Axia - Broadcast Consoles & Audio Networking

Power is good… — but only if you can control it. Axia's PathfinderPC, PathfinderPRO and Pathfinder Core PRO router control family is an amazingly rich set of tools you can use to customize and command your entire Axia network, allowing you to craft extremely sophisticated routing functions. Define automated switching events, construct custom software control panels, change between presets manually, on a daypart schedule, or via an external trigger. Pathfinder's advanced features include the ability to sense silence at a particular audio port and patch around it automatically - and even send the engineer an e-mail notification. And that's just the start.

In today's broadcast environment, information is key. So Pathfinder allows you to keep logs of your studio network's routing operations - route changes, GPIO changes, user button presses, and much, much more.

So you want to design that perfect automated system? Pathfinder gives you the tools. Pathfinder Stack Events allow you to design logic as simple -or sophisticated -as you need. An enhanced, graphical editor eliminates tedious script writing, allowing you to create sophisticated routing "scenes" with Boolean logic that automatically watch for and react to specified events.

Pathfinder's Panel Designer applet lets you construct custom on-screen controls that can be deployed on PCs across your network. Or, map your custom designed features torack-mounted button panels and user keys mounted right in the console. Some of these buttons can even dynamically change color and text to display status and engage actions.

There are several different Pathfinder offerings tailored to your specific needs. Read on to find out which is right for you.

PathfinderPC: routing at the ready.

Designed for automated routing in small to medium-sized facilities, PathfinderPC gives you networked control of up to 25 Axia devices. This full-featured system runs on Windows PCs and allows you to construct and execute route or scene changes based on scheduled events, GPIO closures or Silence Detect trigger events. Using the client application, you can log in and change routing from anywhere you have network or Internet access. Use PathfinderPC to attach events to Axia SmartSwitch, SoftSwitch and Film-Cap button panels, or construct on-screen "virtual" controls that can run simultaneously on up to 10 PCs.

PathfinderPRO: powered up for large facilities.

PathfinderPRO, the enterprise version of Pathfinder, contains all of the features found in PathfinderPC plus additional capabilities tailored to facilities with large physical plants or complex operational requirements.

PathfinderPRO supports server "clustering" - running simultaneously on two connected, yet independent computers -for the ultimate in redundancy and security. PathfinderPRO controls an unlimited number of Axia devices and supports as many end-user connections as your CPU can handle. PathfinderPRO can directly control console VMix virtual mixers, Element 2.0 motorized faders, Show Profile changes, and more.

PathfinderPRO doesn't stop at just controlling your Axia equipment. Complete delivery system integration is at your fingertips with Sine Systems ACU-1, Pro- Bel and BTools protocol emulators, plus support for routing and translating of serial, TCP and UDP ports. There are also snap-in real-time metering and Web browser controls that provide added options for user-designed software panels. Browser controls even support multimedia audio and video, allowing embedded A/V streaming displays in software mini-panels.

Pathfinder Core PRO: for the ultimate in routing control.

Pathfinder Core Pro delivers all the power of PathfinderPRO, and more, in a dedicated hardware appliance - no Windows server required. Programmed using an intuitive graphical software interface, Pathfinder Core PRO is fast, efficient, and simple to use: just attach to your network, give it an IP address, and it automatically builds a detailed Axia / GPIO router table for you to use. While providing all PathfinderPRO functions, Pathfinder Core PRO adds new capabilities such as automatic configuration backup, improved clustering support for more than two servers, multi-site clusters, clustering auto-discovery, and even more powerful Core Events tools. Pathfinder Core PRO is your choice for the ultimate in reliable, redundant, system-wide routing control.

Top 10 reasons you want to take control with Pathfinder (with apologies to David Letterman)

• #10: Because you have more to remember than IP addresses.

  Pathfinder brings all of your equipment together under one simple interface. It takes all of your Axia nodes and equipment and presents it as if it were a traditional single router, so you don't need to jump from place to place to see and manipulate your facility's routing infrastructure.

• #9: Because you need to schedule it and forget it.

  Pathfinder provides scheduling that allows you to easily schedule one-time or regularly occurring events. These events can trigger route changes and/or GPIO events.

• #8: Because you can't afford dead air.

  Not only does Pathfinder provide silence detection events with email and GPIO warnings, it allows you to select an alternate audio source to switch to automatically in the event of a failure. And because of Axia's unique distributed system, that alternate source can be on an entirely different node with a different power supply and power source to really increase reliability. Pathfinder even puts audio presence meters right in the routing matrix, so you can see where the audio is or is not.

• #7: Because your events are not like anyone else's.

  Pathfinder Stack Events and Core Events allow you to design logic as complicated or as simple as you need to. With a list of qualifiers and Actions, you can make create simple or complex Boolean based logic events. So if you need to turn on the coffee pot only on Mondays, when a certain audio route exists, and the operator is holding down the blue button, you can do that.

• #6: Because you like your own look.

  Don't like our routing interface? Don't worry, we don't get offended easily - just build your own.  Use Panel Designer to drop controls into your own software routing panel, then deploy it for your users to make routing changes, monitor silence detection, and a whole host of other things.

• #5: Because your jocks have too many monitor screens to watch already.

  Suffering from Screenus Multiplius? Are your engineers glowing when they exit the booth? Map your custom-designed features to buttons mounted right in the console so you don't need another screen. These buttons can dynamically change color and text to display status and engage actions. And it's all controlled by Pathfinder.

• #4: Because we like chameleons.

  So you like Axia but think your systems can't talk to ours? Guess what: with Pathfinder, we can pretend to be something else. Pathfinder's Protocol Translator allows your systems to think they are talking to a router they understand - while behind the scenes, it's really Axia.

• #3: Because you need redundancy.

  Can't afford downtime? No problem: Pathfinder can "cluster." This means you can run PathfinderPRO Server on 2 computers, or deploy multiple Pathfinder Core PRO appliances, and they will automatically monitor each other.If one goes down, another takes over, and all the client screens in the studios follow.

• #2: Because you need to know who, what, when, why, and where.

  When it comes to troubleshooting, the best solution is information. Pathfinder allows you to log almost everything including every route change, GPIO change, user button press, and much, much more. It also allows you to turn logging for each of these features on or off, so you decide what you want in your logs.

• #1:Because Pathfinder gives you more control than your GM ever will.

  With Pathfinder, it's all about control. Control over all of the Livewire equipment in your network.Using Pathfinder's client application, you can log into the network and change routing from anywhere you have network or Internet access.(If only we had that kind of control at budget time.)