According to a recent webinar, “Metadata is the New Gold,†a Webinar produced by the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance and the Hollywood IT Society, metadata is more important than ever. Each of the presenters had specific takeaways.
It seems that every content distribution company has decided that original content is the way forward. Amazon’s recent announcement that they would spend $100 million on original production adds to Apple’s UK music festival, Netflix and Google’s original programming. Google are spending on YouTube production as well.
In context though… $100 million would buy you two seasons of Mad Men.
We’ve seen all the new media giants start creating their own exclusive content: Netflix, Amazon, Microsoft (although that’s being closed down) and of course, Apple. Apple??? That’s right, Apple. Most people don’t realize that Apple is also in the content creation business, but the iTunes Music Festival is really about creating exclusive content for Apple’s ecosystem. Given this is the 8th year of the festival, Apple have been creating original content for their ecosystem longer than anyone else.
This news item caught my eye.
“DJI has expanded the feature set of the Phantom 2 Quadcopter line by giving it the ability to map out a route and automatically fly it. Using Ground Station, shooters will be able to create a route full of way points in order to let the quadcopter fly automatically from one point to another, and allow the shooter to concentrate on getting the shot. And it’s just what the pilot ordered.”
It reminded me of some of my thoughts on – what I was then calling a quadcopter but would now be a drone – how these flying camera platforms were going to evolve.
I frequently find myself evolving my position on technology as new information comes to light. As my email sig line used to say “Above all, I reserve the right to be wrong”. As new information comes to light, or reaching a certain point in thinking allows another perspective to open up, my positions frequently evolve.
One example would be the use of 4K, another is the development of Lumberjack System.
One of my non-metadata interests is in food, so I read a lot of food related articles, including this one where Anthony Bourdain talks about the foodie revolution. What stood out was this comment after discussing the traditional way a talented young chef might make their way through the kitchen hierarchy over decades, vs the modern “democratized” approach where a talented young chef just ups  – maybe via a food truck – and gets their career started.
“A lot of old-school guys complain about this—you’re not paying your dues. That’s the downside. The upside is interesting people with something to say and a unique worldview can actually get their name out there and open a place with relative ease compared to the way it used to be.â€
This reminds me of modern production: it’s been democratized to the point where, if you have an idea, you can make it happen.
Lumberjack System, the muscular, real-time logging and pre-edit tool for Final Cut Pro X, expands to take advantage of new features in the latest release of Apple’s Final Cut Pro X to enable a new Story mode that creates string-outs based on already logged footage. This opens up the pre-edit string-out features of Lumberjack Lumberyard to projects with a long timescale.