So here we are again, gearing up for another assault on all the senses at IBC. More than 1350 exhibitors spread across 14 halls – what should you focus on to make best use of your time in Amsterdam? In today’s increasingly file-based media workflows, file transcode operations have assumed critical importance. Gone is the old…
In my role I have been afforded the luxury of visiting many facilities, be they content owner, post production houses or playout facilities, take it from me that each and every place I visit addresses workflow requirements in a slightly different way. One such example is: Around file preparation, getting the asset ready for delivery to a customer,…
There is scarcely time to draw breath after IBC and suddenly the SMPTE conference is upon us. But unlike Amsterdam, the sun nearly always shines in Hollywood! There are only two streams for the paper sessions at SMPTE, which is a good thing because it means that the papers committee can be REALLY focused on…
Next week, the Loews Hotel here in Hollywood will play host to the SMPTE 2014 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition, during which we will be taking the stage with Mr. Bruce Devlin to learn how his university professor taught him not to be a “smart-arse” – but also for us both to talk a little…
At the start of June, we heard that the IBC has short-listed BT Sport, Timeline Television and ourselves for the IBC Innovation Award under the Content Management category. This is a good reason to celebrate – in short-listing our submission IBC is recognizing all the effort made making sure that BT Sport’s new production facility…
Next week will see a first for AmberFin when we exhibit in our own right at Broadcast Asia. This is a dynamic, fast growing regional market for our products and services – one that we have prioritized for a number of years. I will travel to Singapore for the exhibition and I’m excited at the prospect of what…
“Hey Bruce, can I run your software in the cloud?”, said one of our customers while I was traveling the other week. “Sure”, I replied, “what do you mean by cloud?”. “Erm, well, you know the cloud. Like the Amazon thing”. “Why would you want to do that?”, I asked. “Because, well – it will…
There has been a lot of information published recently about the Digital Production Partnership, the standardization of file delivery in the UK broadcast chain. Indeed I have alluded to it in previous posts, but what was the motivation for UK broadcasters to gather and come up with the specification? To ease the problems of inter-company \…
So, here we are, less than 30 days away from the Sochi Games, which promises to be another feast of sporting action attracting global viewing audiences that will be measured in many of millions: The hosts have made every possible effort to provide world class TV production facilities – for both domestic and international viewing…
HEVC (High Efficiency Video Codec) is likely to be one of the most talked about topics at IBC this year, not only because it promises to reduce the data rate needed for high quality video coding by 50% compared to the current state-of-the-art, but also because the new coding standard simply does not support interlacing: And…
Server virtualization has been around for quite some time now, the first time I came across it was about 10 years ago in an attempt to reduce the roll out time and overhead for setting up Microsoft Technical training rooms: The existing process was quite involved taking two dedicated staff members to ensure the training…
As I reported in a previous article, we have managed to generate more than 100 entries in our first year of this esteemed blog. We have hundreds of dedicated subscribers, reading the comments on every continent, in every time zone: In true cricketing style, I think this qualifies for one of the Test Match Special’s “Champagne…
Regular readers of this blog – or just people who have met me and been slightly startled when I start foaming at the mouth – will know that I am obsessive to the point of mania on one topic: Interlace is evil. Repeat after me: interlace is evil. Back when television first became a practical proposition,…
In today’s multi-platform world the big challenge facing content owners and aggregators is the ability to make their most valuable content available to the largest number of sets of eyes: Whether you are in the cinema, at home watching HDTV or out and about but still online via your tablet or smartphone, you still want…
This Wednesday, 4th December, I will be hosting the seventh webinar within AmberFin’s Bruce’s Shorts program and I just wanted to give you a ‘heads up’ so that you can put it in your busy schedule: The webinar will look at the fascinating issue of ‘Enterprise Class Workflows’ and in particular it will focus on Transcode Farm…
While CCW may not attract the insanely large crowds that NAB and IBC do, it provides a more intimate, more focused setting that many professionals in our industry tend to find really valuable. Now in its 10th year, CCW show officials say they’re expecting in excess of 6,000 people: Attendees not only get the opportunity to network with friends…
I delivered the last paper of the show in 1988 in Brighton, UK and it was raining. This year the rain was plentiful too and I was up on stage again talking to young people as part of the Rising Stars program. It’s refreshing to talk to people who are new to the industry. It gives you…
Once upon a time, in a land far far away software was sold that ran on a single computer. That computer was a lonely device. It didn’t have many other computers to talk to, so all of the software was concerned with internal processes and internal calculations and making sure it didn’t crash. Everything was under control…
If you’ve never tried Jenever, a Dutch gin, you should – it’s the ideal way to end a quiet evening in Amsterdam, or start a louder one. Don’t be expecting a slice of cucumber, ice and tonic though – Jenever is nothing like your typical London Dry. In fact, it’s far more like a fine…
Anybody looking at all the recent mergers & acquisitions activity within the broadcast sector could be forgiven for likening it to London’s Number 37 Bus in that you wait ages for one to arrive and then, suddenly, three buses arrive at the same time! So what does all this consolidation mean for the industry –…
So here we are again, gearing up for another assault on all the senses at IBC. More than 1350 exhibitors spread across 14 halls – what should you focus on to make best use of your time in Amsterdam? In today’s increasingly file-based media workflows, file transcode operations have assumed critical importance. Gone is the old…
In my role I have been afforded the luxury of visiting many facilities, be they content owner, post production houses or playout facilities, take it from me that each and every place I visit addresses workflow requirements in a slightly different way. One such example is: Around file preparation, getting the asset ready for delivery to a customer,…
There is scarcely time to draw breath after IBC and suddenly the SMPTE conference is upon us. But unlike Amsterdam, the sun nearly always shines in Hollywood! There are only two streams for the paper sessions at SMPTE, which is a good thing because it means that the papers committee can be REALLY focused on…
Next week, the Loews Hotel here in Hollywood will play host to the SMPTE 2014 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition, during which we will be taking the stage with Mr. Bruce Devlin to learn how his university professor taught him not to be a “smart-arse” – but also for us both to talk a little…
At the start of June, we heard that the IBC has short-listed BT Sport, Timeline Television and ourselves for the IBC Innovation Award under the Content Management category. This is a good reason to celebrate – in short-listing our submission IBC is recognizing all the effort made making sure that BT Sport’s new production facility…
Next week will see a first for AmberFin when we exhibit in our own right at Broadcast Asia. This is a dynamic, fast growing regional market for our products and services – one that we have prioritized for a number of years. I will travel to Singapore for the exhibition and I’m excited at the prospect of what…
“Hey Bruce, can I run your software in the cloud?”, said one of our customers while I was traveling the other week. “Sure”, I replied, “what do you mean by cloud?”. “Erm, well, you know the cloud. Like the Amazon thing”. “Why would you want to do that?”, I asked. “Because, well – it will…
There has been a lot of information published recently about the Digital Production Partnership, the standardization of file delivery in the UK broadcast chain. Indeed I have alluded to it in previous posts, but what was the motivation for UK broadcasters to gather and come up with the specification? To ease the problems of inter-company \…
So, here we are, less than 30 days away from the Sochi Games, which promises to be another feast of sporting action attracting global viewing audiences that will be measured in many of millions: The hosts have made every possible effort to provide world class TV production facilities – for both domestic and international viewing…
HEVC (High Efficiency Video Codec) is likely to be one of the most talked about topics at IBC this year, not only because it promises to reduce the data rate needed for high quality video coding by 50% compared to the current state-of-the-art, but also because the new coding standard simply does not support interlacing: And…
Server virtualization has been around for quite some time now, the first time I came across it was about 10 years ago in an attempt to reduce the roll out time and overhead for setting up Microsoft Technical training rooms: The existing process was quite involved taking two dedicated staff members to ensure the training…
As I reported in a previous article, we have managed to generate more than 100 entries in our first year of this esteemed blog. We have hundreds of dedicated subscribers, reading the comments on every continent, in every time zone: In true cricketing style, I think this qualifies for one of the Test Match Special’s “Champagne…
Regular readers of this blog – or just people who have met me and been slightly startled when I start foaming at the mouth – will know that I am obsessive to the point of mania on one topic: Interlace is evil. Repeat after me: interlace is evil. Back when television first became a practical proposition,…
In today’s multi-platform world the big challenge facing content owners and aggregators is the ability to make their most valuable content available to the largest number of sets of eyes: Whether you are in the cinema, at home watching HDTV or out and about but still online via your tablet or smartphone, you still want…
This Wednesday, 4th December, I will be hosting the seventh webinar within AmberFin’s Bruce’s Shorts program and I just wanted to give you a ‘heads up’ so that you can put it in your busy schedule: The webinar will look at the fascinating issue of ‘Enterprise Class Workflows’ and in particular it will focus on Transcode Farm…
While CCW may not attract the insanely large crowds that NAB and IBC do, it provides a more intimate, more focused setting that many professionals in our industry tend to find really valuable. Now in its 10th year, CCW show officials say they’re expecting in excess of 6,000 people: Attendees not only get the opportunity to network with friends…
I delivered the last paper of the show in 1988 in Brighton, UK and it was raining. This year the rain was plentiful too and I was up on stage again talking to young people as part of the Rising Stars program. It’s refreshing to talk to people who are new to the industry. It gives you…
Once upon a time, in a land far far away software was sold that ran on a single computer. That computer was a lonely device. It didn’t have many other computers to talk to, so all of the software was concerned with internal processes and internal calculations and making sure it didn’t crash. Everything was under control…
If you’ve never tried Jenever, a Dutch gin, you should – it’s the ideal way to end a quiet evening in Amsterdam, or start a louder one. Don’t be expecting a slice of cucumber, ice and tonic though – Jenever is nothing like your typical London Dry. In fact, it’s far more like a fine…
Anybody looking at all the recent mergers & acquisitions activity within the broadcast sector could be forgiven for likening it to London’s Number 37 Bus in that you wait ages for one to arrive and then, suddenly, three buses arrive at the same time! So what does all this consolidation mean for the industry –…
