Sample Digital

Television Production Studios and Broadcasters

dax|D3 Increases Efficiency and Improves the Bottom Line

Today’s Television Production Studios and Broadcasters are facing a global challenge of managing complex and collaborative workflows across multiple time zones, as well as around town. This increasing demand for audio-visual and rich media content and documentation drives an ever-spiraling set of expenses associated with collaborating and managing the production and distribution process – not only for the production team, but the support organizations that make it happen.

dax|D3 accelerates production workflow and provides a highly secure and centralized online environment that manages all audio-video, photography, documentation and key art elements. dax|D3 was designed to speed delivery of production elements such as dailies, visual FX, Electronic Press Kit elements, still photography, scripts and rough cuts. dax|D3’s workflow and collaboration tools streamline the creative and approval process, while incorporating full media asset management capabilities ensuring the highest levels of security and user access controls within the system. dax|D3 removes the risks, dangers, and inconveniences of email or FTP and reduces the costs and associated delays of DVD or tape duplication and distribution.

Access to production content is a common need shared by multiple stakeholders such as production, post-production, on-air promo production, standards & practices (clearance), and publicity. dax|D3 enables easy management of every step – here is how it works:

Step 1

Production dailies and elements can be accessed via any Mac or PC connected to the internet. Instant access to dailies encoded at telecine means off-set editors and production executives are no longer 2 days behind the shooting schedule waiting for tapes to arrive. Editors and Creative can collaborate, approve and release elements and assembles on-demand.

Unit Photography is uploaded and approved directly in the system providing instant access to studio and network executives.

Documentation is centrally managed and stored in one location.

Step 2

At the Broadcaster, the system is configured to deliver creative materials to designated executives first, who can select takes or clips and release materials to other members of the Network Creative team. Programming and Development Executives can review creative selects or whole dailies reels and cuts, and users can create and name playlists, organize takes in a sequential order, re-shuffle takes, and add notes and comments associated to SMPTE time code.

All approved photography, key art and EPK dailies can be made immediately accessible to marketing and publicity execs.

Step 3

Once materials are approved, they can be released to production, development, programming, on-air promo, casting, publicity, product placement, and business affairs – so they can start their work on on-air promotional and publicity materials such as commercials and EPK materials. Producers can collaborate with visual FX and titling houses as the system enables high resolution content display with tools like frame-by-frame advancement, backwards and forward, as well as the ability to mark favorites.

On-Air Promo Departments can start making selects of their own by assembling playlists for promo postproduction. Choosing selects through dax|D3 allows users to assemble and submit an EDL of desired takes or time-code accurate clips. Post Service Operations can then quickly create Avid or Final Cut Pro files of only what they need – meaning assembles and rough cuts get cut quicker and redundant work is eliminated.

Beyond dailies and rough assembles or edits, the system can also distribute elements to creative agencies for promo and sizzler development. They can view approved content and order or import chosen clips in native Avid or Final Cut Pro formats. dax|D3 even incorporates unique watermark identifications for each creative agency ensuring the highest levels of security. This process saves huge expenses in duplication of physical media, watermarking, encoding, transcoding and media services, while speeding time of delivery and time to decision.

Publicity can also use the system for full Electronic Press Kit development. All EPK dailies can be distributed through the system – behind the scenes, director and actor interviews, bio materials and more can all be wrangled through the system in the same way a regular television project does.

All location and still photography elements can be managed through the system via the dax|D3 photography module. Users can easily navigate photography with “iPhoto-like” functionality as well as features such as zoom, rotate, rate, side-by-side comparison, approve and kill. dax|D3 has a complete Photography Kill Module as well, where talent can approve and kill photos online based on contractual obligations.

Product placement can do screen grabs of product shots and securely make available to product sponsors and partners.

Standards & Practices can review, approve and provide feedback for cuts to production teams.

Casting can monitor performances and storylines.

Production can even use the system as a Stock Footage Library – housing music or 2nd unit footage for re-use and re-purpose on other productions. Content can be metadata tagged making it easily found through detailed search criteria. Once found, dax|D3 allows users to create clips in the system of only the content they need and export an associated EDL with accurate SMPTE time code reference so the footage can be matched back to the master in any near-line or off-line editorial environment.

Enhanced Business Velocity

dax|D3 simplifies storage and filing, removes logistical complexities and excess media charges, manages and streamlines workflows – realizing substantial hard and soft cost savings. The Sample Digital team will even sit down with you or your accounting department and structure an ROI analysis to show you first hand where the savings exist.

Simplified and centralized asset storage form the core of a collaborative environment for the exchange of ideas and approvals between all television stakeholders in all departments and divisions. Simply put, dax|D3 is a universal command center for managing all production assets – providing faster time to market, reduced operating costs and a significant contribution to a company’s bottom line.

Learn what creative leaders like 20th Century Fox, CBS, Fox, ABC, Lifetime, Showtime, Lionsgate, Starz and AMC already know and let the creative process become more about creative and less about process. Call us today for a demo or to find out what D3 can do for you - 323.993.8840