“What we identified during the IBC show 3 years ago is that many OTT (Over The Top) broadcasters are really involved with content repurposing,” began Sima Levy, CEO of Actus Digital in our exclusive interview with The Broadcast Bridge. “but they don’t really need the full capabilities of a complex nonlinear edit (NLE) system to accomplish this.”

So Actus Digital decided to come up with a simpler way to do this, and developed a tool they called “clips creation”.

The idea is they treat program elements, segments and inserts such as commercials as clips, and while the live linear broadcast is going out over the air, they offer side-by-side nonlinear clips creation and sequencing for VOD (Video on Demand) and Catch-up TV.

Their latest release to accomplish this is called Clip-Factory-Pro, and although it’s not as full-featured as a craft NLE, the system does include a set of video editing functions, such as blurring, muting, pre/post rolls, ad removal and more.

“All this goes on while the program is live, and can be ready shortly after the broadcast is completed,” Levy said. “With our system, this also includes transcoding the content to formats to service the various outlets available today, including social media. It’s targeted toward the new media platforms, where speed is key.”

Among the customers who are currently using this Actus Digital “clips-based” approach are CNBC, Sky, AMC Networks, Fox, Sony, Star, BBC and Disney.

“This is an end-to-end solution,” Levy said. “Clip-Factory-Pro does all the recording, transcoding, and playout. We listen carefully to our customers and tailor the system to their needs. The most recent result of this has been the implementation of automation.”

If the customer can provide their play out list to Actus Digital complete with metadata, the clips creation process can be automated through Clip-Factory-Pro.

“The playout file tells us where the commercials are so we can remove them if necessary, giving us a clean program,” Levy explained. “So depending upon what the customer wants, we can provide manual, semi-automated or fully automated clips transcoding and sequencing services.”

Levy insists that the Clip-Factory-Pro system is so simple that customers can start using it with just 10 minutes training. You can even work with it at home using low rez proxies and then send them online in HD resolution.

“Clip-Factory-Pro is an expansion of our Clip factory suite of products,” Levy said. “It will be constantly growing with new features and capabilities.”