London: August 31, 2010… YoYotta will introduce the new version of YoYo – the company’s flagship postproduction workflow management system at IBC 2010 in Amsterdam, Sept. 10-14. Originally designed as a conform i/o interface for Pandora colour correctors, the YoYo v.3 software suite offers a comprehensive toolset for managing postproduction workflows for a fraction of the cost of other systems. With YoYo, facilities can ingest, transcode, conform and output just about every standard video- or data-based file format, thus freeing up creative suites for creative work.

New features in YoYo v.3 include encoding and decoding of MXF files, easing preparation of offline and online material for Avid Edit systems, integration with file-based image processors from Cintel, control of Spirit DataCine via an onscreen GUI or a wireless iPad application, and audio support for WAV, BWAV, AAC, AIFF and MP3 files. Also enhanced is the creation of logos and graphics for dailies material.

Already widely deployed in London’s SOHO district for a variety of work in film, television and commercials, YoYo is comprised of three core applications – YoProject, YoCapture and YoSource. YoProject manages file-based data. YoCapture allows users to ingest video sources, and YoSource is designed for conforming and outputting video masters.

“If your facility is file-based, and you never touch video, then you only need YoProject, which is just £3,000,” said Adam Welsh, Sales Director of YoYotta. Facilities that work with tape can purchase YoCapture or YoSource for an additional £2,000 each.

In the commercials sector, YoYo is ideal for conforming and outputting deliverables, freeing up the colourist, (and an expensive colour grading suite), for more creative work. In television, the system is being used to ingest and prep video source material for editorial, while in the film world, it can be deployed as a cost-effective system to manage a dailies workflow, or restoration projects.

“YoYo has revolutionised our file-based grading pipeline with our Revolution 2K color corrector,” Chris Bouchard, senior engineer at Framestore CFC in London. “We’re able to start grading instantly from 2K DPX files scanned onto our SAN or from RED/Canon raw media, eliminating the time-consuming wrangling, data transfer and conforming steps.”

“EDL conform is instant and automatic, and ensures that all the frames needed for a job are graded before rendering straight back to the SAN with handles for re-conform and finishing on our Smoke systems,” he added. “On a fast SAN rendering is like lightning, achieving better than realtime speeds. This is fantastic for the fast turn-around expectations of our commercials clients.”

In addition to its extensive high-speed transcoding capabilities, YoYo offers primary colour correction and colour management allowing for the creation of accurate digital dailies, or for precise colour space adjustments at any stage of postproduction. The system can process virtually any file or video format into a single master and play out to disk or tape. Stereo deliverables can also be created in various 3D formats.

After final delivery, YoYo allows facilities to manage various storage tiers. Projects can be archived while maintaining a visual online audit for ongoing maintenance.

“Colour grading suites usually involve expensive products with expensive infrastructure and expensive creative talent using them,” explained Welsh. “All too often, however, that expensive suite is being used for doing simple preparation work or doing deliverables. In other words, you have a creative part of the workflow tied up with non-creative tasks. YoYo is attracting attention, because with it, you can ingest material and convert it into a format that you can use in house with a relatively inexpensive piece of software, or even conform your deliverables, saving time and money in the colour grading suite.”

YoYo runs on the Apple Mac Pro, which allows for cost-effective installations on a powerful off the shelf workstation. “The hardware investment in a Mac Pro is a very flexible one and users can convert that workstation into three or four different products quickly and easily,” explained Welsh. For example, users could also install Autodesk’s Smoke, Avid Media Composer or Apple’s Final Cut Pro on the same platform, maximising their hardware investment.

See YoYo v3 at IBC
Visitors to IBC can see YoYo in action at Booth 7.B35 (Cintel) in the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam from Sept. 10-14. To book an appointment, please contact Adam Welsh +44 7917 565514 or adam@yoyotta.com

About YoYotta
Founded by Martin Greenwood in 2006, YoYotta has created a cost-effective workflow management system for postproduction. YoYo gives post houses the ability to manage their data and video workflows, freeing up talent and expensive infrastructure for creative work. YoYotta is a privately held company based in London. For more information, visit http://www.yoyotta.com

Filed Under: Film & Broadcast, Press Releases, Technology, YoYotta