Welcome : Customer Testimonials

>> Customer Testimonials

BBC Selects Techex to provide an Optibase powered Advanced Monitoring System

System Simultaneously Streams 60 TV Channels for up to 120 UsersBBC Monitoring (BBCM), a supplier of news and information from mass media around the world, has selected Techex Ltd the leading provider of streaming media solutions in the UK, to provide Optibases TV streaming platform for use in its advanced monitoring system.

BBC Monitoring operates around the clock to monitor more than 3,000 radio, TV, print, Internet and news agency sources, translating from up to 100 languages. This extensive and growing range of sources enables BBCM to provide distinctive, authoritative and reliable coverage of political and economic news to its subscribers, consisting of government departments, journalists, academics and businesses with international interests.

BBCM partnered with Cambridge Imaging Systems to create a system that would simultaneously deliver live TV and audio channels to up to 120 users on the BBC Monitoring network. The requirements were professional encoding of 5Mbit MPEG-2 video that satisfies the demanding requirements of government and news broadcast customers. The video streams are multicast to ensure that the network is used efficiently and a sophisticated scheduling application ensures that the streams are started and stopped at the appropriate times and are correctly identified to the end user. Imagen storage severs are connected to the network and are able to provide 4 TerraBytes of space for 36 hours of video and audio streams before the data is purged. Cambridge Imaging Systems in partnership with Techex Ltd chose Optibase`s MGW 2000 TV streaming platform to complement the Imagen technology.

"We needed quality encoding that was reliable 24/7 with no single point of failure and a well-supported software developer`s kit. Optibase`s MGW 2000 was a perfect fit," said Paul McConkey, managing director, Cambridge Imaging.

MGW 2000 is a multichannel MPEG-1 & -2 TV streaming platform. Designed to enable large companies and organizations to deliver high-quality video communications over IP-based networks, MGW 2000 encodes up to six live channels in real time to MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 and then stream over an IP network in multicast or unicast mode. Compatible streaming software creates a complete video-on-demand and playback solution for applications such as training, news distribution and corporate communications.

BBC Monitoring`s head of Technology Kevin Ryan said, "This project is a solid foundation for future development which will provide our customers with a high quality multimedia based service."

"Recent global events call for real time access to a multitude of news resources," said Rene Montsma, vice president of international sales, Optibase. "BBC Monitoring`s TV distribution system provides a first rate solution to address this need. We are delighted to have the MGW 2000 included in this system and are looking forward to future cooperation with Cambridge Imaging Systems and our partner, Techex."

About OptibaseOptibase, Ltd. (NASDAQ: OBAS) provides high-quality, cost-effective products that enable the preparation and delivery of MPEG-based digital media over broadband networks. Optibase has created a breadth of product offerings used in applications, such as: video-on-demand; real-time video streaming; digital video archiving; distance learning; and business television.

Argonaut Software

After purchasing 8 licences of Alias|Wavefront Maya for their first Playstation 2 production, Argonaut software kindly put pen to paper and provided Techex with this honest testimonial:

"After a thorough evaluation, Alias Wavefront's Maya was chosen by Argonaut Software PLC to provide graphical content for a new PSX2 project. Maya was the system of choice for both artists and programmers on the team, because of its functionality, ergonomic design, reliability and flexibility. They found that the customisable UI is a gift to artists working to tight deadlines, and the open-ness of the architecture, accessed through MEL, allows a tighter integration between artist and programmer's respective workflows than offered by any of its rivals."

Artists specifically liked its modelling and texturing capabilities - Nathan Burlow was particularly impressed by "the use of manipulators within the modelling environment, together with the ability to call up the MEL script window to see exactly what Maya is up to", whilst Mick Hanrahan concluded that "Building objects...especially organic models is much faster, with the simple to use extrude and sculpt tools...which are both more powerful and easier to use than their Max equivalents."

Programmer John Gay "liked the amount of programmer control of tessellation of nurbs surfaces", the ability to use the API for writing stand alone applications as well as plugins, and the fact that documentation is in searchable HTML, although he did add that the content can be poor in places.

Nevertheless, the fairly unanimous praise for Maya is not uncritical. Mick Hanrahan added the caveat that "Maya lends itself to a more creative style of working, whereas Kinetixs 3D Studio Max is much more of a technically accurate piece of software. Max has more accurate measuring tools, and everything is more precise, whereas Maya's quick and easy to use tools tend to waste or create more polys etc than might necessarily be needed. However, with the new generation of powerful machines, this slightly less economical modelling is outweighed by the speed at which things can be created, and thus productivity is increased."

Animator Mike Kitson added that "Maya's motion curve editing tools were excellent", although he was less impressed with the Character animation side of Maya. "The guys at Nichimen are really leading the way with skeletal animation and IK at present, which is something that Alias|Wavefront could learn from." Both artists hoped that Alias|Wavefront would address the deficiencies of Maya in later release - ie more technically accurate modelling with more onscreen co-ordinates etc and less wasteful tools, and beefed up skeletal code.

Regarding Techex, the team are impressed by their willingness to provide software, hardware, experience and expertise, plus intelligent support. These factors had a very positive influence on the PSX2 teams decision to integrate Maya into their development process.

In conclusion, the experience of everyone who has worked with Maya convinced them that it is the best overall tool to meet the rigorous demands of next generation games development, and users were encouraged by AW's stated willingness to listen to feedback and act on suggestions and recommendations."

Many thanks to Mike Kitson at Argonaut Software

DDV

Check out their web-site: ddv.co.uk

"When Digital Dreams & Visions formed in April 1999 its goal was to produce state-of-the-art computer animation and digital effects for the corporate, television and film industries. I knew that to be able to produce top quality work we were going have to buy the best animation and effects software on the market. After three months of extensive research and demos, Alias|Wavefront's Maya become unequivocally the most obvious choice for a number of reasons.

Firstly it is highly recognised within the industry and was not only up to date but more advanced then its competitors who at the time were lagging a long way behind. Secondly it has proven to be extremely flexible and powerful not only in the way you can work but in the way you can approach problems from many different angles. We have not come across any situation or project that Maya hasn't been able to handle. And thirdly, the quality of tools for modelling, animation, dynamics and rendering have been amazing. We have been able to produce scenes that before we could only dream of.

Once we had decided on Maya we needed a supplier that we could trust, build a relationship with and rely on to help us get the most out of the software. We have found Techex to be exactly what we need. Right from the start they have been extremely helpful. During the time we were making up our minds we were able to ring them and ask any question and they were able to put our minds at ease very quickly. The general support from Techex has been fantastic - they know the product better then anyone else we have come across. Their technical support has been second to none. They know the sort of problems we've come across and they have been able to solve them if not in seconds, in minutes.

Our background has been Discrete's 3D Studio MAX and I feared the learning curve for Maya would be great, but nothing could be further from the truth. Once I got to grips with the way Maya worked I have found it to be very easy to learn and far more flexible than other software I had used. Digital Dreams & Visions believes without a shadow of a doubt that we have made not only the right decision going with Alias|Wavefront's Maya but also building a relationship with Techex. We have no plans to change either in the future."

Many thanks to Matt Leonard

	Techex is also an active member of the Computer Suppliers Federation (CSF) a trade association dedicated to ensuring the very highest standards of service in the supply and support of computer related products. View our Terms and Conditions View our RMA procedures View the Privacy statement View Customer Testimonials