Las Vegas

Monday, Apr 10 2000

9:00AM - 10:30AM

State of the Industry

Edward Fritts, Office of the President Washington, DC

There used to be a fear that Radio would kill newspapers, then TV would kill Radio, and now, people frequently say, "Broadcasting will be taken over by the Internet." Never mind the fact that people say that about every industry and the internet – it’s just not going to happen to broadcasting. Change, however, does happen. Microsoft was just surpassed by Cisco last week as worlds largest company. A software company was displaced by a networking company.

"Sometimes we stare so long at the door that is closing,

that we don’t see the door that is opening." Alexander Graham Bell

Government has failed in its responsibility to regulate the transition from analog to digital. It was said recently that "In seven years the internet will be so technologically advanced, that bandwidth for broadcasters will becom meaningless." It was said that the computer would eliminate the typewriter, but typing (printer) paper sales is now way up. The ‘dot coms’ are said to be replacing broadcasting. But they don’t know how to handle an audience. Broadcasters do. Broadcasters have local community interests at heart, dot coms do not. The dot coms want what broadcasters provide. As broadcasting makes the transition to the new, NAB is pledged to protect our interest. Throughout history, the optimists have proven to be the realists. Broadcasting will continue to grow and prosper, and be a player.

"If you want to see farther, stand on the shoulders of a giant." Dan Rather

"What we do is serve our communities." All news is local. The Boston Globe’s headline for the sinking of the Titanic read: "Boston men lost in shipwreck" No doubt the internet will change things as much as the Industrial Revolution. But the commitment and reach of local TV will not be displaced by newer media. TV didn’t make newspapers go away.

Changed – yes. Displaced – never.

Sumner Redstone, Viacom

Keynote Address at Opening Ceremony at NAB2000. Widely credited

with being one of the first industry leaders to recognize the

explosive growth of worldwide demand for entertainment content,

Mr. Redstone will discuss the challenges and opportunities of the

media and entertainment industries, and the requirements for

success in an environment marked by rapid technological change

and the dramatic increase in competition for viewers’ attention.

Recent Headlines: "The death of TV, the collapse of TV, the end of TV, the broadcasting industry is crashing all around us." As usual, the naysayers have it wrong. I say broadcasting is not in danger. It’s as compelling now as it has ever been. We’ll be a leader, not a left behind. We are in the opportunity age – an era of incredible possibilities. My message today is not that we need to reinvent ourselves. We have what we need to succeed. What we need is the resolve to exploit our strengths. The advantage belongs to broadcasters. No one else has our reach, brands, audience share. In a single moment, broadcasters capture the entire membership of AOL. You cannot beat the strength of our brands. Superbowl, World Series, Frazier, etc. I’m not saying there are no challenges. Rapidly evolving technology, over-zealous government regulation. Broadcasters who are mired in old assumptions are dinosaurs. The network affiliate relationship is changing before our eyes. In the age of expanded media, the era is long past when government regulation serves the consumer.

Advertising campaigns are most effective when they encompass broadcast as well as cable. Merger with CBS will make Viacom the most robust media entity in the world. We are clearly benefitting from the increase of advertising reach. As TV and internet converge, the number of options to consumers will increase, which will result in Viacom’s ability to distinguish ourselves. The advantage belongs to broadcasters. Content is indeed king. Content associated with leading brands is the big winner… will result in content becoming more valuable. Content is the fuel that drives technology. Bringing the nation together for mass events. The mass in massive media is still very important. Broadcasting has unparalled power to shape the culture. Broadcasting makes money. When did business stop being about making money? Have we been taken over by ‘dot-communists?’ When it comes to the internet, the challenge is to transform our reach into new audiences, platforms, revenue streams, business strategies. Fundamentally, all of our interests are the same. The opportunity to move local revenues to the internet are limited only by our creativity. Radio and TV are the nation’s most relied upon, most trusted source of information. The next chapter will be exciting: new ways to keep broadcasting vital, extend it into the future. There will always be differences of opinion. We don’t know the precise details of the path that lies ahead of us. Be we do know the direction. It’s a path of increased competition, decreased regulation. FCC is a market facilitator, not a market regulator. NAB is not a place for intramural jousting. Only by working together can we fulfill our destiny. People rely on us to bring them the world. The advantage belongs to the broadcaster.

Apr 12 2000 12:15PM - 1:45PM

Newly appointed FCC Chief Technologist David Farber will deliver the keynote address, Predicting the Unpredictable - The Future Communications and the Internet the Technology Luncheon. An extremely popular event, this is also the forum for the annual presentation of the prestigious NAB Engineering Achievement Awards.

Luncheon Speaker:

Called "The Paul Revere of the Internet"

Mr. Farber sees a dramatic change in the technology of networks: We went from computers without networks, now its networks with computers. It’s been an exciting 20 yrs. We’re in for an even more exciting next 10 yrs. Main driver will be the all optical network. In the future, we’ll inject photons into one side of the network and pull photons out of the other side – no conversion to electrons. Price of connectivity will no longer be tied to cost, because bandwidth will become so plentiful.

Dramatic change in technology of wireless: everything in the house will get connected.

Lo cost data stores, fiber moving closer and closer to the household, wireless data rates of 100 to 200kbps, and affordable. Snowcrash, a pseudo-scientific novel that speaks of virtual reality’s basis (seems to be describing Bill Gates).

We need techniques for delivering content to tens of thousands of users at once, along with simultaneous feedback from them. The wired internet is very poor for this, whereas wireless is much more ideally suited.

Nobody in Washington has any desire to regulate the internet. It changes far too rapidly. One fear at the FCC is that the industry will come to them and ask to be regulated – protected from liability, etc. The digital divide is usually applied to people of different ethnic/economic backgrounds. Two nations – one connected, one not. Two worlds -- …

Other issues: network and computing systems are insecure. How to build that robustness into the architecture of the system is very complex. We’re going to have to use our technology to protect our citizens, and our government.

Plug: come to the FCC and talk to us. Come and dream with us. Come as technical people. Leave your lawyers at home. We really want to help you with innovation. No one ever comes into my office and says "I have this brilliant idea, why can’t I do it." Answer: "You can do it." We want you to do it. We at the FCC will do anything to help you do it. You can bring your lawyers in later.

NAB 2000 Engineering Achievement Award Winners:

Radio Recipient: Michael Dorrough, Dorrough Electronics, Woodland Hills, CA

Television Recipient: Max Berry, Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. (retired), Elkins Park, PA

The Technology Luncheon is sponsored by A.N.N. Systems.

Terabyte storage in protiens the size of a sugar cube. Micro cameras. And it’ll all be free (or trivially cheap).

BodyCasts! You won’t listen to John Warnock – you’ll be John Warnock: his feelings, thoughts, views, senses. President’s breakfast (Willian Kennard, President of the United States). Being Bill… how 300 million Americans share our President’s life, and share their lives with each other – the impact of 30 million distributed cameras on our lives: who’s in charge?

Predictive technology: we predict the speeches, based on past performance and current events… see the speeches before they’re made… and after, see if the speakers could be unpredictable…

Bandwidth costs nothing, source devices are beyond our imagination, they’re in our clothing, in our bodies.

A spectrum from documentary to be-there-now, from recreation to being, from Jacques Coseeau to Eyes of the Sea – where is my whale? How does she sing? Can I feel what she feels? (using the military’s submarine listening technology). Technology brings empathy. From the Olympics 500 BCE to Olympics 2012 Be the athlete… From Mozambique satellite feed, or satellite picture, to 6 billion feeds, from worldwide distributed sources.

The challenge is design:

• design of the immediate immersive environment – any place there’s electricity, there’ll be intelligence
• design of sensory recreation
• design of office, car, home, personal space – now there’s too much time spent in annonymous environments – immersive environments will turn these into productive time spent.
• design of school, of learning space

How the internet changes technology and business:

MultiMedia World Keynote

Monday, Apr 10 2000 Venetian Ballroom G

5:00PM - 6:00PM

The Internet is more than a new alternative for content distribution

spawned an entirely new business model for broadcasting. In this

presentation, Mr. Warnock will explore the challenges of

broadcasting on the Internet, where time becomes meaningless,

potential market segmentation endless, and the competition more

crowded with newcomers everyday. Citing analogies to such past

technological upheavals as the desktop computer and its impact on

the publishing industry, he will offer insights into how broadcasting can adapt to

the communications revolution taking place on the Internet. He’ll examine the

factors that can help differentiate an Internet portal, the new ways broadcasters

must generate revenue on the Internet, and the tools that make the Internet an

easily accessible broadcasting medium.

Business model convergence, tool convergence, media convergence. What really is happening: images, animation, text are coming together in one place, but adding a different component – interactivity. Some things don’t migrate to the internet – like the novel. A great deal of our TV content is storytelling – like a novel – and won’t migrate.

Driving Forces:

Viewer –> User

• Passive –> Interactive
• Sit back –> Lean forward
• One to many –> One to one
• Sharing
• Commerce
• Community

Adobe’s website started out as an informational site. It is now a forum for interaction.

Not so much ‘re-purposing’ assets as redelivering them interactively.

Historical perspective:

• Economics of print production
• Economics of video production

Desktop publishing democratized the way information is disseminated. There are way more content producers now. Same thing is happening with the economics of video production (it just took ten more years of technology development to do it). Proliferation of talent, with reduced barriers to entry (the internet). There will be video content on everything – it will explode. Current video production sources won’t necessarily be the major sources in a few years.

Web Economic Opportunities - Benefits to Providers

• Advertising
• Content licensing
• ECommerce
• Subscription
• Revenue sharing
• Video stream = revenue stream

Premiere: If you are not doing video on the desktop, then you will be, because your competitors will be Pinacle Target 3000 card $6k 3 streams of serial digital video (uncompressed) plus 5 real-time streams of FX. Pinnace and Matrox are both shipping systems for $1k which can do 2 DV streams in realtime. Single editing system for professional broadcast as well as webcasts. It’s not just about getting the job done faster – creativity is an iterative process. Gone away is render time – the barriers to entry are gone.

AfterEffects: 2 new plugins Atomic Power ‘Evolution’ 13 plugins, and Maya

Multiplane plugin: allows specification how layers move against each other in space, how they intersect with each other

Card Dance: 3D based upon brightness value of image to control the position, how fast pieces spin, etc., in 3D space

Shatter: as ‘force ball’ moves across image, pieces break off and fall down, video keeps playing on falling pieces, gravity makes larger pieces fall faster. Special image maps can control how pieces break apart.

These are actually included in AfterEffects 4.1 production bundle.

Maya Parametric Painter allows painting on fire, waterfall, glass, wind, hundreds of presets. Parametric manipulation, and the computer does the rest.

These tools make it cheaper for you, but also allows a lot more people to do this kind of production. Getting independent product teams to work together is key. Standardization of interface between Adobe apps (what about AAF???).

Bringing it Together on the Web: Dave Helmly

How do we get the user involved on the web, clicking around on what they want to see.

LiveMotion: download it from website 18meg for Mac

Use to create fancy web banners with roll-overs. Replaced ImageStyler. Dragged in a standard PSD document. Separate layers from PSD remain accessible in LiveMotion. AfterEffects timeline is built into LiveMotion. Export options: Flash added.

GoLive 5.0: adds rollovers and clicking of video images

Digital Video Production Workshop - Day 1

Apr 8 2000 9:00AM - 5:00PM

Las Vegas Convention Center Room N255

9:00 am - 10:30 am

In the world of motion graphics design, it’s easy to get seduced by technology.

New releases of software and hardware bring with them the promise of achieving

previously unimagined feats. But at the end of the day, motion graphics designers

don’t deliver a spec sheet to their clients, they deliver art that communicates

ideas that your clients want to communicate. This session will cover issues

ranging from what makes for effective communication, trends in how type is used

and mis-used, visual style, and so on.

Moderator:

Motion graphics is a discipline practiced by designers to create movement.

Panelists:

Where do you guys come up with all these crazy ideas? There has to be a purpose behind all the graphics, it must tell a story – narrative – is the key. This kinda came from Steven’s film background. Styles come and go, but the concepts behind the design last forever. The fundamental concept must be the driving force. Don’t do stuff just because it looks cool or is hot today. Make the fundamental concept the Bible which you keep gong back to.

Comedy Central example: Steven does storyboards by starting with 35mm stills which he edits with the Media 100. Used Commotion to fake pushing guy out of cab.

Magic on the Edge (Fox Network): simulated film with video, printed out selected stills, scanned them back in and used that as the ‘jerky’ film (approx 2 or 3 fps). Incorporated with full motion video – very cool.

Network redesign for USA Movie Network (3 movie open packages were designed) – big networks used to use one big house to do everything, but now they’re using smaller design studios for various components. Belief decided that Light reflection/refraction was the concept used to create the network redesign.

Keep pushing your client, and if you do a good job for them, next time they’ll give you more freedom.

Playhouse Disney opener: ‘Daddy, playhouses don’t walk’ first educational Disney program.

Concept: the playhouse was constructed using elements from things found on the floor of a kid’s room. It walks, flies, swims, goes into space, etc. Belief did 30 holiday openers for Disney. Prepared storyboards with Photoshop into Electric Image, shot final with digital motion camera, editing on-set with Media 100. Post done with Media 100 back and forth to After Effects.

Ultimate Trek opener using clips from all iterations of Star Trek and Deep Space Nine.

Drive, dedication, perseverance is all about your art. Pushing it as far as you can. Do it 100%. New media just opens up more venues for your work. Reinterpret what interactive is. New language, words, to describe what happens in the next 5 years.

The ‘Grunge Movement’ we have just moved out of. Now, it’s more organic, ‘biotech’ Clean look. Simple. e.g. VW, iMac commercials.

Michael sees Flash as an interstitial technology, because there’s not much bandwidth now. With broadband, we won’t need Flash anymore – it’ll be full motion graphics. Broadband TV will not need Flash. Don’t invest in limited-bandwidth technologies, because in 3 years, it’ll be obsolete. Invest in concepts, not technologies. Shockwave is the interactive technology, which’ll be around for a long time. But Flash, the vector-based component, is what will go away with Broadband.

Belief Sound Design is done in-house by staff sound designer (damn!). Frequently, tho, a music composer is outsourced (like when client requests a particular composer).

Desktop tools used by belief: used to have a really current list on website

Mac G4, ultra-ice, one 21" mntr, media 100, after effects are the 2 core software tools. adaptec for scsi megadrive media-dock removable sneaker-net, every machine is identical. Commotion, cinema 4D, electric image, also.

Belief’s work is animation based, not pristine graphic based. Lots of 3D incorporated, but that’s not core. Layers to provide depth. Lot’s of blurs used, and the Ice board speeds up those renders.

16:9 won’t get really used as long as 4:3 compatibility is an issue.

10:45 am - 12:15 pm

An in-depth session designed to give detailed how-to tips on to serve video over

the Internet and closed intranets. Attendees are invited to bring their technical

questions to the session.

Moderator:

Panelists:

He an interpreter between video-speaking and computer-speaking people. Produced the JumpStart CD, avail at Internet Theatre. Pick one up.

Digital Rights mgmt built into Windows Media Player. Redirects to content owner’s website, which is up to them. Can blow up in 2 weeks, charge you a fee, etc.

Windows Media 7 is in beta. Avail later in Spring 16:9 is an option. Interface looks a lot like Quicktime! Skins give interface a customized, branded look.

Mistakes being made: learning process, think about what the user is doing just before your show starts. More attention needs to be given to the show opener.

Next few years: Hi-Def may finally happen. Streaming video usage will be mainstream.

Real Producer 7 tuned for midband to broadband 12k to >5mb, more live options, new RMEditor

Tuning Content:

• New Guide on DevZone next week
• Use HiEnd capture devices
• Use appropriate RealProducer filters
• Take advantage of non-linear editors

Coolest thing today: content that’s targeted for the enduser. Personalization is the eCommerce key. Ease of use makes video on the internet ubiquitous.

Mistakes being made: when content is being created and encoded, give more consideration to who the audience is, and what their bandwidth is.

Next few years: Implementation of tools now available. Increase in stability and scalability of networks. Dropped packets is the bane of streaming. Streaming will get as stable as TV.

Coolest thing today: tools you already use work w/QT. XMen trailers on website. Goes full-screen, not just in a player window.

Mistakes being made: figure out what it is your trying to do, and don’t let the coolness factor shadow the eCommerce issues, and why you’re doing the thing in the first place.

Next few years: Broadband will make video look good (will assume a minimum 300k base). But it’s not just about recreating the TV experience. What you put around the TV is what’s important. Enhancement of content.

Real: not yet, but still standards-based.

MS: ditto.

QT: stability is not the issue, even for mission-critical apps.

Streaming MPEG formats:

QT: is based upon mpeg-4 format. Server doesn’t have to know what the format is, as it’s contained within the streamed file itself.

MS: we have our own version of mpeg-4 v.1, v.2, now up to v.4. MS codec is stable with mpeg-4. Differs from QT opinion, because the codec itself, tho it can fit into a variety of wrappers, and tolerant of packet-loss on lossy networks.

Real: can’t answer. Mp1 and Mp2 works fine. Standard for MP4 is still evolving, so doesn’t have one yet. It’s not yet finished. Intellectual property rights issue has yet to be settled.

If you’re a hobbyist or non mass-market site, then do it yourself. If you need to feed more than a T3 can handle, outsource it.

We’re heading that direction, we recognize that the authoring process is much more complicated, but not today. SMIL is the answer Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language is trying to standarize this. Standards bodies set a base line, but they take a long time to do it. Each of the 3 of use are always pushing the edge, tho, so that’s what creates the incompatibility. But over time, a new baseline emerges from standards bodies. It just takes awhile. Companies respond to market demand. RTSP spec support helps. Real Time Streaming Protocol.

Plan to re-encode from source every 6 months, in order to keep up with evolving codecs.

The key is adding value to the TV content – interactivity – the things you put around it.

Both technologies are very compatible with each other. The mixing of both technologies creates more power than separate.

WebVideo magazine article by Ben discusses strengths and weakness of each of the 3 technologies.

Real: we’re better at streaming, open system (not open source) with SDKs, installed base penetration on win, mac, linux.

QT: streaming is about standards, QT’s 100% standards support and open source at the server allows more 3^rd party integration.

MS: I’ts all about providing the best end-user experience. Video quality is phenomenal, and scalability is it’s strength.

Real: keyword, title, authoring data. Speech to text conversion for keyword search engines. Real Guide has search engine for searching streaming media.

Content creators need to code meta tags correctly.

MS says Monday morning there’ll be an announcment from a company to allow input from sources other than rca or s-video connectors. Like aes/ebu, composite or component, etc. NOT MS.

1:45 pm - 3:15 pm

After years of so-called convergence, two trends are finally clear: 1) Computer

monitors (attached to powerful, multipurpose computers) will replace television

sets as vehicles for most video presentation. 2) Ultimately, networked video will

become the dominant form of media handled by such computers at home, at work,

and in theaters.

Established techniques and conventions are being questioned as Web video goes

mainstream. Unrealistic expectations, an absence of proven business models, and

an urgent need to jump on the Internet bus before you get left behind are

creating career-changing consequences and opportunities for the entire digital

media industry.

Learn how the Internet is changing the day to day workflow at production and

post production houses. And glean essential tips for surviving the convergence of

broadcasting and webcasting.

Moderator:

Nels Johnson, Download Recordings, Inc., San Francisco, CA

Panelists:

Scott Klososky, Webcasts. com, Oklahoma City, OK

Check out notes on DV magazine’s website I missed this one, and heard it was good.

3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

As the Internet and broadcast television converge, interactive television is

becoming more than a concept waiting to become an idea that will eventually

become a product plan. Today, it is possible to watch a football game and

interactively call up player stats, game stats, and more via enhanced content

served over the Internet. Today, it’s possible to play along with contestents on

Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune—in realtime via a WebTV box. And on a localized

basis, folks who attend basketball and hockey games at Madison Square Garden

can experience the game both live In this session, veterans share their insights on

how to add interactive elements to existing broadcast content.

Moderator:

Dominic Milano, DV Group, San Francisco, CA

Panelists:

Alex Thompson, Mixed Signals Technologies, Inc. Los Angeles, CA

Suzanne Stefanac, Respond TV

Digital Video Production Workshop - Day 2

Apr 9 2000 9:00AM - 5:00PM

Las Vegas Convention Center Room N255

9:00 am - 10:30 am

Thanks in part to the success of a few low-budget cinematic releases, the DV

format is often thought of as the format that brought broadcast-quality to

wannabe Spielberg’s everywhere. But DV format equipment in the form of

low-cost, high-resolution cameras, editing systems, and VTRs has found its way

into all manner of professional facilities that take advantage of the lower cost,

smaller gear.

Attendees will learn technical and aesthetic limits and benefits of DV gear, with

tips on dealing with 4:1:1 resolution. Find out where DV just won’t cut it, and be

surprised by some cases where it did.

Presenter:

Video: A family of compression methods

• CBR constant bit rate (easy to process)
• Designed for consumer HDTV vcrs, but this never happened
• Digital8, DV, DVCAM, DVCPRO (D-7) all use the same compression
• 13.5mHz 4:1:1 YC_rC_b encoding all the luminance resolution of "601" formats 720x480
• DCT-based compression Intra-frame two fields together, thus easily editable
• Adaptive field/frame compression: 8by8 or 2by4by8
• Constant bit rate of 25Mb/sec for video roughly 5:1 compression
• Total rate with audio & data: 3.6Mb/sec

Audio:

• 48kHz 16bit linear
• 44.1 16bit linear
• 32k 12bit nonlinearx2, or 16bits linear

Data: timecode, time, date, camera info

Program codes: WX data; and so on bungie jumping; bed racing, etc. not of much professional value – remember, DV was developed as a consumer format

With Canon GL-1, long takes of 1 hour can cause 2 or 3 frames of drift between video and audio when you pull them into an editor which separates audio and video streams for editing, like QuickTime editors (EditDV, FinalCutPro, etc.).

Synchronization is defined in the "Blue Book" IEC 61834

• miniDV has all the luminance resolution of ‘601’
• Digital dubbing via IEEE 1394 (firewire)
• Betacam SP quality at much lower prices
• Excellent multigeneration dubbing

• short distance network data and control signals 4.5meters end-to-end, single segment up to 100 meters via repeaters (very expensive)
• 100Mb/sesc to 400 Mb/sec and up
• up to 63 devices, daisy-chained, not only video
• Data packets suspicioussly like DV’s, they were made for each other
• Not all 1394 is DV (D0VHS, DTV STBs)

JVC and Panasonic backwards compatible, play SDTV D-7 or D-9, 720/60p, 1080/50I, 1080/60I, 1080/24p formats not cheap, VTRs start around US45,, even so, HDTV pix at DigiBeta pricing. Shipping now

Objective testing using Sarnoff JND (just noticable difference) analysis, based upon psychological testing, hard numbers from an impartial machine

Subjective testing: expert viewers in blind comparisons showed DV25 close to ‘601’

Twice the data rate needed for realtime performance: single disks won’t work: RAIDs required

What can’t it do in realtime: chroma-key? Moving GFX?

m-jpeg works and it’s cheap needs 3:1, 2:1 or lower conmpression for quality more and faster disks requiraed

some transcoding concerns: DigiSuite, DSLE, Media100

Matrox RT2000, DigiSuite DTV

• boxes from Beachtek, Studio1Productions
• Cables from Equipment Emporium

10:45 am - 12:15 pm

From The Tonight Show to football games, producing early high-definition

television broadcasts has been a game played almost exclusively by network folks

with big budgets. But how do you produce compelling HD content at a

local-station? See how local stations have met HD’s budgetary, technical, and

other challenges to produce high-definition content that sets them apart from

their competitors.

Presenter:

1:45 pm - 3:15 pm

You don’t need millions of dollars to design and edit DTV and HD video. Learn how

smaller post houses and stations use desktop tools to produce short-form and

long-form content without going broke. Discover how they manage to get

workstation tools to deliver the speed they need to meet tight deadlines. Learn

which tools work best for them, and which ones don’t.

Moderator:

Panelists:

Manufactures uncompressed serial digital boards which capture into HiDef. open system architecture. also makes software apps for capture and laydown of HD clips encapsulated in QuickTime container, so clips work with any app that supports QT native, or which can import or export QT. Uses multiple PCI 64 buses on server class computers with multiple Intel Xeon processors. Doesn’t need over-the-top bus like Intelligent Paradigm.

Got started in HD to use it as a medium to create special effects for films. Uses ViewGraphics capture card. Noel says ‘film’s over’ does everything in video HD. uses server class processors Intel Xeon 2 and 4 processor versions with 512 or 256meg RAM. Showed a HiDef film clip shot on HD video and edited nonlinear. When editing, they just leave blank spaces for any areas that need effects, and go render them in AfterEffects, then cuts-only add them back to the blank spaces.

Connects Apple to videographers. QuickTime is the glue that makes all this work.

Manufactures Video Explorer II card. Has 6 specialized chips on each card to allow realtime effects and rendering, as well as capture. Much more sophisticated than ViewGraphics card, which is really just a pump. Visit hospitality suite 5106 in Hilton.

3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

In the age of digital postproduction, many producers find that their biggest

challenge doesn’t come when working within an application, but when working

between them. Exchanging media between applications and workstations is largely

dependent on file format, so in this world where recompression or transcoding of

digital data means quality loss, initiatives like AAF aim to solve the problems of

distributed collaboration and inter-application file exchange.

Built on the foundation of Avid’s OMFI format, AAF was officially announced at IBC

1999. What’s happened since then? The list of supporting companies has shrunk

since AAFs introduction, but the initiative still has industry support from key

players. Find out what the current status of AAF is, what future support looks like,

and how you can prepare for open-format file exchange between systems.

Featured speakers include key industry representatives behind AAF, and

demanding producers already using AAF.

Moderator:

Q: If AAF is just a container, how come QuickTime doesn’t just replace need for AAF?

A: Oliver says there’s no conflict. They are complementary technologies. An AAF plugin fits within QT. A QT plugin fits within AAF.

Observation: Applications exist to conceal metadata from end user. AAF keeps the that info there, so when it comes back, it’s still there. I stays invisible to users, but is still available to the application program when it comes back.

Panelists:

• An independent non profit organization
• Incorp Jan 2000
• Fosters implementation of aaf
• Open to all
• Users and mfgrs

• BBC, CNN, Turner, etc
• Avid, Discreet, Matrox, Microsoft, Pinnacle, Sony, Quantel, Panasonic, AIST, Leitch
• Exec Dir: Brad Gilmer
• Board of Dir: first five users and seven mfgrs
• Engineering committee: chaired by Oliver Morgan
• Marketing Committee: chaired by Mark Horton Quantel

[ it really came from OMFI, but got its name changed to draw in more vendors ]

• Joint efforts of Multimedia Task Force: Adobe, Avid, Matrox, MS, Pinnacle, Sonic Foundry
• Specification (Object and API spec)
• Guiding Principles: no fee, royalty, open source code, based on open standards
• SDK: Reference Implementation and Utilities, starting from Avid OMFI and MS Structured Storage, Implemented by Avid and Microsoft, New contributions from Sony, Discreet, BBC

• Interchange between vendors, platforms
• Software implementation of standards
• Cross-platform mac, win, unix does not depon on OS libraries (COM, etc.)
• Compression agnostic dv mpeg jpeg
• Metadata it is that which you don’t understand
• New essence types means ‘the signal’
• Workgroups

Wrapper

Content Package

Content Item clips

• Documentation
• Utilities API spec
• Object spec
• Bytestream spec
• Registry

• A streaming media format
• A media engine
• A codec but, if you get a universal media descriptor, and all vendors support this open standard, then eventually the marketplace will demand the creation of a codec which is essentially ‘one codec’ Don’t really need a universal codec if you have an ‘agile’ encoder and an ‘agile’ decoder.

• Map essesnce onto a timeline
• Synchronize essence streams
• Make simple compositions
• Retain source derivation chain
• Layering and effects compositions
• Effects plugins
• User extensions
• Round trip (picture/graphics/sound/online)

• Platform independent definitions
• Standard and registered descriptions via SMPTE 335M
• Files contain definitions in addition to user data meta-meta-data
• SDK handles extensions transparently
• Enables round-tripping, for example: rough cut in office, add effects in video suite, layering in graphics suite, sweetening in sound room, return to video suite

What’s happening soon?

• Developer release 2 – now
• Press event – 7pm Tuesday, N224
• Products shipping aith AAF v1 in Q3/Q4 avid media composer;, symphony, xpress
• Developer release 3 – Siggraph unix, xml/xsl, more
• 1^st developer conference nov/dec codecs training of developer community, start of open source development

What’s in the blue sky?

• multi-vendor interoperability
• AAF-based pluggable component industry
• AAF-native products
• SDK v.1.5 in 2001, v.2.0 in 2002
• What new functionality? To be decided at Developer Conferences 2D/3D

Q: What about problems w/OMFTool when going from Media Composer to ProTools?

A: Avid would like to publicly acknowledge "There were some black holes in OMF. The way to fix this, is to conform to an external, open standard. This will fix the Avid / Digidesign problem."

Avid to QT linkage is getting better all the time. Lot’s of export/import support there.

OMF to AAF conversion has been a major purpose at Avid.

MPEG-7 represents the greatest opportunity for reconciliation of all manufactures with AAF.

The perils of ‘missing media’ issue of external referencing, resolving of external references. The function of the Object Manager is designed to address this.

Send them email to encourage them to do so!

Internet Weekend Workshops

Apr 8 2000 10:00AM - 5:00PM

The Venetian Room 501

This intensive workshop examines the various components of successfully

HTML and Javascript to Create a Sexier Website and PR and Marketing Internet

Strategies. This workshop is a must-attend if your goal is to get your website

noticed. Developed by the Internet Professionals Network (IPN).

Moderator:

Panelists: Lynn Macias, Silicon Valley P.R., San Francisco, CA; Greg Faciane,

Digital Media Design, Sierra Madre, CA; Tom Marcoux, West Coast Business

Academy, San Francisco, CA; Gary Ream, H.O.T. Network, Santa Monica, CA;

Janice Norton, H.O.T. Network, Santa Monica, CA

10-10:15 - Introduction - Don Baarns

10:15 -11:30 - Real World Site Development: The Good, Bad and the Ugly - Don

Baarns

11:40-12:55 - Using Audio and Video on the Internet: How to do it Right! – Tom Marcoux

2:00-3:15 –

Web design, streaming of video. 11 yrs in business. Sites get 1million hits per month.

Their site includes artificial intelligence robots.

Five kinds of contrast to make your website have impact:

Color Wheel: 3 primaries Red Blue Yellow Purple Orange Green Yellow to Purple (opposites) really grab attention Plasticity is the term applying to opposites. Good for action novels. Color is a vibration. Opposite frequencies – yellow is highest freq, purple is lowest. Effect can be used in a more subtle way, like for corporate sites. Dilute yellow to pale yellow or cream. Adjust purples into blue. The balance between contrast –vs- harmonious. [Reduce color palette to 16 colors or fewer, speeds up download time. Or use spot color, reducing color palette to 3 colors] There are 40 color combinations which the human eye can distinguish. But most people use only 3 or 4 colors. Yellow to Black is the strongest color combination. Contrast of color temperature: hottest is red, coolest is blue. Dark always falls back, red always moves forward. Foreground needs to be hotter color temp, background needs to be cooler.

Fonts: don’t use too many different ones. Find 2 fonts that are serving your purpose, mix a serif and a sans-serif font. Also use font weights for emphasis. Justification or ragged right.

Use top-down design. Make sure the technology doesn’t get in the way.

Jpgs take longer to load than gifs. Do you need java and dhtml.

Java applets are small programs downloaded. Unpredictable across browser, may crash your computer, ISP may not allow their execution, many disadvantages.

JavaScript offers most of the advantages of Java applets, but with few of the disadvantages. Numerous libraries avail for free on the web. View source of java script and paste it into your page. ChronJav is a javascript which controls what’s seen when. Usefull for randomizing pages pulled up. Or you can create a random number generator. Tell browser to check where user went the last time, and use that to determine content delivered.

Variation on the Eliza robot: by changing the keywords and responses, you can adapt the chat robot to almost any subject or situation. Popup boxes with text and a few small pictures loading first can cover load time of a big graphic page behind. DHTML, not here yet, won’t work cross platform between IE and Netscape. Must insert a javascript which will do a browser detect, and load pages accordingly. Will allow more control than with tables, more animation of fonts.

3:25-4:40 –

PR tells a story.

Why do you need PR? Build it and they will come doesn’t work for websites

Add a press and investor section to your website.

The net’s "buzz" factor

PR is a lot cheaper than advertising, but doesn’t generate sales directly.

PR Resources: wire, general info, clipping svcs, media sources.

See website for slides

Internet Wire is a leading PR firm, which uses internet eMail ‘digest’ form exclusively to convey press releases to reporters, ad agencies, other PR firms.

Billion dollars a year that are spent on faxed press releases are ticking journalists off. Internet Wire uses email on voluntary opt-in basis to get press releases out. Distribution is what matters. It’s not spam – they send 1 email message in an area of interest that subscriber picks out. This email contains links to press releases contained.

PR and Marketing are converging. They’re synergistic. John Scanlon gives example: PR shapes opinion, advertising shapes image. Days of mailing a Press Release with a stamp are long gone. Integrated Marketing used to mean that the agencies were buying the PR firms. Now, there’s an increasing need for speed, vast amount of trade-centric publications have an hourly need for news to fill sites. The real convergence is between website, b-to-b or eCommerce companies and PR firms (?).

• Easier to buy
• Obtaining and valuing data
• Annonymous profiling
• Obtaining profile info

Double Click is the largest ad agency on the web. Combining of profiling recently backed off of

• Search engine/marketing relationship
• Pull marketing – how many can you attract to your website, and by what method
• Objective analysis and reporting – in log files
• Improving search engine visibility (SEO)

• Primitive data analys – thru log files web server raw data log - it’s up to you to massage this data to enhance the analysis
• Enhanced analysis and reporting
• Volunteered information
• Stealth data gathering

• Online auctions
• Internet exchanges – match bidders with inventory
• Reverse auctions – mfgr specifies a product with delivery date
• Pitfalls of dynamic pricing – may deteriorate image of product

• One-to-one marketing – it’s important for you to recognize users who return to your site
• Custom products and services
• Personalized experience
• Increased market share

Michael says: Alternative advertising and word of mouth are best forms of advertising, worst forms are radio and tv ads. Rented limos to take journalists around to parties at Internet World last year, and a ‘flying wedge’ truck with a banner ad to drive around the show.

4:40-5:00 - Wrap up/Q&A

Streaming Media: The New Wave in Broadcasting

Apr 9 2000 10:00AM - 5:00PM

The Venetian Room 501

This workshop examines the various uses for streaming media broadcasts over the

Internet. Panelists will explain how broadcasters, web professionals and marketers

can use this technology to tie in with current breaking news, events and

meetings. Panelists will provide insight into the cost involved in streaming media

and what is needed to make it happen. Come and see examples of web

broadcasting by companies who are successfully doing it right now! Developed by

the Internet Professionals Network (IPN).

Moderator: Scott Salter, Intervu, San Diego, CA

Panelists: Chad R. Badiyan, Badiyan, Inc., Evanston, IL; Curtis Palmer, Sonic

Foundry, Inc., Madison, WI; Linda Thurman, New Media Prime, Inc., Los Angeles,

CA; John Brier, BroadcastAMERICA.com, Portland, ME; Philip Fracassi, House of

Blues Digital, Inc., Hollywood, CA; Stephen L. Felisan, House of Blues Digital, Inc.,

Hollywood, CA; Mike Rick, FastBroadcast.com

10-10:05 - Introduction - Scott Salter

10:05- 11:05 –

Quality image, 30pfs Quality dependent on bandwidth

Narrative, long form content interactive, short form content

Passive experience Active, engaging experience

Viewing distance 6’ Viewing distance 18"

One way Two way

Fixed time slot programming VOD (Video on Demand)

Audience has minimal influence on content Viewer has total control

Unbundling the PC: processing and user interface

"In a world of stupid devices, networks have to be smart. But in a world of smart devices, networks have to be dumb."

Server side processing HotMail is a server side processing task browser is dumb terminal

NetComputers: PCs won’t go away, but we’ll see a lot of smart devices emerging:

Internet enabled devices which support streaming media:

• PC
• Audio/video conferencing systems
• Set-top boxes
• Game consoles playstation2 has firewire and 2 USB ports
• PVR personal video recorders will automatically record streaming webcasts, skip commercials, etc.
• Radios
• Phones
• PDAs

These devices each become a Nielsen box, reporting user’s habits back to the advertisers, etc.

• Breodcast – 10m viewers TV
• cable/satellite – 3m " settop box
• broadband – 100k " pc or settop box
• webcast tier – 100k " pc or settop box
• narrowband – 50k " pc or settop or PDA

11:15-12:15

• Product demos
• Sales mtgs
• Mktg events and campaitgns
• Company anncmts and newscasts
• Tradeshows and workshops
• Training sessions distance learning vs distributed learning Distance is instructor-centric, limited social interaction; while Distributed is learner-centric
• Customer service seminars
• Press/analyst briefings

As audience size increases, interactivity decreases. When you reach about 20 people in an event, interactivity needs to be controlled. After you reach 1000 people, interactivity goes away.

Chat packages that help you manage Netpodium, PictureTel

• Html/powerpoint content support
• Support for conference call or streaming
• Chat and message marqueee
• Application viewing
• Application sharing
• Whiteboard and annotation tools for moderators
• Pre-show content
• Streaming or cached balance flexibility of delivery with content
• Audience polling
• Live and archive
• Audience control see who’s connected, where they’re connected from
• Customizable interface
• Proprietary or multiple streaming engine support most wrap around Real, MS or QT
• Firewall-friendly

Servers: email Chad for current list of manufacturers

PictureTel eVideo application server features a video window for the presenter, a slide window, and a Q&A scrollable text window.

ITalk is an audio encoding service: you call into a phone number, it encodes and broadcasts on the internet.

The average employee attends more than 60 mtgs a month, one-third of which they rate as unproductive.

The typical executive flies to 4.6 mtgs a month, wasing untold hours on airplanes, in transit, in hotesl – all for a meeting that lasts, on average, 2.2 hrs. NFO InfoCom, 1998

In an attempt to combat ever-risign airfares, most corporations are substantially cutting back on travel; more than 60% have indicated they are using conferencing more often as one way to meet cost-effectively.

RealPresenter Plus G2 and RealProducer

MS also has tools set

Praja provides a template for encoding live content, sports centric.

iShow interactive tradeshow webcasting using MS technology

• What is yuour objective for the webcast
• Will it be provided live and on-demand
• How will the encoded content be sent to the streaming server
• How large is the audience
• When and where will it be
• Will you need an AV crew
• What is the length of the program
• Will be be audio, video or both
• What players will you support QT MS Real
• What bit rates 28.8 56.6 100 300 or greater
• If archived, how many months does it need to be online
• Do you want them to provide registration for the event
• Attendance reports, who responded in what way

• Advertise and promote the evnet
• Suetup a website for registration and eCommerce
• Determine required level of interactivityu (application server)
• Produce segments to accompany

• Produce in bdcst quality
• Simultaneiously encode and distribute content to stream and appl servers
• Monitor pgm on the intenet through various speeds

Which is the best streaming software?

He likes Real for consumer events because of the installed base of players

1:15-2:15

2:15-3:15

3:30-5:00

John Brier, Mike Rick, Stephen L. Felisan, Philip Fracassi

MultiMedia World Reception

Apr 9 2000 5:30PM - 7:00PM

The Venetian Room Ballroom J

Apr 10 2000 10:30AM - 11:45AM

Las Vegas Convention Center Room N235/237

A must session for broadcasters streaming or planning to stream their signals or

other programming on the Internet. Experts will provide cyberlaw checklists for

intellectual property, defamation, obscenity, contest and contract issues. Also

included will be updates on iCrave TV (the Canadian ISP streaming U.S. and

Canadian TV signals) and the controversy surrounding liability to record producers

for streaming broadcast signals.

A site’s data collection is replete with privacy issues, litigation. Develop a plainly stated privacy policy, state what you are collecting.

Clash between the global nature of the internet and the territory that defines our industry. The internet ovelays a global structure over the historical territories.

Protecting your signal: the iCraveTV case in Canada

The Website

• Live streaming of US and Canadian stations
• Framed advertising
• Ad sales based upon broad exposure
• Trivial measures to limit non-Canadian users

The Lawsuit: quickly settled, injunction granted

A new compulsory license for the internet? Copyright Office proceeding: NAB and others opposed new license. Copyright office agreed in 1997 report to Congress

Congression hearings: Is localism threatened? Broadcasters and others opposed.

A station’s own website: the risks of reach

• Global nature of the internet
• Potential liability under other laws
• Personal jurisdiction – ‘minimum contacts’ state law and constitutional limit, early cases focused on ‘interactivity’, cases currently focusing on level of activity, ‘purposeful availment’ of the state’s market, and relation to the claim. Did you actively solicit business and customers from another state.

• The clash between the domain name system on tgraditional trademark rights
• Cybersquatting became a virtually cost-free investment
• New Cybersquatting Act, new federal cause of action, remedies include damages awards, liability for use of registration, ‘bad faith’ factors
• New uniform dispute resolution policy, operated by the NIC domain name registration entities: volumtary condition of registration, remedy is transfer of registration (no damages), streamlined arbitration process takes a month or so, and almost always results in domain name being return to the complaintant, '‘bad faith'’and use criteria.

• A uniform law, state by state
• It sets contract rules for ‘computer information transactions’
• Validates ‘shrinkwrap’ software licneses
• Also applies to digitized video, ‘upstream’ creation and independent contractors
• Exemption for broadcast programs, new freelancers (also movies, music, cable)
• The debate continues State of Virginia enacted this last month. Postponed effective date for 18 months. This act is coming to a state near you. Very complicated, but pay attention when it comes to you.

Anti-circumvention Provision of recent copyright law: prohibition of technologies used to enable others to pirate copyrighted work. Streambox was one recent case.

RIAA’s war against MP3. Napster (Nabster?) software allows other users to search your computer for mp3 files. MP3.com has service which allows user to prove he has an original CD, and then allows that user to download copies of that CD which is on mp3’s website.

RIAA is doing a technology thrust to support SDMI compliance (Secure Digital Music Initiative).

• Public performance license
• Reproduction license
• CDs contain 2 copyrights: musical work (publishing) and sound recording (mechanicals).

Music Licensing (public performance right). BMI, ASCAP

Reproduction Right (ephemeral recording exception allows user to make 1 copy) No statutory exemption for more than one copy.

Sound Recordings: in 1971, Congress passed a law that didn’t deal with broadcast.

In 1998, sweeping revision of public performance for non-subscription broadcast (webcast): Statuatory license issued by arbitrary mediator. 15% of revenues is standard.

Bruce Rich, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, NYC

Breaking developments in music licensing:

• NAB Lawsuit Legal issue posed: when an FCC licensed radio broadcaster simultaneously transmits its over the air bdcst signal to listeners via the internet, does such streaming activity constituate a digital audio transmission encompassed under the DPRA and DMCA Radio industry says NO, Record industry says YES
• Copyright Office Rulemaking
• Possible "CARP" Proceeding

2. Local broadcast TV and the performing rights societies

• ASCAP the court will establish reasonable license fees for broadcast-relate internet web sites
• BMI negotiations over interim blanket and per program fees, retroactive to April 1, 1999, are underway

2. Broadcast radio and the performing rights societies

• BMI Court will set fees for the internet streaming of over the air broadcast signals trying to out from under a ‘revenue-based’ license fee. Interim license fees are in effect. Industry seeks broader availability of ‘per-program’ licensing
• ASCAP licenses expire at end of 2000, negotiations over new licenses to commence

Enactment of the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995 (DPRA) and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA)

Complex web of statutory provisions include creation of compulsory licenses for certain types of licensable public performances

Apr 10 2000 1:00PM - 2:30PM

The Venetian Room 501

You’ve got a killer media brand, so how do you translate that

to revenues? Tips and tactics on creating content that works

with your brand. Make the most of migrating your assets across

the mediums to maximize the reach of your Web presence. Get

ready for eTV by transforming your Web strategy from a minor

adjunct to your marketing efforts into a powerful revenue source.

Moderator: Tony Winders, iAgency, Santa Monica, CA

Panelists: Brian Bowman, ABC.com, New York, NY; Jeff Morris, Yack.com,

Emeryville, CA; Tim Carruthers, Webcasts.com, Santa Monica, CA; David Bohrman,

Pseudo Programs, Inc., New York, NY; Jordan Kurweil, News Digital Media

Apr 10 2000 1:00PM - 2:30PM

The Venetian Room 604

Panelists will discuss insights gained from experience, webcasting live and re-broadcast events working

with top players in the industry. Interactive features, including taking live questions from the viewing

audience, polling with real time results, chat, user controlled VR and surveys will show broadcasters the

look and feel of their future.

Definitions: webcasting:

• Unicast: method of sending most internet content live -- one stream for each viewer, on demand only via unicast
• Multicast: to transmit to a select group live – single stream to all viewers, scheduled rewebcast saves a lot of bandwidth

Three different streams typically sent: live video, audio, data (includes slides, graphics, questions and answers, etc).

Replaces video-conferencing Typical events have audiences of 1000 viewers.

Uses win95 platform. WinMediaPlayer, IE, T1 network connection and routers.

Five Castes of Interactive Webcast live 2-way events

Not Interactive webcast events – can have streaming media

• Collaboration ‘meetings’
• Streaming video webcasts
• Interactive television

Differences in methods/vendors:

• Number of participants
• Amt of streaming bandwidth
• Ease of preparation/presentation
• Scheduleing/hosting support
• Ease and availability of archiving
• Cost modesl – prep, audience, bandwidth
• Convenience for user/client
• Audience and data identificatin
• Interactive design options

Mobile Studio in a Box in a 3’ hi by 19" skb case on wheels. self contained

just finished an MGM Grand archive 100s of sessions streamed live and archived. What we use to prepare the event.

Chat, questions, polls, hosted Q&A,

Event Director is his software interface product (Event DesignTool) for managing / administering the webcast. 4 hour training course. Looks good for ‘on the fly’ webcast production.

ASP model: application service provider Worldstream sells the box, but you subscribe to the service and tools, player or client for audience, reporting and demographic analysis, etc. provided with your subscription. Event Director is over 500k lines of Java.

Apr 10 2000 2:30PM - 4:00PM

Las Vegas Hilton Room Pavilions 1-3

Staying on top in a competitive playing field demands vision,

fortitude and tremendous creativity - leadership qualities that

transcend time or gender. This panel will examine the management styles, talents

and innovative thinking of broadcast architects who help pave the road to digital.

Perpetually on the hot seat, quick of wit and fast on their feet, these industry

newsmakers will share their thoughts on the future of over-the-air television. They

always make their voices heard and always turn the horizon into reality.

Moderator:

Barbara Cochran, President, RTNDA, Washington, DC

Panelists:

Susanne Daniels, President, Entertainment, The WB, Burbank, CA;

Kay Koplovitz, CEO, Working Woman Network, New York, NY;

Mary Lou Quinlan, Vice Chairman, MacManus Group, DMB&B, New York, NY

Apr 10 2000 3:00PM - 4:30PM

The Venetian Room 604/605

DVD allows interactive designers unbridled freedom from technical

limitations and points the way to the look and feel of future

converged media. It spans the gap between the CD era and the

interactive TV era. This session drills down into DVD and DVD-ROM

authoring for insight into authoring the programs of the future.

Moderator:

Convergence of our cultures, not just media. DVD removes limitations which designers face.

Panelists:

Producer of 350 titles in last 3 years

My 15 minutes of fame was in the late 80s, CD-ROM era. I wasn’t always a dot-com guy. CD-I, CD-ROM, and The Manhole, The Return to Zork, Lightspan. Why I’m not doing shiny disks. Because the buz is now in dot-coms. Failure, Collapse, Disaster Great beginnings, and a bit of history: Aspen Movie Map virtual navigation using laserdisk.

Adventure Games: what happened? ‘DOOM-ed’ by 3D. MYST-ified by interactivity.

Interactive Myth #1: people want interactive movies

• "Anyone who talks about interactive movies doesn’t know the first thing about either." Kelly Flock 989 Studios
• 5000+ years of story tellers can’t be wrong
• the ‘roller coaster’ of storytelling
• Not only on CDs… "I’m (not) your man" branching movie not interactive media, interruptible
• Branching plots?
• Oh, maybe it was the production values

Interactive Myth #2: it’s the production values, stupid

• What do Pokemon, Blair Witch, and Tetris have in common?
• The play’s the thing (not production values)
• Why Return to Zork sold 2 million CDs
• Can we bring back the bolden daays of CD-ROM?
• Do we even want to?
• What’s so cool about the WWW? It’s for communication. Every thing on the internet is just like everything else, only worse.

How about something constructive?

• DVD is an awesome media
• What DOES work in interactive? Multiple points of view; following characters;
• It’s not just an adventure: puzzles that make sense; ‘throttling’ the story Adventure Games – a linear puzzle where the characters throttle the story

Convergence, The Flying Car, and Reality:

• Broadband, video on demand, and ITV. Broadband is a ways off, and that’s a good thing for the DVD.
• ‘ZEN Mind’ I could be wrong!
• Yes, I love the Playstation 2. Sega’s fatal mistake was not using DVD
• No more stupid money. It’s going away. VCs have become wary of B2C. non business models
• Art is in the constraints. Does the watercolor artist pine for oils? Not really.

Conclusion: Learn from the mistakes of the CD-ROM and make DVD-ROM something wonderful.

One of world’s foremost experts on MPEG compression.

What we can do today: define interactivity; examples -> limits (limits not defined by what we’ve done so far)

What will be possible tomorrow: re-define interactivity

Using Scenarist Pro as the DVD interactivity tool

DVD Interactivity: stream-based 2D video streams, all abjectsw as one video can’t separate the objects. Multiangles, multiple languages, audio, subtitles.

Menu access: button1 button2

Video access: overlay - allow user to link to another video stream

Only this? Commands can incorporate menu and video access

Registers to help us interact hides the keyboard, mouse and stuff that looks like a computer. Location 0, 1, 2, 3,… when finished playing video stream 1, make value in location 0 = 1, so the next action depends upon what the user has done. Location registers are like mailboxes, which tracks user’s path of responses. For example, stream 2 will play only after stream 1 has been played. DVD lingo: GPRM General Parameters

A step further – can create a title with a lot of buttons, but only one button plays a video.

Up to 32 buttons on a menu. Useful for codeword which can prevent movies from playing. Entered from IR keypad.

Panos is developing MPEG4 which has layers separated as different streams: background, foreground, actors, etc. all as separate objects. Each object is encoded separately. The decoder decodes each separate stream, then gets Scene Information which tell which streams to play when, where, etc. This opens up tremendous interactive possibilities for the user changing characters, sets, etc.

• Link to objects – not streams.
• Keep track of objects (not streams) using GPRM registers to cause divergent plots, characters, sets, etc.
• Smart overlays allows tracking exactly where the objects is, and that becomes a button.

• DVD: interactivity as never before
• Web-connected
• Smart applications (movies, IFE, corporate,…)
• The future is even better: Unless your understand the technology of DVD, you’ll never be able to understand what’s coming in about 5 years.

MPEG4 all authoring is done when you do the encoding Java and C++

Decoder Chips in current DVD players are not powerful enough yet.

Apr 10 2000 3:00PM - 4:30PM

The Venetian Room 501

Through sky, sea and land, new solutions to bandwidth

problems continue to stream onto the scene. From chip

technology, to satellite, to alternate delivery systems-all have

their proponents. Hear and judge for yourself. Moderator:Dave

Burstein, DSL Prime, New York, NY

Panelists: Brad Pumphrey, Cidera, Laurel, MD; Miles Harrison, Lucent

Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ; Greg Schoenborn, Tranz-Send Broadcasting

Network, Inc., San Francisco, CA; Todd Sawicki, Loudeye, Seattle, WA; Frank

Schwartz, burst.com, San Franciso, CA

Electronic Commerce: It’s E-Business or No Business!

Apr 11 2000 9:00AM - 12:00PM

The Venetian Room Ballroom G/H/I

Over the past year the growth of electronic

commerce has been unprecedented. Are we

witnessing the ultimate test for companies pioneering business on

the Internet? Those who do their homework will be winners on a

global scale and may present a challenge for our traditional business

models. Find out how doing business on the Net can connect you

with a whole new marketplace where partnerships and alliances are

the name of the game - a game you can’t afford to lose!

9:00 am

Communications and Information, Administrator of The National

Galilei Galileo developed a telescope to test the theories of Nicholas Copernicus: that the Earth moved around the Sun (not the other way around). That transcended the common wisdom of the time. This Copernican revolution spawned the cultural revolution of the Renaissance. I believe that the electronic revolution underway now is creating a dramatic shift in our cultural universe now. I grew up in North Dakota. We believed that in order to have economic opportunities, we’d have to leave North Dakota. Electronic commerce is changing all that. eCommerce is no trend or fad. It’s a permanent fixture of our economic statistics. Commerce Dept. now issues regular reports of eCommerce. Last month, Stephen King’s latest book sold 400k copies in 24 hours on the internet. iMode is a company that miniaturizes websites for transmission to web-enabled cell phones. In a couple of years, web access via cell phones will far surpass access from desktops and laptops. The internet is creating new lines of business for broadcasters. Digital spectrum will be used by broadcasters, not just for better pictures and sound, but for a whole new spectrum of opportunities in datacasting and eCommerce. Historically, local programs have been delivered free over the air. Now we’re dealing with how to deliver Local-to-Local over satellites. Broadcasters need not fear the internet. Protection of privacy… the information snooper-highway. Websites that collect personal information rarely state a privacy policy – if they do, it merely says they won’t sell it to others. Websites need a strong commitment to protecting personal privacy. The way to avoid government regulation is for the industry to take the lead in protecting privacy.

Electronic Commerce and digital convergence provide broadcasters with tremendous opportunities. Copernicus had to challenge the dogmas of his day. Maybe one day we’ll look back and see the current dogmas of how we perceive the world today as archaic as the pre-Copernican views.

It’s a ‘mammoth shift’ of culture.

Moderator:

9:30 am

A New Way of Thinking The Internet is challenging our traditional business

models and forcing broadcasters, advertisers and retailers to think in terms of new

one-to-one relationships. Bandwidth is increasing rapidly to keep pace with the

Net-generation and soon a world of products and services will be at the fingertips

of everyone, everywhere. Are you ready for the opportunity of the century?

Panelists:

Fantastic is:

• Data broadcasting company
• A pure broadband play
• Multicast Technology
• Global network
• End-to-end delivery system

Fantastic’s Role: enabling aggregation, broadcast and consumption

$6 billion in TV commerce by 2005

27 million interactive TV enabled households, $15 billion total ITV revenue opportunity, $4.5 billion in eCommerce

TV Commerce: easy as 1,2,3… and 4

1. Creation
2. Broadcast
3. Playback device (settop box) ELN: edge of the network device, palm pilot, TV, etc. that enables interactivity.
4. Transaction: enhanced ad, interactive sports, enhanced programming

How?

1. Interactive content creation tools
2. Interactive content broadcast: data schedluling, bandwidth optimization, mpeg-2
3. Intereactive content playback: client in settop box that enables transaction hotlink tracking transaction data interface (HTTDI) data mining, business intelligence
4. Interactive content commerce: WebSphere Commerce Suite – massive servers

Hotmedia Technology for TV and WebSphere

• Personal TV – choice / control: digital video record, electronic guides, pause live shows, personal channels
• Interactive TV – participation: interact with live TV shows, active web links
• Internet TV – communication: web, mail and chat on your TV, web PIP

The T-Commerce Opportunity: TV commerce growth of 1000% in next five years

Intangible benefits of T-Commerce as well:

• Loyalty
• Retention
• Image
• Frequency

Using the network to create a much closer relationship with your viewers

What is Microsoft doing?

• Partner: broadcasters, MSOs, consumer electronics OEMs, content and service companies, enhanced TV application ISVs
• Lead: use WebTV service as a thought leader, develop and support key industry standards, deliver outstanding showcases with partners
• Execute: deliver a great platform

• Extend your programming for ITV with the tools you use today: chyron, louth, ENPS, avid, peak, grass valley, vertigo multimedia, video design interactive, morpak
• Trial your programming on WebTV: 450k ITV-enabled households today, no cost to deliver
• Let us help you be successful

10:45 am

Today we are merely viewing the tip of the iceberg regarding e-commerce. Never

before have there been so many trials, successes and failures of e-commerce

ventures. As we move forward to test new business models we should recognize

the challenge before us to mold society around the concept of doing business at

the speed of light - well, almost!

Panelists: Alan Masarek, Chairman & CEO, AdOutlet.com, New York, NY; Bonnie

Lowell, Acting CEO, Founder, and CTO, YOUpowered, New York, NY; Susan

Storms, Vice President, MyPoints.com, New York, NY; Vincent Pluvinage, President

& CEO, Preview Systems, Cupertino, CA

Apr 11 2000 1:00PM - 2:30PM

The Venetian Room 501

This session provides attendees an invaluable opportunity to

experience demonstrations of interactive pilot programs and see

how convergence can really work for the public and for

broadcasters on television.

Moderator:

Panelists:

Formerly with Digital Pictures, Inc.

Interation Spectrum: control over what to view and I to view it

Will focus on what current systems offer in terms of interactivity and video games, which use live action – interactive.

• Adults – not so good. Only delivery media were video/PC game platforms (expectations). People want total control over the interaction, and there was limited interaction. Scenes are repetitive
• Children – better. Simple interactions wwith real people, and for kits, repetition is good.

• Unmotivated choices (consequences) – go right or left, vote for different endings. People have no desire if there’s no consequences to their choices
• 1 – 3 –1 a design where you’re moving along on a linear choice, a choice takes you to 3 other choices, then back to 1. This is most common pattern designers were initially coming up with.

• tangents – instead of jumping off to the web, we’ll be watching TV where we make choices for different video
• play along / choose camera angles
• roll your own software learns what you like, and you get to customize the content. Produce 90 minute shows and viewer sees the 30 minutes he wants to

what’s left?

• Combining synthetic with real (enhanced video games)
• Game-based dramas, you’re one of the characters, there’s winners, losers, good outcomes, bad outcomes. Less expectation of shoot-em-up
• Person-to-person interaction Q: can you play someone in another city? A: yes

Has produced interactive programs for the Smithsonian, using database collection

Mississippi Towboats and NMAI (national museum for the american indian)

The Heye Center NYC an american indian exhibit

How convergence may affect the public and the broadcaster.

Tivo and Replay are gadgets which allow commercial skip – huge impact to conventional TV advertising. They both run on Linux OS.

UK DTV scene govt mandated and implemented Digital TV, analogue services to be turned off in 6-8 yrs. Multiple carriers (all digital): terrestrial, satellite, cable, DSL

MPEG-2: 625 lines, multiple channesl, 16:9, split digital stream: pictures,sound,data interactive TV

• Passive to engaging
• Non-linear narratives
• Environments –vs--story
• Practical delivery to the living room
• Making viewers want to buy it
• UK govt education project
• 14 – 16 year olds, studying for public exams
• integrated, interactive, digital tv service
• personalized learning experience
• mediated and self directed – teachers and students
• at school and at home

New interactive services

The Convergence of Entertainment & Technology:

Apr 11 2000 2:00PM - 6:00PM

The Venetian Room Ballroom G/H/I

with MP3, DVD and other new platforms for content. In the

next decade, this convergence will open new markets, create many new

investment opportunities and produce financially bountiful revenue streams. A new

millennium is here and the titans of technology are promising to unleash the

creativity in all of us. Take a sneak peek into the future as we travel warp-speed

to the year 2010 - to Hollywood, to the fountains of new technology, and finally

toward the essence of content creation and distribution. Produced in association

with Film Scouts™ LLC, co-produced by CAA and BWR.

Session Visionary: Mayra Langdon Riesman,

Founder, Film Scouts™ LLC, New York, NY

2:30 pm

It’s the year 2010. How has convergence evolved in the last ten years? What

does the term "broadcast" mean? Contemplate the future as a dynamic group of

panelists explore the technologies that have radically affected the "new"

entertainment industry.

How are people entertaining themselves in the year 2010: the Internet,

DVD, personal home theaters?

How is filmed entertainment distributed? Digitally to theaters and/or digitally

to your personal home entertainment center?

Is Hollywood still the center of the entertainment industry, or has

convergence allowed for decentralization?

Moderator:

Dot-commandos and dot-communists

Panelists:

Austin Powers

The current fever in the market from dot-coms drives valuation in the marketplace, but for traditional entertianment brands we need a constant, persistent connection to the consumer, regardless of the technology being used.

Traditional background. Repurposing current content and creating new content. Sam Donnelson does an internet-only program now.

Traditional media production company. Don Mischer Technologies formed 6 mos ago.

Fox Foundry, works in the web space

Advertising has been the primary engine for programming, we’re migrating to the new media

Panelists are not sure how web technologies apply to TV viewers in entertainment.

Interesting point: Sponsors currently follow the content (program), but in 2010, advertisers will follow the viewer (consumer).

Democratized media will exist, but we’ll still want to watch events with slick production, hi-buck talent. In 1930, everyone referred to the ‘icebox’, then refrigeration happened; in 2010, people won’t refer to the ‘computer’ or ‘TV’, they’ll be the same thing.

Jupiter, 2 days ago, released a report that in 2005, TV would receive the fewest advertising dollars, with the internet receiving the most. One panelist said "Advertising that becomes content, and adds service, is where it’s really going – facilitated by highly targeted advertising."

Web could be the ‘Planet Hollywood’ of the new millennium, but it will allow people to experiment, which is good. Currently, it’s far more labor intensive than the economics justify. But we have to try new stuff.

The power of brands to drive the adoption of technology. Arthur C. Clark predicts that by 2010, electronic monitoring will virtually eliminate professional criminals from society.

Permission based marketing: consumer must have ultimate power, and must receive something in return from the advertiser. Maybe content isn’t king, maybe the individual is king.

3:30 pm

Technology never was and never will be an end in itself for entertainment. It must

work in tandem with the creative community. Think about the technologies that

are driving the entertainment industry in 2010. How are they implemented:

broadband cable, wireless, satellite? How has technology expanded the reach of

the broadcaster?

Moderator:

Panelists:

CinThespian is the new term applied to actors that aren’t real. Industrial Light and Magic. You can’t tell what’s real and what’s been added. Over 80% of frames from StarWars were done with CinThespians.

Everything in the future will be microprocessor driven, meaning decompression will happen as close as possible to the end user, thereby reducing number of bits necessary to send down the pipe.

As engineers, we’re ahead of the artists. We’ve created these revolutionary tools. We’ll be amazed by what the artists come up with.

Stability of tools and platforms is a big problem right now. Today, many of our creative cognitive resources are being used up just to keep up with the rate of change. We’re all confused today, but maybe by 2010, the fog will clear, and we’ll be able to start using the tools creatively.

Maybe music should be viewed as a service, not as a hard good. Why do you have to ‘own’ a copy of the song? Maybe instead of using the current model for selling content, we could embed ads in content, and give it away; or, charge for the same content which has no ads.

4:45 pm

New technology leads to new types of content and subsequently new revenue

streams. Broadcasters and content creators enjoy a symbiotic

relationship-broadcasters will always need stories to tell and content to convey

and creators will always be searching for new ways to tell their story, convey

their content, and distribute it to the widest possible audience. Explore some of

the paths future content creators may travel as the technological evolution

continues.

Moderator:

Panelists:

Apr 11 2000 3:00PM - 4:30PM

The Venetian Room 501

The new demands of convergence-multiple digital and analog

formats, intensified production requirements, alternative modes of

distribution, leveraging assets through re-licensing, and more-have

generated the requirements for comprehensive content management

systems for broadcasting and related industries. Panelists will

describe their experiences regarding the design and implementation of media asset

management systems, while select vendors will provide glimpses into the future of

content management software and systems.

Moderator: Larry Hiner, IBM, Sacramento, CA

Panelists: Jim Reimer, IBM, San Jose, CA; Cynthia Francis, eMotion, Inc.,

Redwood City, CA; Gordon Castle, CNN, Atlanta, GA

Reception and announcement of NetStorming Winners

Apr 11 2000 6:00PM - 6:30PM

The Internet & Media Connection: Where is the Value?

Apr 12 2000 8:30AM - 12:00PM

Las Vegas Hilton Room Pavilions 1-3

As the convergence of media continues and as e-business

and e-commerce grow exponentially, where will the

broadcasting, telephone, cable and satellite industries fit? Are these industries

complimentary, substitutable or both? Where is the value in this larger more

connected environment? Broadcasters, cable, satellite and telephone companies

who have partnered successfully with web site companies will share the keys to

their successful relationships. Representatives from Wall Street will reveal where

tthese values may emerge and what partnerships may increase these values.

8:30 am

Value Creation: Macro forces at work

What is Value? Traditional criteria:

Cash flow, market cap, growth, revenue, earnings, audience size

Relationship between cable and satellite: satellite is very efficient in the one-to-many model.

• Analog to digital
• Linear to interactive
• Physical goods to digital goods
• Push to pull
• One-to-many to One-to-one

New business models will emerge to take advantage of these changes. 3 things will emerge:

• Value
• Customer: intimacy will be key: moving to a customer-centric model. Before, the customer was at the end of the chain, with little true marketing done. In a digital world, the customer has to be at the beginning of the chain. E.g. the MP3.com paradigm: wants to bind 10k bands. Tradl labels don’t know where the pockets of fans are, but mp3.com does. They can use email to tell fans when they’ll be coming to town, etc.
• Content: concept of the content dialtone. The core of content creation. Customers will want to connect to content when, where, and how they want to. Enterprise content management should span the entire value chain. You need to understand what you have, what you can sell, and to whom. Element-based content store. Reporposing digital content: drive scale, cost advantages and support targeted marketing.

Observations: it’s easy to think of the web as a mature marketplace, but in next 3 yrs, we’ll see a ten-fold increase in content. We’ll also see an exponential growth in online consumers – eCommerce.

Agents have become aggregators, where buyers and sellers have been put together. Multiple versions of content, served over multiple networks, to multiple devices at the consumer level. E.g. audio-enabled web surfing in your car.

Solving the last mile infrastructure: this will enable whole new sets of devices at the end of the chain. Wireless devices with 2 MegaBit bandwidth.

Key issues for CEOs: How do I: Use eBusiness to streamline processses, provide new revenue streams, etc.

Linking existing physical business with digital business. Today’s market forces: increased competition, rising costs, shorter time-to-market, need to own and exploit original programming, demand for content customized to viewer

Linkage of new digital platforms to existing infrastructure and content is key

Leveraging the Brand: hotels, films, theme parks, consumer products, book publishing

Threshold entertainment example

What will it take:

• Technology
• Product hardware / software
• Services

Skills of your workers, workflow they function in, leadership opportunities in new markets

• Leverage: knowledge and information
• Transform: core business processess
• Run: scalable, available, safe enfironment
• Build : new applications

9:00 am

Moderator:

Joe Flint, Staff Reporter, Wall St. Journal, New York, NY

Panelists:

Creating a 1:1 relationship with the consumer, thru interactive media of the web. How will users differentiate between 500,000 websites? Brand will be the key. Aggregators will focus on brands to bring content to viewers.

Discovery’s website was always a new media play. Has its own editorial section. It’s a destination, with its own activities. Broadband is the next step in the evolution. Must be treated as a new medium, not adjunct or just more channels of programming.

Titanic expedition on the Discovery Channel: streaming live video from deck of ship prior to the airing of the show, built anticipation. Web traffic during the actual TV program was the biggest ever, and this activity was sustained for weeks with chat, etc. Engaged the audience before, during and after the actual TV broadcast. Liberty Bell Seven and Raising the Mammoth expedition programs did the same thing.

Biggest impediment is adoption in the marketplace: More settop b