Harris File Interchange presentation from the ... - SBE Chapter 24

Society of Broadcast Engineers 

David Veldman 

Technologist-Digital Media and 

Workflow 

File formats in 

Broadcast Video 

UwnArpipng the 

msytrey! 

assuredcommunications 

assuredcommunications

• 1 

$$$ 

Content 

• 2 

• 3 

Time 

business school says: 

‘Follow the money’ 

journalism 101 reminds us that: 

‘Content is King’ 

And Mr. Benjamin Franklin remarked that: 

‘Time is Money’ 

then…would it not be prudent to assume: 

that in order to gain financial growth, we should carefully, 

expeditiously and with format integrity remaining a top priority, watch and 

follow the flow of content (media assets; be that video, audio, files, 

scripts, stories and even databases) throughout the ENTIRE production 

process, and doing so, use the ‘less is more’ approach with available 

technology? 

Harris Proprietary Information 


14-Feb-12

The Broadcasters Community of the World (COW) 

Hi all, 

Broadcast File Format 

by Katie Mims on Oct 2, 2008 at 3:09:11 am 

I'm venturing into my first experience with broadcast video. Previously, everything I've done has been for the web, DVD or large 

screen projection. 

“The last person I spoke with at the 

I just spent two weeks in the Caribbean islands doing hurricane relief work, and several of the local stations want to air a short 

video I've put together. I wanted to get some feedback on my workflow, and find out if there is a better way to be going about 

this in order to get the best quality possible. 

station said an MPEG2 was a good file 

Shot on: HDV 1080p24, Sony HVR-V1U 

Captured as HDV 

Edited on a 1080i60 timeline 

to go with…” 

The last person I spoke with at the station said an MPEG2 was a good file to go with, but I did a test run of it and the quality 

didn't excite me at all. There were image issues, especially on fast pans etc. 

" If they want a file, try to send them the 

My friend also gave me these guidelines: " If they want a file, try to send them the native file format that you're editing. Make 

sure your whites are under 100%, 30 seconds of tone, 5 seconds of slate, 8 second countdown (from 10 to 2, leave the last two 

full seconds black) 

Tone should be at -20 and do not let your program go over -6, average should be around -10, speaking should never fall under - 

18 - keep it closer to -10 -12. You might need a compressor for the voice, we usually do." 

native file format that you're editing…” 

So, advice on what I can do to preserve the picture quality, and can anyone tell me if there's a better file. 

Thanks in advance! 

Peace and Love, 

Katie 



14-Feb-12

AGENDA 

• The multitude of file formats ‘Out There’ 

• To and From 

– Acquisition to edit to Air 

• Common Pitfalls 

– A.K.A “Bang your head against a brick wall in order to astound and 

amaze your peers at the amount of blood that you can tolerate dripping 

into your eyeballs before you scream *@!#!%^;)*!! ” 

• Format (in)dependence 

• The ‘Holy Grail’ in the land of Nirvana 

• Solutions for Your environment 



The multitude of file formats ‘Out There’ 




First public 

Creator/Maintainer 

release date 

Codec 

libtheora 

(Theora) Xiph.org 9/25/2002 

diracresearch 

(Dirac) 

Schrödinger 

(Dirac) 

x264 

Xvid 

FFmpeg 

(libavcodec) 

BBC Research 

Department 9/17/2008 

Latest 

stable 

version 

1.1.1 

(2009)[3] 

1.0.2 

(2009)[5] 

License 

BSD-style [4] 

MPL 1.1, GNU 

GPL 2, GNU LGPL 

2.1 

MPL 1.1, GNU 

GPL 2, GNU LGPL 

2, MIT License 

Patented compression formats 

none[*] 

none 

Compres 

sion 

method 

Lossy 

Lossy/los 

sless 

1.0.9 

none 

Lossy/los 

David Schleef 2/22/2008 (2010)[5] 2, MIT License sless 

r1376 

Lossy/los 

GNU GPL MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 

x264 team 2003 (2009) [6][7] sless 

1.2.2 

GNU GPL 

MPEG-4 ASP 

Xvid team 2001 (2009)[8] 

Lossy 

MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 ASP, 

H.261, H.263, VC-3, WMV7, 

WMV8, VP5, VP6, MJPEG etc. 

0.5.1 GNU LGPL 

Lossy/los 

FFmpeg team 2000 (2010)[9] 

sless 

FFavs 

MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 ASP Lossy/los 

GNU LGPL 

(libavcodec) FFavs team 2009 0.0.3[10] 

etc. 

sless 

Forbidden Technologies 

Blackbird 

Proprietary 

Blackbird 

plc 2006-01 2 

Lossy 

DivX DivX, Inc. 2001 7.0 (2009) Proprietary MPEG-4 ASP, H.264 Lossy 




Codec 


First public 

release date 

Latest stable 

version 

License Patented compression formats Compressi 

on method 

DivX ;-) 

3ivx 

Nero Digital 

ProRes 422 / 

ProRes 4444 

Sorenson Video 

Sorenson Spark 

VP3 

VP4 

VP5 

VP6 

VP7 

a hack of Microsoft's MPEG- 

4v3 codec [11][12] 1998 

3ivx Technologies Pty. Ltd. 2001 

Nero AG 2003 

3.20 alpha[13] 

(2000) 

5.0.2 

(2007)[14] 

Proprietary 

Proprietary 

Microsoft's MPEG-4v3 (not MPEG-4 

compliant) 

MPEG-4 ASP 

Lossy 

Lossy 

Unknown Proprietary MPEG-4 ASP, H.264 [15] Lossy 

Proprietary 

Unknown 

Apple Inc. 2007 Lossy 

Sorenson Media 1998 

Sorenson Media 2002 

On2 Technologies 2000 





Proprietary 

Proprietary 

BSD-style [4] 

Proprietary 

Proprietary 

Proprietary 

Proprietary 

Sorenson Video 

Sorenson Spark 

none[*] 

VP4 

VP5 

VP6 

VP7 

Lossy 

Lossy 

Lossy 

Lossy 

Lossy 

Lossy 

Lossy 

VP8 

On2 Technologies (Now 

bought by Google ) 2008 

BSD-style 

VP8 

Lossy 




First public Latest stable 


License Patented compression formats Compressi 

release date version 

Codec 

on method 

DNxHD Avid Technology 2008 Proprietary VC-3 Lossy 

Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 

TMPGEnc Free Version 

Windows Media Encoder 

Cinepak 

Custom Technology 

Corporation 2000 

Pegasys Inc. 2001 

Microsoft 1999 

Created by SuperMac, Inc. 

Currently maintained by 

Compression Technologies, 

Inc.[18] 

Intel Corporation, currently 

offered by Ligos 

1991 

1.00.01.09 

(2009)[16] 

2.525.64.184 

(2008)[17] 

9 (2003) 

(WMV3 in 

FourCC) 

1.10.0.26 

(1999) 

Proprietary 

Proprietary 

Proprietary 

Proprietary 

MPEG-1, MPEG-2 


WMV, VC-1, (in early versions MPEG-4 

Part 2 and not MPEG-4 compliant 

MPEG-4v3, MPEG-4v2) 

Unknown 

Indeo Video 

Proprietary 

Indeo Video 

Corporation 1992 5.2 

Lossy 

TrueMotion S The Duck Corporation 1995 Proprietary TrueMotion S Lossy 

RealVideo 

RealVideo 

Proprietary 

H.263, RealVideo 

RealNetworks 1997 10[19] 

Lossy 

ACT-L3 

Huffyuv 

Lagarith 

Streambox 

Template:02- 

21-03 

Ben Rudiak-Gould 2000 

Ben Greenwood 10/4/2004 

Template:3.4 

(2009) 

2.1.1 

(2003)[20] 

1.3.20 

(2009)[21] 

Proprietary 

GNU GPL 2 

GNU GPL 2 

Unknown 

none 

none 

Lossy 

Lossy 

Lossy 

Lossy 

Lossy 

Lossless 

Lossless 




Name and file 

extension, if 

different 

Standard 

owner 

Support for 

B-frames 

Variable bit 

rate audio 

Variable 

frame rate 

Chapters 

Subtitles 

Video formats 

supported 

Audio formats 

supported 

Metadata/Tag 

s supported 

Supports 

Menus (like 

DVD) 

3GP 3GPP Yes Yes Yes ? 

3GPP Timed 

Text 

H.263, MPEG-4 

Part 2 and 

H.264/MPEG-4 

AVC 

AMR-NB, AMR- 

WB, AMR-WB+, 

AAC, HE-AAC 

and HE-AAC v2 

? No 

3G2 3GPP2 Yes Yes Yes ? 

Advanced 

Systems 

Format (.asf, 

.wma, 

.wmv) 

3GPP Timed 

Text 

Microsoft Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

AVI Microsoft Yes[1] Yes[2] Yes[3] 

DivX Media 

Format (.divx) 

Yes, via third 

party 

modifications 

Yes, via third 

party 

modifications 

DivX, Inc. Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

H.263, MPEG-4 

Part 2 and 

H.264/MPEG-4 

AVC 

Almost anything 

through VFW or 

DMO; H.264/AVC 

is problematic 


through VFW; 

H.264/AVC is 

problematic due 

to the limited B- 

frame support [4] 

AMR-NB, AMR- 

WB, AAC, HE- 

AAC, EVRC, 

EVRC-B, EVRC- 

WB, 13K 

(QCELP), SMV or 

VMR-WB 


through ACM or 

DMO; Vorbis is 

problematic 

? No 

Yes ? 


through ACM; 

Vorbis is 

not officially No 

problematic [5] 

MPEG-4 Part 2 

video encoded to MP3, PCM, AC-3 ? Yes 

meet DivX profiles 




Name and file 

extension, if 

different 

Standard 

owner 

Support for 

B-frames 

Variable bit 

rate audio 

Variable 

frame rate 


Subtitles 

Video formats 

supported 

Audio formats 

supported 

Metadata/Tag 

s supported 

Supports 

Menus (like 

DVD) 

EVO MPEG Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

MPEG-2 Part 2, 

H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, 

VC-1 

F4V (Flash Video) Adobe Systems Yes ? Yes ? ? H.264/MPEG-4 AVC 

FLV (Flash Video) Adobe Systems Yes ? Yes No No 

Matroska (.mkv, 

.mka) 

MCF 

CoreCodec, 

Inc.[11] 

BSD-style license 

for specs, GNU 

for tools 



Sorenson, VP6, 

Screen Video, 

H.264/MPEG-4 

AVC [7][8] 

AC-3, E-AC-3, 

Dolby TrueHD, 

Linear PCM, DTS, 

DTS-HD, MPEG-2 

Part 3 

? Yes 

MP3, AAC, HE- 

AAC [6] Yes ? 

MP3, Nellymoser, 

ADPCM, Linear 

PCM, AAC [9] , 

Yes No 

Speex [10] 

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes virtually anything virtually anything Yes 

MP4 MPEG Yes Yes Yes 

MPEG Video File 

(.mpg, .mpeg) 

currently under 

development by 

CoreCodec[12] 

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? No 

1) In specially 

formatted text 

track 

(QuickTime); 2) 

In userdata atom 

(started by Nero 

Digital) can't 

interact with the 

sceneDescriptio 

n, or via 

segmentDescript 

or 

ttxt, VobSubs 

with private 

objectTypeIndic 

ation not usable 

with the 

sceneDescriptio 

n (started by 

Nero), BIFS 

MPEG-4 ASP, 

H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, 

H.263, VC-1, Dirac, 

others[13] 

MPEG Yes Yes Yes No No MPEG-1, MPEG-2[14] 

MPEG-2/4 (HE)- 

AAC, MPEG-1/2 

Layers I, II, III 

(MP3), AC-3, Apple 

Lossless, ALS, SLS, 

Vorbis(with 

private 

objectTypeIndicati 

on), others [13] Yes Yes 

MPEG-1 Layers I, 

II, III (mp3), other 

formats only in 

private streams: 

LPCM [15] No No


Name and file 

extension, if 

different 

MPEG program 

stream PS (.ps) 

Standard 

owner 

Support for B- 

frames 

Variable bit 

rate audio 

Variable 

frame rate 

MPEG Yes Yes ? 


Only in private 

streams - used 

in VOB files on 

DVDs 

Subtitles 


streams - used 

in VOB files on 

DVDs 

Video formats 

supported 

MPEG-1, MPEG-2, 

MPEG-4 Part 2[14] 


Part 2, MPEG-4 ASP, 

Audio formats 

supported 


II, III (mp3), other 

formats only in 

private 

streams:AC-3, 

LPCM, DTS [15] 


II, III (mp3), AAC, 

other formats in 

private streams: 

AC-3, LPCM, 

Metadata/Tags 

supported 

No 

Supports 

Menus (like 

DVD) 


streams - used in 

VOB files on 

DVDs 

MPEG transport 

possible via 

MPEG Yes Yes Yes No 

H.264, other formats 

stream TS (.ts) 

ETSI EN 300 743 

in private streams: 

No No 

VC-1, Dirac[16] 

DTS [16] 

AC-3, DTS, LPCM, 

BDAV MPEG-2 

Blu-ray Disc 


Dolby Digital Plus, 

transport stream 

Yes ? Yes Yes Yes 

Association 

H.264, VC-1 DTS HD, Dolby 

(.m2ts) 

Lossless 

? ? 

MXF SMTPE Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Virtually anything Virtually anything Yes No 

Theora, Dirac, Vorbis, FLAC, 

Ogg 

OggUVS, MNG and Speex, CELT, CMML, Ogg 

Xiph.org, patentfree 

Kate 

Ogg Writ, Ogg 

Yes[1] Yes Yes Yes 

others [17][18] , almost OggPCM [17][18] , Skeleton, Vorbis 

anything through almost anything comment [19] 

No 

VFW through ACM 

Quicktime (.mov, 

.qt) 

Apple Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Limited to what is 

available to the 

QuickTime codec 

manager 

RMVB RealNetworks Yes ? Yes ? Yes RealVideo 8, 9, 10 

VOB+IFO DVD Forum Yes Yes No Yes Yes 


MPEG-1 Part 2 

Limited to what is 

available to Sound 

Manager or 

CoreAudio 

(HE)-AAC, Cook 

Codec, Vorbis, 

RealAudio 

Lossless 

AC-3, Linear PCM, 

DTS, MPEG-2 Part 

3, MPEG-1 Layer II 

Yes 

No 

? No 

WebM WebM Project Yes Yes Yes ? ? VP8 Vorbis ? ? 

No 

Yes 




Lossy compression 

Lossless compression 

MP3 WMA RealAudio Vorbis Musepack AAC AC-3 DTS APE FLAC ALAC SHN WavPack 

MLP / 

Dolby 

TrueHD 

QuickTime Yes Yes ? Yes ? Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? No No 

AVI Yes Yes No No No Yes [20] Yes Yes No No No No No 

Matroska Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Scheduled 

[21] 

MP4 Yes Yes No Yes ? Yes 

DTS- 

HD 

Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes 

Yes 

[22] 

Yes No No Yes No No No No 

MXF Yes No No ? ? Yes Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes 

Video formats 

supported 

MPEG- 

1 

MPEG-2 

MPEG-4 (A)SP 

H.264/MPEG-4 

AVC 

VC- 

1/WMV 

RealVide 

o 

Theora 

QuickTime Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes 

AVI Yes Yes Yes 

Problematic, 

limited B-frame 

support[4] 

Yes No Yes 

OGM Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes 

Matroska Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

MP4 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[23] No No 

MXF Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? 



A media File is organized from outside 

to inside 

• The NLE/Graphics/Server File System: Microsoft NTFS, Solaris ZFS, Linux 

ext2/ext3, Apple HFS or specialized. 

• The Media File Format: AVI, QuickTime, MXF, MPEG, GXF or LXF. 

• The Media Essence Type: Audio / Video compression type. 

• The Interchange Mechanism: e.g. Sharing via Network Attached Storage (NAS) or 

Storage Area Network (SAN) through use of File Transfer Protocol (FTP) , 

Common Internet File System (CIFS) or Network File System (NFS). 

NLE/Graphics/Server File System 

Microsoft NTFS, Solaris ZFS, Linux ext2/ext3, Apple 

HFS, Proprietary 

Media File Format 

Proprietary, QuickTime MOV, 

AVI, MXF, 

GXF, LXF. 

Media Essence Type 

AVCi, MPEG2, DV, 

JPEG2000, MPEG4/H.264 



A media File is organized from 

outside to inside 

• Metadata 

– Timecode, Reel, Info, User defined fields 

• External Metadata: XML or XMP or other 

• Static Metadata: elements within the file 

• Real time: Elements within the container or in the media itself 

• Container (Wrapper)Types 

– Custom/non Standard corporate file types: 

– ARI, GEN, ARC, etc 

– Standardized file types: 

– AVI, MOV, WAV, MXF, LXF, GXF 

etc 

• Essence or Content 

MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, etc 

Container 

Video 

Stream 

Audio 

Stream 

MetaData 



To and From 

Acquisition to Edit to Air 

Production Post production Playout Broadcast 

H.263 WMV < 1Mb/s 

MPEG-4 

Flash < 1Mb/s 

Internet/mobile H.264 WMV 2Mb/s-5Mb/s WMV 2Mb/s-5Mb/s 

Beta SP DV MPEG-2 IBP 8Mb/s-15Mb/s MPEG-2 2.5Mb/s-5Mb/s 

DV AVC-Intra DV H.264 1Mb/s-3Mb/s 

DV50 MPEG-2 I-frame 50Mb/s 

IMX 

MJPEG 

SD 

P2 

Baseband 270Mb/s 

DV HD DV HD MPEG-2 15Mb/s-20Mb/s 

MPEG-2 MPEG-2 HD 8Mb/s-300Mb/s H.265 8Mb/s-16Mb/s 

HD 

HD 

Baseband 1.5Gb/s MPEG-2 HD 20Mb/s-80Mb/s 



Codec (in)Dependance 

• One cannot stress enough how important the CODEC is 

in the workflow 

•It’s extremely easy (and quick) to 

translate metadata (think of your 

contacts file when porting from one 

application (Microsoft Outlook) to another 

(Blackberry/iPhone) contacts 

•Containers (Wrappers) are 

easily exchangeable (watch out for 

possible metadata loss!) 

•It’s when a CODEC change 

(Transcode) needs to take place that 

errors are typically introduced 



Common Pitfalls 

• QuickTime *.MOV extension (QuickTime is not QuickTime) 

• NB! *It’s just a wrapper* but where is it’s header? 

• In the header section up front 

• In the body section? Some servers fail when it’s buried too deep 

down in the file -due to incomplete file parsing routines/techniques 

• Where did it come from is usually a good clue of format. 

• Look/ask for what the essence is inside 

• XDCamHD 35 (4.2.0) or 50 (4.2.2)? 

• DVCProHD 50 or DVCproHD100 

• AVI, IMX30/40/50? 

• ProRes 

• Watch out for QuickTime Reference files. 

• Disk-efficient file points to various bits of the captured video, which 

doesn't render until you use the QTRM to produce another file via 

Compressor. 

• Where is it going to? (final destination) 

• Playback Server is going to be somewhat restricted on final file format 

(codec) 




• Media eXchange Format *.MXF extension 

• All too often it’s assumed that MXF is MXF… 

• MXF is only the wrapper and there is many different vendor 

specific variances, interpretations and implementations of this 

wrapper (Harris=*.LXF, GVG=*.GXF) Due to undefined MXF definition 

• NEVER assume that if your video server (or NLE) shows in it’s 

GUI that it can import (or even export) MXF, that it will work the 

first time. Watch out for Versionitis! 

• Check for the origination device and it’s export codec used 

• I.e. FCP export via Apple Compressor and using ProRes. 

• Where is it going to (final destination) 

• Common server file types accepted: 

• SD-AVI, IMX, DV, DVCPro, Mpeg-2 

• HD-XDCamEX, XDCamHD35/50, DVCProHD 50/100, 

Mpeg-2 w/various GOP’s, H.264/AVC-Intra 

• **Watch out for metadata mapping when exchanging 

between devices (especially in transcode processes)** 




• Transcoders (Hardware) 

• Quick, Easy but expensive alternative to ‘getting it right the 

first time’ 

• Telestream’s FlipFactory – great but you pay for each 

decode type. Don’t pay for unnecessary transcode ‘codecs’ 

• Rhozet’s Carbon Coder, ProStream - competetive 

• 1 million other software only engines out there vying for your 

attention, time and money. 

• Transcoders (Software) 

• CPU intensive (need for speed factor), Easy and inexpensive 

alternative to hardware solutions. 

• MainConcept is the ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of NLE codecs with an 

anything in-anything out repertoire. 

• Marquis Broadcast’s Medway exploits the Avid file I/O 

accessibility issues with the closed DNx/DNxHD codec AND 

has great workflow media management tools too! (but not always 

necessary) 



Format (in)dependence 

• Look for manufacturers who can and are willing to assist in 

alleviating the devices, mechanisms and enhance (shorten and 

tighten) the workflows in-between origination and on-air devices. 

• Be overly cautious of the device that professes to ‘do-it-all’-Make 

them prove it first. 

– Do they offer a wide range of codec export support? 

• (more arrows in your export quiver to better integrate with a minimal 

CODEC supported playback server) Automate/Batch export? 

– Does the playback device offer a wide range of import codec file 

type support or is it fairly proprietary? (Supports only a few file 

types only.) 

• Again, don’t assume MXF is the killer “FIX” to cover your situation. 

Ensure the header and container is compatible with the downstream 

device’s import capabilities. 



It is a riddle wrapped in mystery inside an 

enigma; but perhaps there is a key – 

’UNOBTANIUM’ 

• Resolve yourself to the fact that: 

– There is no single file type that is going to suit all your needs. 

– Acquisition (Camera) 

• News = XDCamEX18/35. XDcamHD35/50. DVCProHD50/100 

• Studio = DVCproHD100. AVC-Intra 

– Editing (Production) 

• News = XDCamEX18/35. XDCamHD35/50. DVCProHD50/100 

• Studio =Apple Pro Res. Avid DNxHD. DVCProHD. XDCamHD50 

• Promo =Apple Pro Res. Avid DNxHD. 

– Playback (Air) 

• News/Promo = XDCamEX18/35. XDcamHD35/50. DVCProHD50/100 

• Spot/Commercial = MPEG-2. MPEG-4 AVC/H.264. 

– Storage (Archive) 

• MPEG-2 Low bitrate + Long GOP, MPEG-4 

FYI* AVC-Intra and DVCProHD use I-Only compression, while HDV uses Long GOP compression. The MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 standard 

encompasses both methods. 



Solutions for Your environment 

• IRT (Institut für Rundfunktechnik ) - MXF Analyzer 

– Perform self tests via ‘lite’ version 

– Offer a test service for both encode and decode 

• MOG Solutions – the Scribe Pro, the Scribe 

– Considered to be the industry’s definitive authority in MXF 

domain 

– Tool to create and play MXF and GXF files in your desktop environment. 

– Allows annotation of MXF files with rich metadata descriptions. 

• MXFWrapper 

• MXFUnWrapper 

• MXFMetaUpdater 

• MXFDirectShowFilter 

• MXFPartialRestore 

• MXF::SDK 




• Reactor9 – MXFInsight (http://www.reactor9.com/) 

– Professional grade deep drill-down visual MXF analysis 

• MXF4MAC – MXF Mac Based tools 

– MXF Info and MXF Info Lite 

• Name 

• Modified Date and Time 

• Operational Pattern 

• Essence Containers (Codec, Format) 

• Creator (Company, Product, Version) 

• Number of Tracks 

• Edit Rate 

• Duration 

• Start Timecode 

– MXF4Mac – P2 native in Final Cut Pro 

– Atomic Fusion – Avid OP-Atom a/v merge into Final Cut Pro 




• FFMpeg – ffmpeg, ffserver, ffplay 

– ffmpeg is a command line tool to convert multimedia files between 

formats. 

– ffserver is a multimedia streaming server for live broadcasts. 

– ffplay is a simple media player. 

• FF Media Broadcast (alternative broadcast centric spin off of ffmpeg) 

– Import your files in Final Cut Pro or AVID Media Composer by 

• Creating XDCAM HD422 files in .mov or .mxf 

• Creating XDCAM IMX/D-10 files in .mov or .mxf 

• Creating AVID DNxHD files in .mov 

– Transcode your MPEG-2 4:2:2 Transport stream files containing S302M 

audio. 

– Transcode your AVCHD Camera files correctly. 

– Merge and split your audio tracks. 

– Create QuickTime files containing time code tracks. 




• AVIDemux 

– Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding 

tasks. It supports many file types, including AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, 

MP4 and ASF, using a variety of codecs. Tasks can be automated using 

projects, job queue and powerful scripting capabilities. 

• AVIMasterGUI 

– Mux, Demux, Encode, Decode, File analysis, Audio and Video syncronization, 

more… 

• Good reading material 

– “Being Digital” by Nickolas Negroponte 

– “Live. Local. BROKEN News” by the Senior Strategists of AR&D 

• Apple Compressor w/Automator 

– Spend the time learning the pkg. and use it to get editors to export a proper file 

the first time every time-take the guess work out. 

– Use profiles and let Automator do the scripted work and export/ftp 

– Check to see if Server manufacturer has an export plug in for Final Cut Pro 



So…… 

• Know your particular device/s file type capabilities 

– NLE’s can generally handle almost any file type in or out but this is where 

the confusion starts (too many options across too many file types) 

– Servers are less capable on file i/o. If attempting import/export for the first 

time, get a sample file to the manufacturer for testing. If you don’t have the 

analysis tools, they certainly will (should!) be able to help you debug the 

file’s headers, containers, wrappers and essence. 

– DG FastChannel/Pathfire, Pitchblue file content need transcoding as most 

servers cannot directly import these files due to either/or the MPEG-4 

AVC/H.264 files at a data rate of 15 Mbps or more AND the handling of the 

metadata for the CBS automation and trafficking needs required parsing for 

this file type. Expect future device maturity. 

– If it has scripting/macro capabilities…….make/take time to exploit them. 



Acknowledgements 

• Sony Broadcast, Panasonic Broadcast, JVC, Harris 

• FF Media Broadcast (www.stream0.org) 

• ffmpeg (http://www.ffmpeg.org/) 

• MOG-Solutions (www.mog-solutions.com/) 

• Pro-MPEG Forum (www.pro-mpeg.org) 

• SMPTE (www.SMPTE.org) 

– Containers SMPTE 379M, 381M, 383M . 

– Metadata, Dictionary, Registry SMPTE 380M, 436M, RP210, RP224 

• Codec Seminar by Chris Reynolds on YouTube 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRlMC2of15o ) 

• Broadcast Engineering (http://broadcastengineering.com) 

• IRT (Institut für Rundfunktechnik) 

• Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_container_formats) 

• James Brooks, Drastic Technologies 



Thank-You 

Questions? 



Quote of the day. Anyone? Anyone? 

In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort 

to alleviate the effects of the... Anyone? Anyone?... the Great Depression, 

passed the... Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff 

Act? Which, anyone? Raised or lowered?... raised tariffs, in an effort to 

collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone? 

Anyone know the effects? It did not work, and the United States sank 

deeper into the Great Depression. Today we have a similar debate over 

this. Anyone know what this is? Class? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen 

this before? The Laffer Curve. Anyone know what this says? It says that 

at this point on the revenue curve, you will get exactly the same amount 

of revenue as at this point. This is very controversial. Does anyone know 

what Vice President Bush called this in 1980? Anyone? Something-d-o-o 

economics. "Voodoo" economics.

Harris File Interchange presentation from the ... - SBE Chapter 24

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