Optimal audio-visual interchange The MXF Express SDK is a free software package that promotes interoperability in the exchange of film content over the Internet. Digital Economy © PhotoDisc The Information Society Technologies Programme (IST) of the European Union seeks to keep Europe at the leading edge of the Information Technology revolution. The IST project METAVISION addressed the area of film, in particular the way in which films are captured, produced, stored and distributed. As broadband technology continues to penetrate, the potential to bring film to the public over the Internet is growing rapidly. The problem is that film producers, distributors and viewers do not all use the same software. The issue of intercompatibility is further compounded by the fact that various standards for encoding audio-visual content are in competition with one another. Snell & Wilcox, a prominent technology company located in the UK, developed the MXF Express Software Development Kit (SDK) to overcome these difficulties. The software package is based upon the Material eXchange Format (MXF), a file format optimised for the seamless interchange of high-quality audio-visual content. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is involved in the development of MXF as a standard. The key is that content created with the MXF Express SDK can be viewed on any PC. MXF Express SDK can be downloaded free of charge and also includes an assortment of tools for MXF support. These tools allow distributors, such as Internet broadcasters, to package and deliver their content in a simple, straightforward fashion. The MXF Express SDK software and supporting documentation can be found online at: http://www.ist-metavision.com . A user forum has been established to facilitate exchange of information among users and to speed the debugging process.
