IBC 2022: Imagine Aviator Launches Essentials Channel Graphics Offering With Singular.live Partnership

Continuing to roll out new functionality in its Imagine Aviator platform, Imagine Communications today announced its partnership with Singular.live, the revolutionary web-based graphics platform, as part of the newly launched Essentials channel origination option for its Aviator Make TV cloud playout solution. The partnership enables content creators and rights holders to easily add high-quality graphic branding capabilities to their channels leveraging a cloud-based delivery solution. The solution will be demonstrated for the first time at IBC2022 (9-12 September, RAI Amsterdam, stand 2.B49).

While many graphics branding solutions are built on proprietary formats or workflow tools, Singular’s graphics harness the widely adopted HTML5 format, which is portable and easy to use with a wide range of solutions. It allows graphics production teams creative freedom, as well as a format that will work on a wide range of devices.

“Imagine is pleased to partner with Singular.live to offer a graphic branding solution that is ideally suited for Essentials channels,” says Rob Malcolm, chief product officer at Imagine Communications. “By leveraging HTML5 graphics, we offer a combined solution that makes it easier for our customers to create content for and manage critical aspects of a public cloud playout system. It fits well with our own HTML5-based user interfaces and our approach to fully cloud-native ecosystems.”

Essentials channels use HTML5 overlay graphics and support real-time external dynamic data from web, database, RSS and other sources, as well as data originating from the channel’s playlist, for insertion into Singular graphics. Templates created with Singular can feature a broad range of elements that can be controlled via Aviator Make TV’s integrated playout automation and manually by operators via its user interface. This enables more flexible workflows to suit a vast range of needs, including lower thirds, crawls, scoreboards, or full-screen graphics, as well as incorporation of DVE moves — delivering sophisticated visual experiences that enhance the overall impact of an Essentials channel.

Graphics source templates and elements are stored in the cloud and recalled as needed for frame-accurate overlay on top of the video stream, all managed by the Essentials channel playlist. This approach keeps all aspects of the solution in the cloud and simplifies its overall management and maintenance.

While use of Singular graphics is a clear benefit for creating rich on-screen visual experiences, it is also a benefit to smaller projects and media companies that need to create graphics but have budget constraints or limited resources to form internal graphics production teams. Simple creation tools and easy outsourcing of graphics production to third parties make for a lower barrier of entry to achieving broadcast-grade results. This is also true with Essentials channels themselves, enabling truly premium channels to be created and delivered entirely in the public cloud.

A web browser and internet connection are all that is needed to securely access and operate all aspects of each channel and to control graphic branding. Operators have full control of the visual experience whether they are in the office, at a remote location or working from home. Imagine Communications’ flexible licensing options — running in a media company’s own cloud account, or in Imagine’s SaaS environment — enable customers to reap the benefits of operational efficiency, while maintaining control of all creative aspects of their content.

“We are delighted to be working with Imagine Communications to enable new graphic branding capabilities to the Aviator platform,” said Andrew Heimbold, CEO of Singular.live. “The ease of integration and powerful operator tools exposed in the Essentials channel user interface make it easy to control all aspects of the graphics workflow in conjunction with the operation of channel playout. Now all clients have a quick, flexible and scalable way to create broadcast-quality channels that are full branded by harnessing these two cloud native platforms.”