Grass Valley continues to increase the wide-ranging functionality of its K2 family of media servers, shared storage environment and file-based control devices to better support file-based workgroups. At NAB 2009, the company will empower broadcasters and video production companies with new features and tighter integration with third-party applications that streamline HD content production and distribution while making professionals more productive.

“We continue to extend the functionality of the K2 Media Server family to give customers more value for their money,” said Jeff Rosica, senior vice president of Grass Valley. “The K2 server remains the most versatile file storage and sharing system on the market, and these new applications only further prove the platform’s flexibility and ability to grow as the need arises.”

The new K2 products that will be demonstrated at NAB—all of which can be added to an existing Grass Valley K2 storage area network (SAN) or dedicated K2 server—are detailed below.

K2 Coder Automated Transcoding Application
This high-performance software enables users to ingest any type of file format and then automatically convert it to any other desired “house” format. The software includes the use of “hot folders,” with which an editor or producer can designate the correct file format and where it should be saved on the computer. This hot folder then knows exactly what to do with the ingested file, once those files are placed there. Formats supported include:

• (Ingest) DVCPRO HD, JPEG 2000, DNxHD, HDV
• (Export) MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, AVC Intra, Windows Media and H.264

K2-ASI Media Client
A dedicated workstation that includes a custom application that allows users to receive ASI transport streams and convert them to files on a K2 Media Server system. Those files could first go through a hot folder for conversion to the proper house format.

K2 Capture Service
This powerful application allows stations to receive and play out syndicated programming and commercial spots as part of a highly automated system that manages the entire content life cycle of the media, including booking, playout, and invoicing.

The new Grass Valley K2 Capture Service software tells any automation system to locate and retrieve an incoming file from a store-and-forward content delivery service (e.g., Pathfire and DG Systems), store it on a K2 server, and play it out at a predetermined time and day. This helps streamline the handling of content as digital files and makes stations more productive by significantly reducing the amount of time required to move syndicated shows on and off of a K2 server.

K2 Production Storage
This is a set of dedicated, cost-effective, shared storage system configurations for Grass Valley EDIUS  editing workgroups that offers higher performance than a K2 nearline NAS system, up to 20 real-time HD streams, and is not as scalable as a full-fledged K2 SAN. The storage systems are available with either Fibre Channel or Ethernet connectivity (only through K2 Production Storage Distributed LAN Server).

These storage arrays are ideally suited for small video production companies or a station’s separate editing/creative services department that don’t require the high-availability of a K2 SAN but need reliability and unlimited ability to share files and collaborate on projects that use similar material. Projects stored on a K2 Production Storage system can be moved to and from a K2 SAN as well.

K2 Production Storage comes in four complete packages–connecting up to five or ten editors, and in either a redundant or non-redundant configuration. Each of those pre-configured package include all hardware and software required to create a SAN editing environment, along with variation of tools such as time shift editing seat licenses and NetCentral  Lite. A custom model is also available for more than 10 editors.

K2 Production Storage Distributed LAN Server
This gateway server, which can be attached to the K2 Production Storage system, allows editing clients to have a high bandwidth access to the SAN through Ethernet cables. This option will be valuable to all Notebook PC editors, enabling real-time HD editing through a single Ethernet cable from and to the central SAN system.

Enhanced Final Cut Pro Integration
This enables a K2 server to act as a broadcast-quality storage system for Apple Final Cut Pro/Final Cut Studio (FCP/FCS) HD workgroups. For those using either a K2 Production Storage system or a full K2 SAN, the K2 server natively stores and sends files that can be finished within FCP/FCS HD.

This tight integration means that editors working on Grass Valley Aurora news systems can transfer low-resolution projects to a FCP/FCS workstation for finishing. The FCP/FCS workstations are directly mounted via Fibre Channel or SCSI connectivity to the K2 server, providing both “edit-in-place” and file transfer capabilities.