Press Releases: Latest News

MXF: Snell & Wilcox Explains It All For You in New MXF Explained DVD

MXF Expert Bruce Devlin Hosts New DVD and NAB-HD Panel "Achieving Interoperability in an IT-Based Broadcast Facility"

LAS VEGAS (NAB) -- April 17, 2005 --

MXF Explained is the title of a 75-minute DVD from Snell & Wilcox designed to answer questions from broadcast industry professionals on the new MXF file standard and the key role MXF will play in the forthcoming transition to open-standards, IT-based facilities. Available free of charge from Snell & Wilcox, the new DVD is hosted by MXF expert Bruce Devlin, who is also the moderator for an MXF panel being shown during NAB2005 over the NAB-HD model HDTV station.

MXF (Material eXchange Format) is a major new building block standard for IT-based broadcast and post-production environments offering a unique combination of several essential key features. Functioning as a "file wrapper," and based on SMPTE standards agreed to by the broadcasting industry, MXF allows users to store, transport, and play back material originally created in any digital video file format in an industry-standard form that is independent from compression scheme, network protocol, or operating system. MXF additionally uses the AAF (Advanced Authoring Format) data model for applying metadata to video assets, allowing users to easily retrieve images and sounds from an automated database.

Presented by Bruce Devlin, vice president of technology at Snell & Wilcox and a contributing author of the MXF file format specifications, the new MXF Explained DVD provides an overview of how MXF works, explains how application specifications are used in MXF systems, surveys the products now available with MXF functionality, and demonstrates the free Snell & Wilcox MXF development tools now available over the Internet.

"The goal of the MXF Explained DVD is to improve the level of education and knowledge regarding MXF in our industry and to help broadcasters get a fuller understanding of why this open-standards file solution is such an important part of the transition we're now seeing to tapeless, IT-based, open-standards environments," Devlin said. "On the MXF forum hosted on the Snell & Wilcox Web site, we're seeing interest from every segment of the industry, including end users, government users, network users, vendors, film libraries, and more. All of them are coming to realize the crucial role that MXF will play in cost-effective, open-standards IT solutions that will help users avoid going down a proprietary technology cul-de-sac in this next great transition."

In addition to his appearance in MXF Explained, Devlin will be hosting a roundtable discussion on MXF entitled "Achieving Interoperability in an IT-Based Broadcast Facility," which will be broadcast during the NAB2005 Convention over NAB-HD, a fully functional model broadcast station demonstrating the possibilities of HD television that runs April 18-21 in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The panelists for "Achieving Interoperability" will include Brad Gilmer of the AAF Association, Paul Cheesebrough of the BBC, Adolfo Rodriguez of Omneon Video Networks, Michael Day of Premier Media Group, and Clyde Smith of Turner Broadcasting. Topics for the panel will include why MXF is needed, how it has been deployed to date, how MXF can be implemented within a facility, and how MXF and AAF integrate with asset management and/or business systems.

The MXF Explained DVD can be ordered for free from the Snell & Wilcox Web site at www.snellwilcox.com, and a limited number of copies will be available for visitors to the Snell & Wilcox exhibit at NAB2005, booth SU6349.

About Snell & Wilcox
Snell & Wilcox, the leader in its field, delivers technologies and products that enable television and satellite broadcasters, post-production facilities, filmmakers, and communications professionals to move content seamlessly between analog, digital, high definition, and file-based systems and to bridge the world's multiplicity of line/field and color standards. The company provides switchers and keyers, standards conversion systems, networked infrastructure components, and products for noise reduction, image enhancement, and restoration. In business since 1973, Snell & Wilcox maintains its U.S. headquarters in Burbank, Calif., and European headquarters in Hampshire, U.K. Additional offices are located in New York, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, and Russia. Visit www.snellwilcox.com for more information.

Snell & Wilcox, Engineering with Vision, Alchemist, Ph.C, Kudos, Magic Dave, IQ Modular, RollCall, RollTrack, Mosalina, Niagra, and Kahuna are all trademarks of the Snell & Wilcox Group.