When it comes to managing video, the requirements are clear’ store it, find it, and retrieve it. The use of video in the enterprise has grown astronomically over the past few years, creating a logistical nightmare for many organizations. In 2008, organizations will undoubtedly look at how they are managing (or not managing) their video assets. Each year, CIOs and IT managers everywhere ponder the technology initiatives that will shape their businesses in the coming year(s).

Employees spend countless hours locating a single clip, while teams fail to take advantage of existing assets, simply because they don’t know what they already have.

For example, an end user can have full rights for Project A with view-only rights for files associated with Project B.

* User rights policies give centralized control over who can see, upload, and download files, letting you provide access, while protecting assets.

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Robert Caldeira is the senior product manager for Focus Enhancements.

Using a standard Web browser gives end users more flexibility and greatly simplifies administration tasks, as there’s no need to install and maintain separate client software. * A browser-based interface provides immediate access to projects and files from any location’ critical for remote and multi-site collaboration.

* A robust search engine ensures users can instantly find the results that meet their criteria.

Beyond physical storage, the right MAM software can help you streamline the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of digital media, saving significant time and money. The following features can help boost productivity and collaboration:

* Rich time-code-based metadata capabilities enable users to categorize, search, and find clips at any exact frame location with unprecedented speed.

When it comes to video, the system should import and display metadata from the camera, along with providing the ability to add custom fields based on projects.

This protects your high-res assets, in addition to conserving network bandwidth and giving end users a quick way to browse media. After previewing clips, users can download the entire clip, or set start and end points to edit or distribute a specific portion. * Proxy viewing lets users preview a – file or footage without the native application’ and without downloading the highresolution original.

Putting it together- software for media asset management

However, it’s not always so simple in the real world. Asset management systems are comprised of ingest/import, transcode, playout, storage, and export components.

Fortunately in 2008 new, turnkey solutions are available that bundle professional-grade hardware with Media Asset Management (MAM) software to provide an ‘out of the box’ experience that can save months of implementation time. Bringing all these pieces together in a seamless fashion can tax even the largest IT department.

The right combination of hardware and software can bring unprecedented levels of immediacy and collaboration in their video workflow.

With a powerful media asset management system that’s designed for (but not limited to) video, users no longer need to thumb through DVDs or folders on their hard drive or local server.

* Support for all media file types gives organizations a centrally-managed, library for all their digital assets, including video, still images text documents, graphics files, and more.

A MAM system should use projects and subfolders to organize and store media and related files. * A strong organizational structure is essential. Media can be assigned to folders based on metadata, allowing the same video clips to be shared among projects for efficient storage.

* An intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) simplifies the learning curve.

Robert Caldeira, Focus Enhancements