FEATURE
n an ideal world, there would be a single video-on-demand standard that could be used by everyone. But as it is, there’s no ‘one- file-fits-all’ solution that every destination, from a connected TV through to an iPad, can receive with confidence. Red Bee Media director of technology and
DEMANDING DELIVERY I
‘Content owners and broadcasters aren’t in control of ecosystems,
consumers are’ Mike Nann, Digital Rapids
innovation Steve Plunkett says: “Each of the different major destinations tends to have its own characteristics in terms of screen size, aspect ratio, resolution, sound normalisation – they all have different requirements.” Mike Nann, director of marketing and communications at transcoder vendor Digital Rapids, says that at origination, six or seven pieces of content can easily require more than 200 different variants and these might only span 20 different devices. Technicolor managing director of media services George Kilpatrick says a non-linear platform client with a single piece of XDCam content for multiple destinations might need that content transcoded into 50 different files. Other variables include the differences in bit rate and bandwidth required for different screens, with the industry still toiling away over a common standard for adaptive bit rate (ABR) streaming. For premium content providers, DRM sys-
tems and other forms of encryption add to the headache as their requirements also vary depending on the device being delivered to. Plunkett says: “There are five major DRM systems in use. Particular devices will sup- port one or more, but if you are a content owner aiming to secure maximum reach, you need to use different encryption systems to manage that reach.” It is hoped that as common streaming stand-
ards such as MPEG DASH and UltraViolet gain acceptance, it will reduce the number of variants for ABR and DRM requirements. “It should reduce the number of files we have to create from 200 to 100, but it won’t get rid of the need to create variants,” predicts Nann.
30 | Broadcast TECH | January/February 2012
The aim of most solutions and managed services in this area is to automate as much of the process as possible for the content owner, using specialised solutions and economies of scale to hide complexity and minimise cost. According to Plunkett, two years ago Red
Bee ingested 135,000 hours of new content, but has increased this significantly year on year “by trying to reduce those variations and automating as much of the process as we can”. Red Bee, which manages around 90% of
the UK’s VoD content from the back end, offers what Plunkett refers to as a “service- orientated architecture”.
Automating processes The top layer of this system comprises Red Bee’s bespoke Digital Workflow Platform, which is used to automate and streamline the process. Beneath this, the company employs a number of software and hardware solutions from third-party suppliers to deal with differ- ent parts of video and manage the feeds. “There are also parts of the process that need human expertise – language content and subtitles, for example,” he adds. “And we have lots of expertise in that space. We use technology efficiently but also people where that’s important too.” Technicolor, whose UK clients include Lovefilm, uses its own system, Rosette, for transcoding, although Kilpatrick says that for bulk jobs, it makes more sense to out- source to third-party cloud-based companies such as
Encode.com or Rackspace, which
As broadcasters and content owners increase their catch-up, paid-for and live streaming services across a growing range of devices, Ann-Marie Corvin discovers the many complexities of working with files
have invested heavily in transcoding and storage capacity. In order to automate as much of the proc-
ess as possible, file requirements for content destined for multiple platforms need to be very specific and the client is often required to do much of the content preparation before it reaches the facility. Some companies, including Technicolor,
offer a ‘sifting’ service for clients that lack the expertise, resources or time to create this detailed spec. “Aspect ratio, sound normalisa- tion – there are about 50 variables we can fix on site before delivering a fully specific mezza- nine for automation,” explains Kilpatrick. Chiswick-based facility Loft London, which is set up to manage workflows to prepare, transcode and distribute content for multiplatform hosting, also offers a ‘test- and-change’ service as part of its package for clients. Company director Davide Maglio says the devil is in the detail. “It’s about nail- ing down the specs and trying to understand the requirements.” Maglio adds that while a lot of companies
charge a flat fee for test and change, Loft doesn’t. “We believe that achieving the cli- ent’s goals should be factored into the costs.” As well as having the right spec, metadata,
as Maglio says, is key to automating numer- ous file types. Red Bee’s Plunkett says: “It is
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