04/18/2007 — Integrated workflows for film and broadcast production
The “Technologies for Media Production” project, supported by the Bavarian Ministry of Economy, Infrastructure, Transport, and Technology is developing a distributed system for film and broadcast work which will offer seamless exchange of data between film and television production. This will allow productions to prepare content in an integrated production-, postproduction-, and archiving environment for a variety of output formats, such as Digital Cinema, television, HDTV, and mobile display devices.
The technologies for the project are being developed by the Fraunhofer Institute, the Institut für Rundfunktechnik (IRT), CinePostproduction Bavaria Bild & Ton, Audio Video Technologies, Dalet-a.n.n., IRIDAS, and associate partner Bayerischer Rundfunk. The objective of the project is to develop tools, interface solutions, and formats which will allow for easy access and data exchange among production systems.
To date this type of interoperability has been a significant challenge – even within dedicated film or broadcast production workflows – due to the wide variety of technologies and formats available. A modular approach in the new production environment will simplify the work of content creators and production companies in generating a variety of output media. The scalability of data formats such as JPEG2000 and H.264 will be employed both in the production and porting of content to various distribution channels. Automated metadata generation will allow for efficient media and asset management and the automatic transcoding of content into final delivery formats. One of the advantages of a comprehensive solution is that it ensures optimal quality for each output format. The use of an open architecture means savings in production costs. In addition, production work, whether for film or broadcast, can focus on the quality of the content. The transparent content management and data exchange of the new production system will provide greater investment security for both users and vendors.
The plan envisions the development of a distributed production system which will include both the creation and processing of image, multiple sound channels, and metadata – as well as integrated asset and rights management solutions. The project is schedule for completion in early 2008.
AVT
Founded in 1996, AVT Audio Video Technologies designs and manufactures high quality video transmission products for Video Conferencing, Medical Applications, Teleteaching and Surveillance Applications. AVT played a key role in the development of the STI-Standards (ETSI 300797) for DAB digital radio and is the market leader in digital telephone hybrid technologies. For more information visit www.avt-nbg.de.
CinePostproduction Bavaria Bild & Ton
CinePostproduction GmbH & Co. KG, a subsidiary of CineMedia Film AG, is the largest postproduction company in Germany with facilities throughout the country. For more information visit www.cinepostproduction.de.
Dalet-a.n.n.
Founded in 1990, Dalet Digital Media Systems is a leading developer of software solutions that facilitate the management of audio and video assets for broadcast, entertainment, government, education, corporations and non-profit organizations. Developed for standard IT hardware, Dalet software solutions enable organizations to capture, manage and store digital media. The all-digital solutions greatly enhance productivity through immediate access to and management of valuable media assets.
www.dalet.com
Fraunhofer IIS
Founded in 1985 the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Erlangen is now the largest of the Fraunhofer Institutes. With the development of the MP3 audio coding format, Fraunhofer IIS has achieved worldwide recognition. Fraunhofer IIS provides research services on a contract basis and technology licensing. Research fields include audio and video source coding, multimedia real-time systems, digital radio broadcasting, integrated circuits and sensor systems, wireless-, wired- and optical networks, and more. Notable contributions in the area of Digital Cinema have included work on the ARRI D20 camera, the megacine digital field recorder, standards work on the JPEG2000 format, and text procedures for the Digital Cinema Initiative.
www.iis.fraunhofer.de
IRIDAS
IRIDAS pioneered desktop film-resolution playback in 2001. Its FrameCycler products are now the industry standard for frame-based image review. In 2003 IRIDAS introduced the first non-destructive color correction application. Today SpeedGrade and FrameCycler provide the critical links in an end-to-end pipeline for uncompressed content and color metadata. IRIDAS' applications are used by filmmakers around the world and most major animation and postproduction houses including Industrial Light & Magic, The Moving Picture Company, Cinesite, The Framestore CFC and many others. IRIDAS is an independent, privately held company headquartered in Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.iridas.com.
IRT
The Institut für Rundfunktechnik, founded 1956 as a private company, is the central research and development establishment for public broadcasting organizations in Germany (ARD, ZDF and DLR), in Austria (ORF) and in Switzerland (SRG/SSR). In addition, the IRT collaborates with numerous clients in the broadcasting, media, communication-engineering and IT sectors as well as various other research organizations and universities. The focus of IRT’s work is the optimization of existing systems and the development of new systems and standards – with a special interest in digital technologies.
www.irt.de
Bayerischer Rundfunk
Based in Munich, Bayerischer Rundfunk has been the state broadcaster for Bavaria since 1948. In 1950 it was founding member of ARD, the Organization of German Broadcasters and is today its fourth largest member. Bayerischer Rundfunk serves a territory of approximately 70,000 square kilometers with 6.7 million radios and 5.6 million television sets.
www.br-online.de
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