Media & Entertainment have been deeply affected by current events. Increased streaming demands and unprecedented stress on infrastructure have forced media companies to quickly adapt and accelerate their digital transformation, yet the future remains uncertain. How will this unprecedented crisis affect content product and distribution? Who will be the winners and losers in the aftermath? What technologies will move to the forefront? Join Equinix and the Entertainment Technology Center on Thursday, April 30 for an insightful and provocative conversation with an array of thought leaders as we explore the future and its opportunities. Continue reading Virtual Event: The Future of M&E in a Time of Radical Change

The Entertainment Technology Center at USC today announces the release of its latest series, “vETC | The Grand Convergence 2019: Innovation and Integration,” recorded August 27-28 in Technicolor’s Experience Center and Google’s Spruce Goose airship. ETC’s 5th annual virtual conference of significant presentations around emerging technologies and their impact on the M&E industry, the program’s concentration included AI, machine learning, adaptive production, blockchain, immersive media, virtual beings and streaming. Speakers presented concepts, workflows, business models and case studies in showcasing these disruptive and enabling technologies. The videos are now available on our YouTube channel. Continue reading ETC@USC Shares Video Series From Grand Convergence

SMPTE kicked off its 2017 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition on Monday with an all-day symposium on artificial intelligence and its emerging role in entertainment production and distribution. Among the day’s presentations, SMPTE’s Richard Welsh presented a compelling primer on AI, Google’s Jeff Kember discussed the differences between supervised and unsupervised systems, Hitachi Vantara’s Jay Yogeshwar addressed using machine learning and AI for production workflow, Yvonne Thomas of Arvato Systems looked at the value of effective data analytics, Greg Taieb of Deluxe addressed language localization for multilingual distribution, and Aspera co-founder Michelle Munson examined next generation network design. Continue reading SMPTE: Industry Leaders Gather to Discuss the Future of AI

Another NAB panel in partnership with ETC@USC looked at several large-scale, high-resolution implementations in the cloud. Moderator Brian Campanotti, global director of business development for Oracle Digital Media Solutions led panelists through a discussion on how a major media organization can successfully make the paradigm shift from IT center to cloud infrastructure, leaving behind traditional on-prem storage and processing. Company case studies included Sony, Technicolor and Fox Network Groups. Continue reading NAB 2017: M&E Companies Describe Their Move to the Cloud

The Hollywood Professional Association announced that Michelle Munson, co-founder and CEO of IBM company Aspera (IBM and Aspera are both silver sponsors of ETC@USC), will receive the organization’s prestigious Charles S. Swartz Award. “The HPA Awards recognize creative artistry, innovation and engineering excellence in the professional media content industry and the Charles S. Swartz Award honors the recipient’s significant impact across diverse aspects of the industry,” explains the release. This year’s HPA Awards ceremony is slated for November 17 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Continue reading HPA to Present Charles S. Swartz Award to Michelle Munson

Videos from the third session of The Entertainment Technology Center @ USC “Virtual NAB Cloud Conference” are now live for viewing on the ETCenterVideo YouTube channel. The videos include a presentation on visual effects workflows in the cloud by Jeff Kember of Google and a description of a popup render farm for VFX by Thinkbox Software’s Chris Bond. Martin Wahl of Microsoft Azure Media Services presented a scalable workflow for live sports and Michelle Munson of IBM/Aspera showcased streaming sports to second screens through the cloud. Usman Shakeel of Amazon Web Services discussed the demands of and solutions for 4K workflows. Continue reading vNab: Workflow in the Cloud for Visual Effects, Sports and 4K