Eurotape Media Upgrades R&S Clipster For High Productivity Mastering

Rohde & Schwarz, a global provider of broadcast distribution and media solutions, has worked with long-standing customer Eurotape Media to upgrade its technology and enhance performance. This included implementing the latest version of the R&S Clipster 6 Mark 2 to achieve up to a 100% speed boost over previous versions.

Established more than 40 years ago in Berlin, Germany, Eurotape Media is now a provider of broadcast masters for major broadcasters. As part of its service, Eurotape also manages high-resolution film-to-digital transfers, using a wet-gate ARRISCAN. Throughout its daily workflows, Eurotape Media is handling high value, high resolution, large files which need to be securely managed, processed and delivered under tight deadlines.

To meet these goals, Eurotape has a shared storage network built on the R&S SpycerNode SC. This provides both scalability and support for very high bandwidth transfers: up to 22 Gb/s per node. This server network handles files at 4k Ultra HD and higher resolutions as necessary.

To create large numbers of deliverables in multiple formats, Eurotape Media standardized some time ago on the R&S Clipster. Now it has extended its capabilities by upgrading to the latest and most powerful version, the R&S Clipster 6 Mark 2, which is integrated into an automated work order system.

“The additional power speeds up the mastering process,” said Ralf Jesse, Eurotape studio manager. “It also gives us the ability to work in resolutions above 4K. That is important because we scan at up to 6K and now we do not need to downscale, which would be another time-consuming process. The same applies to HDR, which is now seamless in our delivery workflows.”

Looking at the integrated solution of SpycerNode and Clipster, Eurotape CEO Mathias Jentzen adds: “This is really the key to transforming the way we work. All our workstations — the film scanner, the grading, the retouch, the editing and all the rest — are all on the SpycerNode, so we never have to duplicate data. From the scanner all the way to Clipster for deliverables, we never have to think about transferring files.”

“Eurotape Media is a business with a huge reputation in a fast-paced industry known for its stringent requirements,” said Andre Vent, Rohde & Schwarz broadcast and media sales manager. “With our systems integration partner SHM Broadcast GmbH, we were able to demonstrate to Eurotape how to scale storage capacity with a centralized approach. With SpycerNode SC, Eurotape Media has a scalable storage system for reliable and high-performance production.”