This is doubtless a claim that you’ve heard more than once before and more than once before it has probably rung a little hollow. But we’re genuine: with the development of our new time-of-day and manual router control technology we really have been listening to our customers. We would be mad not to.
What’s the problem they’ve been facing? Well, this is far from new and there are two factors to it. The key problem is automated routing and how to do it easily and cost-effectively.
Let’s step back. With today’s often feature-rich, complex broadcast technologies simple but essential tasks can be buried in the sub-menus of expensive solutions. Sometimes simple technology dedicated to the task at hand provides the most effective and cost-efficient solution.
We’ve heard from multiple customers with essentially the same issue: either trying to use complex automation systems for automated time-of-day routing or, more often, where automation is not an option because of cost or it’s an OB truck or production facility where there is no automation. Customers need to be able to automate switching, and also have manual control, and require a cost-effective, functionally appropriate solution to the problem.
So, we went back to the drawing board and, as a consequence, have taken a new approach, developing a standalone, single licence, simple-to-use PC-based application: ClockWork.
It works with SDI video and audio routers across all the key manufacturer router protocols with routers up to 64 x 64. The essential point is that it’s intuitive to use and does exactly what customers want. This also includes full PC-based manual control; therefore, operators don’t have to fiddle around in the back of a facility finding the right hardware control panel. With Clockwork it’s right there in front of them.
ClockWork can also be used with RouteMaster Lite – our “virtual” Newtek NDI® router up to 20×20 size – or with our RouteMaster technology controlling a single NDI 64 x 64 “virtual” Router.
For more info please e-mail us at [email protected].
For more complex automated time-of-day routing requirements, of course we have Helm-Clockwork.