Implementation of SMPTE Metadata for Advanced Authoring Applications

Abstract

Following publication of the Final Report of the EBU/SMPTE Task Force for the Harmonization of Standards for the Exchange of Program Material as Bit Streams (TFHS), standards-writing has proceeded within SMPTE W25 and other committees, producing several approved standards and many others in draft form. Together, this work comprises the SMPTE Data Model and Dictionary, a significant step forward for the industry. This paper describes an implementation of the SMPTE Data Model as a software developers' kit (SDK), discusses applications, and presents performance and scaling data. The TFHS report also identified requirements for system integration and workflow management. The paper addresses this subject by discussing some production workflow scenarios, showing how applications may be built to exploit the portable API and deliver new levels of system integration. Performance data is presented to show how the API scales to address both small and large applications. — In the last several years, it has become common for post-production software applications to make use of pluggable components, particularly for graphics and effects processing and in other cases for file format conversion. This is a powerful technique for managing an ever-expanding range of compression, processing and generation facilities; however, previous implementations have suffered by being tied to single application platforms. The paper shows how the facilities of the SMPTE Metadata Dictionary are used in the SDK to provide platform-independent plug-in management.