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In 2000 the buy-out of Quantel by its management from thenmedia conglomerate Carlton allowed them to start with a clean slate. "We are like a start-up with 25 years of experience," jokes Executive Chairman Richard Taylor. "You only get that chance once and only if you start from scratch."
Quantel brought its "Monty" technology from the back burner and turned it into a new product branded iQ. What may not have been fully appreciated at first, is that iQ isn't simply a new NLE but rather that its core technology extends into an entirely new product line-something quite evident with the introduction of the new QEdit Pro. In two short years Quantel has replaced every product in its line-up with all new products designed from the ground up on entirely new hardware and software.
iQ forms the hub of a media platform branded as generationQ. All the products share the same basic code and generally offer the same modules and user interface. The user interface has been significantly redesigned, yet has the unmistakable look-and-feel of all Quantel products since the first Paintbox. The generationQ technology has been loosely grouped intc three main categories: editing, graphics, and news. The full product line differs in performance and ranges from software-only products all the way up to hardware-based systems like iQ. Nearly all of these new products have been introduced since my initial review of iQ a year ago.
iQ is an extremely fast hardware-based unit founded on "resolution co-existence," a Quantel term that focuses on the ability to freely mix any SD, HD, and even 2K (film) resolution on the timeline. In the process, it can "uprez" or "downrez" these resolution on-the-fly and in real-time without the need to render files or partition drives.
Quantel introduced eQ at NAB 2002-a less expensive version that deals with SD and HD but not 2K film resolutions. eQ is ideal for the broadcaster and post facility while iQ is of interest to the new world of digital intermediate film post. They also released QEffects, a software package that will run on a standard PC and is the same as the compositing module within the NLEs. For designers, Quantel re-invented the venerable Paintbox as a series of products ranging from QPaintbox...