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Material eXchange Format (MXF) is a container format for professional digital video and audio media defined by a set of SMPTE standards. A container format is a computer file format that can contain various types of data, compressed by means of standardized codecs. ... The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers or SMPTE (pronounced simptee or sometimes sumptee) is a US professional association of engineers. ...

Contents

A brief summary of MXF

MXF is a "container" or "wrapper" format which supports a number of different streams of coded "essence", encoded with any of a variety of codecs, together with a metadata wrapper which describes the material contained within the MXF file. Codec is a portmanteau of coder/decoder, which describes a device or program capable of performing transformations on a data stream or signal. ... A codec is a device or program capable of performing encoding and decoding on a digital data stream or signal. ... Metadata is data about data. ...


MXF has been designed to address a number of problems with non-professional formats. MXF has full timecode and metadata support, and is intended as a platform-agnostic stable standard for future professional video and audio applications. Timecode is also the title of a 2000 film directed by Mike Figgis which was shot in one continuous take. ...


MXF was developed to carry a subset of the Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) data model, under a policy known as the Zero Divergence Directive (ZDD). This enables MXF/AAF workflows between non-linear editing (NLE) systems using AAF and cameras, servers, and other devices using MXF. The Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) is a widely used industry standard for high-end exchange of video project data. ... Note: Please see National Latin Examination for the standardized test that is also abbreviated NLE. A non-linear editing system (abbreviated NLE) is a video editing or audio editing system that can perform random access on the source material. ...


MXF in use

MXF is in the process of evolving from standard to deployment. The breadth of the standard can lead to interoperability problems as vendors implement different parts of the standard.


Currently, MXF is fairly effective at the interchange of D10 (IMX) material, mainly because of the success of the Sony eVTR and Sony's eVTR RDD to SMPTE. Workflows combining the eVTR, Avid NLE systems, and broadcast servers using MXF in coordination with AAF are now possible. SMPTE specification for a professional video format, it is composed of MPEG Video 4:2:2 I-frame only and 8-channel AES3 audio streams. ... The Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) is a widely used industry standard for high-end exchange of video project data. ...


Long-GOP MPEG-2 material interchange between video servers is improving, especially as broadcasters develop application specifications they expect their vendors to implement. In MPEG video encoding, a group of pictures, or GOP, specifies the order in which intra-frames and inter-frames are arranged. ... MPEG-2 is a standard for the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information [1]. It is widely used around the world to specify the format of the digital television signals that are broadcast by terrestrial (over-the-air), cable, and direct broadcast satellite TV systems. ...


As of Autumn 2005, there were major interoperability problems with MXF in broadcast post-production use. The two data-recording camera systems which produce MXF, Sony's XDCAM and Panasonic's DVCPRO P2, produce files which are mutually incompatible due to opaque subformat options obscured behind the MXF file extension. Without advanced tools, it is impossible to distinguish these incompatible formats. Sony Corporation ) is a Japanese multinational corporation and one of the worlds largest media conglomerates with revenue of $68. ... XDCAM Disc XDCAM is an optical disk based professional video system introduced by Sony in 2003. ... A MiniDV Camcorder For other uses, see DV (disambiguation). ...


Additionally, many MXF systems produce split-file A/V (that is, the video and audio stored in separate files), and use a file naming convention which relies on randomly generated filenames to link them. Not only does this exacerbate the issue of knowing exactly what is in an MXF file without specialized tools, but it breaks the functionality of standard desktop computer techniques which are generally used to manipulate data on a level as fundamental as moving, copying, renaming, and deleting. Using a randomly generated filename is uninformative to the user, but changing the name breaks the loose database structure between files.


Also, MXF is not supported by several prominent applications, including Adobe After Effects. The implementation in other products, including Avid Newscutter, is particularly wanting, and highlights the identification issue by easily confusing XDCAM and P2 MXF flavours. Despite MXF's purpose as an easily archivable format, importing split-file MXF with external XML metadata intact can be brutally complicated. Adobe After Effects is a digital motion graphics and compositing software published by Adobe Systems. ... The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a general-purpose markup language. ...


The file extension for MXF files is ".mxf". The Macintosh File Type Code registered with Apple for MXF files is "mxf " (note the trailing space) .


Software

theScribe PRO (previously MXF2AVI) is a windows based software from MOG Solutions which converts MXF files directly to AVI. Flip4Mac is the Apple Macintosh based software that converts MXF to Quicktime video in Final Cut Pro. HPA Media Tool is a windows based software to import and export D10 files via AAF in Digidesign, Pro Tools. There is an increasing number of professional NLE's that can work with MXF files natively including Sony Vegas, GrassValley Edius, and Adobe Premiere Pro with Matrox Axio. Latest versions of AVID editing products store media in MXF Op-Atom and import/export MXF Op1a. There are also a number of MXF SDKs available such as MXFLib and MXFTk SMPTE specification for a professional video format, it is composed of MPEG Video 4:2:2 I-frame only and 8-channel AES3 audio streams. ... A Software Development Kit, or SDK for short, is typically a set of development tools that allows a software engineer to create applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, operating system or similar. ...


The MXF Standards

  • Base Documents
    • SMPTE 377M: The MXF File Format Specification (the overall master document)
    • SMPTE EG41: MXF Engineering Guide (A guide explaining how to use MXF)
    • SMPTE EG42: MXF Descriptive Metadata (A guide explaining how to use descriptive metadata in MXF)
  • Operational Patterns
    • SMPTE 390M: OP-Atom (a very simple and highly constrained layout for simple MXF files)
    • SMPTE 378M: OP-1a (the layout options for a minimal simple MXF file)
    • SMPTE 391M: OP-1b
    • SMPTE 392M: OP-2a
    • SMPTE 393M: OP-2b
    • SMPTE 407M: OP-3a, OP-3b
    • SMPTE 408M: OP-1c, OP-2c, OP-3c
  • Generic Containers
    • SMPTE 379M: Generic Container (the way that essence is stored in MXF files)
    • SMPTE 381M: GC-MPEG (how to store MPEG essence data in MXF using the Generic Container)
    • SMPTE 383M: GC-DV (how to store DV essence data in MXF using the Generic Container)
    • SMPTE 385M: GC-CP (how to store SDTI-CP essence data in MXF using the Generic Container)
    • SMPTE 386M: GC-D10 (how to store SMPTE D10 essence data in MXF using the Generic Container)
    • SMPTE 387M: GC-D11 (how to store SMPTE D11 essence data in MXF using the Generic Container)
    • SMPTE 382M: GC-AESBWF (how to store AES/EBU and Broadcast Wave audio essence data in MXF using the Generic Container)
    • SMPTE 384M: GC-UP (how to store Uncompressed Picture essence data in MXF using the Generic Container)
    • SMPTE 388M: GC-AA (how to store A-law coded audio essence data in MXF using the Generic Container)
    • SMPTE 389M: Generic Container Reverse Play System Element
    • SMPTE 394M: System Item Scheme-1 for Generic Container
    • SMPTE 405M: Elements and Individual Data Items for the GC SI Scheme 1
  • Metadata, Dictionaries and Registries
    • SMPTE 380M: DMS1 (a standard set of descriptive metadata to use with MXF files)
    • SMPTE 436M: MXF Mappings for VBI Lines and Ancillary Data Packets
    • SMPTE RP210: SMPTE Metadata Dictionary (the latest version is available here: http://www.smpte-ra.org/mdd/index.html )
    • SMPTE RP224: Registry of SMPTE Universal Labels

The Moving Picture Experts Group or MPEG is a working group of ISO/IEC charged with the development of video and audio encoding standards. ... A MiniDV Camcorder For other uses, see DV (disambiguation). ... SMPTE specification for a professional video format, it is composed of MPEG Video 4:2:2 I-frame only and 8-channel AES3 audio streams. ... SMPTE D11, also known as HDCAM, is a standard for the compression of high-definition digital video. ... The digital audio standard frequently called AES/EBU, officially known as AES3, is used for carrying digital audio signals between various devices. ...

Availability of Standards

SMPTE's top standards page has information, for the ordering of CD-ROMs, which would hold formal copy of the SMPTE standards. Judging by SMPTE's index, all of the standards, referenced above, would be contained on those CD-ROMs, as available from SMPTE.


See also

The Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) is a widely used industry standard for high-end exchange of video project data. ... // BWF is an abbreviation of Broadcast Wave Format. ...

External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
MXF - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (821 words)
MXF is a "container" or "wrapper" format that supports a number of different streams of coded "essence", encoded with any of a variety of codecs, together with a metadata wrapper which describes the material contained within the MXF file.
MXF has full timecode and metadata support, and is intended as a platform-agnostic stable standard for future professional video and audio applications.
Currently, MXF is fairly effective at the interchange of D10 (IMX) material, mainly because of the success of the Sony eVTR and Sony's eVTR RDD to SMPTE.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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