[DRAFT] Media Production Task Force

This is a draft and unofficial document published for discussion. This document may be updated at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.

Context

Professional media assets, including audio-visual masters for television and motion pictures, are increasingly being stored in the cloud.

There is a corresponding growing interest in building web applications that allow end-users to manipulate these assets, e.g. editing, quality checking, versioning, timed text authoring, etc. While the web platform has evolved to support consumer media applications, professional applications require additional capabilities, including precise timing, high-fidelity timed text, efficient media processing solutions, wide color gamut and high-dynamic range, etc.

In collaboration with SMPTE, W3C organized a Workshop on Professional Media Production on the Web in October/November 2021. The Media Production Task Force aims at crystallizing discussions started during the workshop and coordinating related standardization efforts.

Mission

The Media Production Task Force is part of the Media & Entertainment Interest Group. The Task Force is responsible for coordinating standardisation efforts related to professional media production scenarios that involve technologies implemented, or proposed for implementation, by web browsers such as WebCodecs, WebGPU, Web Audio and WebRTC.

The task force:

Gathers use cases and derives technical requirements for improving support for professional media production scenarios on the web
Understands and quantifies unique performance and format requirements of professional media production workflows
Identifies gaps in the web platform and standardization opportunities
Prioritizes and promotes proposals to working groups and implementers

The task force is scoped to professional media production using the web platform, including editing, quality control, grading/color correction, dailies, visual effects, sound, mastering, translation and servicing. Cloud-based processes and desktop applications that do not use the web platform are out of scope. Similarly, applications that do not manipulate the content such as file sharing applications are out of scope.

While the Task Force may informally discuss technical approaches towards addressing identified needs, the development of technical solutions is out of scope as well. The Media Production Task Force will rather liaise with relevant standardization groups and organizations, or support the creation of an incubation activity in another group when needed.

Basic Information

Start Date: TBD (01 June 2022?)
End Date: TBD
Confidentiality: Public
Initial Moderator: TBD
Meeting Schedule: calls held every other week

Success Criteria

The Media Production Task Force will have succeeded if it fulfills the following tasks:

Document professional media production use cases
Derive technical requirements and needs (gaps or performance constraints) in existing web technologies
Liaise with relevant standardization groups and organizations on identified needs

Dependencies

The Media Production Task Force expects to liaise with and invite participants from W3C groups and external standardisation groups when discussing needs related to technologies that these groups develop.

For W3C groups, this includes:

Audio Working Group
GPU for the Web Working Group
Media Working Group
Timed Text Working Group
WebAssembly Working Group
WebRTC Working Group
Color on the Web Community Group

For external groups and organizations, this includes:

SMPTE
WHATWG

Communication

This Task Force primarily conducts its technical work in public through a GitHub repository.

There is also a member-only list to be used for administrative purposes at member-web-and-tv@w3.org (archive).

The moderator maintains the Task Force page on the public Wiki, with the help of the Task Force participants if needed.

Conference calls

The TF holds teleconferences every two weeks.

TBD