The world of TV and broadcasting has changed dramatically in the last five years. The main cause of this revolution has been the eruption of second screens, internet-connected television and the use of social media to access and share multimedia content. The public no longer has a passive relationship with TV, but a proactive one, […]
The world of TV and broadcasting has changed dramatically in the last five years. The main cause of this revolution has been the eruption of second screens, internet-connected television and the use of social media to access and share multimedia content. The public no longer has a passive relationship with TV, but a proactive one, demanding access from any device, place and time to their favourite series, movies and TV programmes, on their terms.
These enormous changes have altered the traditional workflow of editing, managing, distributing, archiving and broadcasting. The relationship with the audience is not the same anymore, and adequately monetising content is the key to adapting and surviving. An advanced Media Asset Management (MAM) system is the best ally for that.
A MAM system should be the core of any audiovisual company, and it must be flexible enough to work with third-party systems, in order to have everything under one roof. As a media management tool, a powerful and advanced MAM must present some requirements to ensure its adaptation to the modern needs of audiovisual companies.
The MAM system is the organiser and manager of the audiovisual assets of a company. That is why it must be able to control those assets from the very moment of their ingestion in the system. It must also be capable of changing the format of those files depending on the needs of each moment.
In order to save time and resources, it is essential to have all files correctly organised and easy to access for retrieval and distribution, to offer a clear and transparent vision of the resources of a company and allow its use when necessary.
It is essential for the system to be open, in order to allow integration with the companys hardware and software. Being capable of integrating third-party solutions in the system in a simple way is essential to expanding, when necessary, the installed solution.
Users from a single company have different needs, so their access to the system and resources must be correctly administered. Good permit management organises users in an efficient and productive way.
A web interface and an integrated acceleration protocol for IP networks allows deployment of the whole system (MAM in cloud) or part of the system (hybrid cloud) in platforms such as Windows Azure, Amazon and cloud. This way, costs are lowered dramatically. When choosing a MAM system, it is necessary to be sure that it can grow as the business grows.
Multiplicity of platforms and screens is a consolidated technological trend, which is why an organisation with a multi-site and multi-platform MAM has all the necessary tools to get the most profit from its asset in all possible formats and destinies.
Every type of asset needs to have an associated logic in order to launch automated workflows directly. This way, companies can automate repetitive tasks and dedicate their time to creating quality content.
Classification for areas and the chance to determine different metadata layers depending on the type of asset make it possible to define the system as if it were custom-made, increasing its efficiency and productivity. A tool for quick and advanced searching saves time and allows access to every asset when it is needed.
Asset management must be carried out with the most strict security protocols, in order to avoid losses or damages, and with adequate encryption of the content, to keep it safe at all times.
Michael Earl Javier, Project Engineer at VSN, Dubai.
