(Page 1 of 1 pages for this article )

Filed under:

The changing landscape of CS5 for Broadcast (part 1)

The landscape in the broadcast world is changing.  Big time. Think about it - broadcasters have:

  * Moved from analog to digital transmission.
  * From standard definition to high definition (two flavors, not one by the way).
  * We’ve gone from a couple of formats (betacam and DV) to an ever growing list of formats.
  * The world has gotten even more media saturated meaning that content has to be even better.
  * Broadcasters don’t worry about one screen (TV), they worry about three (TV, online, mobile)
  * The world has moved from tape based (remember those?) to file-based formats.
  * And oh, by the way, we’ve had an incredibly challenging economy that means capital expenditures (improving your equipment) have been difficult to say the least.

Without the least bit of exaggeration, many people have said that this is the perfect storm of change and with this change there’s an opportunity to thrive from it.  That’s where Adobe’s been focusing - how to make our customers succeed in this storm of change.

This will be the first of a two part entry. Here, I will outline the challenges that broadcasters are facing and how Adobe can help address them. In the second part, I’ll provide some feedback I’ve gotten from executives on their business as well as their reactions to CS5.

CS5, Production Premium, Premiere Pro, Broadcasters, Broadcast, 64-bit

Firstly, broadcasters cannot continue to keep doing things the way they’ve have in the past.  Customers have told me that over and over again. To do the same thing is to stand still and to stand still is to die.  The speed of innovation has increased and the need to try things (and get them right) has forced companies to think differently.

Two things have really driven this state of constant change from the broadcaster’s perspective (though I’m sure there are more).  First, there is the increase in formats and second, an increase in the number of deliverables (or screens).

The codec or format scene has exploded over the last 10 years.  I remember when DV came on the scene and it was regarded both as a savior and an intruder.  A savior for smaller markets because the quality was high and format inexpensive enough.  An intruder to those that weren’t ready to abandon Betacam and other 4:2:2 tape based formats. Today, we see Premiere Pro supporting AVCHD, AVC-Intra (all), DSLR (Canon/Nikon), DV, DVCPro50, DVCProHD, HDV, RED R3D, XDCAM EX, XDCAM HD (35 and 50mbit), with room and presets to support things like iPhone video and more.  In fact, Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 is a resolution independent engine that can support just about anything that is on the system with frame sizes in excess of 8K or twice of what the RED ONE camera currently does.

The number of file types or destinations that a media company or broadcaster has to prepare for has likewise multiplied.  Back in the day, they had to worry about getting the file (or tape) played at their NOC (Network Operations Center) to put it on the air and view it.  Now, in addition to the web, there’s the growing idea of getting the content out to mobile devices. Talk about challenging! Adobe has talked about creating content once and being able to distribute it to many screens.  We believe that customers expect to be able to view media at anytime, anywhere and on any device. When you consider Flash video’s penetration on devices, it’s transparent user experience and it’s ability to deliver to both online and mobile devices, it seems that Adobe has a good solution for broadcasters.  Many companies like ESPN have recently updated their online viewing experience and they chose Flash simply because it was the best solution out there.  And of course, one conspicuous handset aside, there are hundreds of millions of Flash enabled handsets and devices that dwarf anything else that’s out there.

Media has to get out to those three screens fast! Of course, that’s most important in broadcast news, but I’ve seen shrinking staffs and increasing work loads for as long as I’ve been in this business.  One executive has told me in the past that they’re a ‘sausage factory. We have to get the sausage out as quickly as possible.’  With reduced staffs, tighter deadlines and higher demands on quality where do you turn?  The answer from most broadcasters is in creating greater efficiencies in their workflows and using tools that will help them realize more media in less time.  That’s been a core strength of Adobe for some time.  With Dynamic Link and tightly integrated workflows, you can get your work from point A to B more quickly with less down time than anyone else out there.

One final issue that I will mention is integrating systems between different vendors. Simply put, Adobe helps people create the content, but it doesn’t help them manage where it is, when it should be deleted, where should it go for broadcast, which server will play out the file, etc. Clearly, there are ways to get from point A to point B, but many times, they are inefficient and increase the chance that something can go wrong.  Integration with 3rd party vendors has been something that Adobe has worked on for a couple of years and I think will explode over the next couple of years through our Flash panel integration that will allow vendors to integrate their functionality and interfaces directly into products like Premiere Pro.

There are so many more challenges and issues that I could cover but will forgo for now.  In the next part, I will offer some conclusions and statements for consideration. Right now, I see broadcasters adopting a greater portion of Adobe’s Production Premium CS5 toolset that started all the way back in CS3 and expanded during the CS4 cycle.  Am I right or am I missing something?  Let me know.

(Page 1 of 1 pages for this article )

Here in the UK at least, tape isn’t dead.  Either for acquisition or delivery.

A lot is stil shot on DVcam and Digibeta and most channels still require a tape as a deliverable.

Posted by MichaelSanders  on  04/30  at  06:38 AM

---

I can’t count the number of times that I’ve done projects for clients, shot and finished in HD then go to deliver and the broadcaster wants BetaSP, not even digibeta, SP.

I got rid of my analog equipment years ago and have been doing strictly HD or better for the past couple of years. It drives me nuts that I’ve had to invest in all this technology and then have to deliver to SP. I send my masters to a service company and let them deal with the transfers.

I think we are much further away from this tapeless utopia than many including myself would like.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  04/30  at  11:37 PM

---

In response to the other comments…

I work in a small market here in the United States, and we’ve ditched tapes for distribution years ago.  Now when we need to provide a 30-second commercial to a local broadcaster we either take it to them as a DV-Stream data file on a CD-R disc or we upload it to the web for them to download.

Other, larger stations are using the H.264 codec to accept commercials in HD over the web.  And still some others are requesting MPEG-2 so the commercial will transfer directly into their on-air server without having to be re-compressed into another codec. 

As a result I have set up many custom settings in Apple Compressor.  I then bring in my 1080 30p commercial and Compressor will output 4 or 5 different versions (codecs) of the commercial for distribution to the various tv stations in our region. 

It’s true that I could take a stand and commit to only one format for distribution, but I would rather maintain quality and try and send it out in a format that won’t require re-compression to get it into their system.

Back on topic…
I think that Adobe CS5 could be a game changer for a lot of people.  Premier especially.  I for one am a After Effects / Final Cut Pro user.  In the back of my mind I’ve always thought about using Premier instead of Final Cut Pro, but there was always a lot of negative reviews about the reliability of the software.  But now that CS5 is finally fully compatible with the Mac OS (Coca) it might be more stable on that platform.  Only time will tell if I end up switching to Premier.  (Kudo’s to Adobe for making me even consider switching)

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  05/02  at  08:43 AM

---

Very nice post. I really enjoy the reading. I will surly come here for getting more information.Thanks Real estate india

Posted by real estae india  on  05/07  at  06:53 AM

---

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Smileys

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Submit the word you see below: