Public Funding for Smoke and Mirrors Film Productions Limited

MOSS is a twelve-month project to research and develop object-based ‘blob’ storage systems that are optimised for the network-based processing, distribution and archiving of very large collections of media files. The project will create a new kind of Functional Object Storage, based on Open Source technologies and standards. It will demonstrate a protptype, working with exemplary applications, and publish a White Paper mapping Functional Object Storage to media industry workflows. Combining object-based storage and functional programming for professional media data, across networks and in the Cloud, will improve data resilience, permanence and network delivery, and resolve problems of versioning. The project leader is a SME solutions provider (Ovation Data Services), working with a large creative media facilities company (Smoke & Mirrors), and a research group at Imperial College with a strong track record in distributed computing systems and functional programming. Aftre the project, Ovation expects to bring the results to market in a new generation of storage products and services.

OpenShare is an eighteen-month project to research and develop new methods of storing, accessing and working collaboratively with media in the Cloud. The aim is to make it possible for creative companies to work together securely with large volumes of high-resolution media, and for third parties to develop new applications that will work across public or private Clouds. The outcome will be a ‘Platform as a Service’ approach that can be tailored to meet the needs of companies of any size, allowing them to work together safely and cost-effectively on projects ranging from small video productions to large advertising campaigns, product placement projects or feature movies. The project will use Open Source technologies to produce middleware. It will publish the specification and API to encourage the development of new applications, and demonstrate a prototype PaaS with an on-line showcase of examples of its trial use.

The VSV Pipeline Project aims to develop a resolution-independent format, Vector Streaming Video (VSV), as an alternative to sampled (pixel-based) images and as an alternative to compression for full motion digital media, together with a processing pipeline that can be used to convert large volumes of digital media into different formats. The VSV video technology will offer significant efficiencies, particularly in respect to the scaling of higher resolution media and in format size at all resolutions.

The POSTMARK Project aims to provide a new generation of network services that combine data transfer, data storage and data processing - all with guaranteed Quality of Service - and matched to the performance requirements of data intensive applications.?? POSTMARK is based on Sohonet, which provides network connectivity to over 200 companies in the media industry and beyond, delivering fixed latency paths within an uncontended non-blocking network, with near real-time provisioning of bandwidth up to 10GBit/sec. ?POSTMARK users can provide their own storage and processing resources into the network, which are then aggregated and delivered to other network users (comparable to domestic solar/wind energy generation contributed back to the National Grid). Doing this at the network services level allows a single and simple access point, encourages closer collaboration between network operators and users, enables new business models, and differentiates POSTMARK from conventional cloud approaches that fail to meet the needs of these industries. ?With POSTMARK enabling more competitive costs and the ability to satisfy combined network / storage / processing requirements quickly and securely, post-production houses will be able to attract a greater variety of work, and focus on developing their creative skills, which are the most saleable aspect of their business - and where they are best placed to innovate in their industry.

ICON addresses the desire of museums, the commercial art market and other custodians of cultural and design artefacts for a practical and affordable way to produce high-quality digitised 3D models. Historically only the very largest cultural institutions have had access to the expertise and equipment needed to undertake 3D digitisation of the quality that such artefacts demand. While recognising that 3D digitisation may never be a cheap option, ICON has developed a 3D digitisation pipeline that allows cultural institutions to better understand the cost of digitising a particular object, effectively manage the digitisation process and review and repurpose the resulting models for different commercial and curatorial applications. Integrated with a leading museum and gallery collections management system, the ICON pipeline allows curators, conservators and gallery owners to directly engage with each stage in the digitisation of an artefact. Alternative versions of a model can be generated on-request, for example for embedding in a mobile viewer or inclusion in a rendered virtual scene, maximising the use that can be had from a single digitisation. A powerful multi-platform 3D viewer allows models to be viewed alongside related 2D imagery and supporting catalogue information. The commercial value of each model is further enhanced by a rich search interface, which can be integrated into any museum or gallery website and allows non-expert users to confidently identify and purchase models appropriate for a particular historical context or application.

Awaiting Public Summary