Interoperable Master Format

Last updated

Interoperable Master Format
Filename extensions
.xml, .mxf
Developed bySMPTE
Initial release29 August 2013;10 years ago (2013-08-29)
Latest release
SMPTE ST 2067:2021
12 October 2020;3 years ago (2020-10-12)
Type of format Container format
Container for Audiovisual material, rich metadata
Open format?Yes
Free format?Yes

Interoperable Master Format (IMF) is a container format for the standardized digital delivery and storage of finished audio-visual masters, including movies, episodic content and advertisements.

Contents

In IMF, each kind of essence (video, audio, subtitles, etc.) is stored in individual media files (“Track Files”) and the instructions for synchronizing these media files are stored in a separate playlist file (“Composition Playlist”). [1] This component-based approach allows the large media files to be reused across multiple playlists, each representing a different version of the content.. [2]

The IMF family of standards, ST 2067, is maintained by SMPTE. [3] Its first edition was published in 2013.

IMF is closely related to Digital Cinema Package (“DCP”), leveraging several of the same standards for packaging and architecture.

Architecture

The core of IMF is the Composition, illustrated in the first image, which consists of a single Composition Playlist and a collection of Track Files. Each Composition corresponds to a single audio-visual master.

IMF Composition Example IMF Composition (CPL) Example.png
IMF Composition Example

Each Track File contains a specific essence corresponding to a single aspect of the presentation. Track Files are both organized and limited by parameters such as resolution, color space, frame rate, audio sound field, etc. Track Files of disparate parameters may not be mixed in a Composition. Track Files use a constrained version of the MXF OP1a format Material Exchange Format [4]

The Composition Playlist is an XML document. [5] It assembles the Track Files [6] onto virtual tracks that are synchronized onto a timeline. It also contains metadata associated with that timeline.The combination of a Composition Playlist and the Track Files it references is called a Composition.

Each Composition represents a different version of an audio-visual work. Separating the Composition Playlist from the Track Files allows reuse of Track Files across multiple Compositions, as shown in the reuse example diagram.

IMF Track File Reuse IMF Track File Re-use Example.svg
IMF Track File Reuse

Specifications

IMF is specified in the ST 2067 family of standards managed by SMPTE. [3]

IMF is organized into three main categories:

The core constraints are specified in SMPTE ST 2067-2 (Core Constraints). [4] An example of an application is Application #2E, which is specified in SMPTE ST 2067-21 [7] and targets studio masters. One of the plugins is the Immersive Audio Bitstream Level 0 Plug-in, which is specified in SMPTE ST 2067-201 [8] and adds support for immersive sound.

Example uses

IMF is specified by professional content creators for delivery of their content, including: BBC, [9] Netflix [10] and Disney [11]

In partnership with SMPTE, the DPP has published recommendations for broadcast workflows with IMF [12]

Supported essence

IMF supports a wide range of audio-visual essence and metadata, including:

History

The need for IMF arose from various projects in the film and television industries [15] that identified component-based working as a more efficient mechanism for handling the very large volumes of very large files created when delivering cinema and television content around the globe. [16] With help from the Entertainment Technology Center, [17] the SMPTE created the first version of the standard in 2013. The IMF User Group (IMF UG) was created by the Hollywood Professional Association shortly after and the IMF UG fosters active discussions between content owners, technologists, logistics specialists and software providers on best current practice for delivering large volumes of localized content in a resource efficient manner. The IMF UG has created an IMF explainer in multiple languages [1]

System Support

Numerous media processing companies support IMF in its various iterations. This section describes several known manufacturers' implementations.

ManufacturerSystemIMFUG MemberApp#2E (-21)App#3 (-30)App#4 (-40) Cinema MezzanineApp#5 ACESISXD pluginIAB pluginRDD 45 (ProRes)RDD 59-1

(DPP ProRes)

BlackmagicDaVinci ResolveYes
CinecertPakanuYes
MarquiseMISTYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
MarquiseICEYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Rohde & SchwarzClipsterYes
ColorfrontTranskoderYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
ColorfrontQC PlayerYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
MTICortexYes
TelestreamVantageYes
VeneraPulsarYesYes
VeneraQuasarYesYes
InterraBatonYes

Open Source System Support

This section describes several known open source IMF implementations.

SystemApp#2E (-21)App#3 (-30)App#4 (-40) Cinema MezzanineApp#5 ACESISXD pluginIAB pluginRDD 45 (ProRes)RDD 59-1

(DPP ProRes)

Photon Yes
IMFTool YesYes
FFMPEG Yes
BMX YesYesYes

Related Research Articles

AES3 is a standard for the exchange of digital audio signals between professional audio devices. An AES3 signal can carry two channels of pulse-code-modulated digital audio over several transmission media including balanced lines, unbalanced lines, and optical fiber.

Digital Picture Exchange (DPX) is a common file format for digital intermediate and visual effects work and is a SMPTE standard. The file format is most commonly used to represent the density of each colour channel of a scanned negative film in an uncompressed "logarithmic" image where the gamma of the original camera negative is preserved as taken by a film scanner. For this reason, DPX is the worldwide-chosen format for still frames storage in most digital intermediate post-production facilities and film labs. Other common video formats are supported as well, from video to purely digital ones, making DPX a file format suitable for almost any raster digital imaging applications. DPX provides, in fact, a great deal of flexibility in storing colour information, colour spaces and colour planes for exchange between production facilities. Multiple forms of packing and alignment are possible. The DPX specification allows for a wide variety of metadata to further clarify information stored within each file.

The Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) is a file format for professional cross-platform data interchange, designed for the video post-production and authoring environment. It was created by the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), and is now being standardized through the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE).

SMPTE 421, informally known as VC-1, is a video coding format. Most of it was initially developed as Microsoft's proprietary video format Windows Media Video 9 in 2003. With some enhancements including the development of a new Advanced Profile, it was officially approved as a SMPTE standard on April 3, 2006. It was primarily marketed as a lower-complexity competitor to the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard. After its development, several companies other than Microsoft asserted that they held patents that applied to the technology, including Panasonic, LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics.

These tables compare features of multimedia container formats, most often used for storing or streaming digital video or digital audio content. To see which multimedia players support which container format, look at comparison of media players.

Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) is a consortium of major motion picture studios, formed to establish specifications for a common systems architecture for digital cinema systems.

Dolby Digital Plus, also known as Enhanced AC-3, is a digital audio compression scheme developed by Dolby Labs for the transport and storage of multi-channel digital audio. It is a successor to Dolby Digital (AC-3), and has a number of improvements over that codec, including support for a wider range of data rates, an increased channel count, and multi-program support, as well as additional tools (algorithms) for representing compressed data and counteracting artifacts. Whereas Dolby Digital (AC-3) supports up to five full-bandwidth audio channels at a maximum bitrate of 640 kbit/s, E-AC-3 supports up to 15 full-bandwidth audio channels at a maximum bitrate of 6.144 Mbit/s.

Timed text is the presentation of text media in synchrony with other media, such as audio and video.

SMPTE 372M is a standard published by SMPTE which expands upon SMPTE 259M, SMPTE 344M, and SMPTE 292M allowing for bit-rates of 2.970 Gbit/s, and 2.970/1.001 Gbit/s over two wires. These bit-rates are sufficient for 1080p video at 50 or 60 frames per second.

A Digital Cinema Package (DCP) is a collection of digital files used to store and convey digital cinema (DC) audio, image, and data streams.

SMPTE ST 2071 is a suite of standards published by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) that define a framework, protocol, and method of service discovery for the control of objects within an Internet of Things. The standards focus on the interoperability and discoverability of objects within the network, and treat media as first-class citizen. The standard also describes a programming methodology that allows objects to describe their behaviors (features) to other objects over the network and allows objects to change their behavior dynamically at runtime. Application developers developing to the SMPTE ST 2071 standards focus on writing their applications to the behaviors they wish to support and not the object or class of object that implements those behaviors.

Timed Text Markup Language (TTML), previously referred to as Distribution Format Exchange Profile (DFXP), is an XML-based W3C standard for timed text in online media and was designed to be used for the purpose of authoring, transcoding or exchanging timed text information presently in use primarily for subtitling and captioning functions. TTML2, the second major revision of the language, was finalized on November 8, 2018. It has been adopted widely in the television industry, including by Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), European Broadcasting Union (EBU), ATSC, DVB, HbbTV and MPEG CMAF and several profiles and extensions for the language exist nowadays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HDR10</span> Open HDR standard

HDR10 Media Profile, more commonly known as HDR10, is an open high-dynamic-range video (HDR) standard announced on August 27, 2015, by the Consumer Technology Association. It is the most widespread HDR format.

High-dynamic-range television (HDR-TV) is a technology that uses high dynamic range (HDR) to improve the quality of display signals. It is contrasted with the retroactively-named standard dynamic range (SDR). HDR changes the way the luminance and colors of videos and images are represented in the signal, and allows brighter and more detailed highlight representation, darker and more detailed shadows, and more intense colors.

SMPTE 2059 is a standard from the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) that describes how to synchronize video equipment over an IP network. The standard is based on IEEE 1588-2008. SMPTE 2059 is published in two parts on 9 April 2015:

SMPTE 2110 is a suite of standards from the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) that describes how to send digital media over an IP network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VC-6</span> A video coding format

SMPTE ST 2117-1, informally known as VC-6, is a video coding format.

The Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) is an industry association focused on the content creation industry's move to IP-based architectures. AMWA promotes industry standards that allow diverse devices to discover and interoperate with each other reliably and securely.

SMPTE ST 2067. is a suite of standards published by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) that defines the digital delivery and storage of professional audio/visual master elements, known as Interoperable Master Format ("IMF"). Applications within the IMF framework provide standardized interchange and archival for versioned and localized media at a large scale.

References

  1. 1 2 "EXPLAINER: Interoperable Master Format (IMF) – IMF UG" . Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  2. ↑ 2018-09-16T11:26:00+01:00. "IMF: A gateway to component-based workflows". IBC. Retrieved 20 May 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. 1 2 "OV 2067-0-2021 - SMPTE Overview Document - Interoperable Master Format". Ov 2067-0-2021: 1–4. August 2021. doi: 10.5594/SMPTE.OV2067-0-2021 . ISBN   978-1-68303-248-9.
  4. 1 2 3 "ST 2067-2:2020 - SMPTE Standard - Interoperable Master Format — Core Constraints". St 2067-2:2020: 1–43. May 2020. doi: 10.5594/SMPTE.ST2067-2.2020 . ISBN   978-1-68303-211-3.
  5. ↑ "ST 2067-3:2020 - SMPTE Standard - Interoperable Master Format — Composition Playlist". St 2067-3:2020: 1–35. May 2020. doi: 10.5594/SMPTE.ST2067-3.2020 . ISBN   978-1-68303-214-4.
  6. ↑ "ST 2067-5:2020 - SMPTE Standard - Interoperable Master Format — Essence Component". St 2067-5:2020: 1–15. May 2020. doi: 10.5594/SMPTE.ST2067-5.2020 . ISBN   978-1-68303-213-7.
  7. 1 2 "ST 2067-21:2020 - SMPTE Standard - Interoperable Master Format — Application #2E". St 2067-21:2021: 1–34. May 2020. doi: 10.5594/SMPTE.ST2067-21.2020 . ISBN   978-1-68303-212-0.
  8. ↑ ST 2067-201:2021 - SMPTE Standard - Immersive Audio Bitstream Level 0 Plug-in. January 2021. pp. 1–14. doi:10.5594/SMPTE.ST2067-201.2021. ISBN   978-1-68303-238-0.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  9. ↑ "TechnicalDeliveryStandardsBBCUHDiPlayerSupplement.pdf" (PDF). Dropbox. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  10. ↑ "Netflix Branded Delivery Specifications v4.1". Netflix | Partner Help Center. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  11. ↑ "Disney Media Tech Specs". mediatechspecs.disney.com. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  12. ↑ "DPP and SMPTE publish major updates to IMF documentation". The DPP. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  13. ↑ "ST 2098-2:2019 - SMPTE Standard - Immersive Audio Bitstream Specification". St 2098-2:2019: 1–54. June 2019. doi: 10.5594/SMPTE.ST2098-2.2019 . ISBN   978-1-68303-178-9.
  14. ↑ "TTML Profiles for Internet Media Subtitles and Captions 1.1". www.w3.org. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  15. ↑ "© 2011 AmberFin Limited Loose Coupling for Multipurpose Distribution Bruce Devlin Chief Technical Officer. - ppt download". slideplayer.com. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  16. ↑ Blog, Netflix Technology (19 April 2017). "The Netflix IMF Workflow". Medium. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  17. ↑ "ETC". www.etcenter.org. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.