REVOLUTIONISING MAM TECHNOLOGY THROUGH THE CLOUD
Mariano L . Monteverde , Sales Director for Asia-Pacific , VSN
Today ’ s media & entertainment industries are experiencing technology convergence . The irruption of second screen , smart devices and the new concept of TV Everywhere have set the cloud as the new paradigm for video distribution and consumption . To that extent we are now seeing 4K / Ultra HD ( UHD ) content arriving first to Netflix or YouTube , instead of traditional broadcast networks .
Moreover , the cloud also offers a new space of opportunities for B2B media applications , and especially for the MAM as the core system in the management of monitoring and evaluation processes . Generalised benefits of the cloud include open APIs — any cloud application cannot be understood without interaction with other applications — and a higher customisation of parameters , or M-data , for tracking and linking processes .
But , what about video production and operations ? What is the cloud enabling and who is using it ?
Editing has traditionally been one of the main challenges for enabling MAM systems on the cloud . For this we have seen NLE solutions providing real-time streaming technology for distributed editing . However , distributed editing does not necessarily mean that the high-res content has to be centralised on the cloud platform . For this reason , and taking in mind craft editors who are used to very high work standards , a proper cloud-based MAM offers multi-storage configurations , allowing local production storages to be configured for local editing , without having to resign to edit over 10G Ethernet or 8G fibre-channel storages .
As an analogy , in the same way a MAM can manage a SAN or a NAS together with a near-line storage such an LTO library , thus providing the user access for browsing and searching the whole repository and retrieving content of any of those when needed , the same principal applies to the cloud .
Furthermore , to bring practical sense to such an implementation , it is also necessary to provide transferring on-the-fly while rendering the exported media to the cloud , which reduces dramatically the new content registration in the MAM .
Beyond high-res video editing , we can see several workflows being used by major telecom operators and big private media holding groups . Today , providers , as distributors or producers , or customers , as advertising agencies , can send content directly to the cloud by specific access and Web forms provided by the MAM . With such enriched contribution , the media can be normalised for post production quicker than ever .
For example , from the associated information received , new workflows for other providers such as dubbing or subtitling companies may be automatically triggered after QC and acceptance of the content . A dubbing company may receive a notification that grants access to a certain media asset to retrieve a low-res proxy video file , and in turn request to provide back the audio tracks with the new dubbed languages . Upon receipt of the audio tracks , a new version of the high-res media can be assembled by the MAM .
Basically , new cloud-based MAMs provide access from many locations and enable the sharing of workflows between different companies , facilitating multiple versions of the media for different platforms , from social networks ,
New Business Intelligence tools can help to create more engaging content .
The cloud offers a new space of opportunities for the MAM as the core system .
to subscription portals or traditional broadcast platforms , helping to engage audiences and providing further content monetisation .
Taking all this tracking that happens in the cloud also enables Business Intelligence tools to help general management and heads of departments provide more successful content .
At VSN we have been working , and continue to work hard , to redefine corporate media management solutions to take in all the benefits of the new era of information . We are proud of our VSNEXPLORER MAM suite , which brings today ’ s operations into the future , and which is perfectly integrated with the cloud to take advantage of all the opportunities it offers .
Asia-PacificBroadcasting
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