MediaCentral | UX User’s Guide : Logging Interplay | MAM Assets : Understanding Strata

Understanding Strata
 
Logging Interplay MAM assets is based on a few fundamental concepts, the most significant of which is stratification. Stratification allows annotation of parts of video objects along their timeline, at any segment defined by an In timecode and an Out timecode. These annotations are similar to Interplay Production markers; the difference is that an Interplay Production marker is associated to a single frame, while an Interplay MAM annotation is associated to a sequence of frames.
Annotations might vary in their semantic meaning. For example, you can provide keywords that specifically describe a part of the material, name the location visible in a scene, or define the rights situation for a given segment. To keep these kinds of annotations semantically separated, Interplay MAM and MediaCentral allow you to layer any number of such annotations on top of the timeline, where each layer is dedicated to annotations of a specific kind. These layers are called strata.
Strata Types
Interplay MAM provides three types of strata that can be displayed and edited in MediaCentral UX. These differ from each other as follows:
Simple strata: Simple strata have only one property assigned to them. The property can be any data type used throughout Interplay MAM, such as “text,” “timecode,” “date,” “legal list (selection list),” and so on.
Structured strata: Structured strata can have multiple properties assigned to them.
Strata groups: You can combine several strata in a strata group. The segmentation across the strata within a strata group is always synchronized. Restriction: You cannot combine strata that allow “overlapping segments” with strata that do not allow overlapping segmentation in a strata group.
The strata types and specific strata provided by Interplay MAM depend on how they are configured on site.
Segmentation
Depending on the stratum type, you can create sequential or overlapping segments. Segments can be annotated at any time.
Interplay MAM has two segmentation modes: Segmentation without gaps, and segmentation with gaps. If gaps between segments are not allowed in a stratum, segments cannot be deleted from the stratum.
Segments can be asynchronously distributed across different strata, but segmentation across the strata of a strata group is always synchronous. The segmentation in an entire strata group can be asynchronous compared to the segmentation in the strata outside the group. For more information, see Understanding Segmentation Principles.
Annotation
Annotation refers to the process of adding information to a segment. The kind of annotation that can be performed depends on the types and number of properties assigned to a stratum. In MediaCentral UX, segments can be annotated within all strata in the Logging pane. Annotation related to the entire asset can be entered and edited in the Metadata pane. For more information, see Editing Metadata.