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The NAB Acronym Buzz

Mar 1, 2004 12:00 PM, By Bob Turner

Sidebars
What is an open standard?

At the show you will be bombarded with acronyms—some new and others more familiar. Here is a guide to the most popular ones that apply to postproduction.

XDCAM is one of the many acronyms you will hear at NAB this year. XDCAM is the trademark name of Sony's Professional Disc products, such as the PDW-1500 VTR shown above.

You will hear a lot of acronyms at NAB this year. Most of them will have to do with the concept of open standards. Open standards allow interoperability among different applications without the headaches that many now experience.

There are lots of open standard buzzwords: AAF, MXF, OpenFX, and FBX are among the most prominent. You may hear about many other standards as well — AVX, DivX, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, HDV, WM9, P2, IMX, XDCAM, and others. I predict you will also hear the acronym XML a lot.

StageTools' MovingPicture is one of dozens of plug-ins that can be used by applications that support the Avid AVX API. This plug-in allows filmmakers to pan and zoom on high-resolution images up to 8,000x8,000 pixels.

Use of open standards means the ability to workgroup or use multiple platforms in both post houses and single-operator boutiques. These open standard options allow you to select the best solution for each segment of post work-flow and eliminate the hassle of bouncing from application to application.

AAF (Advanced Authoring Format)

AAF is a postproduction file interchange format created to solve cross-platform/cross-manufacturer interoperability problems. It is also designed to be a widely supported standard the same way the CMX EDL has been the metadata interoperability standard of years past.

The AAF Association web page states: “AAF does a number of things. 1) it allows complex relationships to be described in terms of an object model, 2) it facilitates the interchange of metadata and/or program content, 3) it provides a way to track the history of a piece of program content from its source elements through final production, 4) it makes it possible to render downstream (with appropriate equipment), 5) it provides a convenient way to ‘wrap’ all elements of a project together for archiving.

“By preserving comprehensive source referencing, and abstracting the creative decisions that are made, AAF improves workflow and simplifies project management.”

The big problem has been that while all manufacturers have agreed in principle to the desirability of AAF, they seem unwilling to put in the effort to accomplish this goal. This effort would include compromising their own architecture designs, and sharing information required to define the important aspects of a complex postproduction structure.

I have been assured by those who attended the January AAF engineering meeting in Havant, UK, that this logjam appears to have been broken up and steps are now being taken to create a library of defined postproduction elements that will make AAF worthwhile. I strongly urge you to stop by the AAF Interoperability Campus at NAB.

AVX (Avid Visual Extensions)

AVX is the Avid plug-in API (Application Programming Interface). The AVX web page explains: “Avid Visual Extensions (AVX) is a cross-platform software architecture designed to allow software effect plug-in modules to be dynamically linked with host application software packages transparently. AVX plug-ins dynamically extend the collection of visual effects supported by any Avid host application that supports the AVX interface.”

There are 1.0 and 1.5 standards. The latter offers the possibility of realtime performance, but is not supported by all Avid applications.

DivX

DivX is a patent-pending, cross-platform MPEG-4 digital video technology created by DivX Networks.

The DivX website boasts: “Videos encoded with DivX technology are among the highest quality digital videos available anywhere (and with a relatively small file size to boot). DivX is the most widely distributed MPEG-4 compatible technology available today. DivX technology is compatible with the MPEG-4 video compression standard, allowing it to compress MPEG-2 video down to about one eighth of its original size.”

DivX is now being licensed and bundled with some NLE and DVD recording software packages (e.g., Adobe Premiere Pro, Ulead VideoStudio and MediaStudio Pro, Magix Movie Maker Deluxe 3, ArcSoft VideoImpression, InterVideo WinDVD Creator Platinum 2, CyberLink PowerDirector 3, and Roxio's Easy CD & DVD Creator and Video Wave). More licensees may be announced at NAB.

FBX Universal 3D Asset Exchange

FBX is a widely supported open standard established by Kaydara for exchanging 3D data.

The FBX website states: “FBX is an ideal file format for creating content libraries that directly load into all popular 3D software applications.”

Kaydara has also created FBX for Apple QuickTime that allows any FBX file to be viewed using Apple's QuickTime player.

HDV (High Definition DV Tape Format)

HDV started as a high-definition consumer format developed by JVC, but demand for a professional version soon developed. JVC, Canon, Sharp, and Sony have formed a consortium to refine the specification and establish a licensing process to develop it. Companies that have announced intentions to develop for the HDV specification include: Adobe Systems, Canopus, Inform, Hamamatsu Photonics, KDDI, Sony Pictures Digital Media Software, and Ulead Systems.

CineForm's applications can extend the reach by developing for other manufacturer products, such as the new Applied Magic HD Cinema workstation. At NAB, you will see both cinematic and broadcast programming that was acquired in this new format.

IMX

IMX was a second-generation MPEG format recording system introduced by Sony four years ago. It is based on Sony metal particle videotape, the MPEG-2 4:2:2p@ML standard — “I-frame” recording at 50Mbps.

You cannot record, but you can play back Betacam SX and Betacam SP cassettes on an IMX VCR.

MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group)

The Moving Picture Experts Group is a subgroup of the International Standards Organization in charge of development of standards for digital audio and video. MPEG-2 is the standard for digital television transmission, as well as DVDs. MPEG-4 was originally defined as the standard for multimedia over the Web and other wired and wireless networks.

It has since made inroads into many aspects of digital television to the point that a common question is, “When will MPEG-4 replace MPEG-2?” (Answer: not within the foreseeable future, according to Rob Koenen, editor of MPEG-4 Overview.) Committees are also working on MPEG-7 (Multimedia Content Description Interface) and MPEG-21 (Multimedia Framework [of digital media objects]).

MPEG-4 Part 10 (or H.264) Advanced Video Coding offers superior compression for many uses, from Web-based distribution to HDTV. It will accommodate broadcast and interactive networks as well as mass storage-based playback scenarios.

This particular standard came from a meeting of the minds of the telecommunications, computer, and television industries. This technology will have a major “buzz factor” at NAB.

MXF (Material eXchange Format)

MXF will be a prominent acronym at this year's NAB, with many postproduction equipment manufacturers offering MXF compatibility.

MXF was designed with the aim of improving file-based interoperability between servers, workstations, and other content creation devices. The standard defines both the metadata and essence media components. The metadata portion is a subset of the AAF metadata standard. MXF metadata defines the in-points, out-points, and duration of the file; audio/video file synchronization; what essence codecs are required; and timeline information.

Since some think of MXF as a small metadata wrapper that can contain a standardized media file or a proprietary file, I asked metadata expert Oliver Morgan, of Metaglue, if it is proper to think of MXF as a media file.

“Most of the industry regards MXF as the ‘video cassette for the 21^st century,’ i.e., a media format,” says Morgan. “MXF is primarily a file format for essence, with some structural and descriptive metadata added. So I call it ‘media mostly,’ as compared to AAF, which most people are using in a ‘metadata mostly’ way. Yes, I think you can start talking about MXF media.

“MXF specifies several flavors of MPEG-2, DV, uncompressed, HD, audio, and is in the process of having others added. MXF does not specify a codec; it specifies the compressed bit stream generated by a codec, usually by pointing to the underlying national or international standard. Different vendors are encouraged to produce codecs.”

So the bottom line is that MXF compatibility does not necessarily mean you have the codecs needed to exchange media files. The good part is that it will tell you what is missing.

Avid demonstrated native MXF operations at IBC '03 and promised at the NAB '02 press conference to make MXF its native media file format. It will be interesting to see if this is one of Avid's big announcements at NAB as many expect.

OFX (OpenFX)

The Foundry, a leader in the effects plug-in field, has announced OpenFX, an open standard specification for visual effects plug-ins. It was developed with broad industry consultation and the participation of 14 visual effects developers.

An open API for plug-ins could offer cross-application/cross-platform support that benefits both the end user and the development community by reducing development inefficiencies.

The Foundry states that the objectives of OFX are:

• To establish an open, nonproprietary format for visual effects plug-ins with broad industry consultation and participation.

• The pursuit of OFX becoming the de-facto industry standard for visual effects plug-in development.

• To support a range of image processing architectures, allowing a wide variety of applications and plug-ins to use OFX.

While there have been incompatibility frustrations and development inefficiencies, I have concerns about the success of this standard. Many manufacturers believe there is already a de facto plug-in standard: After Effects 3.0/4.0.

Avid has its own AVX API standard, but Profound Effects' Elastic Gasket is a plug-in transcoder for the After Effects plug-ins. Adobe, Apple, Boris FX, Eyeon Software, Sony, and others use this de facto standard. Discreet has a Sparks API, and other postproduction applications may offer their own specifications.

For those many plug-in vendors that code only to After Effects, will the return on investment of a wider market potential balance the draining of resources to write code for both architectures?

Manufacturers like Avid, which has advanced its AVX API only to find that the benefits (including realtime performance) have not inspired many AVX plug-in providers to code for the upgraded API, may question whether the effort will be worth it. The same is true for Adobe's development of the advanced After Effects plug-in APIs, 5.5 or 6.0. The majority of After Effects plug-in providers still use the older API specification.

For manufacturers such as Avid, Discreet, and Quantel, there are unclear benefits to redesigning their APIs for this open standard, unless there is a sudden movement by the majority of plug-in manufacturers to stop development on present APIs and only develop for OFX. Unlike AAF, where no viable alternative exists, plug-in APIs do already exist.

This is one more “chicken and the egg” scenario, and I have no idea how it will play out. With plug-in manufacturers like The Foundry, GenArts, Boris FX, 2d3, and RE:Vision Effects supporting the standard, and with host application vendors like Discreet, Nucoda, Eyeon Software, and Interactive FX doing the same, it may very well become the standard to develop for. Let's see what Avid, Adobe, and Quantel have to say.

P2

P2 refers to Panasonic's DVCPRO Professional Plug-in solid state memory-based products (camcorder, deck, editor, and P2 drive) and solid state media (the P2 card). The P2 card consists of Panasonic's SD (Secure Digital) memory units stacked in a PCMCIA card. The P2 card allows 18 minutes of DVCPRO 25 or 9 minutes of DVCPRO 50 recording.

Panasonic claims that the advantages of this technology include reduced maintenance costs because of the ruggedness of solid state media, and the lack of mechanical components, which is a common cause of problems. While the P2 card can immediately mount to an NLE system, sooner or later the media will need to be archived so the expensive solid state memory card can be reused.

WM9 (Windows Media Series 9)

Window Media Series 9 is an advanced series of compression technologies capable of delivering 5.1 channels of audio and up to 1920×1080 (1080p) video with approximately three times the compression efficiency of that offered by MPEG-2.

Microsoft is promoting the Windows Media 9 technology as a comprehensive method of developing and deploying digital media solutions. While WM9 is primarily seen as a distribution technology, for the last two NABs WM9 acquisition files have been demonstrated with postproduction technologies.

XDCAM

XDCAM is the trademark name of the Sony Professional Disc system. XDCAM products offer a choice of MPEG IMX or DVCAM formats, and workflow technologies such as Proxy AV data, metadata, and MXF technology.

XML (eXtensible Markup Language)

XML is a simple, flexible text-format-based “meta-language” derived from Standard Generalized Markup Language as defined by the International Organization of Standardization. The word “extensible” implies that it is permitted to invent and use your own metadata tags. This makes it a good programming vehicle for postproduction proprietary metadata.

To open this up to the post community, AAF established a working committee to develop and define an XML version of the AAF Interchange standard. The AAF website explains: “‘AAF-X’ is the project name for this development of an XML representation of the AAF data model (which is also shared by the MXF format).

Once completed, the project will produce an update to the AAF Specification that standardizes a schema for defining AAF metadata in XML.”

© 2008 Penton Media, Inc.