Will Strauss looks at automatic QC for the people

Will Strauss#

Author: Will Strauss#

Published 1st December 2013

by Will Strauss
Issue 83 - November 2013 The method in which television producers should deliver their programmes to UK broadcasters is changing.
From 1 October 2014 it will be digital files, rather than HDCam SR tapes, that are the preference. It is a fundamental and fairly disruptive change that is the cause of much debate right now.
The parameters and roadmap for this new method of delivery have been set by the Digital Production Partnership (DPP), a cross broadcaster initiative being led by the BBC, ITV and C4.
Its delivery requirements represent a common file format that is based on established standards (MXF, SMPTE, EBU) and founded on an AMWA international standard, AS-11.
The essential elements are AVC Intra compression at 100 Mb/s for HD and IMX at 50 Mb/s for SD. It also includes a minimum set of requirements for programme editorial and technical metadata.
There are still many things to iron out, including best practice workflows and how best to make last minute changes (something that was relatively easy with tape).
But while post and production are trying to iron out the who, why, where, how (and how much) of this new process, the when element is now set in something akin to stone (slow drying cement perhaps). So we best start finding ways to make it work.
One thing that has become increasingly clear as this debate has gone on is that while the change will cause temporary disruption, there are certain advantages to working this way. And automated quality control (QC) is one of them.
Although not a requirement of the DPP spec at this stage, by emulating the QC checks that the file will pass through at the broadcaster, post houses and producers can stay one step ahead when it comes to file validity, a move that will become especially useful if QC responsibility is one day added to delivery requirements. So, what is automated QC?
QC for analogue or baseband content was relatively straightforward. The number of checks was limited to signal level and colour gamut amongst other things. Configuring a waveform monitor, oscilloscope or watching the SDI playback solved most problems.
But QC was fairly labour intensive. And became more so as re-versioning in the digital realm created problems of its own, be it pixilation, video dropout or freezing.
With budgets increasingly stretched, there isnt the time or the money to do all of this by hand (or eye). Which is where automation comes in.
File-based working offers up the possibility of automating some of these processes as part of the overall workflow.
Its fairly comprehensive too with perceived wisdom suggesting that, if done properly, automated QC will sort 95% of all file-related QC issues.
So, what technology options do people have?
AMBERFIN iCR
AmberFins iCR is a file-based content ingest and transcoding platform. Included amongst its various options is what the company calls UQC (Unified Quality Control). This is made up of a variety of tools for checking baseband video during tape ingest and file-based QC after ingest and overall operator-controlled QC (including annotation and mark-up).
First introduced in 2011, it is a vendor agnostic platform that enables broadcasters and facilities to use different QC software systems depending on their requirements.
At its core is Snells Hyperion, used to check the baseband video, and Digimetrics Aurora, the file-based QC offering which is built around a web-services API and includes hot folder monitoring and email notifications.
Via plugins iCR can also work with Cerify, Vidchecker and Baton (mentioned below) as well as MXFixer from Metaglue, MediaArea.nets MediaInfo and the Pulsar product made by Venera.
Minnetonkas AudioToolsServer can be added to provide audio QC and loudness tools.
Some key features: graphical view of automated QC results; Cut and Splice engine for simple editing tasks; Light QC checks at multiple points in the workflow.
Amberfin is also responsible for the iCR-500 DPP, a workstation specifically designed for the creation and preparation of AMWA AS-11 compliant assets in accordance with the DPP spec. This product combines ingest, transcode and playback functionality with metadata entry and validation, QC review and mark-up. CONTENT AGENT
ContentAgent is a file-based workflow management innovation from Root6 Technology that offers a number of tools for automating transcoding tasks. For file-based QC and automated file correction it has three options: Cerify and Baton (see below) and VidChecker.
VidChecker acts as a node within ContentAgent, analysing files for errors then providing a report of its findings as metatdata. If the file has passed the checks performed then ContentAgent can either continue the workflow or copy the file to a UNC path for delivery. If the clip fails, the file is moved to a designated fail folder and an automatically generated email alerts an operator to the problem.
Vidchecker doesnt just spot the errors it can also correct them. This works for video luma level (including black levels), video chroma (colour limit errors) and video RGB (gamut/legality problems)
Some key features: Can process up to four files simultaneously; several VidChecker nodes can work on multiple workstations in a networked environment; can also check and fix audio loudness issues and peak levels.
ContentAgent also features a DPP node that automatically transcodes and wraps files to the correct format, and injects all compulsory metadata fields.
CERIFY
Tektronixs Cerify provides content analysis for QC in a file-based environment. It is a fully automated system that can be deployed on a standalone PC workstation or as part of a facility-wide set-up in conjunction with other workflow systems.
Cerify will pick up on all sorts of problems including encoding and syntax errors, format, bit rate, quantisation, frame rate, GOP length, aspect ratio, colour format, buffer analysis and file size as well as video playtime, signal levels, gamut, luminance, chrominance, black frame detection, blockiness, freeze frame detection and field order.
Some key features: Automatic objective testing; user definable test templates; logging of all testing and results; multi-user browser interface; video server and automation integration; user definable quality levels; audio loudness measurements (including peak and minimum levels, audio loss, clipping, silence, mute, test tones).
BATON
Interra Systems\' Baton is an automated content verification and QC application. Like the others it checks a whole host of things including, but not confined to: content layout, VoD compliance, play time, file size, packet size, number of audio/video streams, ARIB specifications and AS02 compliance as well as frame rate, bit rate, frame size, aspect ratio, duration, resolution and more.

Some key features: web based; rule-based smart folders for content aware QC; audio loudness and metadata correction; web services API to integrate with media servers, transcoders, MAM and archives.

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