mediapower: a file-based workflows enabler · implementation of a true file-based workflow was...
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MediaPower: a File-Based Workflows Enabler
MediaPower core competence is the implementation of File-Based Workflows for the Television Industry. Television as well as many other industries has gone thru an analogue to digital transition that have replaced most of the dedicated (vertical) gear with generic (horizontal) workstations loaded with specific applications. But for many years the digital signals stay inside the box and require A/D in the input side and D/A on the output side. Standalone Video Servers and NLEs were digital but required analogue interface to communicate to other video equipment. The advent of the parallel digital interface allowed the creation of digital islands whilst SDI allowed the deployment of large scale systems so that small islands of Video Servers or NLEs could work together.
The logical evolution of this transition was the development of a variety of formats, wrappers, transcoders, capable to handle the different formats of the Media Essence. The roadblock in the full implementation of a true file-based workflow was the need to process (or pass) both essence and metadata. Metadata handling capabilities was always impaired by the lack of standards and by the rush of selling products capable to subsidize a VTR such as the early generation of video servers. These devices were used proprietary metadata internally and it took a while to convince manufacturers to permit metadata exchange among a limited number of devices. It is only recently that thanks to systems evolution and customer demand efficient end-to-end file based workflows, handling both essence and metadata became real, usable and affordable. MediaPower was involved in the design of file based workflows such as MAM , NPS, NRCS, from its inception and today we are capable to provide the right design approach, select compatible vendors, engage competent staff, consultants, in order to implement, design, supply and maintain a successful file based workflow. MediaPower competence include workflow analysis, metadata handling and service oriented architecture (SOA). In fact the transition to file-based production workflows should effectively adapt process, people and gear to the market changes and to the ever changing requirements coming from the ‘other’ television such as VOD, IPTV, Internet TV. File-based production workflow enables customers to shift from traditional linear production to parallel or collaborative process, establishing a link between essence media production and metadata production. MediaPower can bridge unique skill sets such as Broadcast Engineers, IT specialists, marketing and sales, production specialist, program creators, editors, finance, cost control, and let them add their contribution to the final goal of any Television Enterprise: keep or increase the audience and maximise revenues and profits whilst improving the quality of work of the employee.
The new consumer Experience:
The consumer TV experience has radically changed in the last decade, programs can be now sourced from different providers (TV, Cable, Satellite, Telephone & Internet operators) and consumed onto various devices such as PC , laptops , mobile phones, PDA and I-Pod known as the
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3-screen experience. Last not least the user has now the option of shifting time, place, and device for viewing the program. Hence the requirement of an efficient, flexible, and readily adaptable process to respond to the new market requirements. In addition to these changes in the market, the current economic climate is creating pressure on media service providers to optimize operation efficiency.
New Working practices:
The move from physical media like videotape to file-based production allows Broadcasters to consider changing their working practices. The IT infrastructure underlying file-based production offers the possibilities for a scale of automation and content repurposing just not possible when content is processed as physical media. Outside the world of the media and entertainment, whole new ways of working have evolved to take advantage of the power of software. Much of the creative side of broadcasting must be left to a human operator, but pushing carts of videotape cassettes down corridors contributes neither to the quality of programming nor to the bottom line. The media and entertainment sector lags behind other industries in the adoption of Workflow Based IT processes that could deliver efficiencies and cost savings. The next step forward is the service-oriented architecture (SOA) meaning an architecture of independent wrapped services communication via published interfaces over a common middleware layer. A typical service could be transcoding. The advantages claimed from the use of an SOA include business agility, business visibility and a streamlined organization.
Why now?
Although broadcasters have been moving into file-based workflow for about 10 years, there have been many obstacles to constructing a truly advanced media workflow. Even today it can prove challenging to exchange “standard” formats such as MXF files between vendors.
The sectors that have moved forward with this architecture are often simply exchanging files. These are generally text documents; it could be information, quotes, orders, etc. For the media sector, the product is also a file, but that is where the complexity starts. The files include wrappers, containers, essence, metadata and codecs. To meet the needs of production, these cannot be reduced to a small set. A digital intermediate file will be very different from a desktop proxy recorded for compliance purposes.
The recent recession has brought into focus the need to improve efficiencies. To survive, the media and entertainment industry cannot longer afford to continue with the luxury of obsolete working practices. The requirement to publish in multiple formats for multiple distribution channels is not any longer an option; today it is a mainstream activity.
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SOA
To ask broadcasters to implement a change in the way they operate will naturally run into skepticism. SOA is not new; it’s just new to the media and entertainment sector. It’s a proven architecture; the risks are in the implementation. One step on the way to deploying an SOA is the provision of a Web service interface as a means of communicating with the middleware running the system. “Broadcast” interfaces have traditionally been highly proprietary, examples being the Louth (Harris) VDCP used to run video servers and the Sony VTR control interface.
Encoding and QC are typical services. Those looking for a new way of doing things and taking cost out of a system are looking at Web services. Multinational media companies also are moving to SOA, and media service vendors are providing the necessary interfaces. But just like the rollout of MXF, there are many pitfalls and competitive issues causing problems on the way. The use of experts groups — just as JPEG, MPEG and MXF evolved standards — is the way forward. The large vendors may want to provide their own way forward, but broadcasters have an affinity for internationally agreed standards, a lack of vendor lock-in and the freedom to choose best-of-breed solutions.
There is much work to be done. You cannot simply drop an SOA onto existing media services such as transcoding, file movers, QC, To satisfy all interested parties, a standard often includes every possibility. This happened with ATSC (progressive, interlace) and with MXF — an example being time code stored in five different locations.
Vendors, broadcasters and media companies are all moving toward the SOA with its attendant advantages, there is no doubt that the technology will trickle down to smaller players as the advantages in efficiency and business agility become self-evident. Hence the role of MediaPower is pivotal in helping the customer in spelling out his workflow requirements and turning them into an RFP and then into a successful project.
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