Category: Metadata

Adobe Story update: new and changed features

Post author By Philip
Post date March 18, 2012
6 Comments on Adobe Story update: new and changed features

Adobe Story update: new and changed features (15March2012) http://t.co/UwR7Nay7

The entire Adobe Story workflow – from script to screen – is a great story of its own, and I feel somewhat undersold by Adobe.

There’s a mini-siteÂ for the softwareÂ and a bunch of tutorials at Adobe TV. If you’re unfamiliar with Adobe Story:

Extend the benefits of your Creative Suite applications

Streamline your post-production workflow by using script metadata to edit more quickly in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5.

1.Â Access directly within Adobe Premiere Pro

Use the CS Live services panel in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 to go to Adobe Story and quickly access your scripts and outlines.

2.Â Accelerate your editing workflow

Import script metadata directly into Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 and easily search for important video elements such as dialogue or characters.

3.Â Edit more efficiently

In Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, use the script dialogue embedded in your shots to align the script to the spoken dialogue more accurately.

4.Â Capture metadata efficiently

Use Adobe OnLocationâ„¢ or Adobe Premiere Pro to add script metadata to your clips.

Item of Interest Metadata The Technology of Production

Episode 42: Toys and Trips

Post author By Philip
Post date February 27, 2012

Episode 42: Toys and Trips http://t.co/HvzPz3yH A new episode of The Terence and Philip Show.

Terry has been deciding what equipment to buy, while Philip has some very specific technology needs for the upcomingÂ Solar OdysseyÂ project. Naturally the MacPro’s future features in the discussion. Terry’s video monitoring solution has been found but he’s still looking for audio monitoring tools, without it being too expensive or too cheap.

Discussion continues about the relative future of iOS and OS X (recorded before the announcement of Mountain Lion and Final Cut Pro X 1.0.3) and applications that might run on them.

Philip discusses the technology needs for theÂ Solar OdysseyÂ project: producing a reality TV show about the journey on the solar powered vessel Ra, under solar power. All equipment needs to run off 12v. During the production new technologies will be developed (as PhilipÂ discussed on his blog). Philip also discusses the types of software solutions they will be developing during the project.

Episode 42: Toys and TripsÂ http://t.co/HvzPz3yH

Metadata

Thoughts on the (near) future of Metadata

Post author By Philip
Post date February 26, 2012
7 Comments on Thoughts on the (near) future of Metadata

I am convinced that we will be benefiting from computer derived metadata, as I’m outlining in the (occasional, sadly) series of technology summaries, at some future time – likely early than we expect. However, that remains some time in the future, or in terms of usefulness now: not at all.

That doesn’t mean the demand for metadata will go down. If anything there is a growing demand for comprehensive metadata from the camera through to any possible future distribution and reuse of all or part of any project. Everything you’ve shot is only an asset if you can find it and use it again (including knowing what rights are associated with it). So, once again I’ve been thinking about the future of metadata for production automation, largely because it’s the only way I think we can hope to produce the Solar Odyssey TV Show, and because I was presenting on the subject in Boston in the middle of February. Both are forcing me to think on the subject.

Interesting Technology Metadata

Can a computer really recognize an individual face, or a car?

Post author By Philip
Post date January 29, 2012

In this attempt to summarize the state of a technology and its application to production and postproduction my focus is on image recognition, including facial detection and recognition. We’re exposed to facial recognition/detection technology in some current apps: Premiere Pro CS5 onward; iPhoto, Final Cut Pro X, Picassa, Facebook, with mixed success.

Interesting Technology Metadata

Adobe Prelude

At the San Francisco Supermeet Friday 27th January, Adobe’s Al Mooney revealed a sneak peek at a new application for the Creative Suite called Prelude.

Metadata The Technology of Production

Text is the New Timecode

Although I’ve shamelessly stolen the title from Joe B (@zbutcher on Twitter) I think it does represent a shift in the way we work with our source media.

Now, before I start let me be clear. I am NOT saying timecode is unimportant. I’m NOT saying that timecode is passÃ© and suddenly irrelevant. Timecode remains incredibly important for any tape based access.

What I am saying is that text search – or phonetic search derived from text – is becoming a highly viable, and in many ways superior, way to search and find content. Timecode’s primary role was in being able to identify any given frame from a tape by tape and frame number. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, but as humans we don’t think in “reel and Timecode”, which is why text is a superior option.

Interesting Technology Item of Interest Metadata

Artificial Intelligence Predicts What Will Happen Next in a Video.

Post author By Philip
Post date December 12, 2011

Artificial Intelligence Predicts What Will Happen Next In A Video http://t.co/TPopRqQq

Many thanks to my friend Don Berube for pointing this out. Â While the headline slightly overstates the case, it’s clear we’re heading for an era when computers in general will understand meaning and the content of images.Â

Assisted Editing Interesting Technology Item of Interest Metadata

Who’s looking at you? Apparently everything!

Post author By Philip
Post date November 9, 2011
2 Comments on Who’s looking at you? Apparently everything!

Two stories today that caught my attention are:

Facial Recognition App Detects, Captures Smiles Technology intrudes more & more into “human” territory

Meet Swivl, The Motion Tracking iPhone Dock That Always Keeps You On CameraÂ More and more automatics!

Now, it would be really cool if Swivl tracked you and kept you on camera using facial detection but it does not: instead it uses a hand held transmitter/controller to “know” where to point the camera. Â Even with that it will make a great addition to a video blogger, web episode producer as the producer/talent can move and have the camera follow them as they do.

Interesting Technology Item of Interest Metadata

The New iPhone’s Face Recognition Capabilities.

Post author By Philip
Post date October 5, 2011
2 Comments on The New iPhone’s Face Recognition Capabilities.

The New iPhone’s Face Recognition Capabilities Could Redefine Privacy http://t.co/WayE1Abv

Following on the heels of yesterday’s post about facial recognition in the cloudÂ here’s information on how Apple are applying the technology they gained when they acquired Polar Rose last September, at least within iOS frameworks.

When coders dug through Apple’s beta versions of iOS5 they found what were deemed to be “highly sophisticated” API systems that let an iPhone automatically track eye positions and mouth positions (so the angle to the user, and possibly where their attention is being directed could be calculated) as well as passing key data on to a face recognition algorithm that would be accessible to all apps…not just Apple’s own.

Combine this with the Nuance-licensed voice recognition technology in Siri – also new with iOS 5 and iPhone 4S – and we have the foundation of a very powerful metadata generation system that would automate naming people in clips and form the basis of speech transcription and then keyword extraction.

In my dreams these are technologies that will come to Final Cut Pro X 10.2 or 10.3 in future years.

Apple Pro Apps Metadata

Why are roles superior to tracks?

Post author By Philip
Post date September 20, 2011
39 Comments on Why are roles superior to tracks?

When I wrote on Saturday about how tracks have evolved from their compositing role, to one where they became defacto metadata I had no idea Apple were about to release the first Final Cut Pro X update (I only found out on Monday). I also wrote in Conquering the metadata foundations of Final Cut Pro X:

Apple teases us with Audio Role metadata that seems to have no current use within Final Cut Pro X.

If you open the Info Pane and select the Info tab, you will see the pop-up menu in Figure 20.1. showing the Roles

One magic way for this to be useful would be as a solution to the missing audio output options. In the near-magic, near-future I expect that a future version of Final Cut Pro X will use this Audio Role metadata to route audio outputs. At version 1 Final Cut Pro Xâ€™s audio output options are very basic, and thereâ€™s improvement coming, for sure.

So you can imagine how excited I was to open Final Cut Pro X 10.0.1 and see that those fairly limited audio roles (no doubt implemented specifically to enable export to OMF/AAF) had evolved into not only customizable Audio Roles, but to have the same option available for Video clips as well. And a Title Role comes rolled in!