Material Exchange Format

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Material Exchange Format
Filename extension .mxf
Internet media type application/mxf
Type code"mxf"
Initial release22 September 2004 (2004-09-22)
Latest releaseSMPTE ST 377-1:2019
28 January 2020 (2020-01-28)
Type of formatContainer format
Container forAudiovisual material, rich metadata
Open format?Yes
Free format?Yes

Material Exchange Format (MXF) is a container format for professional digital video and audio media defined by a set of SMPTE standards. A typical example of its use is for delivering advertisements to TV stations and tapeless archiving of broadcast TV programs. It is also used as part of the Digital Cinema Package for delivering movies to commercial theaters.

Summary

MXF, when used in the form of "Operational Pattern OP1A" or "OPAtom", can be used as a container, wrapper or reference file format which supports a number of different streams of coded "essence", encoded in any of a variety of video and audio compression formats, together with a metadata wrapper which describes the material contained within the MXF file. Other "Operational Patterns" can contain or reference multiple materials, just like a simple timeline of a video editing program.

MXF has full timecode and metadata support and is intended as a platform-agnostic stable standard for future professional video and audio applications.

MXF was developed to carry a subset of the Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) data model, under a policy known as the Zero Divergence Directive (ZDD). This theoretically enables MXF/AAF workflows between non-linear editing (NLE) systems using AAF and cameras, servers, and other devices using MXF.

Usage

From 2004 onwards, MXF was in the process of evolving from standard to deployment. The breadth of the standard was subject to lead to interoperability problems, as vendors implement different parts of the standard or interpret misleading parts of the standard differently.

MXF is fairly effective at the interchange of D10 (IMX) material, mainly because of the success of the Sony eVTR and Sony's eVTR RDD to SMPTE. Workflows combining the eVTR, Avid NLE systems, and broadcast servers using MXF in coordination with AAF are now possible.

Long-GOP MPEG-2 material interchange between video servers is possible, as broadcasters develop application specifications they expect their vendors to implement.

As of autumn 2005, there were major interoperability problems with MXF in broadcast post-production use. The two data-recording camera systems which produced MXF at that time, Sony's XDCAM and Panasonic's DVCPRO P2, produced mutually incompatible files due to opaque sub-format options obscured behind the MXF file extension. Without advanced tools, it was impossible to distinguish these incompatible formats.

Additionally, many MXF systems produce split-file A/V (video and audio stored in separate files), and use a file naming convention which relies on randomly generated filenames to link them. Not only does this exacerbate the issue of knowing exactly what is in an MXF file without specialized tools, but it breaks the functionality of standard desktop computer techniques. These techniques are generally used to manipulate data on a level as fundamental as moving, copying, renaming, and deleting. Using a randomly generated filename is uninformative to the user, but changing the name breaks the loose database structure between files.

One example problem that caused interoperability problems in 2004 was when popular MXF export tools (i.e. the ones that are free or cost the least) would not allow the user to create a stereo AES file within the MXF wrapper, nor allow the user to add a free-text annotation to the MXF file so created (in order, for instance, that the next user of the file be able to interpret his or her intentions). Thus, an MXF file received and unwrapped may reveal SMPTE D10 compliant essence with eight mono AES audio components; the recipient has no way of knowing whether these components are multiple stereo pairs, 5.1 or serve some other purpose.

Some of the incompatibilities were addressed and ratified in the 2009 version of the standard.

MXF is used as the audio and video packaging format for Digital Cinema Package (DCP). It is also used in the STANAG specification documents.

The file extension for MXF files is ".mxf". The Macintosh File Type Code registered with Apple for MXF files is "mxf ", including a trailing space.

Tools

MXF converters

This list represents some examples of free and open source products that support the MXF standard:

The MXF standards

Base documents

Operational patterns

Generic containers

Metadata, dictionaries and registries

Availability of standards

SMPTE's top standards page has information, for the ordering of CD-ROMs, which would hold formal copy of the SMPTE standards. Judging by SMPTE's index, all of the standards, referenced above, would be contained on those CD-ROMs, as available from SMPTE. IRT Test Center contains up-to-date information on the status of the SMPTE documents.

See also

References

  1. ^ Material Exchange Format (MXF) (Full draft). Sustainability of Digital Formats. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Technical Specifications – Commercial File Delivery" (PDF). Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ Pedro Ferreira (23 July 2010). "MXF – a progress report (2010)" (PDF).
  4. ^ "STANAG 4609 Edition 2" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  5. ^ "FFmpeg Changelog". 3 March 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  6. ^ "FFmpeg". 3 December 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  7. ^ "Ingex". Retrieved 24 August 2009.

External links

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