Imagine Communications and Microsoft have released a public preview of the new Azure Media Services Premium Encoder, the result of a collaboration between Microsoft’s cloud-computing wing and Imagine – a growing power in the encoding game, based on software running in general purpose cloud arrays.
There are many benefits to the on-demand encoding-as-a-service approach. In this model, a company is only paying for encoding equipment when it needs to, and doesn’t have to invest in a hardware-based system that might spend the majority of its life idle. Similarly, the equipment doesn’t have to be maintained and upgraded, as the provider (Azure in this case) is responsible for this.
Scalability is another key benefit. The company that needs content encoded can encode as much or as little as needed, without worrying about the impact of the large fixed cost that would arise from capex-funded in-house installations. On months with little output, the costs are reduced, but if a month turns out to be much busier than expected, the company isn’t scrambling for the necessary encoding resources – it just simply ticks a few extra boxes in an online form.
As the system is accessible through APIs, it can be used as additional capacity to support an existing on-premises installation. The APIs also allow it to be incorporated into workflow systems, but Azure does supply its own version – a standalone desktop tool called the Workflow Designer.
This can be used to help automate the ingest and encode process, and allows a user to set up predetermined responses to content to help determine the output, such as ensuring that SD content is encoded at an SD resolution and not automatically encoded at higher settings (which could result in a larger file than the source material).
In fact, Azure intends to be a one-stop shop for customers, offering storage and indexing, PlayReady DRM, support for most media player frameworks, and access to the Azure CDN. The Premium version of the encoder simply supports more input and output codecs, for both video and audio, as well as closed captions.
However, there’s no mention of H.265 (HEVC) in the Azure documentation, so the claims that the encoder will support next-generation systems and formats is cast into doubt – unless the pair use the upcoming NAB demo to announce support for the codec that seems integral to the success of 4K and UHD content.
Encoding has transitioned from a proprietary hardware-based service into an increasingly cloud-based software approach. Open source codecs and the availability of cloud-computing has crushed the margins out of the business that was once full of dozens of smaller players rushing to get a more efficient or powerful chip out to market.
We are now seeing consolidation in the market, with larger entities swallowing the assets and expertise of struggling smaller players. Nowhere was that more apparent than Imagine’s purchase of RGB Networks back in January, which saw Imagine pick up the multiscreen delivery and ad-insertion assets of RGB for what we’ve heard was a fire-sale price of around $12 million. RGB wasn’t able to keep up in the new market, formed by software-based approaches.
Harmonic is another major player in the encoding space that has been slowly transitioning to a cloud-based on-demand service. While there’s not much of a chance that it will be acquired any time soon, smaller offerings from the likes of Envivio, Elemental and Media Excel could be targets for acquisitions. Likely buyers would include Amazon Web Services, which would like to augment its current encoding offering, but also Cisco, if it decides to take encoding services in-house instead of its current resale model.
“The collaboration between Imagine Communications and Microsoft is about solving critical multiscreen delivery and monetization challenges while also transitioning to a future network architecture that is defined by IP, software and the cloud,” declared Charlie Vogt, Imagine’s CEO.
He added that Imagine’s role as a key development partner meant that Imagine was “helping global media companies and enterprises efficiently design and launch scalable, end-to-end media processing applications, workflows and services on demand – using the virtually unlimited capacity of Azure.”