HOW IMF CAN BENEFIT A FACILITY WHERE VERSIONS MATTER

Transcription

1 white paper HOW IMF CAN BENEFIT A FACILITY WHERE VERSIONS MATTER

2 ABSTRACT The Interoperable Master Format (IMF) is a standard from SMPTE (ST 2067) that encourages process automation with reliable interoperability to significantly reduce the costs and improve the efficiency of multiversion, multi-platform distribution. The theory and technologies behind IMF are well established and the introduction of the format has been aided by the introduction of interoperability tests coordinated by SMPTE. In any layered specification, the complexity of the system can quickly become unmanageable unless thorough testing of the specification, the products and the resulting outputs is carried out. There are a number of major stakeholders from the content creation community, the product creation community and the media services community who are keen to ensure that IMF improves both the technology and the commercial aspects of multi-version, multi-platform delivery. This white paper looks at how IMF can benefit a facility where versions matter. It will briefly consider how IMF works and then look at use cases of where automation can be used to ensure optimal handling of titles both at the point of creation and also over time as versions are created, managed and maintained. More IMF education resources are available at the Dalet Academy website, and IMF product details and functionality are published on the Dalet website. IMF is a standard from SMPTE that encourages process automation with reliable interoperability to significantly reduce the costs and improve the efficiency of multiversion, multi-platform distribution. page 1

3 INTRODUCTION IMF BACKGROUND The professional media industry as a whole is transitioning to network and cloud-connected, file-based workflows, while at the same time content owners seek to squeeze the maximum amount of revenue from their assets via distribution into ever more territories. These two factors generate ever-greater complexities, not to mention a significant duplication of effort within the file exchange process. IMF (Interoperable Master Format) aims to improve the economics of this transition by creating a single, standardized master file for distribution of content between businesses into multiple territories. In essence, IMF is an evolution of the DCP (Digital Cinema Package) architecture, providing a complete file interchange unit to the distribution channel. DCP is really about finished content for theatrical presentation. IMF is different. As content creators look to generate the maximum revenue from their products, via the maximum number of eyeballs on screen in as many markets as possible, they must create multiple tailored versions of the same piece of content for each of those audiences. IMF (Interoperable Master Format) aims to improve the economics of this transition by creating a single, standardized master file for distribution of content between businesses into multiple territories. A typical Hollywood studio film release, for instance, would involve hundreds of different versions for each individual market. The variants will cover different video inserts to ensure that text on screen is in the native language; different audio tracks to cover the stereo, surround-sound and mono mixes; different caption / subtitle variants; and, screen size, screen shape and additional inserts required for airline and local television variations. Several times, feature films will have a narrative story line that can be modified to improve the cultural references. With traditional versioning technology, you end up creating a full length file for virtually every version of the movie that gets delivered. This quickly generates a lot of unnecessary cost re-doing QC, editing and with IMF, you wouldn t need to create copies of the content; what the standard does is separating the content into various ingredients or components (namely, MXF wrapped media files that are referred to as IMF Track Files), a number of recipes (IMF Composition Play Lists) and a selection of instructions (or Output Profile Lists) appropriate for each of those audiences. IMF is designed to take the right mix of ingredients, the right recipe and a tailored set of instructions to create a dedicated version for each market, without having to duplicate files. In order to be consistent with vocabulary when talking about IMF, we refer to content in terms of compositions. A composition is transferred as an Interoperable Master Package (IMP) via a delivery. The composition is defined by its Composition Play List (CPL) and the IMP is defined by its Packing List (PKL). We never use phrases such as the IMF or play the package. We should use phrases such as the IMF composition and play the composition with an Output Profile List (OPL). The IMF specification has passed SMPTE standardization and is supported by over 100 companies worldwide, including major studios and broadcasters, vendors and manufacturers. Efforts are also underway to rally wider industry support for the initiative. Copies of the standard are available via the SMPTE standards library ii hosted by the IEEE. page 2

4 WHY WHAT IS IMF USED FOR? Thinking of IMF packages as recipes, if you re making a version of the same dish for each territory, you want to vary the ingredients slightly to suit each one. Without IMF an editor needs to put together individual edits and ship a conformed output to each market. What IMF does is circumvent this lengthy, error-prone and not to mention costly process by creating a standard IMF package, which is used as a reference OV (Original Version) everywhere, and instead of shipping a number of specifically conformed files to, say, Malaysia, you validate the edits and create an Interoperable Master Package (IMP) for the territory where the appropriate playout formats can be rendered from the IMP. This isn t to say that you don t need the same level of skill and discernment during the editing process as we currently have. What it does mean is that the size of the package is significantly reduced and the number of processes and workflow steps necessitated by all the variants is significantly lower by using IMF. Instead of shipping a number of specifically conformed files, you validate the edits and create an IMF Master Package (IMP) for the territory where the appropriate playout formats can be rendered from the IMP page 3

5 WHAT IMF BASICS If you re familiar with DCP then you re probably familiar with the concept of storing all the essences in individual files and then synchronizing video, audio and subtitles by metadata. The metadata for each track is represented with XML, similarly to DCP, providing a well understood technology to utilize when localizing versions. Given the growing amount of localized versioning that we are now faced with, it makes sense to utilize a more generic technology like XML to represent the various content versions, and that s what we did with IMF. Let s keep with the food analogy here. Imagine that you re going to bake a great cake. The starting point is to gather all the ingredients these correspond to the media essence that is required to assemble the version of your program. If you ve been to a supermarket recently then one thing that you won t find is chickens sitting on eggs, loose flour, loose sugar, piles of raisins and butter in large vats. A supermarket puts its inventory into standard containers with standard labelling so that the costs associated with moving the ingredients onto the shelves and then into the consumers baskets is minimized. The same is true for automating the assembly of versions of a title. If all the essence is in the same standard container that had standardized labelling and standardized metadata, then an application is able to treat all the media in a consistent and reliable fashion. This maximizes the reusability of the applications and the code whilst minimizing costs throughout the system. This analogy is shown in the figure below where packaged ingredients are equivalent to MXF wrapped Track Files. Figure 1: A Composition Play List Representation IMF structure showing the Composition Play List (CPL) that references 3 video files, 2 audio files and 2 caption files. The vertical lines indicate IMF Segments which are defined splice points across all tracks. Markers are standardized: FFHS=First Frame Head Slate, FFEC=First Frame End Credits, LFTS=Last Frame Tail Slate, and also extensible to allow private vocabularies such as: CE18=Compliance Edit Point The figure above shows a practical example of the functionality. An IMP typically delivers all the IMF files colocated in a single folder, although this is not a technical requirement. The CPL (Composition Play list) defines the composition and metadata for a specific version as well as the references to the video track, two audio tracks, a caption track, a subtitle track and a track with metadata markers. There is a standardized list of these metadata markers within the IMF specification; private markers may also be defined in a private namespace. page 4

6 The timing model of IMF divides the timeline into a number of segments that represent boundaries between different self-contained clips in the composition. Typically, there will only be one segment within a composition, but if there is more than one, it will effectively represent a synchronous cut across all of the tracks in the CPL. This is represented by solid vertical lines in the diagram above. Within each Segment there may be a Sequence of contiguous Resources whose durations add up to the duration of the Segment. In the diagram above you can see that the video track has three Resources whereas all the other tracks have a single Resource. Each Resource in the Sequence comes from part of an MXF Track File identified by an EntryPoint and a Duration for that Resource in that Sequence. Note that a single Track File may be re-used in several Segments and Sequences. An in-depth technical explanation is outside the scope of this white paper and the interested reader should search YouTube for Dalet Academy IMF for a webinar on the specifics or click here. HOW IMF IN ACTION IMF is a standardized, MAM-friendly representation of versions of media that allows automation and scaling from an individual folder with a single IMP to a Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) archive with no known limit to the number of track files and versions. It s important to realize that a format designed for automation is metadata-rich and carries the creative decisions made upstream to the automated systems downstream. The papers on manufacturing theory are awash with techniques and mechanisms for minimizing the amount of stock you need to hold and allowing the maximum manufacturing flexibility with the ability to commit to the final product as late as possible giving customers the best and the shortest lead times. IMF puts this theory into practice by allowing a library of different versions of a title to be built up over time and then each specific version that is required by a customer to be manufactured on demand by combining the correct editorial variations (for conformance, language, duration) with the correct mix (audio channels, language, subtitles, aspect ratio and dynamic range) and putting them into a transcoder with the right settings for a specific customer s delivery format, e.g. one of the AMWA delivery profiles (DPP for instance). It all starts with the original version (OV) of the IMF package (IMP). The OV (seen in Figure 2) is the only IMP guaranteed to contain a complete version of the title, with all the essence required for a particular distribution channel to enjoy the content as desired by the producers. Figure 2: Sample Original Version IMP Layout page 5

7 One of the serious highlights of IMF is that versioning is as simple as creating a new IMP containing only differences between the OV composition and a new supplemental composition (as seen in Figure 3). While the list of required XML files remains, a supplemental IMP only needs to contain media essence that is a replacement for that used in the OV. All other media is referenced by the supplemental composition, and we know that the OV media has already been delivered. This makes the delivery of the supplemental IMP a much smaller package. Figure 3: Sample Supplemental Composition IMP Layout We are all used to managing complex folder structures containing self-contained media files and the odd sidecar XML, but as an IMF library expands, this management becomes increasingly challenging. Within the confines of a folder and file structure on a standard file system, the most common method of tying together the supplemental compositions and the OV into a single title is to create a deep sub-folder structure. The folder structure and naming convention (Figure 4) become essential metadata for tracking the different versions of the title together, but search, browse and retrieve becomes more difficult the deeper these trees become. Some solutions include spreadsheets to track titles, versions and file system locations, but like any large group of media assets, this only holds up for so long. Figure 4: Sample File Tree Used for IMF Package Compositions page 6

8 The very real problems in managing IMF in this folder tree structure become: No inherent linking between the OV and supplemental compositions, so any accidental movement or deletions can render a supplemental composition unusable. Folder names may not necessarily describe the contents of the composition inside, since there is no defined naming convention Difficulty in tracking the intended use of the composition, leading to, in several cases, duplicate package creation Difficulty in the discovery of compositions that need updating, due to changes in the IMF specification (such as adding Multi Channel Audio MCA metadata) Fortunately, the IMF standard itself holds the keys to enabling a system capable of properly handling IMPs and solving the ingest, management and exchange issues that are present, and increasing, today. The key piece of metadata that exists in the ASSETMAP is the UUID for each media essence file in the package. The Media Asset Management platform Dalet Galaxy can use this UUID to link each ingested media file to both the current CPL and any further CPLs for the title. Linking the current CPL to further CPLs ingested by the system can be accomplished by using identifiers (private or standardized), which is the key metadata from the CPL for management. Any CPLs ingested with the same identifier can be stored within the same title or asset within a media asset management system. With both the UUIDs and the identifier, it is now possible to establish the hierarchy and ingest structure necessary for a system to enable serious efficiencies for media businesses. At the end of the day IMF is just a tool to help reduce the cost of production and interchange; and, like any tool, it can be used badly, or it can be used well with all the features contributing to make a workflow process more reliable, repeatable and more business focused. Here are few features of IMF that can be exploited to improve media workflows: Mandatory Audio Labelling. No more channel allocation by numbers. Each audio channel is labelled with its language (and variant e.g. en-us) as well as how it fits into the sound field (e.g. chls in 5.1). This information is present in a machine readable and a human readable form for GUIs. This makes mapping language variants a deterministic and extensible process without new programming. Metadata Markers as standard. This means that the way in which you segment a program can be annotated within the IMF, creating a self-describing archive of how you did the segmentation. Defined file IDs, which enable storage locations to be abstracted. If you move a file to a new location its ID (the UMID inside the file) doesn t change. You can manage local folders using an XML file called the ASSETMAP to replace a MAM, but when you go to medium or large scales, these IDs make your content deterministic and independent of the storage type: local disc, NAS, SAN, Cloud, etc. Where you store the file does not change the file. Standardized and private identifiers within each version. Most titles have a combination of identifiers from house numbers to EIDRs, ISANs and private MAM identifiers. These can be carried inside the CPL to permanently identify which version you are handling regardless of where it is stored. Private metadata carriage as standard. You may want to tunnel some private XML from your MAM or Automation system with the version so that it fully describes what you need to know about the title without having to use sidecar files or reference the MAM. This is standardized in the CPL. page 7

9 SO WHAT HOW DOES IMF HELP MY BUSINESS? As IMF package archives grow, the need for systems that can import and manage IMF, understand the underlying IMF structures, have the ability to retain the relationships and the metadata, and export IMF packages becomes critical. To get the real benefits of IMF at scale, you need a Media Asset Management (MAM) platform. Its role is more than just tracking IDs and the location of Track Files. With Dalet Galaxy, which both understands IMF and can process the media for ingest (using Dalet AmberFin media processing platform), several operations become possible: Editing Metadata of any of the assets (Title, Media Assets, CPL (version) ). Viewing the relationship between the IMF assets Searching the system for any of the assets against any of the specified imported metadata from the CPL XML data and technical metadata from the media files. Performing the delivery of any CPL in a Title as an IMP. Maintaining output distribution profiles per client along with unique assets for that distribution (watermarked assets, etc.). Removing the painful management of enforced folder naming conventions and allowing asset & title names to become useful, trackable values. Rendering versions from OPL into final deliverable formats (OTT, Air Master). Metadata Edits One of the most common operations for an IMP is to update metadata, particularly for a new CPL version or a specification update. When IMF titles are located in an asset management system, editing metadata becomes a simple matter of exposing data on a form for user entry or modification. With Dalet Galaxy, utilizing structured data to update or create XML documents, such as those used to package IMF, is a simple operation. Of course, it is also possible to use structured data operations along with Dalet Galaxy s capability to parse media file information, to update metadata for a title when specifications are updated. One such example is the recent addition of Essence Descriptors to the CPL. If Essence Descriptors are missing on the imported CPL, a system can parse the descriptors out of the associated media files and store those within the MAM database. Those values can then be persisted and, on export, the essence descriptors can be written into the CPL XML. Another example is the HDR metadata in the CPL, which again, is a recent addition. A system can easily notice that HDR metadata is not present, and create a user task to fulfill that metadata in an entry form, which can be written to the CPL XML upon export. Visualization of IMF Relationships While the concept of IMF is becoming well understood in technical circles, at the operational level, it can be difficult to perceive the multiple relationships that exist within a title, particularly one where several supplemental compositions exist. Dalet Galaxy can use its knowledge of the linkages at the title, CPL, media file and segment level to produce both user interfaces for manipulation of the IMP and visualization of the asset relationships, dramatically simplifying everyday operators understanding of IMF and media processing. For example, in Figure 5, Dalet Galaxy s Track Stack module allows operators to easily perceive the contents of a specific CPL, while in Figure 6, the Dalet Galaxy Context Map module, shows relationships between the title, the CPL and underlying essence. page 8

10 Figure 5: CPL Preview within the context of an IMF Title Figure 6: Contextual Relationship UI between CPL, Track Files, EIDR/ISAN Ids and IMF Package page 9

11 Locating the Required Content for a Composition Since Dalet Galaxy can natively handle the IMF structures, its index provides a search process utilizing the technical, editorial and descriptive metadata. This reduces the time taken to locate a needed title or version from hours (looking through a spreadsheet or external reference of the old subfolder entries, and then checking by hand the filesystem to see if any composition matches the lookup) to seconds (typing in a search string, and instantly seeing a list of the matching titles and CPLs). Of course, search results are greatly improved by enabling live media preview of the search results, which Dalet Galaxy enables by multiplexing previews of media assets on the fly. In most cases, this is simplified by creating proxy versions of the incoming media files, specifically for this level of preview. Exchanging IMF, Distributing Packages from CPLs When delivered IMPs are stored in the filesystem, sending the OV or a supplemental composition means finding the correct title and sending the package that was created. With Dalet Galaxy, it becomes possible to enhance the interchange/ delivery and distribution capabilities of the organization. Since Dalet Galaxy can be aware of the UUID relationships between the CPLs and the media files, users can simply select the composition that they want to deliver as a package based upon, and Export a composition as a complete package (Dalet Galaxy retrieves all referenced media and has Dalet AmberFin create an ASSETMAP and PKL to match the selected CPL). Export a composition as a partial (supplemental) package, based on the XML difference between the selected CPL and some previously delivered compositions in the system (Dalet Galaxy creates a new packing list, based on the differences, retrieves only the media for those differences, and has Dalet AmberFin create an ASSETMAP and PKL to match those differences for the composition that is to be delivered). Maintaining Client Profiles for IMF As is the case with most interchange/delivery workflows, it is necessary to utilize specific profiles for different external clients (i.e., client A has a full trust relationship as an internal user, whereas client B requires a watermark inserted into the asset since they are an external vendor). In an IMFaware MAM, it is possible to create these delivery profiles, and use them in conjunction with the IMP creation to process the media prior to final IMF packaging. page 10

12 SOLUTION DALET GALAXY, DALET AMBERFIN AND IMF As you can see from these examples, Dalet Galaxy can use existing tools for creating, viewing and auditing the relationships between files to ensure that IMF Packages have the right content and that business rules are being respected when IMPs are created and consumed. The Dalet Galaxy MAM has a sophisticated import and export system that allows IMF packages to be ingested into the MAM so that visualization tools such as the Dalet Context Map and versioning tools such as the Dalet Track Stack can be used natively to build the data structures that can be used in production as well as exported as IMF for the distribution and contribution parts of a media business. Lower level manipulations of IMF involve getting the structure of the Track Files correct for the IMF Application that is being used. Currently IMF Application #2 (JPEG 2000 with Rec.709 colorimetry) is the most popular with IMF Application #2e (UHD and HDR with BT.2020 color) close behind. Transcode tools like the Dalet AmberFin platform have a sophisticated workflow controller that make the process of assembling all the Track Files and metadata into a valid and verifiable IMF package as easy as launching the workflow with a list of files. Dalet AmberFin s long record of creating very high quality JPEG2000 content from ProRes, XDCAM, uncompressed and other source files ensure that whatever format your current material is stored in, an IMF bundle of packages can be simply and quickly created at whatever scale your commercial needs require. Whether you re running in the cloud, on premise or distributed across a number of sites, the scalability of MAM + transcode + IMF can be made to work for you. WHAT S NEXT? THE (IMF-ENABLED) FUTURE IMF improves automation, reduces storage costs and saves on QC cost. In the past, each version would be stored as a fully rendered end-to-end file or tape that would need to have a QC pass; with IMF, most of the QC checks can be done in advance on the components, and the fully tested manufacturing process will produce the correct result every time. Some productions in 2015 were reporting 25% budget savings by using IMF within an experimental production workflow based on reduced (human) QC time and reduced machine occupancy. IMF has moved on from being a theoretical structure for mastering into a practical format supported by dozens of different vendors that provide the tools for industrial levels of media manufacturing. SMPTE ST 2067 is destined to be another quiet back-office success story that helps drive the future of multi-platform, multiversion delivery of content helping us move from the linear tape world into an elastically scalable future. All this work is leading to one thing and one thing only: Make IMF just work so that it becomes a really, really boring, yet effective business tool. Dalet Galaxy Media Asset Management and Dalet AmberFin transcoding platforms ensure that your business is ready to take advantage of IMF s best capabilities today. i Information on the movie Inside Out presented by Disney during the HPA Super Session 2016, Indian Wells. ii SMPTE IMF standards available from org/search/searchresult.jsp?querytext=st2067 page 11

13 About Dalet Dalet solutions and services enable media organisations to create, manage and distribute content faster and more efficiently, fully maximising the value of assets. Based on an agile foundation, Dalet offers rich collaborative tools empowering end-to-end workflows for news, sports, program preparation, post-production, archives, radio, education, governments and institutions. Dalet platforms are scalable and modular. They offer targeted applications with key capabilities to address critical functions of small to large media operations - such as planning, workflow orchestration, ingest, cataloguing, editing, chat & notifications, transcoding, play out automation, multi-platform distribution and analytics. Dalet solutions NEWS SPORTS RADIO PROGRAMS POST-PROD ARCHIVES ORCHESTRATION EDUCATION GOVERNMENT INSTITUTION Dalet Technology Find out more: Contact us DLT-WP-IMF-V2 Dalet is a registered trademark of Dalet S.A. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice or obligation.