Hardware and software solution harnesses AI engines, state-of-the-art LTO8 data tape format mLogic and axle ai announced immediate availability of a complete media archiving solution at $9,995 which integrates software from axle ai, Inc., mLogic’s mTape Thunderbolt LTO drive and Apple’s most powerful Mac mini computer. The system brings many of the capabilities of high-end media asset management (MAM) systems directly to the desktop of data managers, editors and DIT’s (digital intermediate technicians). Each of the companies is a leader in its segment of the video market – mLogic pioneered the use of desktop Thunderbolt-attached LTO tape storage, and axle ai has done the same for AI-driven transcription and tagging capabilities. Together, these two companies have built a bundle that makes it possible to create a searchable, “smart” archive where media files can easily be identified not only by name, but also by browsing proxy versions of the file in a radically simple user interface, and even by searching automatically-generated transcripts from the axle Speech cloud service as well as other AI-sourced tags (people, objects and even sports highlights) based on the contents of the file. The Smart mTape solution includes the following:
  1. mLogic LTO-8 mTape drive with Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, LTFS; capacity 12 terabytes per tape
  2. axle ai 2019 2-user software with browser-based front end, H.264 proxy generation and metadata fields
  3. axle ai Speech 1500 minute credits to generate automatic transcript metadata for video and audio clips
  4. axle ai 2019 interface module connecting to IBM LTFS storage driver
  5. Apple Mac Mini 6-core i7 CPU with 32 GBytes RAM, 256 GBytes SSD, 10/1 Gigabit Ethernet
  6. 8 Terabyte external USB 3.0 hard drive for proxy media
The axle ai software includes a browser front end allowing multiple users to tag, catalog and search their media files, as well as a range of AI-driven options for automatically cataloging and discovering specific visual and audio attributes within those files. Given the large amounts of video – often terabytes – that can be accumulated by a video team in a single shoot, this system allows rapid search and management of those files. The bundle also includes 25 hours of transcription processing for media content that is being sent to the LTO-8 tape drive. Roger Mabon, CEO of mLogic, said, “The market has responded very strongly to our mTape LTO-based storage systems, and we’ve sold thousands of them to creative teams worldwide. Integrating axle ai’s radically simple video search with this powerful archival storage means that customers can easily search for a the right files they need, before retrieving them from the mTape external drive.” Sam Bogoch, CEO of axle ai, echoed Mabon’s comments and said “We’re delighted to team up with our counterparts at mLogic as market leaders to offer this kind of groundbreaking value to the creative community. This kind of searchable media archive used to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and take up racks of equipment, and we’ve been able to bring it to the desktop.” Pricing and Availability The Smart mTape bundle is available immediately from mLogic, axle ai and their resellers, at a list price of $9,995. Additional software modules including AI-driven speech transcription, face recognition and object recognition are available at an additional cost with prices starting at under $2.00 per hour of footage analyzed. About mLogic mLogic (www.mlogic.com) designs and markets innovative peripheral products for desktop and portable computers. The company’s product portfolio includes LTO archiving solutions and high-speed RAID systems featuring Thunderbolt™ connectivity. mLogic is headquartered in the Hayden Tract of Culver City, California a vibrant section of West Los Angeles. The area is a well known bastion of movie and television production and home to many high-tech and creative companies. Before co-founding mLogic in 2011, Roger Mabon established G-Technology, Inc. a leading supplier of external hard drive solutions for Apple computers.  G-Technology was purchased by Fabrik, Inc. in 2008.  Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) purchased Fabrik in 2009 where Roger ran the G-Technology business unit.  Prior to founding G-Technology, Roger was vice president of marketing at Medea Corporation, a manufacturer of RAID storage solutions for content creation applications, which was acquired by Avid Technology in 2006. About axle ai, Inc. axle ai (http://www.axle.ai) is the recognized leader in developing radically simple media management software. Its solutions have helped over 600 organizations improve the way they create, share and store digital video content with media management solutions that are easy to install, use and afford. axle’s radically simple media management uniquely addresses a burgeoning need and has caught on rapidly among video professionals in post-production, education, broadcast, corporate, sports, house of worship, non-profit, advertising-marketing, and government organizations worldwide. At its introduction, axle’s software was recognized with the IBC 2012 Best of Show award and at NAB 2013 with the prestigious DV Magazine Black Diamond and Post Picks awards. axle ai’s recently introduced connectr™ software offers a powerful tool for scripting media workflows, driven by a graphical front end with connect-the-blocks visualization. axle ai, Inc. is a privately held company; its founders have extensive industry experience in media asset management for creative applications. Investors include Jason Calacanis’s LAUNCH accelerator and Quake Capital. Learn more at http://www.axle.ai, http://www.connectr.ai and http://www.ascribe.ai.