An HPA Tech Retreat panel discussed the challenges that need to be addressed before the promise of file-based mastering can be realized. Some perspectives:

Brian Kenworthy, Deluxe Digital Studios
–“I think we are on the way. (We need to focus on) anything we can do to come up with standards—metadata, etc.”

Greg Head, Walt Disney Studios:
–“I think automated QC is the future”

Annie Chang, Walt Disney Studios:
–“We have been implementing a lot of QC, any time a file gets regenerated.”
–“The file based workflow has increased the amount of QC”
–There are fibre connections between Disney and vendors; Disney uses a system called Transfer Manager. “More speed is the key. We can always use more bandwidth.”

Timur Insepov, Sony DADC:
–“We’d like to make sure QC is low cost since it is done often. We can supplement automated QC.”
–“We hope for a (metadata) standard. Without that, we don’t think we can supply cost efficiency”

Dave Register, Laser Pacific:
–On a switch to file-based mastering: “It’s about bringing DI principles to the mastering process and getting over emotional issues.”
–On QC: “Finding DPX players that are reliable has been very challenging.”