The SMPTE Sum-Up-June-9-2023

Welcome to the SMPTE Sum-Up, the weekly publication that details the recent and current events of your favorite standards development organization. This week at SMPTE:

First and foremost, SMPTE would like to acknowledge and welcome all of our new members! Not to brag, but corporate membership is on the rise and a campaign for individual and student membership is in the works. We even have a YouTube ad that’s been seen by 100,000 people in the three weeks it’s been live. We look forward to this continued growth and will do everything in our power to ensure the success of our membership.

Last week was HUGE for SMPTE Sections, with meetings and events galore. On May 23rd, SMPTE Philadelphia hosted Engage Audiences Using Edge-Rendered Graphics, which was a seminar on engaging audiences using edge-rendered graphics. Hosted by Colin Brown of Ease Live, the event highlighted the potential of interactive graphics overlay platforms, especially useful for companies that deal with live sporting events.

On May 25th, SMPTE Hollywood held the event, Remastering Feature Films for and Immersive Sound Environment. Brian Vessa and Doug Mountain from Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. Discovery, respectively, tackled the challenge of reformatting classic film for modern viewing audiences, who have gotten used to seeing films made for the current sound immersion of movie theaters. However, they have yet to tackle the issue of hearing the action movie playing in the theater next door to the rom-com you’re seeing.

On May 31^st, SMPTE San Francisco held the event, To the Cloud: Hybridized Video Production. This event was hosted by Ciel Creative Space in Berkeley and had a number of speakers including BirdDog’s Jake Fineman and ASG’s John Shike. The event featured comparisons with NDI and ST 2110, along with live demonstrations of what hybridized video production will look like in the near future.

On June 6^th, SMPTE Montreal ran an event called, Agile Production Infrastructure. The name implies that studios can produce films at super speed, and that’s not far from what the event was showcasing. With multiple speakers leading sessions on the benefits of software-based systems, the event was attended by some of the industry’s brightest minds.

Lasty, we would like to take a moment to honor the life and work of David Wood. David spent his life dedicated to the technical side of the film and television industry. A recipient of the SMPTE Progress Award, a member of the SMPTE Journal Special Edition’s editorial committee, and the former chair of the International Telecommunication Union’s working group that drafted a recommendation for Ultra High-Definition Television, he touched many lives through his life and through his work. He will be missed. A celebration of his life was held by SMPTE Sacramento on June 3^rd.

That’s it for this week’s SMPTE Sum-Up. For more information on past and current events, standards projects, and webcasts, visit our website. See you next week!