content by harnessing the power of enterprise software and innovative technology,” said Ramki Sankaranarayanan, Founder and CEO, Prime Focus Technologies. “With Work Order Management, CLEAR as a one-of-a-kind technology has become even more powerful than before. For the first time ever, M&E organizations can have both assets and work related details for the entire supply chain on ONE system. This will usher in extreme transparency across the content lifecycle, and reduce manual effort drastically to help M&E enterprises lower their Total Cost of Operations.”

While users have been able to track business processes in previous versions of CLEAR, the new Work Order Management now allows the tracking of every incoming work request including all of its associated processes, tasks, and deliverables, through completion. Additionally, its Resource and Task Assignment modules enable assignment of manual tasks to best-fit resources based on skill, availability, and cost. Users can assign tasks across their pool of internal, vendor, and freelance resources, thus ensuring optimal resource utilization in alignment with business objectives.

With BPM driven tasks, due date based Work Order monitoring dashboards, in-depth data analytics and reporting, Work Order Management is a vital ingredient that helps Media & Entertainment (M&E) enterprises improve quality and maintain on-time delivery alongside increases in scale. It lays the foundation for streamlining content operations and helps M&E players enhance efficiencies across core processes like Acquisition, Review & Approval, Cataloguing, QC, Mastering, Distribution, Promos and Localization.

PFT will also be showcasing the latest additions to its Hybrid Cloud-enabled CLEAR Media ERP Suite. These include:

• DAX Production Cloud: ONE Software for Dailies & Post Workflows that enables all stakeholders within the production supply chain to collaborate, service and distribute media, all on the same software
• Promo Operations: A never-before functionality that provides end-to-end business process orchestration for promo creation including versioning automation
• Mastering Automation: An efficient and cost-effective way to create masters for domestic and international syndication
• Interoperable Master Format (IMF): 
  • IMF Media Player for playback over streaming proxy
  • Future-ready solution for IMF content exchange, with support for SMPTE’s upcoming Applications (beyond 2 and 2e)
  • Technology to transform IMF Packages into deliverables for DPP and iTunes