Open Source Cinema File Format

OSC is a free, open container format maintained by the Opensourcecinema.Org Foundation. The creators of the OSC format state that it is unrestricted by software patents and is designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia. The file also transmits data objects consisting of attribute–value pairs and array data types (or any other serializable value). Its name is derived from a class taught by Dan O’Sullivan at ITP — NYU.

In the spirit of open source, I actually took part of the definition of OGG and JSON file from Wikipedia, and juxtaposed it with my own imaginative fiction to come up with the above description for the Open Source Cinema “file format”. In the first Open Source Cinema class, we talked about how motion pictures is at its exciting moment transforming into something that has a sharable and mixable nature. The decentralized way of creating contents has already happened on YouTube for a long time, but is there a way we can help to optimize collaborative efforts and make sharing editable files easier?

The technologies have also helped the medium becoming more immersive and interactive for audiences. By “experiencing” the medium, we realize there could be a thousand of plot lines and endings. It’s man’s way to create a world that has alternate realities. I anticipate to see what this file format would bring for both content creators and audiences.