| Material Exchange Format | |
|---|---|
| Filename extension | .mxf |
| Internet media type | application/mxf |
| Type code | "mxf" |
| Initial release | 22 September 2004; 21 years ago (2004-09-22) |
| Latest release | SMPTE ST 377-1:2019 28 January 2020; 6 years ago (2020-01-28) |
| Type of format | Container format |
| Container for | Audiovisual material, rich metadata |
| Open format? | Yes |
| Free format? | Yes[1] |
Material Exchange Format (MXF) is acontainer format for professional digital video and audio media defined by a set ofSMPTE standards. A typical example of its use is for delivering advertisements to TV stations and tapeless archiving of broadcast TV programs.[2] It is also used as part of theDigital Cinema Package for delivering films and other content to movie theaters and film festivals.
MXF, when used in the form of "Operational Pattern OP1A" or "OPAtom", can be used as acontainer,wrapper orreference file format which supports a number of different streams of coded "essence", encoded in any of a variety ofvideo andaudio compression formats, together with ametadata wrapper which describes the material contained within the MXFfile. Other "Operational Patterns" can contain or reference multiple materials, just like a simple timeline of a video editing program.
MXF has fulltimecode and metadata support and is intended as a platform-agnostic stable standard for future professional video and audio applications.
MXF was developed to carry a subset of theAdvanced Authoring Format (AAF) data model, under a policy known as theZero Divergence Directive (ZDD). This theoretically enables MXF/AAF workflows betweennon-linear editing (NLE) systems using AAF and cameras, servers, and other devices using MXF.
From 2004 onwards, MXF was in the process of evolving from standard to deployment. The breadth of the standard was subject to lead to interoperability problems, as vendors implement different parts of the standard or interpret misleading parts of the standard differently.
MXF is fairly effective at the interchange ofD10 (IMX) material, mainly because of the success of the Sony eVTR and Sony's eVTR RDD to SMPTE. Workflows combining the eVTR, Avid NLE systems, and broadcast servers using MXF in coordination withAAF are now possible.
Long-GOPMPEG-2 material interchange between video servers is possible, as broadcasters develop application specifications they expect their vendors to implement.
As of autumn 2005, there were major interoperability problems with MXF in broadcastpost-production use. The two data-recording camera systems which produced MXF at that time,Sony'sXDCAM and Panasonic'sDVCPRO P2, produced mutually incompatible files due to opaque sub-format options obscured behind the MXF file extension. Without advanced tools, it was impossible to distinguish these incompatible formats.
Some of the incompatibilities were addressed and ratified in the 2009 version of the standard.[3]
MXF is used as the audio and video packaging format forDigital Cinema Package (DCP). It is also used in theSTANAG specification documents.[4]
The file extension for MXF files is ".mxf". The Macintosh File Type Code registered with Apple for MXF files is "mxf ", including a trailing space.
This list represents some examples of free and open source[why?] products that support the MXF standard:
SMPTE'stop standards page has information, for the ordering of CD-ROMs, which would hold formal copy of the SMPTE standards. Judging by SMPTE's index, all of the standards, referenced above, would be contained on those CD-ROMs, as available fromSMPTE.IRT Test CenterArchived 5 October 2010 at theWayback Machine contains up-to-date information on the status of the SMPTE documents.
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