TFWM: How does the recent release of your PC video editing solution Neo ($249) especially meet the needs of church market?

M. Ray Brooksby: The Thomson Grass Valley™ EDIUS® Neo provides a feature-rich, fast, mixed format, real-time non-linear editing technology (the same technology used by Grass Valley broadcast professionals), at a price that fits within even the tightest budget constraints. EDIUS Neo requires no special hardware – it will run on a laptop as well as a workstation, and can input or output video to or from any OHCI-compliant FireWire connected camera or deck. EDIUS Neo easily manages standard definition and high definition content from a very wide range of sources or file formats. The software does not require these sources to be “conformed” before using them in a project. Simply drag them into the project bin (in whatever format you have them), and use them in your project. Regardless of file types, EDIUS will deliver real-time performance on the timeline. EDIUS will conform the final project on output using our quality award winning transcoding tools.

TFWM: Which of your products and/or product lines (Broadcast, Post Production, Distribution & Transmission, or Professional Video) do you find churches tapping into the most?

MRB: Our House of Worship customers primarily use products from our Professional Video line. This includes our EDIUS editing system, ProCoder transcoding software, the Turbo™ iDDR (intelligent digital disk recorder) multi-channel tapeless deck, the Indigo™ live production video and audio mixer, and our MediaEdge® enterprise video distribution system. Our Professional Video products are designed on the same technology and platforms as our Broadcast products, but with features and price points required by professional customers.

Thomson Grass Valley Professional Video products are integrated to assure interoperability and seamless, tapeless, workflows. This high level of integration reduces the number of people required to deliver very high production values – from ingest, through the creative process, to final output. It also substantially reduces the engineering cost to install a control booth or studio. Dozens of adaptors and hundreds of interconnecting cables are no longer required.

TFWM: What demonstrates Thomson’s commitment to providing solutions and technologies unique to H.O.W.?

MRB: That Thomson even designed and introduced to the market products like Indigo and Turbo shows that we understand House of Worship (and other professional) customers have feature and cost requirements different from our traditional broadcast customer base. We leveraged our substantial technology and product resources to create tools designed specifically for this market.
As well, Thomson recognizes that House of Worship customers require a different approach to sales and support. More than two years ago, Thomson dedicated a sales and marketing team to support professional customers and channel sales partners.

TFWM: What do you think is the “best kept secret” about GV regarding technologies for worship?

MRB: Clearly our biggest challenge is helping House of Worship users understand they have access to Thomson technology and quality in a package designed for them. Most of the world accepts Thomson as a world leader in broadcast. There is no need for House of Worship customers to settle for anything less than the best.

TFWM: Why should churches take a serious look at EDIUS Pro and EDIUS Broadcast for their video editing needs as opposed to the “three A’s”? (Adobe, Avid and Apple?).

MRB: For the three reasons that matter most: Quality, Performance, and Price. EDIUS delivers all three without compromise. I know it’s hard to believe, but you really can own a broadcast quality editing software suite capable of running on a typical personal computer, finishing high definition projects, and delivering real-time output for $249.! If you step up to EDIUS Pro (which includes an embedded version of ProCoder for rendering output to just about any known file format), you’ll only spend $699.

Brooksby’s career spans more than 30 years in television production, digital video, and video compression products and services.