Biased?

I wouldn’t normally complete a new Post as a response to a previous one but I thought it was worth it this time!

A few weeks back I published a post on Re-evaluation. In it, I suggested that a re-think of the equipment and software used within the Police Forensic Video environments would help in getting the job done better, quicker, smarter, and with the full support of a dedicated, science based application.

Of course, I was referring to Amped FIVE

I received a message regarding this post off an old friend and colleague. In it they suggested that of course I was going to say, ‘Use Amped FIVE’, as I am their International Trainer.

Was I biased in my suggestion that using Amped FIVE, or any of the Amped products could assist any Forensic Video Unit immensely? Of course not.

Looking back to my days starting off in CCTV Investigation in 2003/4, I was using multiple pieces of hardware and software. As time progressed and my knowledge and competency increased, I built my own methods to achieve tasks.

I wrote about many of those methods here on my blog. ‘Do this, using this software and do that using that software’ etc etc…. I even wrapped up all my common ‘packages’ into a software pack…

This image was taken a few weeks ago in a UK Police Force – Spready’s software pack still be used on a daily basis!

I encompassed proprietary codecs into universal players and wrote batch scripts to process work quicker.

I would spend hours solving the challenge ahead of me and then ensuring that it was easy for others in the future. Not only those other people in my team, but in the worldwide FVA community.

I was always looking for the Holy Grail though. That one-stop solution that solved all of my challenges.

When I stumbled across Amped Software and their product FIVE (Forensic Image and Video Enhancement), it was as if all my moans and grumbles had been heard. Over the next few years I watched it grow and liaised regularly with the team in Italy to suggest further capabilities.

The rest, as they say, is history…

Here I now am, assisting in its future development, and training others in its use. Would I have done that, if the product did not do, what I wanted it it to do? (and loads more that I never believed possible!)

Was I being biased? – of course not! If I was in an agency or organisation today – would I still be using all the codec and software packs that I built over the years? – Hell no! I would have moved heaven and earth to get FIVE.