TMD adds facet searching

With facet searching researchers can refine the search within a structure defined by the user, getting to the right media faster and more reliably.

Say TMD CEO, Tony Taylor: “As we all know from using Google, if you search on a popular topic you get a huge number of hits. The search engine will apply some intelligence to put what it thinks you might want at the top, but that can only be a guess at best.

With broadcast asset management systems growing rapidly, and the use of our technology in audio visual archives which may have millions of items, we have taken a different approach to help users quickly find what they are looking for.”

Facet searching parses the metadata to group the search results. In an asset management system you might find filed under a programme title the raw acquisition footage; edited versions for local and international distribution, in SD and HD; audio files in stereo and 5.1, with and without voiceover; versions without commercial breaks for online and VoD; subtitle files in different languages; scripts; trailers and other promotional items; production and transmission contracts and more.

With Mediaflex facet searching each group will appear as a heading on the response screen.

Click on a heading to see the individual items underneath.

So if a researcher wanted to know if, for instance, an iTunes version of the programme had already been created, with facet searching it means simply typing in the programme name, then clicking on the online versions header.

The ease of finding what is available makes searching more accurate, and saves significant resources because there is no temptation to add another transcode because finding the first is too time-consuming.

“We initially developed facet searching for our customers in audio visual archives with millions of assets and a broad range of entities, digital and physical,” says Taylor.

“It quickly became clear that this would be a powerful addition to the broadcast product, too. It puts yet more control into the hands of the user, making the asset management more powerful because assets are easier to find.”