10 things you didn't know ContentAgent could do

ContentAgent is known for automating workflows and making core operations accessible to non-technical staff. But did you know about these other features?

By Liz Sunter February 21, 2019

ContentAgent's intuitive drag-and-drop interface (pictured above) allows non-technical staff to build workflows and automate tasks for ingest and delivery. But it's not just a workflow building tool. ContentAgent can engage with your workflow at every stage of post, helping streamline and support everyday transcoding operations. 

1. Parallel card ingest 

Production staff can use ContentAgent's CardAgent feature to submit camera cards for ingest. CardAgent can process multiple cards in parallel, making ingest far more efficient. 

2. Automated backup

ContentAgent can back up camera cards to multiple locations while creating Avid files for you to edit, all within an automated workflow and without the need for human intervention. 

3. Intelligent, automatic decision-making

ContentAgent can make intelligent, automatic decisions while ingesting footage or preparing it for delivery. Using the workflow builder, you can tell ContentAgent to ask itself questions such as "Is the source clip frame rate 50i? If No, run a frame rate conversion process." By automating this process, you reduce human error and free up staff to work on other tasks, while minimising the number of failed operations – instead of encountering a problem and alerting a human to fix things and resubmitting the job, ContentAgent uses the logic set up in the workflow builder to solve the problem itself.

4. Motion compensated frame conversion

ContentAgent can perform high resolution, motion compensated frame rate conversion for international deliverables. BBC Sports used ContentAgent during the 2016 Rio Olympics to process media from the sports venues, so all footage that was not broadcast live was instantly converted from 60i to 50i to an edit-ready format.  

5. Resolution independent processing

ContentAgent is resolution independent, so you can be assured that every file you throw at it will be processed ready for editing, and then delivered in the correct format, no matter what frame rate or size is required. 

6. Delivering AS-11files

You can use ContentAgent to create broadcast-ready AS-11 DPP HD files, complete with programme metadata. ContentAgent's AS-11 creation process includes managed QC checking, and gives you the option to perform insert-edits on existing Master files, in case you need to make changes at the last minute. 

7. Talking to Media Composer

Editing in Media Composer? ContentAgent's tight integration with Avid workflows means that you can submit clips to ContentAgent directly from your Media Composer interface, and it'll start creating automated deliverables including...

8. Viewing copies with burnt in timecode and metadata

These can be created in ContentAgent, and include key information such as clip names and format. Then, ContentAgent can automatically send clips to a client, using a WAN acceleration service such as Aspera. ContentAgent can also add invisible watermarking to clips while it transcodes them, so you can easily track individual copies of your footage.

9. Publishing to social media

After transcoding them to the appropriate format, ContentAgent can publish files (plus descriptive metadata and keywords) to social media sites such as YouTube, Vimeo and Twitter. Customers can also upload files privately to these sites to speed up review and approval workflows. 

10. Run on any PC

ContentAgent runs on PC hardware from a laptop up. More powerful machines (such as a workstation or rack server) will help increase the throughput and scalability of ContentAgent, and are useful when pushing to meet client deadlines or handling large jobs.

ContentAgent is used by leading companies across a multitude of different markets in the UK, automating ingest and delivery for news crews (ITN, NBC, CBS), sports broadcasters (BBC, IMG, Perform, BT Sports, Sky F1) and post-production facilities (Envy, dock10, Splice, Lime and more). For more information or to arrange a live demo, get in touch with the team using the form below. 

Want to know more? Fill in the form below, or get in touch with the team on 03332 400 888 or at broadcast@Jigsaw24.com. For the latest news, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.