Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group took another step forward in their digital cinema rollout this week by announcing their selection of Unique Digital’s software suite to help them manage digital content and equipment in converted theatres.
With 1,802 screens spread across 202 venues in seven countries, Odeon is Europe’s largest cinema circuit. They are so large in fact, that Odeon struck their own virtual print fee (VPF) agreements with Hollywood studios. Rather than rely on a deployment entity such as Arts Alliance Media or XDC, Odeon is handling the rollout all on their own.
However, it wouldn’t make much sense for Odeon to build their own digital cinema management software. That’s where Unique Digital comes in. [Full Disclosure: I have ongoing business dealings with Unique]. Odeon has selected to deploy Unique’s Rosetta Bridge, a theatre management system (TMS) and Cinema Accord, a back office system focused on managing digital content, keys and VPF agreements.
Based in London, and with offices in Dublin, Ireland and Bergen, Norway, Unique is one of Europe’s leading providers of software and network solutions that give motion picture exhibitors the ability to manage and support their cinema operations, including all content and equipment. In February, Unique was selected by Norway’s Film & Kino to help convert 90% of the country’s movie screens to digital.
Read More »
Popularity: 2% [?]
It’s that time of year in the Northern Hemisphere where everyone wanders off on vacation at the end of summer. It’s very easy to let an important piece of news slip by without digesting it properly. So, I wanted to take a moment to highlight the announcement made early last week that Hoyts Cinemas had chosen deploy Arts Alliance Media‘s (AAM) Theatre Management System across their 400 screens in Australia and New Zealand.
It would be incredibly easy to brush the news off as just another press release from a digital cinema vendor. After all AAM has developed a TMS for the deployments it is undertaking in Europe. It’s not as if they have to build it from scratch. I’d argue however that it’s a bit more meaningful because Adam Wrightson was a part of the decision making process at Hoyts.
Wrightson is Hoyts, Group Technology Director and anyone that knows him, or has ever worked with him, knows how thorough he is when it comes to the technology the chain chooses to install. Presently he is working with Digital Cinema Implementation Partners Australia (DCIPA) to roll out digital cinema throughout Hoyts.
Any system or software developer that wants to do business with Hoyts has to get past Wrightson’s wary eye which is no easy task. After all, Wrightson is the kind of guy that can judiciously put together a detailed technical requirements document that leaves few if any engineering questions unanswered. A few years ago Wrightson sent me a specification document he wrote for a digital advertising network which came in at a mere 80 pages and had more color figures and diagrams than a world atlas. Getting a nod from Wrightson may as well be the digital cinema equivalent of being knighted.
Read More »
Popularity: unranked [?]
Screenshot of Cinedigm's Theatre Command Center
Timed to coincide with this year’s Cinema Expo conference being held in Amsterdam through Thursday two well known integrators have released enhanced versions of their theatre management systems (TMS). North American deployment entity Cinedigm has included centralized management features in their Theatre Command Center TMS and Norway’s Unique Digital is making the next version of their RosettaBridge software available.
A TMS is software that enables a multiplex to manage all of their digital cinema servers, projectors, content, security keys and logs within a given theatre, all from a central location. It is often attached to a library management server where d-cinema content is stored.
Theatre Command Center
Cinedigm was one of the first companies to develop a working TMS which they named Theatre Command Center. Their initial version was integrated with Christie projectors and Doremi servers. It’s key features were:
- Management of all content including MPEG, JPEG, trailers, preshow and alternative content.
- Ingest of content via any delivery method including USB, satellite and fiber optic wire.
- Remote operation of servers and projectors.
- Automated scheduling of playlists that allowed for the transfer of content to the correct screen.
- Integration with some point-of-sale systems as well as Cinedigms head office software.
- Web access allowed users to log in from any computer connected to the Internet.
- Real-time monitoring of d-cinema systems with system status alerts and notifications.
- System log management.
- Multi-language support.
Some of this functionality, such as content management and ingest, would be considered basic requirements for any TMS, no matter the manufacturer. Most of those who have been using the software that I’ve spoken with have had positive things to say about the software. The only consistent criticism I’ve heard is about the systems graphical user interface (GUI). I’m not familiar enough with Cinedigm’s TMS to add my own thoughts.
Read More »
Popularity: 12% [?]
Entries RSS
