12/7/2016

What is MXF

MXFOverview

Home

MXFNews

WhatisMXF?

Documents

EventPhotos

UsefulLinks

Contact

Thechangingtechnologyoftelevisionproductionanddigitalservicesto
viewersmeansthewaysformovingcontentprogrammevideoandaudio
instudiosischangingtoo.Notonlyistherefargreateruseofcomputers
andITrelatedproducts,suchasservers,butalsorelianceonautomation
andthereuseofmaterialhaveexpanded.Besidestheneedtocarry
metadata,filetransfersareneededtofitwithcomputeroperationsand
streamedforrealtimeoperations.
ThedevelopmentoftheMaterialExchangeFormat(MXF)isaremarkable
achievementofcollaborationbetweenmanufacturersandbetweenmajor
organisationssuchasProMPEG,theEBUandtheAAFAssociation.It
establishesinteroperabilityofcontentbetweenvariousapplicationsusedin
thetelevisionproductionchain.Thisleadstooperationalefficiencyand
creativefreedomthroughaunifiednetworkedenvironment.
MXFisafiletransferformat,whichisopenlyavailabletoallinterested
parties.Itisnotcompressionschemespecificandsimplifiesthe
integrationofsystemsusingMPEGandDVaswellasfuture,asyet
unspecified,compressionstrategies.Thismeansthetransportationof
thesedifferentfileswillbeindependentofcontent,notdictatingtheuseof
specificmanufacturers'equipment.Anyrequiredprocessingcansimplybe
achievedbyautomaticallyinvokingtheappropriatehardwareorsoftware
codec.However,MXFisdesignedforoperationaluseandsoallhandling
processesareseamlesstotheuser.Itjustworks!

Besidesofferingbetterinteroperabilityworkingwithvideoandaudio
betweendifferentequipmentanddifferentapplicationstheothermajor
contributionisthetransportofmetadata.BydevelopingMXFfromthe
beginningasanewfileformat,considerablethoughthasgoneintothe
implementationanduseofmetadata.Notonlyisthisimportantforthe
properfunctioningofMXFfiles,itwillalsoenablepowerfulnewtoolsfor
mediamanagement.

WhatisMXF?
MXFisafileformatfortheexchangeofprogrammematerialbetween
servers,tapestreamersandtodigitalarchives.Itscontentsmaybea
completeprogrammeaswellascompletepackagesorsequences.There
arebasicfacilitiesavailableforcutsbetweensequencesandaudio
crossfades.Thiswaythesequencescanbeassembledintoprogrammes.
MXFisselfcontained,holdingcompletecontentwithoutneedofexternal
material.
MXFbundlestogethervideo,audio,andprogrammedata,suchastext
togethertermedessencealongwithmetadataandplacesthemintoa
wrapper.It'sbodyisstreambasedandcarriestheessenceandsomeof
themetadata.Itholdsasequenceofvideoframes,eachcompletewith
associatedaudio,anddataessence,plusframebasedmetadata.The
lattertypicallycomprisestimecodeandfileformatinformationforeachof
thevideoframes.Thisarrangementisalsoknownasaninterleavedmedia
file.
Thebodycanbebasedonseveraldifferenttypesofmaterial(essence)
includingMPEG,DVanduncompressedvideoandaudio,italsousesthe
SMPTEKLVdatacodingsystem,whichhastheadvantageofbeinga
recognisedstandard.
le:///Volumes/ALEJANDRO%20EHD%201/PARA%20REVISAR%20Y%20BORRAR/1/PAGINAS/What%20is%20MXF.htm

1/5

12/7/2016

What is MXF

Aims
In1999,workstartedwithinProMPEGForumtoestablishauniversalfile
formatfortheinterchangeofprogrammematerialbetweenfileservers
andworkstations.Althoughnetworkingandfiletransfersarealready
commonplaceinbroadcastingtheyaremostlybasedonproprietary
formats,whichmayhaverestrictedfunctionalityandarenotfully
interoperable.Typically,althoughthevideoandaudioarepreserved,
metadataisforthemostpartnotcarried,ignoredorlost.
Forusers,theaimsforthenewformatwerethatitshouldbe:
Easytounderstandandapply
Openand,whenready,standardised
Compressionindependent
Useableonmajorplatformoperatingsystemsandnetworks
MXFistargetedatprofessionalvideoandbroadcastapplications,which
excludesconsumerapplicationsatoneendandcomplexeditingand
authoringattheother.Itisdesignedtocarrycontinuousprogramme
materialandmetadata(see"WhatisMXF?").Typicalapplicationsare
carryingnewlyshotmaterialandfinishedprogrammes.Thistargeting
keepsMXFrelativelysimpleandefficientasit
avoidsthecomplexityandoverheadsneededforeditingandauthoring.
However,itisdesignedtointeroperatewiththoseareas.SoProMPEGand
theAAF(AdvancedAuthoringFormat)haveandare
continuingtoworktogethertoensuretheirformatsarecompatible(see
MXFandAAF).

Streamingandfiletransfers
Traditionallybroadcasttelevisionhasbeenbuiltaroundstreamingvideo
andaudio.Thisislogicalastheoriginalsceneactionandtheviewer
expectationisofcontinuousrealtimevideoandaudiosupportedby
continuousstreaming.PALandNTSCanaloguecompositevideo,and
digitalSDI(serialdigitalinterface)andSDTI(serialdigitaltransport(data)
interface)allstream.Butcomputersystemsexchangedatabyfile
transfers.
Streamingmedia:
Isviewableduringtransferbeforeallthedataisdelivered
Offersminimumdelayforliveaction
Ispointtopointwithnobottlenecks:offersreliable,continuous
operation
Networkedmedia:
Useslowpriced,standardITcomponents
Maybestoredonawidevarietyofdevicesincludingdisksandtape
Offersflexibledataexchange,sharinganddistribution

le:///Volumes/ALEJANDRO%20EHD%201/PARA%20REVISAR%20Y%20BORRAR/1/PAGINAS/What%20is%20MXF.htm

2/5

12/7/2016

What is MXF

Bothrealtimestreamingandfiletransferhavetheiradvantagesandboth
willcontinueinuse.Therefore,itisessentialthatbothhavesomedegree
ofcompatibilitysotheycancoexistandallowmaterialexchangebetween
them.Withthisinmind,thedesignofMXFmakesitafileformatthatcan
streamcreatingaseamlessbridgebetweenthetwotransfertypes.
Operationally,thereisnoeffortinvolvedbeyondrequestingthetransfer.
So,forexample,advantagecanbetakenoftheflexibilityofAAFin
postproductionand,via'invisible',simplefileconversion,MXFforthe
finishedplayouttotapestreamerorserverstorage.Notethatthefile
conversionislosslessforvideoandaudio,ifthecompressionschemeis
notchanged.
Inasimilarway,operationalandcreativestaffwanttoconcentrateon
theirtasksandnotbotherwithcompressionissues.Butisitalsotruethat
nosinglecompressionformatwillsuitallapplicationsandvariousschemes
willcontinuetobeused.ThereforeMXFiscompressionindependent,
offeringthesameserviceregardlessofthecompressioninuse.Thisallows
manufacturerstoprovideequipmentwithmultiplecompressioncodecs,
whichcouldleadtoseamlessworkingbetween,forexample,MPEGand
DVbasedsystems.

Openformatsandstandardisation
MXFisanopensolutionandsohasbeensubmittedtoSMPTEfor
standardisation.Together,theProMPEGForumandAAFAssociationhave
supportfromasubstantialcrosssectionoftheindustry.Inaddition,close
collaborationwithusergroups,suchastheEBU,ensurethatusers'needs
areincorporated.Atthesametime,manymanufacturersandsuppliersof
softwareandhardwarearekeentoimplementMXFassoonaspossible.
Asmentioned,inamovetowardsearlystandardisation,MXFalready
adherestoSMPTEKLVguidelines(Key,Length,Valueamethodfor
wrappingdatafortransportovernetworks).

Interoperability
AchievinginteroperabilityistheprimeobjectiveofProMPEGandMXF.
Thishasbeenimplementedinthreeareas.
Crossplatform.Itwillworkacrossdifferentnetworkprotocolsandacross
operatingsystemsincludingWindows,Mac,OS,UnixandLinux.
le:///Volumes/ALEJANDRO%20EHD%201/PARA%20REVISAR%20Y%20BORRAR/1/PAGINAS/What%20is%20MXF.htm

3/5

12/7/2016

What is MXF

Compressionindependent.Itdoesnotconvertbetweencompression
formatsitdoesmakemanagingmorethanoneinasingleenvironment
easier.Itcanhandleuncompressedvideo.
Streaming/transferbridging.MXFinteroperatesseamlesslywith
streamingmediaespeciallySDTIwherefullytransparentinterchangeis
achieved.Thisperformanceisbidirectional:achievedgoingfrom
MXFtostreamingandviceversa.,andmeansSDTIfitseasilyintoafile
basedenvironment.Thisistrueconvergence.

Metadata
AmajoraimofMXFistheseamlesspassageofprogrammecontentandits
associatedmetadata.Alsoreferredtoas'dataaboutdata'itexistsinany
systemtoday.Forexample,timecodeisa
formofmetadata.Theproblemisthat,duetoincompatibilities,this
informationiscurrentlylostasthecontentmovesbetweensystems.MXF
enabledsystemswillcommunicateusingmetadata,videoand
audio.MXFmetadatamaycarryinformationabout:
Thefilestructure
Thebodycontentse.g.MPEGorDV,525or625,etc.
Keywordsortitles
Subtitles
Referencenumbers
Editingnotes
Location,time,dateandversionnumber
.....
Thelistmaybeendless.Inextremecasesfilesmaycontainmore
metadatathanvideooraudiocontent!However,theefficient
implementationofmetadataisseenasthekeytomaterialmanagement.
The
metadatamaybefilteredtoholdonlywhatisrelevanttotheparticular
operationalenvironment,therebycuttingpossiblemetamountains.
Ithasnoneedtocarrytheediting'EDL'information.Ifthecontenthas
comefromaneditsession,theeditingdatawillhavebeenusedto
conformthematerialandsohasnofurtherusehere.Shouldfulledit
archivingberequireditshouldbeperformedasapartoftheediting
operation,beforeoutputtingtoMXF.(See"WhatisMXF?")

Industrysupport
ThespeedofprogressofMXFisatributetothemanydedicatedengineers
acrosstheindustryworkingtogethertowardsacommonobjective.
Manufacturersandusersbothrecognisethatthereisawindow
ofopportunitytoestablishanindustryfileformatstandard.Theuseof
videowillincreaseintoanexpandingarrayofbroadcastandallied
applications,aswilltheuseofITandservers.Anydelayinestablishing
standardswillmakethetaskmoredifficultasproprietarysolutionswill
spreadintotheformatvacuum.

MXFandAAF
AdvancedAuthoringFormat(AAF)isanindustrydrivenopenstandardfor
multimediaauthoringandpostproduction.Itenablescontentcreatorsto
easilyexchangedigitalmediaandmetadataacrossplatformsandbetween
applications.Itsimplifiesprojectmanagement,savestimeandpreserves
valuablemetadatathatwasoftenlostinthepastduringmediatransfers.
MXFisderivedfromtheAAFdatamodelandisasimpleinterchange
format,primarilytofacilitatethetransferoffinishedcontent,whole
programmesorcompletedsections,betweenserversandtotape
streamers.MXFalsohelpswiththemigrationofplayoutoperationsand
simplerproductionsystemsintostandardnetworkedenvironments.
le:///Volumes/ALEJANDRO%20EHD%201/PARA%20REVISAR%20Y%20BORRAR/1/PAGINAS/What%20is%20MXF.htm

4/5

12/7/2016

What is MXF

Thetwoformatsareespeciallycomplementary.WhereasAAFintegrates
closelywith,andcomplements,existingmediafileformats,MXFoffersthe
sameforexistingstreamformatsaswellasAAFfiles.Bothformatscan
standontheirownandeachhasafunctionalityanddesignoptimisedfor
theirparticularspheresofapplication.Atthesametime,onedoesnot
dependontheother.Forexample,awholebroadcastsystemmayuse
onlyMXFandapostproductionhouse,justAAF,butabroadcasterwitha
postfacilitymaywelluseboth.
WhiletheMXFandAAFarecomplementary,therearemanydifferences.
OneisthatAAFmaycarryreferencestooutsidematerialheldinother
places,tobeusedinaneditwhereasMXFisalwayscompleteandself
contained:notrequiringanyaccesstooutsidematerial.InadditionAAF
includesbasicvideotransitionprocessingwhereasMXF,carrying
completedprogrammematerial,hasnoneedofthat.

Conclusions
MXFisdrivenbyuserneedsandsohasastrongcommercialbase.Even
normallycompetitivemanufacturersareworkingtogetherathighspeedto
provideanopenindustrysolutiontofileinterchange.Workingtogether,
targetshavebeenmetMXFisnowsubmittedtoSMPTEandiswellonits
waytohelpingmediaflowinthetelevision/ITconvergentworld.Endusers
willbeabletobettermanagetheirmediaandtoconcentrateontheir
primetasksofproductivityandcreativity.

le:///Volumes/ALEJANDRO%20EHD%201/PARA%20REVISAR%20Y%20BORRAR/1/PAGINAS/What%20is%20MXF.htm

5/5