Annex Pro was at IBC 2024 and the Devoncroft Executive Summit, which took place in Amsterdam in September 2024. The theme we chose to summarize these events, “Modern Workflows for a Distributed World,” reflects the industry’s focus on media production for global, distributed teams. Over three days, valuable insights were gained on industry trends, new technologies, and the growth of Annex Pro’s partnerships with vendors such as Avid, Autodesk, Dolby, Adobe, Apple, Blackmagic, Wasabi, LucidLink, Iconik, Sohonet, Projective Strawberry, Nvidia, and others.
Key takeaways include:
- Growth in “Broadcast”: Although traditional broadcast may be static or shrinking, other sectors using broadcast-style media production workflows are growing exponentially. Annex Pro has the experience and ability to serve sectors beyond traditional broadcast, particularly in corporate communications, advertising and marketing, design, live sports, and higher education.
- Data Abstraction: As our partners develop simpler and more flexible workflows and customers leverage a distributed workforce, Annex Pro is offering more data abstracted workflows. This enables a seamless experience of accessing and managing data in media production without the user needing to know or care about the actual storage location, making it easier and more efficient for professionals to focus on production rather than technical storage details.
- Tech Focus: Hot topics at IBC 2024 included OpenUSD, machine learning, GPU rendering, and software-defined workflows. Our sales and technical team are trained and ready to discuss these innovations whether you are doing traditional post, VFX, animation, or games, or are doing media production in an adjacent sector such as corporate communications, advertising, or design.
Here’s a quick summary of developments highlighting the ongoing convergence of AI, cloud collaboration, and automation in media management, offering more agile and cost-efficient solutions for media professionals. As always, let us know if you have any questions here.
Avid
Avid introduced several enhancements to simplify remote collaboration and advance media production workflows, enabling you to “find your story faster.” One highlight was the introduction of Avid Huddle—a tool enabling real-time timeline sharing and feedback for editors working remotely. This integrates with Media Composer and offers streamlined video collaboration without the need for additional licenses. Under the banner “the power of partnerships,” Avid also introduced Panel SDK, which offers a new level of integration for third-party developers, allowing them to bring their tools directly into the Media Composer interface (including Autodesk Flow Capture). Avid also demonstrated improvements in its MediaCentral platform, including new AI-driven transcription tools, automated media workflows, and tighter security integrations with identity providers like Okta. Avid also featured better integration between Pro Tools and Media Composer, allowing seamless sharing of audio session files (finally!). For more details on Pro Tools updates, see our AES 2024 section of this newsletter (link to AES section). Learn more at https://www.avid.com/resource-center/avid-at-ibc2024.
Dolby
Dolby made significant announcements, particularly around innovations in real-time interactive streaming. Dolby Professional also showcased its continued focus on delivering immersive audio and video experiences through Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, enhancing the quality of live sports broadcasting and providing audiences with lifelike audiovisual experiences. Learn more at https://professional.dolby.com/.
Sohonet
Sohonet partnered with Avid to streamline media workflows by integrating Sohonet’s collaboration tools, such as ClearView Flex, into Avid Media Composer. This integration enhances remote team collaboration by allowing editors to conduct real-time, secure review sessions directly within Media Composer. Sohonet also showcased its new ClearView Rush, designed to revolutionize dailies review workflows with metadata-driven navigation and automation features. Learn more at https://www.sohonet.com/article/ibc-2024-preview-whats-new-and-whats-coming-with-sohonet.
Wasabi
Wasabi made waves with the introduction of Wasabi AiR—an AI-powered intelligent media storage solution designed for the media, entertainment, and sports industries. Wasabi AiR combines its well-known hot cloud storage with advanced AI-driven features such as auto-tagging, facial recognition, speech-to-text transcription, and multilingual translation. This allows media professionals to manage vast archives of video content efficiently by generating a second-by-second metadata index, enabling fast search and retrieval of specific moments, people, or objects. This solution has been particularly lauded for how it breathes new life into previously “dead” archives, making it easier for organizations to monetize their content libraries and streamline production workflows. Learn more at https://wasabi.com/cloud-object-storage/wasabi-air.
iconik
iconik showcased its continued push toward AI-powered media management. The company highlighted its Automation Engine—a no-code tool designed to automate workflows such as file transfers, transcodes, and content tagging, making media operations more efficient. Additionally, Iconik introduced facial recognition and AI-driven summaries, which provide automatic tagging and deeper insights into video and audio content, making it easier to organize and search large media libraries. Learn more at https://www.iconik.io/blog/see-whats-new-at-iconik-at-ibc-2024.
LucidLink
LucidLink provided a sneak peek at LucidLink 3.0—its next-generation platform for cloud-based collaboration. Known for its real-time access to large media files, LucidLink frees your team to work together seamlessly from anywhere. At IBC 2024, the company emphasized its integrations with Adobe Creative Cloud and demonstrated how its platform enhances video editing workflows. LucidLink’s approach to secure, instant file access continues to appeal to creative professionals. Learn more at https://www.lucidlink.com/landing/lucidlink-ibc-2024.
pixitmedia
pixitmedia focused on expanding its pixstor software-defined storage solution, which helps media organizations maintain control over their assets while optimizing data workflows for global collaboration. Pixstor’s seamless integration with cloud storage solutions ensures that media professionals can scale their storage and collaborate efficiently across different locations. Learn more at https://pixitmedia.com/.
