The programme for this year’s Libre Software Meeting (LSM) in Geneva will include a special two-day media stream, with many Open Source projects relevant for media production and distribution, such as tools for use in authoring, recording, ingest, editing, management, storage, encoding, play-out, streaming, broadcast transmission and user devices.
An open future?
The EBU is co-organising this event to understand what IT developments promise for the future of media production & delivery. A quick scan of the professional audiovisual landscape shows primarily closed, proprietary solutions. But requests for a more open approach to media tools are being heard more and more often, especially as media production moves into file-based environments.
Open Source projects promise to address this desire, in the form of stable solutions which can be tailored to meet specific demands. Linux, Apache and MySQL are prime examples from everyday use in the internet domain. And while broadcasting certainly qualifies more as a niche market, Open Source audiovisual tools are slowly becoming more widespread too, as illustrated by the widespread use of VLC media player for signage applications, for example.
Proposals welcome
The LSM is a free, public event. Alongside presentations, demos and tutorials/workshops will be provided too. The detailed programme is currently in development.
EBU Members and others using Open Source software for any aspect of their media production work are still welcome to submit proposals for presentations and papers via Mathias Coinchon (coinchon@ebu.ch) or directly in response to the LSM Call for Papers.