The SMPTE Sum-Up: Year End Review

Welcome to the SMPTE Sum-Up, the weekly publication that details the recent and current events of your favorite standards development organization. SMPTE accomplished a lot this year, and we want to celebrate all of it with you. This year at SMPTE:

People

The year started strong by welcoming new SMPTE President Renard T. Jenkins! Jenkins has spent the year supporting struggling sections, educating young engineers about SMPTE, and paving the way for the media technology industry to become a more diverse and inclusive place.

Joining him in these endeavors is our new Director of Business Development and Outreach, Dr. Michele Wright. Together, Dr. Wright and Jenkins were responsible for creating the first ever student chapter at an HBCU. The Clark Atlanta University Chapter is a wonderful addition to the SMPTE family, and we look forward to adding additional student chapters from all over the world.

SMPTE is its members, which is why the members of SMPTE were highlighted during our social media campaign, SMPTE People. Members covered in this campaign include Zandra Clark, Dr. Ryan Hendricks, Polly Hickling, Farisa Ahmed, Nadia Aftab, Jelani Barker, Siegfried Foessel, and many more!

SMPTE would like to thank all of its members for a fantastic year. Your continued support for this organization has not gone unnoticed. We look forward to serving you in the new year. Let’s continue to make SMPTE an innovative force in the world.

Events

SMPTE attended, sponsored, and hosted a myriad of events this past year. Most notably, the Media Technology Summit, our annual conference that you all know and love, was a major success! Attendees raved about the new features such as the SMPTE Spectrum, the Solutions Hub, and the SMPTE Color Bar. They also had a wonderful time with old favorites like technical sessions, off-site visits, and the Annual Gala.

Speaking of the Annual Gala, 17 honors were awarded to 35 individuals. 14 of those individuals are SMPTE Fellows, a level of membership conferred to people who have attained an outstanding rank among engineers or executives in the motion-picture, television or related industries. It was a wonderful evening full of food, celebration, and music, as SMPTE Staff serenaded Director of Membership, Roberta Gorman, who is retiring at the end of the year.

MTS wasn’t the only big technical conference SMPTE attended this year. We had booths at NAB, IBC, SID Display week, and many more. We were also proud to sponsor many events, including the 2023 All American High School Film Festival, which showcased films from promising young talent across the US.

SMPTE Sections

SMPTE Sections had a lot going on this year! New sections were founded, established sections were given support, and some of our largest sections held major events!

We’ve already discussed the opening of our first HBCU student chapter at Clark Atlanta University, but we also have our first student chapter at a Seven Sister’s College. Barnard College is joining the SMPTE family, and we are thrilled to have them!

SMPTE India got a major boost this year when Executive Director, David Grindle, visited section leaders in Mumbi. There, it was announced that a special focus would be given to our India section, leading to education initiatives aimed at students and emerging engineers to grow and sustain the media tech workforce.

SMPTE Sections also held a ton of events. For example, SMPTE UK held The Biggest Virtual Production Show Ever, a huge event showcasing the power of the LED Walls used in Virtual Production. LAMDA students acted in various scenes while engineers and technologists held panel discussions. There was also free food and drinks!

Every SMPTE Section had events this year! Some highlights include SMPTE Atlanta’s Virtual Production Workshop, SMPTE New England’s Reidel Showcase, and SMPTE Sacramento’s “I’d Like to Buy a Vowel,” a special event showing members the technical requirements for an episode of Wheel of Fortune. No matter the section, they all had major events and celebrations!

Standards

The SMPTE Standards community accomplished a lot this year, starting with the webcast, “Essentials of SMPTE Standards Development Process” with Director of Standards Development, Thomas Bause Mason. The webcast detailed the process shared by all SMPTE Technology Committees and encouraged others to join.

This push worked, and many SMPTE members joined Technology Committees and attended the TC meetings, one of which was held in Paris! SMPTE Standards also proved resilient as ever, with Epic Games creating a way to incorporate the standard, ST 2110, into its infrastructure. Many of the trips SMPTE Sections and attendees of MTS took were to ST 2110 facilities.

Education

SMPTE education allowed SMPTE members and non-members alike to continue their education. Even more exciting than our regular array of classes were the special webcasts. Some highlights include Generative AI in Media: Who Will Win and Who Will Lose, From Duct Tape and Bailing Wire to SMPTE ST 2110: How Engineering Students Made the Super Bowl Broadcast Happen, and SMPTE Storytellers: The First Film.

RiS

SMPTE’s Rapid Industry Solutions initiative went through many changes this year, including the addition of new Sr. Manager, Dr. Ryan Hendricks. Dr. Hendricks made great strides in On Set Virtual Production (OSVP) and oversaw the merger between RiS and the Open Services Alliance (OSA).

Speaking of the merger with OSA, these two organizations complement each other greatly, and we’re thrilled to have them on board. One of the projects we’re particularly excited about is the Catena camera lens metadata. We look forward to everything RiS will do in the new year.

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