What makes working with digital media different?

It's clear that digital media-centric business processes are proliferating. But compared to traditional data and other types of content workflows, digital media typically requires special handling and processing, and has more complex and resource-intensive workflows and team collaboration. This post explores some of these unique requirements.

One of the reasons is that working with digital media is itself a challenge. Digital media is complex, non-textual and typically large. Digital media files including compound documents, audio, video, layout files, complex graphics, PowerPoint® files, and images generally require special considerations for metadata management, storage, processing, renditioning, and delivery.  In other words, digital media has specialized requirements, both in terms of workflow and in terms of the digital media itself.

As a starting point, here are several observations about digital media workflows:

Digital media workflows can span the extended enterprise
Workflows often involve geographically distributed or external participants including regional teams creating or localizing content or consisting of contractors, service bureaus, printers and other third-parties outside the corporate firewall.

Workflows involve non-technical participants for review and approval
The presentation of digital media in its production format usually requires special software or hardware (Adobe InDesign®, QuarkXpress®, Avid video editors, etc.).  As such it must be rapidly and accurately converted into web-friendly formats accessible and reviewable from any computer to be useful to less technical reviewers or domain experts who do not use the native production applications.

Different people, roles and workflows need access to different formats
The ability to transform and rendition assets according to rules is critical – a single asset might need to be repurposed for use across different media (e.g., print, web, handheld), in many different sizes, formats, resolutions, etc. or watermarked for distribution or protection. While transformation is essential and must be enabled, who can do what on which assets, or who can access which formats must be controlled and managed.

Digital media creation workflows are often “critical path”
Because digital media content is typically finalized towards the end of a project lifecycle, it is often on the “critical path” for project completion with efforts subject to highly compressed collaborative timelines that require off-hours access and immediate transmission.

Digital media workflows vary and are often unique to each organization
Addressing digital media workflows requires various combinations of manual and automated digital asset and metadata (information about the file) manipulation, routing/approval and delivery sequences. These processes while at one level generic and common are unique for every organization, workgroup and department.

It becomes a bit more apparent what makes these workflows different, when we consider what makes digital media special and thus require specialized handling.

Digital media files are often very large and require special handling
Because video, print and publishing workflows typically involve very large files and more frequent and distributed access, the specialized management logic regarding the sharing, movement, non-movement, processing, and storage of these assets is critical.  Providing smaller, lower resolution, portable proxies becomes essential.

Digital media files are needed in a variety of formats
Commerce or workflow reasons demand digital files be made available in the formats, resolutions, bit-rates and scales needed to reach a particular audience, device or be correct for a given media. Different media processors are required to enable and automate the variety of formats and conversions, transforms and transcodings.

Digital media files need to be processed consistently in high volumes
Digital media commerce sites may offer thousands or millions of digital media files each of which needs to be prepared prior to distribution. Typical operations for digital media distribution processes include format conversion, transformation of images, transcoding of videos, extraction or insertion of embedded metadata (that may travel within or beside a specific file), application of digital rights, and packaging with other assets.

There are complex and varied relationships between pieces of media
Any digital media file can have inherent or business relationships to other pieces of digital media that need to be maintained during production, through distribution and throughout its lifetime. Modeling and keeping track of these critical relationships between pieces of media can be a challenge yet is a requirement of working with digital media.

Metadata capture and management is critical
Compared to traditional data types, digital media content is like a can of soup without the label: it is difficult to understand what is inside of the image, video, audio etc. file without actually opening and viewing it in a specialized authoring or editing application. Therefore, metadata (keywords, annotations, category assignments, expiration dates, rights, etc.) is like the label on the can. It describes the content of the asset. Metadata plays a crucial role in managing, finding and utilizing digital media. Regardless of whether the metadata is externally associated or embedded in the file, over time, the metadata becomes as important or in some cases more important than the asset.

Metadata drives workflows
It is common for digital media workflows to be driven off the metadata or information surrounding a file. For example, reaching an expiration date for purchased images is critical for many organizations. Prior to the date users may want to be automatically notified so that they can re-buy or re-license the image. Or they may want to do something with the expired asset, such as make a watermarked version available instead, and make the original inaccessible by deleting it or moving it to a quarantined location. Further they may want to notify users of the image across the organization that the asset has expired and should no longer be used.

File and metadata security is essential
Security of these files is critical throughout their lifetime across the digital media supply chain—from creation and collaboration, to management and delivery. Depending on their job and the point in the supply chain or a workflow, different people need different access to the files and metadata. Controlling who can do what to a file or to the metadata is critical. This goes beyond simple file system access permissions, to controlling which actions can be done by whom on the file or metadata in which application.

You can see from this examination of digital media that it is different from other types of information.  As a result, it requires specialized consideration and handling.  And when these facts about the nature of digital media are considered in the light of creative or distribution workflows, it becomes clear that these workflows are affected by the nature of digital media, and they are different as well.  They too require special consideration and ultimately special software systems, digital asset management or digital media platforms to be exact, to facilitate these workflows and the management of media.

Comments

[George Lamptey]

Very comprehensive account with working with digital different. I think it is sometimes underestimated how challenging this can be and there can also be differing levels within the many strands of rich media. Between images and video files for example. In your section "Digital media files are often very large and require special handling" the element of transcoding to different formats is key as you say. What is also important and happens sometimes a few times in the process is the distribution of master / broadcast quality files which can run into gigabytes. I would like to know what challenegs you have had on projects in this area?