Introduction

This chapter will give a general introduction to the MXF generic container for the carriage of essence and metadata within the body of an MXF file. It starts with a description of the content model devised by the EBU/SMPTE Task Force and develops the requirements for a generalized essence container. It was from this generalized essence container that the MXF generic container evolved. The MXF generic container shares the same content model as used by SDTICP (SMPTE 326M), and the last part of this chapter explains how data from SDTI-CP can be mapped into the MXF generic container to provide a bridge from linear streaming devices to file storage devices.

The Generalized Content Model

The content model used in the generic container specification (SMPTE 379M) is based on the EBU/SMPTE Task Force Report that defines a content model as in Figure 5.1.

Figure 5.1: Content Model

The Task Force report defines: Content is composed of Content Packages which, in turn, are composed of Content Items, which are further composed of Content Elements. These content packages are convenient groupings of the various items where each item is a group of similar element types. Although the term content package (CP) is also used in the SDTI-CP specification, the MXF generic container content package is a more generalized arrangement that retains backwards compatibility with the SDTI-CP content package.

The content model of the MXF generic container defines frame-interleaved content based on the following components:

• System...