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IMF open for review at IBC

IBC offers anyone interested in automated multi-versioning a chance to review the status of IMF for TV and online. It is a metadata rich ecosystem, and not to be seen as a product replacement.

The DPP’s Caroline Ewerton is staging demos on the Prime Focus booth in Hall 7 (7.B12), and for the EBU Andy Quested of the BBC and EBU programme manager Hans Hoffmann are the focal point.

“IMF is a fascinating technology. It addresses the need of the market to have an application around that allows you to create all the derivatives you need from a single master. It simplifies workflows and satisfies the need for extremely high quality,” said Hoffmann. “The codec runs very high bandwidth.”

The user groups have all focused on an app that makes IMF fit for broadcast work, so one big debate has been around codec selection.

“We are talking about a codec which is open, standardised and widely used. It must maintain quality so we are not talking news here, merely about high quality productions,” said Hoffmann. “The time is just right. IMF can have a significant advantage in simplifying workflows.

“You need to give time to the users to identify the opportunities a new technology brings, and maybe we need to modify it to match certain applications,” he added.

“We need to bring it into the mainstream. It is all about automation. One of the technologies behind it is the tool that allows you to generate on a click a certain version and a certain language from a master.”

A meeting of interested parties was held at the EBU stand yesterday, and on Monday (14:00-18:00) the HPA user group will meet to discuss usage, training and what’s missing in the spec, with an eye on a final spec launch just prior to NAB.