Digital media-management company Digitalsmiths has launched the latest iteration of its metadata analysis and free-form video search product, VideoSense 2.5, with an eye toward edging into the nascent TV Everywhere market in addition to the network and studio markets it already serves.
VideoSense allows editors to attach detailed metadata to videos, 
enabling more detailed search and handling of assets. The new version takes it a step further, allowing users to create snippets of video for teasers and other promotional needs, and even single frames for thumbnails.
"Digitalsmiths has been working with Tier 1 media companies -- studios and TV networks -- around indexing and tagging video assets and providing a platform for that," CEO Ben Weinberger told FierceVideoOnline. "This version allows users to get very granular."
For VOD applications, the software makes it easier for editors to create thumbnails for specific episodes of series like "House," rather than the generic thumbs usually generated by a system, and that makes for a better experience for the end user. "Usually, a system will generate a single frame for use with all episodes," said Weinberger. "With VideoSense 2.5, an editor can go in and very quickly scan a program, select a frame and use that for listings or promotion of each episode."
The software also allows an editor to choose clips quickly using an array of existing metadata -- like the name of an actor, scene or even the type of action involved -- to create promos and teasers, essentially new assets. "In some ways, it's really basic stuff, but it's a very complex process to produce," Weinberger said. "This platform is unique and efficient, and it doesn't exist elsewhere; in the end, it makes for a better user experience."
The platform's ability to easily generate clips from large chunks of data could make it especially interesting to news and sports content programmers. VideoSense allows an editor to quickly scan content and create sub-assets -- with metadata embedded in it as well - so it can be retasked as a teaser or for rebroadcast on a website, getting it in front of a new or expanded audience -- even uploading to YouTube directly.
In addition to the clip editing and thumbnail creation, VideoSense 2.5 also facilitates direct asset upload from a user's desktop, making it easier to get content up and scheduled. Its new reporting dashboard helps track hours viewed, streams viewed and unique users by distribution partners, offering a deeper look at analytics that can be used to further monetize content.
"If you use a publishing platform like the ones that are out there now to get assets from Point A to Point B, it's pretty much a dumb pipe," said Weinberger. "But if you couple or marry that with large amounts of metadata, it makes it more intelligent and effective. Digitalsmiths is all about using that data to help you build your audience. We know that the more times a customer can sell their content, the more value it has."
For more:
- see this release
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