Creative One upgrades with AJA 4K/UltraHD solutions

Atelier Arte, the postproduction arm of advertising creative services provider, Tokyo-based, ADK Creative One, has installed AJA 12G-SDI solutions to simplify routing, conversion and transmission of high bandwidth 4K signals as part of a recent upgrade.

“We’ve never had 4K-compatible equipment in our editing rooms before, because 70% of our projects are currently television commercials for HD broadcast,” said Takeshi Yamamoto, editor, Atelier Arte. “Our decision to build a hybrid 4K/HD production environment better positions our studio for bidding and accepting offers on higher-end 4K and HDR projects.”

Visual Graphics (VGI) was enlisted as a systems integrator to develop and install a customised system to meet the requirements of the facility layout and creative tools used by staff. A critical requirement was compatibility with Autodesk Flame for compositing, editing, colour correction and finishing.

Central to operations at the upgraded facility is AJA’s Kumo 1616-12G compact router, which powers routing and distribution of 12G-SDI input signals to multiple output destinations around the studio. Kumo 1616-12G enables editors to operate 12G-SDI signals intuitively, with control of 4K and HD video sources using a single button or via a web browser UI. Each of the facility’s three Flame Premium editorial suites have been equipped with an AJA Kona 5 PCIe I/O card, which transmits the Flame’s output to the central Kumo 1616-12G router.

AJA Hi5-12G converters have been added to each of the six editorial rooms for converting 12G-SDI signals to HDMI to display projects on 4K HDR monitors for review and client previews. A pair of AJA FiDO-T-12G and two FiDO-R-12G converters were installed to transport 12G-SDI signals via fibre, used for sharing signals over long distances between editorial rooms and to a reference monitor.

“AJA gear has an excellent reputation for reliability, and in the event of failure, AJA offers full repair services to ensure minimal downtime to keep our operations stable and up-and-running,” said Kosuke Yamada, data manager, Atelier Arte.