Web Video Moves Beyond Distribution

The Mass Animation Project requires a free download of Autodesk Maya
Unlimited 3D. Collaborators use Maya''s Animation Layers to lay out and animate sections of the script.

The rush is on to take web video to the next level. And not just by distributing Hollywood features and television shows, but by moving back up the production chain to editing and even content creation.

Until recently, distribution was the focus. Companies such as Brightcove, thePlatform, and Move Networks have signed up television networks and Hollywood studios to distribute their offerings online. Although current economic weakness is expected to slow the growth of online ad spending, an October report by eMarketer said current sales numbers seem “generally strong,” with spending growth in the double digits when compared to the first half of 2007.

And now, postproduction is moving to the Web.

One example: RPPtv (rpptv.com) is a United Kingdom-based website aimed at opening new markets for AV content that offers an embedded video-editing app, metadata wrangling, and distribution.

Created out of a European Union-funded R&D project, RPPtv (remote program production) expects to help users “capture, describe, search, create, and distribute” video from anywhere in the world.

One app offered for free on the website is Metadata Editor (MDE). The software allows simple cuts-based editing, with subsequent creation of associated metadata. MDE's output is optimized to work with mediaquicksearch, a rapid indexing and retrieval system that's also embedded on the site. The company plans to release Metadata Editor Professional, a version that will have more advanced features, such as full support for working with advanced authoring format (AAF) files.

At IBC 2008, Apace Systems (apacesystems.com) debuted its ViEW system platform, another web-based approach for remote video editing. The idea? Virtualize the complete post editing workflow so that editors can edit and access each other's media content from anywhere around the world. The company claims you only need a simple browser and Internet or virtual private network (VPN) connection to edit rough cuts online and present the results to target audiences instantly.

Users can edit and cut to timecode on raw and proxy footage using a backend database that manages the collaborative video-editing process between different remote editing locations. A director in the field can access and offer editing instructions to headquarters, drastically cutting down the editing time needed to complete a final cut, according to the company.

A more unusual use of the Internet? How about working on a professional-level animation created by a pickup band of hundreds — perhaps thousands — of animators from around the world?

That's what the company Mass Animation hopes to pull off starting Nov. 17, when it goes live via the vantage point of its Facebook page (facebook.com/massanimation). Anyone who wants to give it a shot can download a free, limited edition of Autodesk Maya, the pro-level 3D modeling and animation software. Working from a storyboard and pre-rigged characters, would-be Pixar stars will animate individual shots from the 5-minute script. If their shots make the final cut, they'll receive compensation, a portion of the film's potential earnings, and credit in the film.

While the community on Facebook will view and vote on shot choice, final decisions rest with Mass Animation's team, which is headed by former Sony Pictures Digital President Yair Landau. “This project will go a long way toward proving you don't have to be part of a large animation company to do professional level work,” Landau says. “This is a prototype of how social networking can enable something creative. I don't know if it will work out, but it could be the future of creative collaboration.”