October 11, 2013
Ad-ID and Adobe Collaborate on Digital Ad SlateNEW YORK–Ad-ID, the recognized industry coding standard for identifying advertising assets across all media platforms and a joint venture between the 4A’s and ANA, today announced the Ad-ID Digital Ad Slate for XMP Version 1.0 at Createasphere’s Digital Asset Management Conference in New York. XMP is an open international standard (ISO 16684-1), originally developed by Adobe. This new schema provides a consistent format for embedding Ad-ID information directly into the file of all video, display, print and radio advertising assets used by the digital advertising industry.
The combination of this Digital Ad Slate with the Advanced Media Workflow Association’s television equivalent represents standardized definitions for embedded identification data for all types of advertising assets across all media platforms, thus paving the way for true cross platform measurement.
“The emergence of cross-platform media, while innovative and exciting, does produce a number of complications for accurately creating, assigning and tracking advertising information,” said Harold S. Geller, chief growth officer of Ad-ID. “The new Ad-ID Digital Ad Slate provides critical, standardized information for advertising assets that will not change as they pass through the digital marketing supply chain.” The identification information includes agency, advertiser, product, brand, title, size and more.
The use of the Ad-ID Digital Slate for XMP Version 1.0 enables the following:
๏ฟฝ
Improved interoperability by allowing media to more easily and efficiently identify which ad should run on which platforms (e.g., radio, print, online, mobile, over the top, place based)
๏ฟฝ
The automatic embedding of an advertising asset’s identification information directly into the asset, eliminating the time and errors associated with manual data re-entry
๏ฟฝ
Simplified workflow for everyone in the marketing supply chain through a consistent digital standard that all platforms can recognize
๏ฟฝ
More efficient and accurate tracking and measurement of key advertising assets throughout their cross-platform lifecycle
๏ฟฝ
An established operational cross-platform compliance with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), and ANA-4A’s Joint Policy Committee (JPC) mandate to use Ad-ID as the sole standard commercial identifier for radio and digital commercial production.
“The goal of the open XMP standard is to enable metadata to travel across different file formats and systems. The Ad-ID Digital Ad Slate perfectly illustrates this idea and underscores Adobe’s dedication to help support the interoperability of systems to solve real customer problems,” said Leonard Rosenthol, Principal Scientist at Adobe.
“Our members are dealing with an ever increasing amount of complexity as cross-platform systems evolve day over day,” said Steve Sullivan, VP Advertising Technology at the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). “The ability to embed static data into a physical creative represents a significant step toward improving cross channel advertising efficiency.”
Sean Burke succeeds Hagai Gefen at Gefen, LLCCHATSWORTH, Calif.–Gefen, LLC, today announced its founder, Hagai Gefen, has left the company to pursue other interests. Moving forward, Gefen will be led by Sean Burke, Group President, Nortek Technology Solutions group.
During his 25 year tenure with the company, Mr. Gefen became widely recognized for his first-to-market developments. These include being one of the first to implement connectivity solutions for the emerging DVI, HDMI and 3G-SDI formats as well as being among the first to bring reliable wireless high-definition video extension to market. He is also responsible for growing the company from a small, localized business into a multi-national signal management solutions company that was purchased by Nortek in 2006.
Today, Gefen encompasses several unique product lines including: the GefenTV line for professional quality home theater accessories; the Gefen ToolBox line of portable, wall-mounted solutions for system integration; and the GefenPRO line that offers value-added features for demanding professional industries.
As president of Gefen, Burke will work closely with the executive management team to guarantee that Gefen remains on the leading edge of new technologies and their applications. He is being joined by Kevin E. Weiss, VP, global sales and business development. Weiss brings more than 20 years of experience in developing and growing small, mid-size and large enterprise technology businesses, with a proven record of executing transformative strategies for new business growth.
Bill Feightner joins Colorfront as CTOBUDAPEST, Hungary–Colorfront, Academy and Emmy Award-winning developer of high-performance, on-set dailies and transcoding systems for motion picture, high-end episodic HDTV and commercials production, has appointed image-science expert Bill Feightner, as its new chief technology officer.
Feightner’s appointment at Colorfront coincides with him being awarded the prestigious 2013 Technicolor/Herbert T. Kalmus Medal, by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), for his extensive contribution to the art and science of digital motion picture film image science.
Based in Los Angeles, Feightner will lead Colorfront’s services and consulting business. He will also drive the development of Colorfront’s market-leading tools into new areas color and image-science, calibration, as well as remote, collaborative production and postproduction operations.
Feightner brings over 35 years of experience to Colorfront, and arrives with an intimate knowledge of Colorfront technology having worked closely with the company on file-based workflows and pioneering the Digital Intermediate (DI) process.
Feightner began his career as technical director of Compact Video, before moving on to similar roles at Laser Edit and Composite Image Systems (CIS). He was co-founder and, most recently, CTO and executive vice-president of technology at EFILM Digital Laboratories (part of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc.).
At Laser Edit, Feightner created a live, realtime, multilayer VFX compositing system, and continued this pioneering approach at CIS, where he helped to develop the 2K pin-registered telecine system that revolutionized the process of interactive image compositing for feature films.
At EFILM his innovations included: new software for digital laboratory calibration; image processing and image management software; end-to-end, multi-site, collaborative workflow procedures and software; the world’s first fully-digitally timed DI pipeline on We Were Soldiers (2002); and the world’s first 4K DI finish on Spiderman 2 (2004). He was also responsible for the workflow on Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011), the first US feature to shoot and post using the ARRIRAW format. During his time at EFILM, Feightner worked closely with Colorfront, harnessing the company’s technology on many projects.
Recent digitally-originated movies to have used Colorfront systems include Prisoners, Gravity, Rush, Oblivion, Elysium, The Fifth Estate, Iron Man 3, Riddick, The Avengers and Thor: The Dark World.
Feightner has earned multiple awards. In 2007, he received a technical achievement award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the creation of a Digital Color Separation process for the archival of motion pictures. He also received an Emmy Award for special effects work on the TV series Moonlighting, plus a Monitor Award for the opening segment of The Magical World Of Disney. Now, Feightner is an honoree at the SMPTE annual awards ceremony, and on October 24, will receive the 2013 Technicolor/Herbert T. Kalmus Medal, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the highest standards of quality and innovation in motion picture post-production and distribution services.
Colorfront will reveal details about the 2014 versions of its Express Dailies, On-Set Dailies, Transkoder, plus future products and services, during a Colorfront User Group meeting on Saturday, October 19, at Sony’s Digital Motion Picture Centre, Culver City, prior to exhibiting at the SMPTE 2013 Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, 21-24 October, in Hollywood.
Andy Hurt to address content storage mgt at SMPTELOUISVILLE, Colo.–Front Porch Digital, which specializes in cloud-based content storage management (CSM) solutions, announced that its VP of product management, Andy Hurt, will present a paper at the SMPTE 2013 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition, the premier annual event for motion-imaging and media technology, production, operations, and the allied arts and sciences. The 30-minute presentation, titled “Building Real-World Media in the Cloud,” will take place on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m. as part of the “Cloud-based Systems” session.
In his session, Hurt will explore the concept of CSM as a cloud service, and how it can overcome the issues of security, bandwidth, storage technology, and cost. He will offer real-life examples of approaches where the cloud is being used successfully for content protection, disaster recovery, and business continuance. Attendees will gain unique insight into the assembly of an integrated workflow that enables high-resolution broadcast content to flow seamlessly through public, private, and hybrid cloud infrastructures.
Hurt has more than 12 years of experience leading product development, management, strategy, and operations in multiple global technology organizations. He served as senior director of product development and delivery at Level (3) Communications, senior director of product solutions at First Data, and general manager of product operations and finance at DISH Network.
Netherlands broadcaster opts for Grass Valley
HILLSBORO, Ore.–Omroep Flevoland, a Netherlands regional broadcaster, has selected several live production and playout tools from Grass Valley to streamline its workflows to meet its viewers’ growing demands for multiscreen, multiplatform viewing. Omroep Flevoland is an independent broadcaster in the Flevoland province of the Netherlands that brings 24/7 news, sports, weather and traffic updates via radio, television, and the Internet to the region’s residents.
To serve its viewers, Omroep Flevoland selected GV STRATUS nonlinear media production tools in combination with EDIUS nonlinear editing software, and GV Edge for integrated playout. Grass Valley’s solutions enable Omroep Flevoland to adopt a unique approach to its news cycle by combining workflows across radio, television, and Internet streams.
“Upgrading from our existing Grass Valley Aurora system to GV STRATUS now allows us to operate from a sleeker, more state-of-the-art newsroom,” said Allard Berends, CEO, Omroep Flevoland. “As we deliver breaking news across many forms of media and distribution, we don’t want to waste valuable time creating and duplicating multiple formats of content–that’s not the way we want to work. When news breaks in the Flevoland region, we want to be the first to cover it on every screen, and our new Grass Valley multiplatform toolset facilitates this by offering a ‘create once, publish everywhere’ consolidated workflow.”
Luxion and Autodesk partner to transform product design
IRVINE, Calif.–Luxion, makers of KeyShot and a developer of advanced rendering and lighting technology, and Autodesk, with its expertise in cloud-based design and engineering software, have announced a partnership expansion between the two companies that establishes KeyShot as an integrated rendering solution for users of Autodesk Fusion 360 software.
With KeyShot, Fusion 360 users have the ability to quickly create photorealistic 3D renderings, animations and interactive visuals used in communicating concepts, delivering internal presentations, delivering digital prototypes and creating sales or marketing visuals. Using a custom developed plugin and the speed and ease of applying materials and lighting in KeyShot’s real-time ray-tracing environment, Fusion 360 users can transfer their models to KeyShot directly from inside the application, make updates in Fusion 360 and see changes immediately within KeyShot. This solution provides a high level of integration between Fusion 360 and KeyShot, saving time and improving the efficiency of designers, engineers and anyone creating 3D visuals throughout the entire product development process.
Fusion 360 users have fast one-click access to transfer their model from Fusion 360 to KeyShot. In addition, Luxion’s LiveLinking technology allows any changes made in Fusion 360 to be transferred immediately to KeyShot. As soon KeyShot is started from Fusion 360, the two applications are linked. Users may assign materials, add lighting and set up animations inside KeyShot while continuing to refine the model in Fusion 360. A single click passes all geometry changes into KeyShot with all materials, animations, etc. maintained. For more detail and an overview video visit keyshot.com/fusion360.
KeyShot functionality will be available starting Wednesday, October 9, within the latest version of Autodesk Fusion 360 as a plugin available through the KeyShot website. The cost of the plugin is free. In addition, Autodesk Fusion 360 customers will be able to purchase KeyShot or upgrade to KeyShot Pro, as well as purchase Luxion’s patent-pending add-on applications, KeyShot Animation and KeyShotVR through the KeyShot website.
