The Media & Entertainment industry is undergoing a rapid transformation as new technologies, such as cloud computing, continue to disrupt traditional workflows and create new opportunities for growth and innovation. Cloud computing has become a critical component for media companies, providing them with the necessary resources to increase their capability to produce, distribute, and monetize their content. AWS (Amazon Web Services) is the largest cloud service provider and has established itself as a leader in cloud-based media solutions.
Below are some of the benefits of using AWS Media Services and a summary of the most popular services utilized in the media and entertainment industry.
Advantages of AWS Media Services
Scalable & Adaptable
AWS provides media companies with the ability to scale their resources and consistently adapt to their changing needs. Companies can create new computational instances quickly to handle complex and demanding projects in real time. AWS also offers a wide range of instances to choose from, including general-purpose instances as well as media-intensive GPU instances, providing media companies with the flexibility to choose the right resources for their workloads.
Cost-Effective
The AWS pay-as-you-go model ensures that media companies only pay for what they use, eliminating the upfront costs associated with building and maintaining their own data centers. The result is reduced costs and increased flexibility. Expenses are also minimized through the dynamic scaling of instances allowing media companies to scale their usage up or down based on their needs, reducing unnecessary costs for idle resources.
High-Performance Computing
AWS offers access to a broad range of high-performance computing resources, including instances with robust CPUs, GPUs, and memory, making it ideal for just-in-time media tasks that require substantial computational power, such as video processing, transcoding, or rendering.
Specialized Media Tools & Services
AWS provides specialized media tools and services to simplify and accelerate media workflows. These tools include Amazon Elastic Transcoder for video file transcoding and processing, Amazon Kinesis Video Streams for real-time video processing, and Amazon Rekognition for video and image analysis. Further details on these and other popular AWS media services can be found in the next section of this article titled ‘Popular AWS Media Services’.
Collaboration & Data Sharing
AWS leverages Amazon’s global high-speed network and extensive toolsets for moving data, allowing team members to collaborate and share data, regardless of location. Media companies can work together on different aspects of a project simultaneously, greatly accelerating the creative process and helping to ensure on-time deliveries.
Popular AWS Media Services
AWS Elemental MediaConnect
AWS Elemental MediaConnect is an extensive media transport solution designed to securely and efficiently transport live video content from one location to another with a remarkable balance of low latency and high-quality video and audio. Elemental MediaConnect is a reliable solution for the delivery of live events, news broadcasts, and other time-sensitive content being broadcast to a vast and diverse global audience.
AWS Elemental MediaConvert
AWS Elemental MediaConvert is a file-based video transcoding service that provides users with the ability to convert video files into multiple formats necessary for distribution across an array of platforms and devices. The service enables the transcoding of videos into an extensive range of output formats including HLS, MP4, and ProRes. Elemental MediaConvert enables media companies to swiftly distribute their video content to a wide array of platforms and devices, including broadcast television, streaming devices, and web browsers.
AWS Elemental MediaPackage
AWS Elemental MediaPackage is a comprehensive video delivery service that allows video providers to securely and reliably distribute streaming video at scale. The service assists with the preparation, delivery, and protection of video content to a broad range of platforms and devices, including broadcast television, streaming devices, and web browsers while integrating multiple Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies. Elemental MediaPackage can be used to originate live video streams, create and manage video-on-demand content, and also to ensure video delivery of the highest quality to audiences.
AWS Elemental MediaLive
AWS Elemental MediaLive is a real-time video processing service for live events and linear broadcasts. The service enables users to process live video and audio streams by incorporating advertisements, graphics, and other elements to create engaging and high-quality broadcasts. Elemental MediaLive helps media companies deliver live video with low latency and high reliability to ensure the best viewing experience for their audiences.
Amazon Elastic Transcoder
Amazon Elastic Transcoder is a highly-scalable and cost-effective cloud-based video transcoding service that assists in the seamless conversion of video content into various formats and resolutions. The service automatically manages all aspects of the media transcoding process and enables media companies to effortlessly create customized versions of their videos that are optimally tailored to meet the demands of varying devices and platforms.
Amazon Interactive Video Service
Amazon Interactive Video Service (IVS) is a fully-managed service that simplifies the high-quality, low-latency transmission of video content to global audiences. The service facilitates the effortless creation and publication of live video streams and is ideal for events, gaming, and interactive video experiences. IVS is a cost-effective and scalable solution for media companies looking to deliver live video content worldwide.
Amazon Nimble Studio
Amazon Nimble Studio is an all-encompassing post-production studio that enables creative teams to produce visual effects (VFX), animations, and interactive content entirely in the cloud. The service assists with all aspects of post-production, including media management, editing, color correction, audio mixing, and visual effects. Nimble Studio is ideal for media companies looking to completely move their post-production pipelines to the cloud.
Amazon Kinesis Video Streams
Amazon Kinesis Video Streams is a fully managed and secure service that facilitates the ingestion, processing, and management of video streams and is ideal for live video applications such as surveillance, gaming, and video conferencing. With the implementation of industry-standard protocols, Amazon Kinesis Video Streams securely streams video content to endpoints and other systems, such as storage and analytics services. The service boasts the capability to handle video streams from multiple sources and numerous viewers, with high scalability, reducing the need for video transcoding and minimizing latency typically associated with live video streaming. It also offers real-time data analytics and seamless integration with other Amazon Web Services, making it a complete solution for the management and processing of video content.
Amazon CloudFront
Amazon CloudFront is AWS’s content delivery network (CDN) that operates on a global scale and leverages an extensive network of edge locations to cache and serve content, reducing latency and improving the overall user experience. From a security standpoint, CloudFront provides robust security features such as SSL/TLS encryption and support for custom domains, making it ideal for delivering sensitive media content.
AWS Thinkbox Deadline
AWS Thinkbox Deadline is a render management solution designed to cater to the needs of the film and visual effects industries. The service enables the effective administration of the rendering process, with the distribution of workloads being executed across a vast network of render nodes in the cloud. Thinkbox Deadline is equipped with features such as the management of rendering workflows, tracking of render farm usage, and the prioritization and allocation of resources in accordance with project requirements. The service’s integration with popular 3D applications makes it a premier choice for studios producing content for film, television, and media.
Amazon Rekognition
Amazon Rekognition is a service that leverages cutting-edge machine-learning algorithms for image and video analysis. The service can be used to automate tasks such as object detection, facial recognition, and metadata extraction. Rekognition allows media companies to improve the accuracy and speed of their content curation processes while also saving time and resources.
Amazon Transcribe
Amazon Transcribe is a robust speech-to-text service that transcribes audio and video files with high accuracy into written text. The service has a wide range of applications, including the creation of subtitles, closed captions, and transcripts for video content. Amazon Transcribe enables media companies to make their content more accessible to viewers with hearing impairments, improve search engine optimization, and enable multi-language support.
Amazon Translate
Amazon Translate is a service that leverages deep learning algorithms to perform real-time language translation. The service can translate subtitles, closed captions, and transcripts into different languages. Translate enables media companies to expand their reach and make their content accessible to a global audience.
Conclusion
The media and entertainment sector is undergoing a rapid transformation due to the impact of cloud computing. AWS’s purpose-built Media Services provide media companies with the resources and the capabilities to produce, distribute and monetize their content, ensuring that they remain ahead in the rapidly evolving media landscape.
About TrackIt
TrackIt is an Amazon Web Services Advanced Tier Services Partner specializing in cloud management, consulting, and software development solutions based in Marina del Rey, CA.
TrackIt specializes in Modern Software Development, DevOps, Infrastructure-As-Code, Serverless, CI/CD, and Containerization with specialized expertise in Media & Entertainment workflows, High-Performance Computing environments, and data storage.
In addition to providing cloud management, consulting, and modern software development services, TrackIt also provides an open-source AWS cost management tool that allows users to optimize their costs and resources on AWS.
