News

Digital Video will take part to a Google DNI

(Digital News Innovation) project!

News Juice – Adnkronos SpA – [Large-scale project]
News Juice is a system of artificial intelligence and a semantic engine with an archive of over 30 years of journalistically verified news that can produce, on request, chronologically ordered summaries of complex events – even with the aid of images. The project is realized in collaboration with EXPERT SYSTEM S.P.A. and Digital Video S.r.l.

​https://newsinitiative.withgoogle.com/dnifund/dni-projects/

​Rome, July 24th 2018

TOONZ GOES OPEN SOURCE

Digital Video, the makers of TOONZ, and DWANGO, a Japanese publisher, announced today they have signed an agreement for  the acquisition by Dwango of Toonz, an animation software which was independently developed by Digital Video (Rome, Italy).   

Digital Video and Dwango agreed to close the deal under the condition Dwango will publish and develop an Open Source platform based on Toonz (OpenToonz).  Effective Saturday March 26, the TOONZ Studio Ghibli Version will be made available to the animation community as a free download.

OpenToonz will include features developed by Studio Ghibli (*Toonz Ghibli Edition) which has been a long time Toonz user. Through OpenToonz, Dwango will create a platform that will aim to have  research labs and the animated film industry actively cooperating with each other.

With this agreement in place, Digital Video will move to the open source business model, offering to the industry commissioning, installation & configuration, training, support and customization services while allowing the animators’ community to use a state of the art technology at no cost.

Digital Video will also continue to develop and market a Toonz Premium version at a very competitive price for those companies willing to invest in the customization of Toonz for their projects. A comprehensive list of the new services available can be found at www.toonzpremium.com.

Commenting on this exciting announcement, Mr. Atsushi Okui, Executive Imaging Director at Studio Ghibli said “During the production of ‘Princess Mononoke’ in 1995, we needed a software enabling us to create a certain section of the animation digitally. We checked for what was available at that time and chose ‘Toonz’. Our requirement was that in order to continue producing theatre-quality animation without additional stress, the software must have the ability to combine the hand-drawn animation with the digitally painted ones seamlessly. From then onwards we continued to use the software while going through major updates to make it easier for us to use. We are happy to hear that this open source version contains the Ghibli Edition. We hope that many people inside and outside of the animation industry will utilize this software for their work. We would like to extend our gratitude to the staff of Digital Video.”

Claudio Mattei, Managing Director at Digital Video, the makers of TOONZ, said:

“The contract with Dwango, which offers the Toonz open source platform to the animation community, has enabled Digital Video to realize one of its strategies, i.e. to make of Toonz a world standard for 2D animation. This deal will be  also the starting point of a new exciting plan to endorse the Open Source business model, by supporting training and customizing Toonz for the old and new users. We are proud to share this path with Dwango and with Studio Ghibli, the renowned Toonz user since 1995.”

Mr Nobuo Kawakami, Chairman and CTO at Dwango, added:

“It is a great honour for us to be able to release OpenToonz as open source software.

We’d like to express our deepest appreciation to Digital Video and Studio Ghibli for their  help and support We hope the high-quality software that meets the demands of animation professionals will contribute to revitalizing the animation industry. Dwango will also utilize OpenToonz in order to present its research and development results.”

The open source version of TOONZ will be officially presented in Tokyo at Anime Japan (March 26 and 27)

About Digital Video

Digital Video is an R&D company with a widely proven talent in defining and developing innovative and visionary products and bringing them to market. The company has its main offices in Rome (Italy) and specializes in high-end computer graphics for professional applications as well as for broadcast and cinema. More information at www.digitalvideo.eu.com

Contact: mailto:company@toonz.com

PRESS RELEASE:

SAM announces acquisition of Mantrics to enhance development of MAM and workflow technology Momentum 

Acquisition allows Mantrics personnel in Italy to work more closely with UK development team to continue Momentum evolution

Newbury, 21 February 2016: 

SAM is pleased to announce it is acquiring Mantrics, the Italian  workflow and asset management specialists. Mantrics is a privately-held joint venture, established in 2008 by Digital Video and Video Progetti.

SAM has already devloped a powerful position in the MAM and workflow management arena with Momentum, launched in 2014. The core technology behind Momentum was originally developed by Mantrics. With the company purchase now agreed, the development team in Italy is working closely with the SAM team in the UK to push the ongoing expansion of Momentum and its powerful toolset.   

Neil Maycock, EVP of Marketing at SAM & MD of Mantrics, said, “When we were looking at entering this market sector several years ago, after considerable research we identified Mantrics’ technology as having the core capabilties that we were looking for.  It allowed us to enter the marketplace in 2014 far more rapidly than if we were developing from the ground up. We have taken this integration a considerable step further with this acquisition, allowing Momentum developers to really push further forwards in what is an evolving landscape.”

When SAM – Snell at that point –  looked at existing providers as part of its research, they appeared to fall into two camps. The first comprises systems that handle complex workflows that meet the requirements of major customers. This often means a lot of bespoke work and coding/scripting. At the other end, there were – and still are – products with simple drag-and-drop UIs but they tend to be focussed on specific applications – like file delivery – and can be constrained in what they can accomplish.

Maycock said, “With Momentum you have the best of both worlds with users able to define and manage their own workflows via an intuitive user interface while also being able to scale to handle complex real-world scenarios. Modern business aren’t static: they are evolving rapidly and are very dynamic. The ability for customers to be able to grow to support different platforms/formats and to scale Momentum accordingly, without having to come back to us every time something changes, is very important.”

Momentum is targetted at both the production and playout side of SAM’s business and this is one of its core, unifying products.

Claudio Mattei, Managing Director with Digital Video, said, “When Digital Video decided to invest in workflow management technologies, we started from a  strong background in building products for professional markets.  This expertise, developed at a time when the broadcast industry was still heavily relying on tape, has given us a significant competitive advantage. The sale of Mantrics to SAM is the next logical step to push both the ongoing development and sales of Momentum. It will also increase the speed of integration across the SAM product portfolio. We are proud of the working relationship that we have developed with SAM and we look forward to deploying our skills  across other joint projects and products for the broadcast industry.”

Carlo Struzzi, Managing Director, Video Progetti, said, “We have worked very closely with SAM on its Momentum product and we decided to sell Mantrics in order to create a stronger market position with full integration into the SAM portfolio. Mantrics was the first MAM supplier to create a powerful, totally integrated workflow manager.  Combined with an easy to use graphical user interface, which allows complex business rules to be applied across a tapeless infrastructure, it has proved immediately successful.”

About Digital Video

Digital Video is an R&D  company with a widely proven  talent in defining and developing innovative and visionary products and bringing them to market. The company has its main offices in Rome (Italy) and specializes in high-end computer graphics for professional applications as well as for broadcast and cinema. More information at www.digitalvideo.eu.com

Digital Video Contact:

company@toonz.com

About Video Progetti

Video Progetti S.r.l. is a leading Italian company been working for over 20 years in the distribution and integration of professional equipment for television, cinema and telecommunications. Having offices both in Rome and Milan, Video Progetti is constantly in touch with the key players in these fields and participates in the development of the broadcast industry by offering clients the most up-to-date production technologies.  www.videoprogetti.it

About SAM

Formed from the fusion of Quantel and Snell, SAM is a new company with a unique mix of experience and energy.  We have the vision to deliver business-transforming solutions across the media production ecosystem. Our future-ready systems enable broadcasters, content owners and service providers to evolve their business models to succeed in the consumer-driven era. We understand that it’s not only about the future – to get there, today’s needs are also paramount; our smart, agile technology maximizes efficiency and productivity in today’s rapidly changing media landscape.   
More information can be found at: www.s-a-m.com

SAM Contact:

Kevin O’Meara, Head of Marketing Communications  T.+44 1635 48222  kevin.omeara@s-a-m.com

Turnpike Road, Newbury, Berkshire  RG14 2NX, UK       

Agency contact:

Jump: Joss Arm itage T, +44 7979 908 547 joss@jumppr.tv