axle Drive Media Management Hub

axle Video launched axle Drive, an appliance designed for media explosion.

The system is available in three versions all offering:

• Expandable storage capacity

• Browser-based access to media from laptops, iPads, iPhones and Android devices

• Automatic creation of video, photo and PDF proxies

Distinct administrator and user access levels and privileges
axle brings media management technology to the wider world of HD and 4K media acquisition, especially from devices like smartphones, GoPros, DSLRs and iPads. The task of managing and sharing large amounts of media files was an elaborate and costly undertaking, with specialized storage systems and customized media management software known as MAM (Media Asset Management).

“Most of the media captured today gets stashed away on loose HDDs, with no ability to search or reuse the content at a later date without a time-consuming process of constantly plugging and unplugging drives, then playing through media to find the right items” said Sam Bogoch, CEO, axle. “Now, finding and using media is a simple and swift process, thanks to axle’s unique software and increasingly affordable storage and networking technology that put this capability within easy reach of any creative studio and even the living room.”

In addition to automatically creating browsable proxy versions of both media and still image files, axle’s user-friendly browser interface makes it easy to search, catalog, tag and even subclip media files.

Larry Jordan, an expert in the video industry, recently purchased axle and blogged: “When we organize our files and folders in the Finder, they’re immediately visible through Axle’s browser interface. In addition though, we can add comments: metadata and select information to axle, above and beyond the organization provided in the Finder. axle then lets you search everything from nearly any device.“

The three configurations are:

• axle Drive 2 – Holds about 100 hours of HD footage, or 5,000 hours of H.264 proxy media. 2TB of usable storage with USB 3 .0 connectivity, and axle’s simple browser-based media management system. Lightweight, portable hardware can be taken anywhere. axle Drive 2 comes pre-loaded with sample selections of stock footage, audio and images from leading vendors, plus a year of knowledgebase and email support from axle Video. $995 / €895.

• axle Drive 4 – Holds about 200 hours of HD footage, or 10,000 hours of H.264 proxy media. 4TB of fully redundant (RAID1) usable storage with dual GbE connectivity, and axle’s simple browser-based media management system. axle Drive 4 comes pre-loaded with sample selections of stock footage, audio and images from leading vendors, plus a year of knowledgebase and email support from axle Video. $1,995 / €1795.

• axle Drive 6 – Holds about 300 hours of HD footage, or 15,000 hours of H.264 proxy media. 6TB of fully redundant (RAID1) usable storage with dual GbE connectivity, and axle’s simple browser-based media management system. axle Drive 6 comes pre-loaded with sample selections of stock footage, audio and images from leading vendors, plus a year of knowledgebase, email and phone support from axle Video. $2,995 / €2695.

The systems are aimed at media professionals, as well as the growing ranks of prosumers who are capturing terabytes of media for the first time and struggling to manage it. axle is anticipating demand for the system in applications such as weddings, sports events, religious gatherings, high schools and colleges, and corporations.

All axle Drive systems must be connected to at least one Mac computer, typically a dedicated Mac mini, iMac or Mac Pro, running OSX 10.8 or higher. For customers who do not already have a Mac available, axle Video and its resellers are offering bundles with Apple’s latest 2.8GHz Mac mini model for an additional $999. An add-on module, axle Edit, offers connected rough-cut video editing from the latest iPhones and iPads, and is available beginning in March from $795 for 2 users.