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Axle.ai, the leader in bringing radical simplicity to video search and collaboration, announced availability of Connectr 2021, its revolutionary NoCode software for automating media workflows, for Windows, MacOS and Linux. The company is a Silver sponsor at the Adobe MAX virtual conference, which starts today. 

Connectr 2021 is available for all 3 platforms and is shipping immediately. Pricing starts at $3,895 for a MacOS version supporting up to 4 concurrent workflows, with one day of professional services for workflow design included. In addition to the all-new Windows support, the new version of Connectr adds greater capability and simplified operation, such as multi-button selection menus and progress bars.

Dave Seedall, VP of Technology of Revolt TV was able to replace a complex media management and workflow solution from a European vendor originally costing more than $200,000, with a simple, affordable Connectr 2021 solution costing less than $10,000. During the transition the COVID-19 pandemic forced a significant shift to offsite, virtual operations for Revolt. That shift was facilitated by the automated workflows powered by Connectr, as well as axle ai’s browser-based media management application.

“We’ve been really impressed with how robust and flexible Connectr is, and are already looking forward to taking further advantage of its open systems benefits and almost limitless connectivity,” Seedall added. Other prominent examples of Connectr users include Spanish telecom integrator Telefonica and leading Italian broadcaster MediaSet.

The NoCode Trend Comes To The Video Industry
“We want to give users the ability to set up their own powerful media workflows, on all the major computing platforms” said Sam Bogoch, axle ai’s CEO. “Our industry has lacked a truly open, cross-platform workflow tool priced affordably enough to achieve broad adoption.” Until now, media producers have had to either hire programmers to write custom code, buy more expensive and proprietary solutions tied to a specific application such as Telestream’s Vantage (transcoding) or IBM’s Aspera Orchestrator (file transfer), or, very often, do without. “With Connectr 2021, axle ai is putting a powerful workflow solution into the market at an affordable price, and opening it up to resellers and integrators as well as end users. It’s also offered to OEM partners who may license and relabel under their own brands,” Bogoch said.

The video industry has hundreds of highly capable specialist vendors and a handful of larger companies with broad product lines. Typically, integrating an automated workflow involving two or more of these vendors is beyond reach for most customers, blocking access to greater efficiencies across the entire media creation process. Connectr 2021 breaks this deadlock, allowing multi-way connectivity and integration to propagate over time, well beyond the footprint of single-vendor solutions. 

Visual Front End
The Connectr 2021 software includes a graphical front end, Connectr Designer, which makes constructing workflows a simple drag-and-drop process. Software and hardware vendors, integrators and other technically proficient customers are able to create their own modules to plug into Connectr 2021, becoming part of a large and rapidly growing workflow ecosystem. Modules can either be shared for free on open source code repositories, or compiled and sold commercially by vendors. This cross-vendor ecosystem supports a wide range of interfaces, from REST APIs to Java code and command lines. It also supports notifications via either email or SMS messaging.

Connectr 2021 works seamlessly with Axle.ai 2021, the company’s flagship remote work solution for video teams. Integrations for the combined platform include panels for Adobe^® Premiere^® Pro, After Effects^®, Photoshop^®, Illustrator^® and InDesign^®, where assets can be searched, selected and imported into each of the host Creative Cloud^® applications on Mac or Windows.

“More than ever before, creative teams are collaborating from remote locations and need powerful media workflows,” said Sue Skidmore, head of partner relations for Adobe video. “Creative Cloud users appreciate seamless solutions such as those from axle.ai that make it easy to tap into assets, regardless of location.” 

About Adobe MAX
Adobe MAX (October 26-28, 2021) is a free, virtual, and global creativity conference designed to refuel creative passions, inspire, educate, entertain, and foster relationships across the global creative community. Featuring more than 400 sessions, keynotes, technology sneaks and workshops from creative luminaries, inspiring celebrities, musicians and like-minded peers, Adobe MAX offers endless opportunities for seasoned creative pros, students, and hobbyists to take their creative skills to the next level. Notable speakers and presenters featured throughout the conference this year include Chloe Zhao, Kenan Thompson, Henry Golding, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Casey Neistat, Young Thug and Imagine Dragons, among others. 

About axle.ai
axle.ai is the recognized leader in developing radically simple media management software. Its solutions have helped over 700 media 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.ai’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. Axle.ai 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 (also a customer, Quake Capital and Stadia Ventures. Learn more at https://axle.ai