Digital Cinematography

XDT Introduces catapult
By Staff
Jul 21, 2008, 08:04

Melbourne, Australia -- XDT Pty. Ltd., a developer of advanced software-based solutions for digital film, introduced and announced the immediate availability of catapult.

catapult provides the point-to-point frame transfers, and is capable of delivering the same local throughput performance of its storage arrays out to connected systems utilizing standard networking infrastructure.

catapult is an integrated hardware and software solution. The hardware consists of a 3RU, enterprise grade server that delivers a maximum data rate of more than 1,000 Megabytes per second read or write via a local RAID5 protected array (up to 11TB capacity). This hardware platform is then exposed onto the LAN or Switched Fabric with XDT's revolutionary catapult software component.

XDT's cross-platform slingshot client provides an intuitive interface to transferring frame data to and from catapult. Point-to-point data rates of 600 Megabytes per second are achievable over 6 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. XDT's flipstream application, also cross-platform, enables customers with uncompressed film frames to review them from any standard workstation accessing a network attached catapult system. This is in contrast to the currently used method, which requires frames to be transferred to locally attached storage on a dedicated review system.

Saving countless hours of network transfers, catapult systems are capable of playing back two concurrent, uncompressed 2K (10-bit dpx log 1.85:1) streams over only 4 Gigabit Ethernet connections allowing for a highly cost-effective way to review stereoscopic material.

''We are very excited about releasing this unique technology,'' says Erik Otto, Managing Director at XDT Pty Ltd. ''catapult will redefine the way customers acquire, review and manage uncompressed assets throughout the industry.''

XDT will showcase catapult publicly for the first time at IBC 2008 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, September 12-16th, 2008.

About XDT Pty Ltd:

XDT Pty. Ltd. is a developer of advanced software-based solutions for digital film. Its unique portfolio of products and services redefine acquisition, digital intermediate and post-production workflows. XDT's products deliver unprecedented performance for point-to-point media transfers and high resolution uncompressed frame review over standard networking infrastructure.

XDT has developed a comprehensive suite of custom applications and tools to support the set up of entire production pipelines and enhance existing infrastructure. Helping customers to achieve their creative objectives through innovative, custom developed solutions is XDT's primary focus.

For more information, please visit www.xdt.com.au.

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