Japan s Q-TEC, Inc. Installs Blackmagic Design Universal Videohub 88 at Tokyo Headquarters

Blackmagic Design today announced that Tokyo based Q-TEC, Inc. have installed a Blackmagic Design Universal Videohub 288 in their Tokyo headquarters. Q-TEC have also installed Blackmagic Design Videohub Smart Controls and a variety of Mini Converters into their facility as part of an improved post production infrastructure.

Q-TEC, located in Akasaka, Tokyo, is a post production house which offers a wide range of services such as Animation production, Stereoscopic 3D content production, TV programs, CG/VFX, DI, and Digital Archive. The company has provided post production work for projects such an Asmic Ace film, BUDO no NAMIDA (meaning Tears of Grapes) which is coming this fall, a trailer for GODZILLA 3D and TV commercials for companies like SUNTRY and ZOJIRUSHI, and is quickly growing to support new video and film projects in Japan. As part of this expansion, Q-TEC has built out a new post production workflow with the Universal Videohub 288 router as one of its key additions.

We have five edit suites mainly used for TV commercials and VFX work. Four out of five suites support stereoscopic 3D editing, so there is a mix of Dual Link 1.5G-SDI and 3G-SDI equipment. We also use several VTR decks. Because of that, we have to handle many cables which are very cumbersome if we use a patch bay, explained Kazuhiro Aoki, manager of the edit group at Q-TEC.

Q-TEC chose the Universal Videohub because of its affordability and performance. We needed many cross points, and Universal Videohub is incredibly affordable, and allowed us to install a router at a low cost. Universal Videohub lets us add SDI connections flexibly, by adding more interface cards. It is not common to install something with specifications beyond what we require, but this time, we built our system to be future proof because the Universal VideoHub 288 is so affordable. There are cross points we haven't used yet; however, we will be working on 4K workflows from now on, and we know the router can handle any job, said Takashi Takatori of the Technical department.

Q-TEC is using Universal Videohub 288 mainly for switching monitors and VTRs for capture and output by editors from their edit suites. A wide range of video formats are sent to the router, such as HD, Stereoscopic 3D or SD for DVD authoring. Some routers we have can only be used for switching VTRs or RS422, but the Universal Videohub has many inputs and outputs for both, allowing us to send any signals we can think of. It has made us work more efficiently, said Takatori.

Also, the Universal Videohub handles both video and audio signals via SDI, so it is easier to handle than routers which separate the video and audio signals. We use Blackmagic's Mini Converter Audio to SDI for some editing systems which cannot output embedded Audio to send both video and audio to the router via SDI. Then we use a Mini Converter SDI to Audio to send back separate audio to those systems, said Aoki. The redundancy the Universal VideoHub offers was a necessity, it would be a disaster if one of the cross points had a problem. I can rely on the Universal Videohub.

To control the router, Q-TEC uses eight Blackmagic Smart Controls, one for each suite and three for the machine room. The macro function is so useful. We always set macros for any operations we do in our workflow. Once we set a macro, it allows us to control the router with one button, or three steps if it is more than one button. It can also take power via ethernet. It looks simple and tidy as we don't have to use extra cables, he continued.

The efficiency of our work has improved since we started using Universal Videohub because we don't have to leave the suites to change patching anymore. Also, if new staff come, they need to learn all the locations of the patches, but now with the Videohub and Smart Controls, all they have to do is press buttons, concluded Aoki.

About Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic Design creates the world's highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design's DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company's Emmy award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to http://www.blackmagicdesign.com.

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