A New Year and Exciting Enhancements to the Motion Imaging Journal and SMPTE Membership

Starting the new year with an exciting new look for the Motion Imaging Journal is a great way to share the energy and ideas of SMPTE members. The new look of this journal comes from feedback and input from our editorial board and journal staff members. The journal has had many “refreshers” over its history. This is just one in a series of modifications. What remains constant is the peer-reviewed content.

Peer-review has long been used in science and technology to ensure that accurate and honest information is shared. Applying this process to our journal and technical papers gives SMPTE a global reputation for solid science. I am thankful to the peer reviewers who make this process possible and the authors who put in the time and effort and are willing to have their work scrutinized by their peers. Our goal is to keep increasing the number of authors that submit work for peer review to get the latest research from related fields and those from our historical pool of media scientists and technologists. Outreach to computer science, physics, and engineering professionals to submit their work is key to maintaining a strong and healthy journal. 

Our members also noted that they would like use cases and other types of articles. This, too, is important. Many of our members work in the field of applied media science daily. Those stories of success, discovery, and sometimes failure are equally important. They require editors but not necessarily a scientific peer review. It makes them no less important to our members. We are excited to expand the journal to include these articles.

Including these adds value for our readers globally while opening the door for new authors to share their experiences with the SMPTE membership.

Adding these updates suggested by our members keeps the members’ voices centered in SMPTE. Paired with the inclusion of the full Standards Library Access and Self-Paced Learning in the cost of membership for each person, SMPTE is reinventing its view of member benefits. These reflect the reality of what people look for in membership organizations.

Our Standards community continues its work on revisions and updates to Standards and discusses the impact of AI and the move to opensource environments. Both will impact the traditional systems for creating Standards but will not negate the need for Standards. This remains part of SMPTE’s core. 

In addition to Standards, our members seek support in learning skills and showing the success of that learning. We are working to provide those kinds of certificates that can be shared and acknowledged by employers. This is yet another member request that we are working to address to provide the value that members seek in being part of SMPTE.

With all this said, I implore you to be active and engaged in your chosen Section, chapter, or global effort. We need your constructive ideas and input. As members, you can best articulate what brings value to your work environment. As a global organization, we must acknowledge that what one part of our membership needs, another may find less valuable. But that doesn’t mean there is no value. We may be like the American Automobile Association, providing a myriad of benefits used by some of our members and not by others, yet offering value to all.

I hope you enjoy the refreshed version of the Motion Imagining Journal and look forward to continuing to bring value to your SMPTE membership.