Telestream Announces Key Workflow Support in Episode 5.0 Release

Support expands for Web, DVD authoring, digital film/telecine workflows with latest Flash, Blu-ray and RED formats; plus support for Final Cut Server, encode while ingesting and a free SDK.

Las Vegas - NAB 2008 (April 13, 2008) - Telestream today announced availability of Episode 5.0 encoding software which expands format support to a greater number of specific digital media workflows for Apple professionals. For high-end post-production workflows, Telestream's high-performance Episode Engine server support software adds input support for RED camera, Cineon and DPX formats. For its core content repurposing to Web and mobile workflows, the entire Episode family adds support for the latest Flash 8, Flash 9 and Blu-ray formats. For Apple's new Final Cut Server media asset management and workflow automation software, Episode expands format choices beyond QuickTime to virtually any format.

"Episode 5.0 removes bottlenecks and speeds digital media workflows for a greater number of Apple users in digital production and editorial environments. The addition of high-end 10-bit 4:4:4 processing makes Episode Engine a perfect fit for the rigorous demands of digital film and telecine environments," said Barbara DeHart, VP of Marketing at Telestream. "With the addition of more formats for Web and mobile workflows, Episode continues to meet the content authoring needs for a growing number of new media platforms. We're also pleased to add server support for Apple's exciting new Final Cut Server application."

Version 5.0 adds encode and decode support for Flash 8 VP6s, Flash 9 (H.264) and Blu-ray, keep pacing with the latest new media content authoring formats. Using Telestream's innovative new Pipeline network video capture device, Episode users can now easily log and capture video from tape, schedule recording of live feeds and encode media while it is being ingested. The 5.0 release also includes a new high-quality filter for NTSC/PAL video standards conversion which brings software video conversion to a new level at an affordable price compared to hardware standards converters.

NAB is Telestream's debut for Final Cut Server integration. Episode multiformat encoding software now expands format support beyond QuickTime to virtually any file format for Final Cut Server. This a great example of how the new free Software Developer Kit (SDK) for Episode Engine enables easy integration into any workflow. Intelligent scripting simplifies integration, including monitoring, delivery and notification of transcoding operations, directly through the easy-to-use Episode user interface, without the need for programming. Version 5.0 also extends workflow integration to include media browsing and importing from Grass Valley K2 or Profile and 360 Systems servers, plus Sony XDCAM, Grass Valley Infinity and Ikegami Editcam disk-based cameras.

Episode Engine provides faster-than-real-time encoding through segmented and distributed processing for the most demanding workflows involving large, complex files. Version 5.0 now provides support for RED, Cineon and DPX formats, preserving 10-bit 4:4:4 throughout the process to provide the speed and superior quality required for digital film and telecine workflows. Because of Episode's ability to access QuickTime components, Final Cut Studio users can now gain access to Apple's pristine-quality ProRes 422 post-production format.

Telestream's Episode encoding applications for the Mac provide extensive format support, speed, quality and ease of use. Episode is the only encoding solution that scales from a single desktop to a fully-automated, multi-node server cluster with distributed encoding for high-volume and time-critical workflows.