
Avid Turns to User Group for Product-Development Ideas Survey ranks broadcast-sports interest in cloud tech, IP, 4K UHD, audio, and VR/AR By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Thursday, August 3, 2017 - 8:30 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Media-systems developer Avid recently polled its Avid Customers Association (ACA), a customer-led user group, asking systems users in various media verticals what product development they want the company to focus on. The survey, representing more than 6,500 media professionals at more than 4,000 companies in 109 countries, uncovered key investment priorities and technology trends spanning cloud, IP, 4K UHD, audio, and VR/AR - in effect turning the user group into a focus group.
The polling, the second round of which took place early this year and was the first of its kind for Avid, was overseen and audited by the ACA Executive Board of Directors, which includes Dave Mazza, SVP/chief technical officer, NBC Sports Group.
The poll was designed to provide a deeper collaboration between Avid and its community. Participants spanned the areas of creative applications, workflow solutions, and emerging technology.
Respondents in broadcast sports want enhancements to Avid NEXIS and Media Composer.
Under the rubric Workflow Solutions and Key Application Requirements: Sports Production, most respondents wanted to see several new and enhanced functions in Avid NEXIS and Media Composer platforms: the ability to edit while capturing, real-time editor capability on the video server, the ability to edit a clip directly on the video server without rendering via a timeline editor UI, and support for proxy editing with automatic relink to the workflow.
In the sound section, demand was evident for integration of immersive/3D audio via Dolby Atmos and other 3D sound formats into Avid's foundational Pro Tools audio platform, as well as for support for stereo audio in grouped clips in Media Composer.
Improved Sports Workflows
Overall, the poll reflected a desire for faster, more efficient workflows in sports, says Avid President Jeff Rosica: They are clearly looking for highly optimized workflows.
He notes a few surprising results. For instance, more than 70% of respondents - most of whom were SMB or enterprise-level facilities, with a smattering of individual creatives - plan to move some or all of their workflow and infrastructure to a cloud environment over the next two years.
We forecast closer to 30%-40% for that, says Rosica. That was a huge unexpected surprise.
Avid's Jeff Rosica: While [the poll] won't decide everything we do, it will significantly impact product development going forward.
In addition, two-thirds of respondents support the idea of migrating their video to 4K UHD over the next two years, with immersive-audio formats like Dolby Atmos also scoring high.
It's very clear that they're interested in immersive audio formats that complement UHD and 4K video, Rosica notes.
Other findings include:
The vast majority of media professionals (71.7%) are considering moving some part of their infrastructure or workflow to the cloud over the next two years, the most popular being remote-access workflows (15.8%). Just 4.8% are considering moving their entire infrastructure and workflow to the cloud, highlighting the important role that hybrid deployment models will play in the media industry's journey to the cloud.
A hybrid approach will be important also in the industry's transition to IP. Just over half of respondents (50.9%) are considering hybrid SDI/IP connectivity for new investments; 26.6% are considering IP-only connectivity. Dynamic scalability is the most popular reason for considering IP video/audio (36.6%), followed by new high-bandwidth productions like UHD (28.8%) and format-agnostic workflows (16.3%).
High-resolution media formats are firmly taking hold, with the majority of media professionals (64.6%) expecting to implement 4K UHD across their organization within the next two years. OTT or internet delivery is by far the most prevalent delivery mechanism for 4K UHD (50.7%), followed by theatrical/venue viewing (21.6%) and satellite or cable delivery (13.6%). Just 9.9% said terrestrial broadcast is their most prevalent form of 4K UHD delivery. The biggest challenge to adopting 4K is the burden on storage capacity (31.6%), followed by the cost of adding/upgrading 4K capabilities (30.5%) and the negative impact on the real-time performance of creative apps (24.7%).
While more than half of media professionals (58.4%) said that virtual and augmented reality are important to their strategic growth plan, the vast majority (82.3%) aren't yet sure which business models to consider, and most (63%) have no plans to implement VR/AR over the next two or three years. The most appealing applications are for entertainment (23.1%), coverage of sports events (21.25), gaming (20%), and film (19.4%). 15-30 minutes is seen as the ideal length for VR/AR programming (29.4%), followed by 5-10 minutes (25.5%), less than five minutes (18.7%), feature length (16%), and one hour (10.5%).
Interestingly, virtual reality, though high on many lists, was subordinate to more-quotidian issues, such as workflow and cost-efficiency, likely reflecting the budget concerns of networks and producers. Similarly, although immersive audio generated interest, the takeaway is that producers are more interested in ways to improve the efficiency of remote collaboration and production.
According to Rosica, the poll results have already influenced Avid product development, the first round of input spurring enhanced performance for Avid's NEXIS shared-storage platform, as well as PlayMaker 3.5, which streamlines workflow into a single-box, single-operator solution, requiring less equipment and fewer operators. Both enhancements were announc
Most recent headlines
13/03/2025
WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...
13/03/2025
SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...
13/03/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...
13/03/2025
TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...
13/03/2025
Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions.
...
12/03/2025
O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...
12/03/2025
Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...
12/03/2025
Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...
12/03/2025
Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...
12/03/2025
More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report
NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...
12/03/2025
GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...
12/03/2025
BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....
12/03/2025
LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...
12/03/2025
CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....
12/03/2025
Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
High-capacity switch enhances existi...
12/03/2025
DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
Feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for ...
12/03/2025
SVT Leverages Ateliere Live to Pioneer 100% Software-Defined Production at Rally...
12/03/2025
Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant to Four Organizations A total of $17,000 will be distributed among the Boston-based nonprofits.
By
Madd...
12/03/2025
TVBEuropes Jenny Priestley sits down with new SMPTE president Richard Welsh to discuss his aims for the organisation going forward, its efforts to attract a you...
12/03/2025
The new process has significantly enhanced operational efficiencies, with automation freeing up creators to concentrate on higher value tasks
By Matthew Corrig...
12/03/2025
Jellyfish Pictures, which has offices in London and Sheffield, said it has been battling hard in the face of strong headwinds over the last 12 months
By Jenny ...
12/03/2025
Visit Booth #W2213 to Experience the Latest in AI-Driven Content Discovery and Workflow Automation
Bitcentral, a leader in media workflow solutions, is set to ...
12/03/2025
CHICAGO Jeff Lilly has been named WGN-TV director of technology effective March 17, 2025, according to Ric Harris, WGN-TV vice president and general manager....
12/03/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. A new study from LG Ad Solutions indicates that consumers want more features that would allow them to shop for products on the connected T...
12/03/2025
BOTHELL, Wash. The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the Video Services Forum (VSF) will once again present...
12/03/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcast announced that it has upgraded Xfinity Internet speeds for more than 20 million customers for no additional cost....
12/03/2025
Create with Maxon: Cinema 4D Fundamentals Workshop - March 12-14
Brie Clayton March 11, 2025
0 Comments
Makin' Waffles with Elly Wade
During Marc...
12/03/2025
Ottawa, Canada - March 12, 2025 - Ross Video is pleased to announce the appointment of Aaron Tunnell as Business Development Director, Cloud Solutions, reinforc...
12/03/2025
12 Mar 2025
VEON to release 4Q 2024 trading update on 20 March 2025 Dubai, 12 March 2025 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a global digital operator, today confirms ...
12/03/2025
Getting set for the Winter Olympics: Inside SVT's ongoing software-based pro...
12/03/2025
THE PLAYERS Championship 2025: AI Commentary, Shared-Reality Viewing at COSM, La...
12/03/2025
Seamless SMPTE 2110: A Discussion on Making the Move to IP Less Painful Leaders from Netflix, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, LinkedI, and Megapixel address ...
12/03/2025
Opening Doors of Perception: Meta's Ajit Ninan on Rethinking AR/MR Perceptua...
12/03/2025
With the 2025 Formula 1 season set to begin in Melbourne on March 16, Sky Sports is gearing up to deliver its most comprehensive F1 coverage yet. Following a th...
12/03/2025
Unicanal and Trece TV revolutionize Digital TV in Paraguay with Rohde & Schwarz ...
12/03/2025
Honoring Service, Celebrating Sport: Rohde & Schwarz UK Sponsors NavyFit Rugby D...
12/03/2025
New HVS-Q12 Represents a Quantum Leap in Switcher Design...
12/03/2025
Telespazio and ABS Expand Partnership to Deliver Tailored C-Band Connectivity So...
12/03/2025
ABC conducts independent audits across the TAG programs. In the March 2025 TAG s...
12/03/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Moonlight: ESA program to create a satellite con...
12/03/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
In 2025, Thales ranks among the top 0.01% of the...
12/03/2025
Consumer show back following hugely successful first series
10 March 2025 Following a hugely successful first series, The Complaints Bureau returns to RT ...
11/03/2025
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
11/03/2025
Salsa is making a comeback, captivating new listeners with its infectious energy...
11/03/2025
For many people, music can serve as a reflection of their roots and upbringing. ...
11/03/2025
The solution delivers reliable, scalable and secure connectivity for critical pu...
11/03/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced that Weigel Broadcasting has deployed Harmonics VOS Media Software, which offers playout-to-delivery capabilities, inclu...
11/03/2025
NEW BERN, N.C. Wheatstone will introduce a Linux audio driver for its WheatNet IP audio network during the 2025 NAB Show, April 5-9, at the Las Vegas Convention...
11/03/2025
NEW YORK A new study finds that as TV viewership for women's sports surged by 131% in 2024, the programming also saw a 56% year-over-year increase in ad im...
11/03/2025
Powerful switcher for news studio
FOR-A, a cutting-edge video broadcast technology company backed by more than 50 years experience, has installed its HVS-1200 ...