Blackbird (formerly named FORscene) is an integrated internet video

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

video editing software Video editing software, or a video editor is software used performing the post-production video editing of digital video sequences on a non-linear editing system. It has replaced traditional flatbed celluloid film editing tools and analog video ta ...

, covering

non-linear editing Non-linear editing is a form of offline editing for audio, video, and image editing. In offline editing, the original content is not modified in the course of editing. In non-linear editing, edits are specified and modified by specialized soft ...

and publishing for broadcast, web and mobile. Designed by Blackbird plc to allow

collaborative editing __NOTOC__ Collaborative editing is the process of multiple people editing the same document simultaneously. This technique may engage expertise from different disciplines, and potentially improve the quality of documents and increase productivity. ...

of video at resolutions of up to 540p and up to 60 frames per second on bandwidths as low as 2

MBit/s In telecommunications, data-transfer rate is the average number of bits (bitrate), characters or symbols (baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are multi ...

, it is capable of

video logging Video logging is a process in which video footage is watched and labeled according to its content. Logging in post-production If a video has a high shooting ratio, it can be impractical to remember exactly where each shot is on each source tape ...

, reviewing, publishing and hosting through HD and 4K to UHD quality from original sources. The system is implemented as a

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

for Android and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

devices, a

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

applet and a pure

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of Website, websites use JavaScript on the Client (computing), client side ...

web application A web application (or web app) is application software that is accessed using a web browser. Web applications are delivered on the World Wide Web to users with an active network connection. History In earlier computing models like client-serve ...

as part of its

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...

. The latter runs on platforms without application

installation Installation may refer to: * Installation (computer programs) * Installation, work of installation art * Installation, military base * Installation, into an office, especially a religious (Installation (Christianity) Installation is a Christian li ...

, codec installation, or machine configuration and has

Web 2.0 Web 2.0 (also known as participative (or participatory) web and social web) refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture and interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, and ...

features. Blackbird won the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

's award for Technology in the

post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...

process in December 2005.

Usage

The Blackbird platform's functionality makes it suitable for multiple uses in the

video editing Video editing is the manipulation and arrangement of video shots. Video editing is used to structure and present all video information, including films and television shows, video advertisements and video essays. Video editing has been dramaticall ...

workflow. For editors and producers wanting to produce broadcast-quality output, Blackbird provides an environment for the early stages of post-production to happen remotely and cheaply (

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

, shot selection, collaborative

review A review is an evaluation of a publication, product, service, or company or a critical take on current affairs in literature, politics or culture. In addition to a critical evaluation, the review's author may assign the work a content rating, ...

ing,

rough cut In filmmaking, the rough cut is the second of three stages of offline editing. The term originates from the early days of filmmaking when film stock was physically cut and reassembled, but is still used to describe projects that are recorded and e ...

ting and

offline editing Offline editing is part of the post-production process of film making and television production in which raw footage is copied and the copy only is then edited, thereby not affecting the camera original film stock or video tape. Once the project h ...

, for example) and more recently fine cut editing. Blackbird then outputs instructions in standard formats which can be applied to the high-quality master-footage for detailed and high-quality editing prior to broadcast. Other users want to prepare footage for publishing to lower-quality media - the small screens of

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

s and

video iPod The iPod Classic (stylized and marketed as iPod classic and formerly iPod Video or just iPod) is a discontinued portable media player created and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. There were six generations of the iPod Classic, as well as a sp ...

s, and to the web where bandwidth restricts the quality of video it is currently practical to output. For these users, all editing can be carried out in Blackbird, before publishing to

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

and

online video Internet video (online video / cloud-based video) is the general field that deals with the transmission of digital video over the internet. Internet video exists in several formats, the most notable being MPEG-4i AVC, AVCHD, FLV, and MP3. There ...

channels, OTT or commercial cloud storage. Video can also be saved in

MPEG The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) is an alliance of working groups established jointly by International Organization for Standardization, ISO and International Electrotechnical Commission, IEC that sets standards for media coding, includ ...

Ogg Ogg is a free, open container format maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The authors of the Ogg format state that it is unrestricted by software patents and is designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of high-quality d ...

HTML5 HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML ...

, podcasting formats as well as Blackbird's proprietary player. The platform was reported in July 2012 as being used by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

in connection with the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

involving integration of the service with

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and continues to be used to deliver coverage for sport events such as

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

PGA European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

and the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. §

Services

The video platform is referred to broadly as Blackbird and marketed as three distinct B2B products: * Edge * Ascent * Forte All exploit the

cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may co ...

for delivery. Integrations to third parties provide additional services (for example

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...

, CC,

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

) and workflow (such as to other NLE systems).

Blackbird Ascent and Blackbird Forte

Ascent and Forte enable functionality including:

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

accurate

(and multicam support for up to 18 cameras),

ing,

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, i ...

ing and clipping. Ascent is designed for workflows that require a subset of Forte's features.

Blackbird Edge server

The Blackbird Edge server is a gateway between content and the Blackbird platform. Clients may elect to use a single physical Edge server per fixed or remote location to scale up operations and improve overall performance (e.g. the time taken to retrieve video for review). Features may vary based on workflow / infrastructure requirement but include: *Live and non-live Content ingest *Local caching of video downloads *Immediate access of video over a Local Area Network (LAN) during upload *Seamless transfer of video as required between a Blackbird Edge Server and the Blackbird Infrastructure The product exploits high speed LAN access whilst preserving the principle of access from anywhere. Deployment may be on-premise, on-location, or to public / private cloud.

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

and

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

supported. Logging, editing and reviewing of uploaded material can start as soon as the upload process starts. Files containing video, audio and still may also be picked and uploaded using a web browser for ingest.

Blackbird Player

The Blackbird Player supports; renderless publishing, multiple layers, own branding,Digital-Lifestyles.info
IBC TV News uses Forscene and Formobile clipping and URL sharing, ability to revoke access and a patented navigation bar. The Blackbird decoder is packaged in libraries for native mobile apps, applets and a pure JavaScript player.

Components

The Blackbird platform is made up of various components, discussed here.

Platform servers

The server infrastructure on the Blackbird backbone network (referred to as the

) dedicated to Blackbird's customers are distributed over numerous locations and handle around 10,000 hours of new video content each week. These act as one system, increasing both effective capacity and redundancy. As the front end does most of the work during editing, and the upload software does the compression work, the server is lightly loaded and can support many users at the same time. Sites may also attach a server to their own network (

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

) for improved performance/scalability (local ingest and caching to multiply the numbers of users on existing internet connections).

Codecs

Blackbird has its own

codec A codec is a device or computer program that encodes or decodes a data stream or signal. ''Codec'' is a portmanteau of coder/decoder. In electronic communications, an endec is a device that acts as both an encoder and a decoder on a signal or da ...

s for both video and audio. These use a form of

adaptive coding Adaptive coding refers to variants of entropy encoding methods of lossless data compression. They are particularly suited to streaming data, as they adapt to localized changes in the characteristics of the data, and don't require a first pass over ...

to allow local variations in the type of data to be encoded efficiently.

Osprey

Osprey supports loss-free video compression. Blackbird users can see broadcast quality video during editing (as well as proxy quality as has been the case with Blackbird's other codecs) and broadcasters can use the video output from Blackbird directly for transmission.

Blackbird

The current Blackbird video codec is called '' Blackbird 9''. It is designed for both editing and

video streaming Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

over variable speed

broadband In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...

Internet connections. By varying the frame rate, it can provide consistent picture quality even on slow connections. Like its predecessor ''Firebird'' (used in the FORlive system), the Blackbird codec allows real time compression and playback of video. This is important for handling the quantity of video in modern productions, as well as the reviewing, logging, editing and publishing features of Blackbird. The Blackbird codec (formerly "Firebird") is a

proprietary {{Short pages monitor