DAVID-E: a collaborative working paradigm for distributed high-end audio-visual content creation

In recent years the world has witnessed an unprecedented expansion in the global audio-visual industry and actions have been initiated to strengthen its actors, especially in film making and video production. Companies seeking ways to improve their performance and productivity and become more competitive are investing in modern digital technologies. Very powerful high-performance computing systems are found today even in small production facilities. Yet, little effort has been made to implement activities other than production/post-production and even less, to integrate the whole cycle of content development and creation within a networked collaborative environment. This paper reports the experience of the DAViD project aiming to establish ways to interact and collaborate during pre-production phases. Several benefits have been demonstrated, such as reduction of the overall production time and cost, increased productivity and increased ability to execute complex, multi-company productions in shorter times and lower budgets