[February 26, 2013]

Aframe Helps STV's Iconic Game Show "Catchphrase" Expedite a Prime-Time Comeback

Aframe announced that STV Productions is using Aframe's cloud video production platform to expedite collaboration and lower production costs for "Catchphrase," a remake of the classic game show airing this March on ITV. In a relaunch where snazzy graphics make all the difference, Aframe's platform allowed STV's production team to develop over 300 rich animation collections and store them securely in the cloud - then shave a full-week off of a demanding 7-week production cycle by cutting upload and download times as well as allowing anywhere, anytime review by a distributed team of animators and producers.

Co-produced by London-based teams for STV and its international production unit DRG, with a series creator based in the US, the new "Catchphrase" updates the format that aired for 16 years with juicer 3D graphics but retains popular elements such as a playful animated robot Mr. Chips who prompts contestants to "say what you see." Contestants are presented with one of over 300 animations of phrases that are shown on a large screen and must be the first to correctly guess what each animation depicts. Over 1TB was needed to store and access animation graphics alone for the 9-episode package of shows - storage that would have wreaked havoc on the computing budget. The multipleiterations of these rich graphics also would have slowed collaboration, since team members would either need to drive a memory stick with a new iteration across town, overnight ship it, or send large files on the internal network where downloads would drag down network response times.

"Aframe saved us a ridiculous amount of time and enabled an immediate, almost live collaboration between producers in different offices that you could never get if we used a traditional on-premises computing network," said Ed Egan, executive producer for Catchphrase. "We took one look at the size and volume of the animation sequences and knew they would cost us a fortune for the storage that we wouldn't need once production ends. Aframe took what was a very time-consuming and cumbersome process of collaborating between offices across town and made it super easy."

Using Aframe's private cloud, each day's animation content was uploaded once into Aframe, then sent as a link to authorized users, who could review an H264 proxy copy of the content, and comment from anywhere in the world, at any time they had a free moment - even from their mobile phone or tablet. Aframe users do not need to install special software or hardware, or enter cumbersome commands. Users simply log on to Aframe's web-based platform and start working with video instantly. The immediacy of the collaboration shaved at least 5 hours of time off of each week's work - at least an hour or two a day - allowing more time to be spent on creating juicier graphics and less on working out how to get the latest review copy.

"Security can be a concern with a cloud solution," executive producer Ed Egan continued, "but with Aframe, only those we designate can review content - and no one can view our animations - even Aframe."

"Production teams are no longer chained to an office - they're global and on the move, and it's high time technology worked the way production works," said David Peto, CEO of Aframe. "We're delighted to be a part of STV's smashing relaunch of this much loved show."

About Aframe

Aframe is an online software service designed to liberate the video industry by providing a shared, secure space for production companies, broadcasters, marketing agencies, corporate marketing departments, and any business or individual working with the moving image. Using Aframe, producers can plan, create content, collaborate, store, edit, distribute and make footage searchable. Aframe aims to take the blood, sweat and tears out of content creation, without needing equipment or full-time staff, and only requiring an internet connection.

For more information about Aframe visit aframe.com.

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