News Stories

USC Students Speak on Media Habits and Consumption

7.23.2019

At our June 20th All Members Meeting, ETC invited students from the University of Southern California to participate in a panel where they voiced their observations of current youth media consumption and to speculate the future of interactive media. The panel was moderated by ETC’s Immersive Media Initiative Director Phil Lelyveld.

In order to engage with industry leaders on these topics, the students drew from observations of their families, analysis of their own personal preferences, and consideration of their academic studies.

 

Our participating panelists included: 

  • Anil Ramakrishna – AI and CS graduate student
  • Grace Kim – CS and Business Administration student
  • Divyanshi Sharma – CS graduate student
  • Nripsuta Saxena – CS graduate student
  • Maduri Deo – CS and Games student
  • Earth Kulruchakorn –CS graduate student
  • Divya Choudhary – Data Science student

Here is a link to the full panel: http://philiplelyveld.com/?p=25043

ETC at NAB – Adaptive Production and AI

4.2.2019

Adaptive Production and AI were front and center for The Entertainment Technology Center@USC at this year’s NAB Show on April 10th.  Under the NXT Tech Symposium, 3 sessions programmed by our Adaptive Production director, Seth Levenson, discussed current state, findings, and perspectives.

Preservation in the Cloud
9:00 AM – 10:20 AM

The cloud allows for revolutionary gains in speed, flexibility, and collaboration, but the supposed benefit of “weightless” and “floating” data poses a challenge of preservation. When the infrastructure is no longer under your control, how can you be certain that what you sent to the cloud is what you’ll get back later? This session discussed opportunities and challenges from both a content owner and cloud service provider perspective.

  • Andrea Kalas, SVP, Archiving, Paramount Pictures
  • Denis Leconte, VP, Technology, Iron Mountain Entertainment Services
  • Seth Levenson, Director, Adaptive Production, ETC@USC
  • Adam Skewgar, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft Azure

Production in the Cloud
10:40 AM – 12:00 PM

Production in the cloud is still in its infancy, yet new capabilities are constantly evolving out of this technology all the time. New tools and features are just part of our future in production. We have begun to re-examine how we view this process at a fundamental level. This session discussed game-changing tools and new paradigms surrounding production in the cloud.

  • Bob Eicholz, CTO, Technicolor
  • Kevin Kim, Principal Product Manager, Emerging Services, Equinix
  • Adrian Graham, Cloud Solutions Architect, Google
  • Jim Donovan, SVP, Product, Wasabi Technologies, Inc.
  • Erik Weaver, Global Director, M&E Market Development, Western Digital

Quantum Computing
1:30 PM – 2:50 PM

Quantum computing is going to change the landscape of Media & Entertainment. Aside from better AI and faster rendering, it’s also going to replace all the key based security that M&E (and most industries) have relied on to protect our content and systems. This session provided a primer on quantum computing as well as insights on where we are, where we’re going, and how its application will impact the industry.

  • Yves Bergquist, AI Researcher/Director, AI & Neuroscience in Media, ETC@USC
  • Seth Levenson, Director, Adaptive Production, ETC@USC
  • Bibek Pokharel, Director, Quantum Information, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
  • Jeff Welser, VP & Lab Director, Research, IBM

Click here for more information.

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Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

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