Get It In Writing

Los Angeles, CA, June 2010….ToolsOnAir, makers of innovative QuickTime-based applications for broadcast video production professionals, has announced the opening of their first US offices, located in the busy West Los Angeles media corridor.

Peter Bentley

Managing Director Peter Bentley of ICU Grow, Pty., ToolsOnAir’s United States distributor, will oversee the day-to-day operations of the US offices, including sales, marketing and support.

“We’re very proud to be representing such a fantastic suite of powerful applications,” remarked Bentley. “I’ve worked in Mac-based technologies for more than 20 years, and the ToolsOnAir just: Broadcast Suite of products stands out as one of the most impressive and innovative I’ve had the pleasure to work with.”

ToolsOnAir’s Broadcast Suite Helps Blink TV Maintain their Cutting Edge

V Festival

London, UK, June 2010….
One of the most well-worn business clichés states that the key to success is to “find a need and fill it.” For London-based Blink TV, that philosophy has been anything but a cliché.

Pro Sales Management Founder Takes the Helm at Former Client

Sun Valley, CA, June 2010….Late last year, music industry veteran Rick McClendon shook things up with the introduction of a whole new business model. McClendon’s Pro Sales Management was the first company in professional A/V to offer outsourced sales management consulting, bringing the sales strategies and expertise of major corporations to small and mid-sized music technology manufacturers. The company’s rapid growth within the professional audio and MI markets has gained McClendon recognition and spawned imitators.

NAB’s decision to implement an online press resource, like most other trade shows, is laudable. For many of us in the media, it provides quick and easy access to the resources we need to report on the show.

But NAB has gone beyond merely offering a Virtual Press Office as an option. This year, the organization has declared that the distribution of any and all press kits and other info, in any form, will not be permitted in the press room. Instead, manufacturers wishing to distribute their info to media attendees must do so online, via a third party company, for a fee starting at $375.

Renowned Guitar Gizmo Company Builds a Better Switcher

VISTA, CA….RJM Music Technology has introduced the Y-NOT, a compact, full-featured A/B/Y unit that allows guitarists to easily switch between, or combine, two outputs. Using the Y-NOT, guitarists can choose between two distinctly different amplifiers, enabling a player to alternate between or combine different sounds in a live or studio environment.

The Y-NOT is designed as a powerful solution for switching a single audio signal between two outputs. Guitarists can use the Y-NOT to switch between amps with clean and distorted signals, or between the individual inputs of a dual-channel amp. Unlike traditional A/B switchers, the Y-NOT’s high-quality audio buffer and isolation circuitry adds no undesirable coloration or noise to the signal, resulting in a pure, unadulterated sound and smooth, transparent switching.

I normally wouldn’t spend 20 minutes watching a video online, but this is something so special I had to interrupt my regularly scheduled blog to post it.

Aimee Mullins has built a career as a model, actor and activist for women, sports and the next generation of prosthetics. The records she broke at the 1996 Paralympic Games made people notice, but it’s what she’s done since that’s truly admirable. Plenty of people pay lip service to the idea of not giving up, of not acknowledging “can’t” and choosing not to wallow in self-pity, but Aimee is a person who, despite being born without shinbones, truly walks the walk.

Vienna, Austria…ToolsOnAir, makers of QuickTime-based applications for broadcast video production professionals, has announced support for the Euphonix MC Control and MC Transport control surfaces within their just:live program.

Part of ToolsOnAir’s Broadcast Suite of real-time, Mac OS-based video solutions, just:live will support native control of Euphonix’s popular Artist Series control surfaces via Euphonix’s EuCon Ethernet protocol.

“Many of our users have been asking about controlling our timeline-based applications via external control surfaces, and the Euphonix Artist Series has been the most popular request,” says Gilbert Leb, ToolsOnAir’s VP of Sales and Marketing. “When we spoke with Euphonix about EuCon support, we were pleased to find they were very receptive, and we were able to quickly implement the EuCon protocol into our software.”

A decade ago, the record industry began to reel as technology leveled the playing field, giving artists the tools to create and distribute their music without waiting for the almighty Major Label Deal.

Now, TV broadcast looks set to follow down that path. TV is no longer the province of deep-pocketed global networks. A new generation of upstart broadcasters is emerging, using the power and penetration of the web to reach their audience.

TV Broadcast Europe reports on the new model for TV broadcasting.

New Entertainment Space Running with ToolsOnAir just:live Software

Perth, Australia…This city’s Northbridge district has long been known for its diversity and its nightlife. Now the area is evolving to become a family-friendly community and cultural nexus, thanks in no small part to the recently completed Northbridge Piazza, home to the city’s first Urban Screen.

Broadcasting a mix of video and interactive programming, the Piazza’s Urban Screen is part of a growing global network of outdoor big screens focused on providing multimedia and interactive content within public spaces. As media director Damien Blythe explains, the screen’s programming is designed to not just entertain, but to encourage participation and foster a sense of community.