Video Content Management

Digital video data presents a unique set of challenges when it comes to storage and management.

Most data types contain machine extractable context and content metadata (for example, file name, ownership, permissions, size, and date statistics), which can be used to identify a particular file or group and define policies that manage how the files are protected and preserved over their lifecycle. However, while video data in its raw form contains the same context metadata information as other common data files, it has little in the way of discernable content beyond a SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) time code. Consequently, the video and entertainment industry has evolved a set of standards for additional context metadata that is added to the files in a post production process. Compared to other data types, post production video metadata can be overwhelming in size and scope. Where most computer data types have less than ten categories, video data can have over a hundred.

Another problem unique to video data is that people interpret visual information in motion differently from ordinary text-based information. When searching through stored video data without a visual reference, it is difficult to discern between similar files and correctly identify the one needed.

Special ingest processing for video file types
Phoenix for Video Content Management (VCM) contains several features specifically designed to manage video data. It recognizes and supports data from today’s leading video editing solutions, including Final Cut Pro, Avid, and others. The software also recognizes other standard video formats, such as .mpg, .wma, .mov, and more.

As video data is ingested into the Phoenix Information Repository, special processors extract metadata exclusive to video content. For some data files, this may be as simple as a SMPTE time code. For others, metadata categories can include post-production elements such as shoot and edit dates, closed caption information, frame rate, lab references, decision list and clapper board information, shot markings, subtitling, and well over a hundred other categories specific to video data. All extracted metadata is processed into metadatabase catalogs that reside with and follow the actual data as it traverses the active, tiered Information Repository. These catalogs are used during lookup processing and accelerate the process of locating and manipulation of the video data.

Visual search references
As video data is ingested into the Information Repository, Phoenix VCM extracts thumbnails from frames within the video. These enable the user to easily pinpoint video content. A low-resolution version of each file is also created and stored in metadatabase catalogs. These objects are used with Phoenix VCM Search and eDiscovery, which also accommodates video data specifically.

Export processing
Once identified, required video files are dropped into the Export Queue, where further details concerning how the files are to be retrieved and processed can be defined. If data is needed for further production processing, for example, it can be retrieved to any network location. Other options include sending the data to a transcribing or publishing system for eventual distribution. The operation of these and other operations within Phoenix are as easy as point, click, drag, and drop.

For more information, click here to download the Phoenix Video Content Management Data Sheet. (PDF)