Canopus debuts ProCoder Station at the Broadcast Production Show

Canopus showed ProCoder Station, a network-based encoding solution built on the company’s powerful ProCoder video encoding software, for the first time in the UK at the Broadcast Production Show.
ProCoder Station centralises and automates the complex and demanding load of encoding multiple and large projects. ProCoder Station automatically encodes single or multiple sources to any number of output formats simultaneously and delivers the converted files to a LAN folder or by FTP, while creative work continues on the production system. Major content providers and postproduction facilities can integrate the system into their existing production workflow and reduce encoding costs.
ProCoder Station features Canopus’s high-quality, high-speed, proprietary DV and MPEG-2 codecs. The Canopus DV codec provides the best picture quality preservation at the highest speed, while the MPEG-2 codec employs two-pass variable bitrate compression and advanced motion-estimation algorithms to provide the highest quality encoded video files. By taking advantage of Canopus’ Scalable Technology architecture to harness the power of current computer systems, ProCoder Station can transcode files faster than realtime in many cases and is entirely customisable and scalable.
“By centralising and automating the encoding process, ProCoder Station takes the headaches out of preparing video for distribution – especially in a workgroup situation,” said Robert Sharp, general manager of Canopus Corporation. “ProCoder software, with an established reputation for quality, speed and usability, is at the heart of this system and guarantees that video professionals are getting the best results for their encoded video.”
ProCoder Station is managed remotely using a web-based browser interface. Using a Web browser allows video conversion services to be available on the network with the same ease as network printing, and users will have access to ProCoder Station from both Windows and Mac OS-based platforms.
Conversion jobs may be initiated, processed and delivered to a preset destination through the use of watch folders. Each watch folder is assigned a defined process template that specifies the file formats, parameters and destinations that are used when transcoding files placed in the folder. Files can also be submitted to the watch folders via FTP. When projects are saved or placed in a designated watch folder, ProCoder Station immediately begins transcoding and saves the encoded file to any popular format, including MPEG, AVI, QuickTime or Windows Media. Since watch folders are available to anyone on the network, editors and content creators using Windows or Mac OS-based systems, including Canopus EDIUS, Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid systems or Final Cut Pro, will have easy access to ProCoder Station’s powerful encoding capabilities.
For added convenience, editors have complete control over the process and can queue, prioritise, pause, stop, start and cancel encoding jobs. When the encoding process is finished, ProCoder Station can email a notification that the job is completed and can automatically send converted files via FTP delivery to a streaming server or the Canopus MediaEdge network-based video distribution system.
ProCoder Station fully supports HD resolutions (720p and 1080i) and can transcode between HD and SD resolutions and frame rates seamlessly. ProCoder Station can also transcode between HD-compatible formats, including MPEG, DivX, Windows Media High Definition Video (WMV HD) and QuickTime. For added flexibility, ProCoder Station supports MPEG transport streams, including HDV and broadcast-compatible HD streams.
ProCoder Station will be available in June 2004 through Canopus authorised system integrators.
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