News Stories

Digital Cinema Report covers and posts Metadata Whitepaper

6.15.2010

The Entertainment Technology Center at University of Southern California has released a white paper, ETC Marketing Metadata 1.0 that provides a set of best practices for creating descriptive/marketing metadata, based on the combined wisdom of the experts who produce and distribute digital media for the leading Hollywood studios.  The ETC@USC is also announcing a new metadata online discussion group open to industry members who are looking to further the discussion around the distribution of metadata.

Metadata is information that, in this case, describes what is contained in digital content files. Virtually every content creator or related service company creates metadata, and each distributor/network has its own specification for the metadata it receives with the content.  There are a wide variety of implementations, and managing a consistent quality of data through distribution can be a challenge.

“With the explosion and increasing importance of online content, the need for sharing best practices for metadata has become essential.  Your metadata is often all you have to get your content in front of the online consumer.  The ETC@USC metadata discussion group will bring together those with the interest to further develop best practices for this data,” says KC Blake, director of business development at ETC@USC.  “ETC@USC’s metadata project has the support of many of the Hollywood studios and the companies that support them.  We are therefore confident that the metadata discussion group will enable industry members to share information, to work together, and to ultimately save everyone in the value chain time and money.  Best of all, consumers will be able to find the content they want easier.”

Click here to read the whitepaper.

Those interested in signing up for the ETC@USC metadata online discussion group can do so by visiting https://etcenter.org/metadata

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SmartBrief coverage of ETC@USC/CEA 3D in the home white paper

6.9.2010

3-D TV was one of the biggest themes emerging from the 2010 International CES, but is it a viable home-entertainment technology? While we’ve had 3-D in some form for more than 100 years, it is now pushing into the living room. Can it survive and will it make a difference? CEA and Entertainment Technology Center present a follow-up to their groundbreaking 2009 3-D study, covering the current state of 3-D and forecasts for the next three years. The report is a must read for anyone involved in the manufacturing, marketing and merchandising of 3-D TV and 3-D content. It is available free to CEA members of for purchase in the CEA webstore.

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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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