This news event review covers the Platform 1 industry update held by Soho-based technology supplier root6 at the White Cube in Central London. It was another well-regarded event in their series of technical sessions for broadcast and post-production professionals.
Raising industry product awareness
Root6 organised four separate one-hour engineering and technical sessions for the day, covering: Efficient File-Based Delivery, Working Remotely For Real, Migrating from SDI to IT Networks, and 4K and UHD Beyond the Hype.
I found the day genuinely interesting and educational. A range of highly knowledgeable technical professionals delivered the presentations, all supported by detailed technical slides. Root6 also used the sessions to discuss available solutions featuring products they supply. Representatives from each featured product were available in a separate room during the tea and lunch breaks for more in-depth conversations. Despite the gentle sales element, the day delivered plenty of well-informed technical knowledge for everyone present.
Technical highlights from this news event review
Here are some of the areas I found most valuable during the day.
DPP Delivery
Bill Baker walked us through using Content Agent to deliver the broadcast AS-11 UKDPP file, including the new insert edit feature for last-minute changes. He also covered Meta Agent for managing complex project metadata.
DCP: Digital Cinema Packaging
As a broadcast video editor, I had no prior experience with DCP, so this session provided a useful overview. Seeing inside the folder structures and their mix of files was particularly helpful. Clipster is a product that opens DCP files with a timeline view for editing. The session also covered the audio and video forensic features of the Civolution Nexguard, including encryption, watermarking, and fingerprinting.
IMF: Interoperable Master Format
IMF is a B2B finished master file for distribution to post houses, ad agencies, and broadcasters. Recipients then create all required worldwide and broadcast versions from that single master file. The format allows flexible versioning, as any type of deliverable can be produced from the one master.
Avid Everywhere and Media Composer Cloud
This session provided useful insight into how root6 clients now use this flexible workflow in practice. Remote working gives editors additional capacity, higher throughput, and stronger content security.
Remote working and PCoIP editing
Engineer Matt Ward gave a clear explanation of how PCoIP editing works. The computer CPU and all editing media sit in a remote location, away from the editor’s physical workspace. The editor connects their monitors to a network-connected Amulet Hotkey DXZ4. The DXZ4 handles all editing actions and mouse functions, then renders the changing desktop image in real time back to the editor. Only the desktop image travels over the network, which makes the system usable on a wide range of broadband connections.
This struck me as a genuinely exciting concept for post-production companies and editors. I am now actively looking for a beach hut with a reliable network connection for my next long-form editing project.
CWDM: Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing
A method of combining multiple signals at different wavelengths for transmission over a single fibre channel.
Test signals for digital video
Standard colour bars are ineffective for checking compression in digital video. The TG-100 SRI Visualizer offers a better solution for testing and verifying the quality of digital video signal chains. The test visuals are impressive.
root6 would be happy to answer any questions about the products and services covered above. In addition to their wide range of equipment supply, they also provide systems integration, technical support, and training.
Knowledge sharing
Those who embrace knowledge sharing and a collaborative approach build better professional relationships over time. They also gain greater trust with existing and future clients. root6 clearly understand this, and it shows in how they organise and run these events.
Reflecting on this news event review
Days like this feel genuinely rare in London, which makes them all the more welcome. I had the chance to catch up with a few familiar faces and former colleagues during the day. Andrew, who sat next to me, made the point that this type of event seems far more common in the United States. We both agreed it would be great to see more of the broadcast industry running informative days like this across the UK.
Leaving the White Cube, I found myself thinking about where the industry now gets its training. It brought back memories of my BBC days, when the corporation maintained a large post-production facility with over 160 editors. The BBC trained a significant number of people, including me, to a very high standard. That large-scale in-house training no longer exists. As a result, a substantial portion of UK post-production training has effectively disappeared. With commercial companies facing tighter budgets, it is worth asking whether the technical skill level of the industry is starting to suffer. I genuinely miss working alongside the highly skilled editors, IT experts, and engineers I knew during my BBC years. Being surrounded by creative and talented people is one of the best ways to keep learning.
Thank you to root6 for their generous hospitality and technical expertise. I look forward to the next one.
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