22 TVBEurope The Workflow
know they are using a cloud- based product. We recently announced Interplay Sphere, which is Media Composer and NewsCutter editing connected to Interplay using the cloud. The magic here is that you no longer need to be connected to a LAN. You can basically be anywhere there’s an internet or cellular connection to your workgroup. The experience should feel as though you are actually in your newsroom — except you could be anywhere in the world. Owen: Not very much at the moment. It’s still hard to move hi-res pictures quickly, so users mostly need to work with lo-res proxies and apply the edit decisions remotely on the hi-res content — and making that 100% correct, 100% of the time is the challenge. Patel: Today, cloud computing is best used where scalable compute resources are required or for applications that need effective remote/mobile collaboration and/or where processing power may be limited on the host side. One of the biggest challenges is that NLE workflows typically involve large amounts of media, but are less demanding when it comes to image processing. Most cloud services offer the opposite: large amounts of processing power with low storage and bandwidth capacities. Stevens: The biggest consideration, and potentially obstacle, at the moment is ‘upstream’ broadband speeds, which can be a bottleneck to being able to upload your footage to the cloud. Threadgill: Video editing
likely represents the greatest challenge to cloud offerings. The cloud presents a fantastic new vehicle for systemisation of editing environments that are yet to be tapped. Metadata and asset management become key factors in this race along with tools integrated within the traditional editing UI to empower seamless operability.
use as 2D editing. We’ve exceeded expectations with our 3D editing functionality and Media Composer is being used today to edit the latest Hollywood features and this summer’s major sporting event in London. Owen: Handling lots of data
Niels Stevens: “The world of acquisition has seen a shift from tape and film-based cameras to digital storage cameras”
that they can work as seamlessly as they do today. Owen: A long way! Patel: We are very far away
from being able to do a 4K or even a 2K uncompressed edit on an iPad. However, the important problem for high-tech software companies like Autodesk to solve is not how we ‘port’ existing software models to new technologies, but how we exploit the inherent strengths of new technologies to develop better, and more effective creative workflows.
Atsushi Kataoka: “Almost anyone can be a good ‘technical’ editor. But to be a great ‘artistic’ editor is rare”
TVBEurope: What are the particular challenges of NLE for 3D? Colantuoni: Customer challenges include viewing stereoscopic in the editing room, managing up to
accurately, no hiccups on playout, developing new tools to help users face the unique challenges of 3D, and giving them the tools to easily produce different versions. 3D has extra challenges beyond 2D in terms of different viewing environments that need to be accommodated. Patel: One of the biggest challenges is making changes in post, after the real 3-dimensional information has been lost. Ironically, 3D is actually a misnomer. What is typically referred to as 3D is really a stereo image pair – two 2D images. It is the differences between these two images that trick the brain into seeing an illusion of 3D. However, unfortunately for the editor, once the stereo pair has been acquired the real-world 3D information is lost and cannot be easily recreated. This makes it very hard to make adjustments after shooting. Unless done well 3D can essentially end up looking like a series of planar cut-outs.
“The divide between asset management and editing is an artificial one. Editing is all about asset management — and today’s technology doesn’t make it as easy as it could be”
TVBEurope: How far away are we from full scale editing on iPads (or similar), rather than desktops? Colantuoni: The technology certainly exists to edit on tablets and handhelds. The change will come when users are more accepting to workflow changes. However, these changes cannot get in the way of their creativity. Editors will demand
four times the media of a single eye production, and being able to both complete projects with one integrated solution and prepare for S3D digital film mastering. We’ve made significant changes to Media Composer to adapt to stereoscopic editing workflows. Our goal was to make the 3D editing experience as simple to
Threadgill: Where to begin!
The greatest challenge is probably with the editor (the person, not the software). The principles of editing in 3D, the do’s and don’ts, the fine nuances around scene changes, titling, graphics, etc. are quite foreign to most. 3D is not anything that is particularly new. What is different this time with 3D is the accessibility of the technology. This will welcome many new editors into the space that may struggle with editing traditional video today.
TVBEurope: Is there a danger that the craft of editing can get lost in the overall technology of asset management, workflow controls, storage and so on? Kataoka: Asset management and workflow controls are only tools to help the craft editor to edit more quickly and effectively, which should help improve the quality of output. However, many aspects still rely on the creative skills of the craft editor. Almost anyone can be a good ‘technical’ editor. But to be a great ‘artistic’ editor is rare. Owen: The divide between asset management and editing is an artificial one. Editing is all about asset management — and today’s technology (particularly in post) doesn’t make it as easy as it could be. Editors need tighter, more seamless integration between the assets and the edit. Patel: No. The craft of editing
Steve Owen, Quantel Stevens: This depends on the
extent of functionality required. It’s easy to ‘bake in’ left and right eye information into 2D footage using an external decoder. However, for a full-featured solution, the support of multiple input types, delivery formats, as well as a full suite of alignment and convergence controls is required.
is the ability to tell a story whatever tools are put in your hands. Those tools will change and there is no doubt that things are likely to get more complex. A good workflow without a good end product is pretty meaningless and individuals or companies that lose sight of this are not likely to remain in business for long. At Autodesk, we do a lot of development work building better workflows. However, we try to never lose sight of the fact that without great creative tools those workflows are meaningless.
www.tvbeurope.com August 2012
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