Minnetonka Audio Software Inc.—a leader in production software for motion picture, broadcast surround sound and consumer electronics applications—will announce new products at the IBC Amsterdam conference and exhibition, the annual European event for the creation, management and delivery of entertainment and news content. IBC Amsterdam will be held from September 9 through September 13.
Minnetonka Audio Software’s new releases includes the latest generation of AudioTools Server (ATS), Minnetonka Audio’s SurCode for Dolby E Suite Version 2, and a new loudness measurement and control plug–in for Harmonic’s ProMedia Carbon.
Debuting at IBC 2011, the next generation deployment of AudioTools Server adds new functionality, with one new application and three additional modules. First is the new optional AudioTools Workflow Control application, which adds decision logic to AudioTools Server. Enabling more complex, customer–defined conditional workflows, the new AudioTools Workflow Control module is also applicable to load balancing, distributing the workload across multiple AudioTools Server systems. AudioTools Workflow Control employs modular processing, including complex and conditional decisions along with a flexible XML specification, to delineate parameters.
The latest AudioTools Server also includes three new options for automated quality control (QC) of linear PCM essence: AudioTools Audio Quality Analysis, AudioTools Channel Assignment Detection and AudioTools Program Correlation. All three QC modules leverage ATS’ time saving ability to ReWrap, modifying essence without unwrapping and rewrapping QuickTime and MFX files.
The new AudioTools Audio Quality Analysis module gauges subjective quality, using a series of algorithms to analyze incoming PCM essence and detect anomalies such as clicks, crackle and silence. Each algorithm is fully adjustable, and may be enabled or disabled separately. An output log lists all anomalies found, along with their type and time code location. The new AudioTools Channel Assignment Detection module heuristically determines channel locations within multichannel programs. By evaluating relative loudness levels, channel correlation, and frequency range on a representative section of the audio, the module identifies the likely center channel, LFE (Low Frequency Effects), and left/right and front/rear channel pairs.
The third new addition to the AudioTools Server kit is the AudioTools Program Correlation module, which performs a correlation check between two audio programs, from mono to multichannel. After an initial alignment step is performed to account for variations in the start of each clip, the module determines whether both programs represent the same content. As with all the ATS modules, the outcome is logged and the result can be passed back to AudioTools Workflow Control or other modules for further action.
Also showing first at IBC 2011, V. 2 of the SurCode for Dolby E Suite brings new speed and versatility to the entire SurCode for Dolby E package. Minnetonka states that V. 2 SurCode for Dolby E Encoder is now up to five times faster, with its enhanced multi–threaded, distributed processing. For decoding, the V. 2 SurCode for Dolby E Decoder has a new “faster–than–real-time” AudioSuite decoder for Pro Tools platforms, while Apple users can benefit from handling both encoding and decoding completely within Final Cut Pro using a new file export decoder plug–in.
Minnetoka Audio Software will demonstrate the SurCode for Dolby E Suite at the show, and states that the new software ships this month. Competitive cross–grades are available, and updates are free of charge for current users.
The third product premiering at IBC is the AudioTools Loudness Control for Harmonic’s ProMedia Carbon plug–in, which adds flexible and convenient loudness control to Harmonic’s file–based ProMedia Carbon transcoding software. The plug–in offers loudness measurement and optional loudness adjustment in a single package, and adheres to the fundamental new ITU and EBU loudness standards, ITU-R BS.1770-2 and EBU R 128 (2011), as well as the ATSC’s most recent Recommended Practice A/85:2011.
For more information, visit Minnetonka Audio Software at www.minnetonkaaudio.com.
