From drone technology to high volume media storage, archiving and distribution, the forthcoming SMPTE Australia Conference & Exhibition (SMPTE15), be held 14-17 July in Sydney will feature a range of solutions from over 130 exhibitors across two halls and outdoor displays.

The event will highlight subjects such as internet protocol (IP), the cloud, high dynamic range (HDR), and Ultra High Definition (UHD) video. It will also explore the next generation of video encoding after H.264, high-efficiency video coding (HEVC), as well as enhanced transmission and delivery mechanisms.

A comprehensive solution for digital archiving of video and film content is being outlined at the conference held annually by the Australia Section of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE).

Peter Symes, the director of standards and engineering at SMPTE, USA, will present on the Archive Exchange Format (AXF), a standard developed by SMPTE to handle archives of essentially unlimited size (spanning multiple media units if required), which is independent of the storage medium, the operating system, and the application that creates it, and facilitates migration to new media.

The AXF standard was designed to meet the needs of moving image archives, but is in no way restricted and will support any form of data. For example, the US Library of Congress is already working towards the adoption of AXF for databases of large volumes of geophysical data. AXF supports rich metadata and, as the tools defined by AXF became understood by end users, it became apparent that those tools offered solutions to file management and documentation needs throughout the production workflow, starting on the set. Through a simple, straightforward modification of the XML schema that underlies AXF, it is possible to create manifests of files that carry file metadata needed throughout the workflow all the way to the archive. In essence, use of AXF tools upstream of archives permits application of AXF in "unwrapped" form, with the files being "wrapped" into AXF Objects for archival purposes when desired. The paper will describe upstream applications of AXF and the modifications of the AXF schema necessary to enable those applications.

Also on the program, Savva Mueller of Masstech Group, Canada, will address the need for media asset management systems to address legacy archives and leverage valuable metadata in their associated databases. Also how they can leverage unstructured metadata including related documents and closed captions to provide the asset management system with rich, otherwise-unavailable metadata for legacy content without significant manual effort.

Dominic Hundleby  of the National Archives of Australia (NAA), will provide an overview of the NAA’s digitisation process for non-theatrical motion picture film.

"2015 promises to offer our best SMPTE conference program in a long time, and it also marks the beginning of SMPTE's centenary year," said Paul Broderick, chair of the SMPTE Australia Section. "We've got a wide array of sessions and presenters who will provide educational, thought-provoking, and even controversial perspectives on the trends and technologies driving our industry forward. A truly international conference, SMTPE15 will give attendees the chance to hear from thought leaders from around the globe and to gain insight into the future of media creation, delivery, display, and consumption. I am particularly delighted to welcome Chris Fetner from Netflix as keynote speaker."

Fetner is director of global content partners operations at Netflix. In this role he leads the team that serves as the primary technical liaison with the content owners and service vendors supplying the Netflix streaming platform. He also oversees the deployment of tools, processes, and knowledge in order to enable simple, efficient delivery of high-quality content to Netflix. With his keynote, "The Next 100 Years of SMPTE: How It Will Shape the Future of Motion Pictures," he promises to challenge the industry and SMPTE members to recognize, embrace, and facilitate the evolution of a media landscape in which IP delivery of moving images is a dominant mechanism for content delivery.

SMPTE15 will take place at the Hordern Pavilion & Royal Hall of Industries in Moore Park, Sydney. Free registration for the exhibition is available HERE

Complete details on pricing for full conference passes and for day passes are available online at http://smpte.com.au/conference/, and the current conference programme is available online at https://edas.info/p18525.