Recently, a variety of editors, tech geeks and production heads have been searching for an heir to the rickety 3/4" throne. While some postulate on the prospects of DVD, online content distribution may be the format of the future.

Today, all that's needed to get in on the action is a decent Internet connection and a willingness to shop around. Though the competitors are not created equal, within the last half decade, a number of UK- and US-based companies have been offering variations on digital reel distribution. Within the last few months many more companies have come on board. Some are merely content vehicles (online portfolios), others facilitate real-time collaboration through streaming media (which eases collaboration between remote offices), and others are 'store and forward' hosts. Whatever their tack, the companies mentioned hereafter honor the collaborative nature of commercial production.

When Beam.TV spun from within The Mill, London, four years ago it was positioned as an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server for the editing giant's clients to view cuts online. Footage encoded as QuickTime files and uploaded to the web in London enabled partner operatives in LA to log on and approve edits. "It wasn't long before we realized its potential as a replacement to 3/4"," says Matt Cooper, Beam.TV's managing director and founder. Nor was it long before agency powerhouses such as Saatchi & Saatchi and Ogilvy were inking distribution and storage deals, standing to save on travel and courier expenses.

The idea of digital content distribution caught on quickly. Post-production houses and Internet companies scrambled to establish or adapt proprietary software and servers capable of encoding and compressing film into files small enough to howl through the wires onto computer screens. QuickTime files, although fine for gleaning the nuts of a visual concept, didn't satisfy the industry's quality standards and were quickly usurped by MPEG and MPEG2 files. While MPEG2 files offer DVD-quality resolution and sound, they can be difficult to send in locales where bandwidth is an issue. They can however, be downloaded from an FTP site to DVD, eliminating the need for tape and couriers.

Initially the size of MPEG2s required a hardware solution for optimum delivery.
But recently things have changed - namely global bandwidth costs and capacities. Though Framestore-CFC, London, and Beam.TV's online digital services are facilitated by set-top hardware - called the Blade and the Beambox, respectively - other companies, such as Sample Reels and Red Car - both of Santa Monica - champion box-free services, which boast similar capabilities and employ comparable technology. The competition could make for a buyers' market as existing service providers augment their capabilities, and new entrants appear
and disappear.

The companies are quick to extol the virtues, but not the similarities, of their offerings. But, those providing reel storage and distribution laud the same indy tactics and billing method, and use parallel hosting and storage tools.