Marina

Marina tackles today’s complex changing workflows, mixing simple ‘pass-through’ style channels and complex ‘labour intensive’ channels within a single system. Flexible and elegantly scalable up to hundreds of channels, its distributed architecture enables you to utilise resources over multiple servers, and to select the best underlying technology for your specific needs.

Reliable, Flexible Operation

Each operator can control a high density of channels, and configurable desktop layouts via user rights logins mean that operational practices can be streamlined, and errors minimised. The system is designed to deliver flawless control of a wide variety of channel types in any combination, whether live and unpredictable content, regional opt-outs, simulcast, or simple clip-based channels. Continuous media validation, context-based playout rules, high resolution media viewing, and the concise ‘Summary Cell’ status view, all combine to safeguard playout and simplify the operator’s role.

Architectural Flexibility

Marina systems are architected using modular services blocks, so that your installation can be optimised to suit your resources and future business plans. We can provide constant synchronisation with disaster recovery applications and remote devices, ensuring transparent workflow and protecting the integrity and security of your system. Future system scalability is guaranteed with the ability to add an almost unlimited number of channels, operator positions and devices while the system remains live. Marina also uses a single system-wide database which allows for highly efficient media management.

System Resilience, Availability and Serviceability

Playout automation requires 99.999% availability. Deploying the latest software development technologies, Marina uses standard platforms to deliver robust and advanced functionality without reliance on bespoke hardware. It is designed for optimal performance whether you are working with third party legacy audio and video devices, the newest generation of multi-functional devices, or the hybrid combinations of both typically found in modern media facilities.

Marina offers full native API device control, and enables close integration with content management systems for file based workflows and direct nearline and data tape library archive control. It is fully Unicode compliant, enabling the entire user interface to be localized in any language.

Key Features

Scalable Architecture
from a single channel to hundreds of services across multiple locations
Agile Technology
controlling legacy products and emerging solutions within video, IT and hybrid infrastructures
Comprehensive Integration
closely integrating into workflows incorporating digital assest management, traffic, news and scheduling
User Rights Management
enables monitoring of logins and activities, and manages access across the system
Unicode Compliance
operates in multiple languages including Spanish, Japanese and Arabic, and toggles instantly between languages
Full Audio Track and Multilingual Management
dynamic audio track control for multilingual services, descriptive video or secondary stereo
Media Aware
database-driven media management offers automatic caching and conditional file movement
Multiple Formats
BXF (Myers ProTrack), MXF,AAF,V-ISAN compliant
Lighthouse management and monitoring
Neptune Compatibility
database compatibility and simple migration path from Neptune automation
Migration Pack
for seamless transition to Marina platform from legacy and end of life automation solutions

Lighthouse remote management and monitoring

Lighthouse extends Marina’s functionality to business users, operational staff and engineers both inside and outside your broadcast facility. It offers control, monitoring, media management and system configuration tools via an array of Widgets on configurable web-based dashboards.

Designed for PCs, tablet and mobile devices, and built on the latest JavaScript and HTML5 technology, Lighthouse incorporates its own node.js web server. It works with all mainstream HTML5-enabled browsers, and incorporates the latest TLS encryption for complete security. Lighthouse can span multiple Marina systems which may be running different software versions and be operating at different frame rates, and user-based permissions ensure that your mission-critical information is protected within the web environment.