Innovation in the Multi-Screen World Momentum Media Asset Management & Workflow Automation
Momentum What s inside? Momentum from Snell 03 Snell a new kind of media technology company 04 Media Resource Management 05 Media Asset Management 06 Workflow Automation 07 Business Intelligence & Project Planning 08 Integrating Momentum with your business 09 Partnering with Snell 10 Momentum key features 11
Intelligence, simplicity, speed and productivity for your media asset management, processing and distribution operations. Momentum from Snell We live and operate in a market environment that is more dyamic than ever before and with an unprecedented amount of opportunities for your customers to view and interact with media content. Likewise, never have there been so many ways to differentiate your service from your competitors, and create new revenue streams. Progressive media organizations are developing multi-platform infrastructures where on-line and mobile channels complement their main TV and cinematic operations. On large or small screens, in standard or high-definition, 2D or 3D, at home or on the move the choice of how, where and when to engage with content is increasing. Today, it s not just a question of watching the movie or TV show blockbusters have become big brands with a rich variety of media associated with each production. From computer games to mobile phone ringtones - many opportunities arise to reinforce your brand and generate new revenue streams. However, does your organization s ability to manage content match your marketing team s ability to monetize your media assets? In today s multi-screen, multi-platform media world, those organizations that have efficient content management processes are best positioned to exploit their media assets in support of their marketing strategy. Culturally and content wise, the most effective media organizations are good at change, good at reinvention and good at discovering and producing the next big thing. In our industry today the challenge of ever changing business demands has meant that media organizations need to ensure that they can adapt their processes and systems to suit these needs at the same time as efficiently managing media resources. Snell has responded to this by introducing a new concept in flexible workflow optimization, manipulation and Media Asset Management Momentum. The media landscape is changing let us help you to change with it Any content, anytime, any device Everywhere. 03
Momentum is a versatile media processing and distribution management architecture that can be molded to your business needs. Snell a new kind of media technology company Snell has over four decades of pioneering experience within the broadcast industry with a new media vision and approach. In the past Snell solved many of our industry s biggest challenges: now we re solving the biggest challenge facing the industry today. Momentum is a versatile media processing and distribution management architecture that can be molded to your business needs. It possesses the power and potency to transform and support your media operations today and in the future. and it will provide you with the business intelligence you need to make strategic decisions in a dynamic, fast-moving market. As much care and skill goes into its application within your business as has been invested in the evolution of its building blocks. To aid Momentum s application within a broad range of enterprise-specific applications, Snell has assembled a dedicated team of specialists in technology and business integration. Snell can simplify, accelerate and bring momentum to all your media business operations. It will enable you to realize your media vision; it will ensure that your enterprise operates with new standards in efficiency; 04
Media Resource Management a business orientated solution The management of media assets has been a cornerstone of the broadcast industry for many years. Snell has worked with the industry s key technology providers on the creation of leading solutions around the world. In particular, Snell s expertise has been used to solve issues of scaling real-time file management systems and the fulfilment of many concurrent demands. Today s media market demands a different approach to this challenge. The concept of media resource management incorporates many of the most cohesive features of Media Asset Management systems, but critically it transforms their operation by providing a sharp new business focus. TV everywhere relies on effective business data. Through the analysis of high quality operational intelligence your business can perform at optimum capacity. The purpose of many media facilities is to capture and store content, re-purpose it according to demand and then to distribute it across a range of platforms and channels. Underlying all of these operations is a mission critical requirement efficiency. Today, much of this media supply chain is not heavily automated, however when achieved, effective media process automation transforms the way your facility operates securing revenues by making your operations reliable and repeatable. This is the central purpose of Momentum its architecture has three application areas: Workflow Automation Media Asset Management Project Planning & Business Analytics 05
Underlying all these operations is a mission critical requirement efficiency. Media Asset Management At the heart of Momentum is the ability to capture and store media assets along with their associated metadata. No one metadata model will fit all media operations and provide a lifetime solution. The Momentum database can support any number of bespoke schemas to suit the needs of your media operation, essentially it evolves in harmony with your business model. Supporting rich metadata is key for modern file-based operations, including the ability to support complex media objects such as MXF wrapped files where essence components may need to be handled separately. In addition, Momentum manages relationships between multi-part programming. With Momentum s unique operating paradigms your business team benefits from unprecedented search capabilities and elegant results display options including thumbnails and low resolution proxy browsing. Momentum s database can track genealogy, the parent-child relationships of media within the system. Ingest & Quality Control are functions that provide the foundation of an efficient media facility. Momentum can acquire content in any form from tape ingest, recording live feeds to file-based delivery. They are managed as part of a comprehensive workflow that enables subsequent processes, such as manual or automated review for quality control or automated transcoding to a mezzanine or house format. In today s IT-centric media world the issue of Storage Management has taken on new importance. Momentum employs content management protocols that intelligently supervise file storage operations across diverse server architectures. The system s inherent intelligence can support multiple types of storage system and even multi-site infrastructures optimizing LAN and WAN network transfers. Creation of additional revenue generating assets from existing material is achieved using Momentum s Timeline Editing facility. Material can be viewed on a web browser, edited and an EDL sent for final craft editing. On completion of the edit assests are automatically updated and linked to the parent asset for full tracability. Material access rights are managed on a user, role and scope basis for full flexibility and all important security ensuring that only material intended for permitted services can be accessed. The best ingest and storage systems are pointless unless the information can be found, therefore the role of your media facility library is critical. The combination of Momentum s rich metadata and sophisticated storage management capabilities provides a working library that can form the heart of your media operation. Through open interfaces, such as BXF, Momentums comprehensive Web Services API or proprietary third party interfaces, Momentum can service and support your media operation, seamlessly exchanging content and associated metadata as, where and when it is needed. Momentum ensures integrity, interoperability and flexibility at the heart of the media factory. 06
Workflow Automation Momentum s concepts of Media Resource Management introduce new efficiency paradigms within media operations and processes. It ensures scalability in workflows: at all times the operating capacity within your media factory is measured as being appropriate to demands placed on it, allowing resource allocation to be planned intelligently and efficiently. The challenge to conventional workflow systems is that many MAM systems are built on static workflow logic that is coded into the system by the technology supplier. This means that to modify, replace or define a new workflow customers need to endure the time and expense of the MAM supplier attending site to make such modifications. Where analytics have identified bottlenecks or inefficiencies in the system it can be highly frustrating to the customer not to be able to make even the most simple of workflow modifications themselves. Momentum employs a completely different approach to these workflow challenges. It includes a fully user configurable and highly intuitive workflow customization tool that allows users to not only react to changing business demands but also to define entirely new workflows from scratch using a simple drag and drop interface. This same tool can be used to monitor the running workflows in real-time helping you avoid media delivery headaches, giving a full visualization of the root cause of any process restrictions that happen to occur. Any number of process elements can be included in a Momentum workflow including device control, human intervention and QC as well as calling other central workflows defined by the user within Momentum. Momentum allows you to map out your entire enterprise s media workflows creating otherwise unachievable levels of efficiency. From the outset Momentum has been designed to support a multitude of content delivery platforms and includes open interfaces to facilitate no nonsense interoperability with other platforms such as planning management or VOD systems. Catalog screen Workflow screen Workflow automation schematic 07
Momentum allows planning and analytics for true understanding of resource utilization. Business Intelligence & Project Planning The use of business intelligence is essential to achieving strategic business imperatives by defining a clear set of objectives and having the ability to analyze, adapt and define a route to achieving them you can ensure success. With clear objectives, scheduled tasks and resource tracking, there can be no confusion who does what and by when. Momentum includes project and resource management tools. With the addition of these modules, Momentum becomes a true Enterprise solution, providing a single platform through which all elements that contribute to the delivery workflow can be effectively managed: media assets, human and technical resources (devices, applications, suites). Momentum Planner has been developed in direct response to market demand for more flexible, user-friendly and inclusive operational management systems. It provides the business with a complete picture of the project pipeline in real-time from any location engaging all involved from sales and administrative staff to operators, editors and journalists to deliver effective scheduling, reporting and analysis. Momentum s business intelligence tools can be likened to Business Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and enables operations to become more agile by improving communications, planning and understanding the productivity of existing resources. Using Momentum, organizations will obtain optimal results from their most valuable assets and increase ROI by optimizing expensive production systems, whilst minimizing wasted time. Momentum Planner allows users to base their decisions on accurate real-time information. Defining their own key performance indicators and to access information through visual charts and reports or to receive alarms when critical decision criteria are met. Planner screen 08
Integrating Momentum with your business At Snell, we understand the need for continuity within your business operations and the way you service your clients. The adoption of Momentum within your business is focused on evolution and not revolution. Our approach is to identify the stakeholders within your business that will be affected by this transformation process. We will conduct a thorough process analysis: this might be undertaken by Snell specialists or by one of our integrated partners who will conduct an extensive study of your business requirements and how Momentum s process and analytics frameworks integrate into your business management systems. This critical planning phase will serve to define in detail the business benefits that you will enjoy. It will define the system that we will develop and the associated project definition will define how Snell will achieve this goal. You will receive a full commercial proposal, which often will require a proof of concept system. This will not be a big bang transformation, but rather a phased implementation with a structured introduction across your business operations. We will explain how this will happen, and what levels of associated training and operational support your staff will receive. Momentum represents new thinking and a new approach to long-standing issues, but its implementation is an entirely managed process where risks are contained and a well developed roadmap indicates where you will go, and how you will get there. Momentum represents new thinking and a new approach. 09
Momentum By partnering allows with planning Snell, your and analytics organization for true immediately understanding taps of into this resource wealth of utilization. cross-industry intelligence. Partnering with Snell For many years Snell has provided business solutions for media operations around the world. It has addressed the requirement to manage workflows in complex multi-device, multi-demand environments, even with the added complexity of multi-site operations. Benefiting from decades of pioneering experience in the broadcast, AV and electronic media industries, Snell has succeeded in blending its broadcast industry heritage with many of the more unrestricted and unconventional operating practices found in other technology sectors. However, Snell understands the media industry s special nature and requirements. We recognize the implications of mission critical operations and have met the needs of broadcast and media customers worldwide throughout our history. Irrespective of the technologies we employ today and the companies that we partner, one concept is cast in stone Snell s commitment to quality and service. Snell s mission is to service its customers with the tools and technologies that allow them to prepare their media for any particular distribution channel at the right cost level. An important part of this task is to prepare organizations for the unpredictable. Snell is not alone in driving this revolutionary new approach to media co-operation and collaboration. Before embarking on Momentum s development we already possessed unrivalled third-party knowledge, experience and integration experience. In developing Momentum s facilities we have cast the net wider still and harnessed the skills and knowledge of an unprecedented broad base of technology, industry and business specialists. By partnering with Snell, your organization immediately taps into this wealth of crossindustry intelligence. 10
Momentum key features Workflow Management Represent workflow graphically with a powerful & easy-to-use node diagram Design and implement workflows Delegate repetitive tasks to Momentum, triggering and controlling thirdparty applications and devices Monitor each scheduled or running process continuously with event-based tools Receive reports and notifications of process status Ingest Tape, File and Live Ingest Acquire content in any format, from a large variety of devices (VTR/VCR, Camera, Live feeds, Watch Folders) Automated extraction of technical metadata Create new material and metadata before receiving content Catalog Federated search Automated metadata extraction and manual metadata insertion Easy interrogation through the album of content Content genealogy tree management system Make saved searches private and/or public Customizable metadata sets and timesaving metadata schema templates Quality Control Integration with many third party QC applications, such as Tektronix Cerify, Amberfin icr, Venera Technologies Pulsar, Interra System Baton Receive QC results Editing Make fast and simple cut editing Cut edit either off-line or on-line Collaborative editing process User-friendly interface, based on a time-line with audio, video, text and graphics tracks Integration with the many editing applications, such as Final Cut, Premiere and Avid Transcoding Transcode media files from any given format to any other format, from the highest quality to proxy generation, by using the Momentum Transcoder or triggering third-party transcoders Perform up/down/aspect ratio/cross/ standards conversions using Snell s FileFlow or third party applications Full integration with many third party transcoding applications, such as Amberfin icr, Harmonic Rhozet CC, Grab Networks Anystream Agility, Telestream Flip Factory Delivery Upload content to appropriate delivery sites Receive a notifications relating to the delivery process 11
Innovation in the Multi-Screen World Company policy is one of continuous product improvement. Specifications are therefore provisional and subject to change without notice. snellgroup.com Momentum is powered by Mantrics Technology 2012 Snell. All rights reserved. momentum_v2