| TransMedia Dynamics (TMD), a world leader in the development and delivery of solutions and services to the global media, broadcast and archive industries, has further extended the power of the search engine in its Mediaflex asset management system. With facet searching researchers can refine the search within a structure defined by the user, getting to the right media faster and more reliably.
“As we all know from using Google, if you search on a popular topic you get a huge number of hits,” explained Tony Taylor, CEO of TMD. “The search engine will apply some intelligence to put what it thinks you might want at the top, but that can only be a guess at best. With broadcast asset management systems growing rapidly, and the use of our technology in audiovisual archives which may have millions of items, we have taken a different approach to help users quickly find what they are looking for.”
Facet searching parses the metadata to group the search results. In an asset management system you might find filed under a programme title the raw acquisition footage; edited versions for local and international distribution, in SD and HD; audio files in stereo and 5.1, with and without voiceover; versions without commercial breaks for online and VoD; subtitle files in different languages; scripts; trailers and other promotional items; production and transmission contracts and more.
With Mediaflex facet searching each group will appear as a heading on the response screen. Click on a heading to see the individual items underneath. So if a researcher wanted to know if, for instance, an iTunes version of the programme had already been created, with facet searching it means simply typing in the programme name, then clicking on the online versions header. The ease of finding what is available makes searching more accurate, and saves significant resources because there is no temptation to add another transcode because finding the first is too time-consuming.
“We initially developed facet searching for our customers in audiovisual archives with millions of assets and a broad range of entities, digital and physical,” said Tony Taylor, CEO of TMD. “It quickly became clear that this would be a powerful addition to the broadcast product, too. It puts yet more control into the hands of the user, making the asset management more powerful because assets are easier to find.”
About TMD
TMD is a global leader focused on designing and delivering media & content management solutions and associated services to the global media, broadcast and archive sectors. Headquartered in Aylesbury UK the company’s Mediaflex software applications provide a platform for the management of both traditional physical media, such as film and video tape, as well as digital content. TMD’s global reach includes office locations in the USA and Australia. For additional information on TMD products and services, please visit www.tmd.tv. |
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