On how metadata enables enriched file-based production workflows

As file-based production technology gains industry understanding and commercial products are becoming common-place, many broadcasting and production facilities are commencing re-engineering processes towards file-based production workflows. Sufficient attention should however also be spent on the development and incorporation of standardized metadata in order to reach the full potential of such file-based production environments. In addition to its initial meaning, metadata and underlying data models can represent much more than just some metainformation about audiovisual media assets. In fact, properly modeled metadata can provide the structure that holds various media assets together and that guides creative people through production workflows and complex media production tasks. Metadata should hence become a first-class citizen in tomorrow’s filebased production facilities The aim of our paper is to show how standardized metadata standards and data models, complemented by custom metadata developments, can be employed practically in a file-based media production environment in order to construct a coherently integrated production platform. We discuss the types of metadata that are exchanged between different parts of the system, which enables the implementation of an entire production workflow and provides seamless integration between different components.