Adobe Success Story

Nobelprize.org standardizes on Adobe Creative Suite and the Adobe Flash Platform to create and deliver content online that informs and inspires

Every year since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. Each prize consists of a medal, personal diploma, and cash award — and each is a crowning honor that is widely recognized throughout the world.

At Nobelprize.org, the official website of The Nobel Foundation, more than 38 million visitors each year learn about the Nobel Laureates and their achievements, including many young people inspired by the Nobel Prize Laureates. The site, which is brimming with engaging content including more than 800 information-rich videos, interactive educational games, documentaries, and live events such as press conferences and live award ceremonies, is created and delivered using Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection software and the Adobe Flash Platform.

“Nobelprize.org is a place where people can discover and view the best-quality content and learn more about the significant contributions of Nobel Prize Laureates,” explains Hans Mehlin, director of technology for Nobelprize.org. “Adobe’s complete, end-to-end media solution is unique in that the video production tools are tightly integrated with Flash technologies. The integrated Adobe solution helps us improve editing efficiency and extend the reach and quality of the video on our site.”

Benefits

• Produced 800 exceptional videos with small production staff
• Delivered high-profile events in real-time and on-demand
• Informed and inspired 38 million visitors each year
• Reached worldwide audiences with varying platforms and Internet connections

Project Details

Video to engage and inspire
The site not only informs the public about the Nobel Prize Laureates and their achievements, but also motivates young people to learn more about the topics surrounding the Nobel Prizes. To capture visitors’ attention, Nobelprize.org relies heavily on video.

“Providing engaging video content is crucial for us, especially because one of our main goals is to captivate young audiences who are accustomed to consuming information in a video format,” says Merci Olsson, marketing and communications manager for the Nobelprize.org. “Video also gives visitors a sense of the personality and character of each of the Nobel Laureates.”

An end-to-end Adobe workflow
Nobelprize.org standardized on Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection software and the Adobe Flash Platform to maximize workflow efficiency and reduce costs. To capture live events, a camera crew of three uses Panasonic HDV cameras and a video mixer. One video stream goes straight to Adobe OnLocation CS4 software for checking white balance, focus, color balance, contrast, and other factors in the live environment.

“Adobe OnLocation is a wonderful tool because we are typically shooting once-in-a-lifetime events,” says Jan Strandh, multimedia producer for Nobelprize.org. “It is comforting to know that if we go through the camera setup process using Adobe OnLocation, its software instruments will reveal any video or audio problems, helping us ensure that we will get good quality footage.”

Video on-demand in hours
For events that will be posted to the site, the production crew feeds the video into Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 software for editing and rendering a web-ready file, making the video content available on-demand on the site within a matter of an hour or two. During editing, the crew takes advantage of the multicam functionality in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 software.

“We always use the multicam functionality in Adobe Premiere Pro,” explains Strandh. “It’s in line with the way we edit because we try not to get too technical but rather try to keep the look more natural. With multicam editing in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, we can switch from one camera to another with the press of a button. It’s the one feature that has improved our editing the most.”

The events captured rarely occur in a studio; instead, they happen out in the field or in crowded rooms with a significant amount of background noise. For this reason, Adobe Soundbooth CS4 is a mainstay tool for cleaning up audio. “Soundbooth CS4 eliminates background noise like magic. The first time I used it, I thought, ‘Wow, how did Adobe pull this off?’” says Strandh. “When you have that sensation of wonder, you know you are using truly great technology.”

High production value, low costs
For press conferences, interviews, lectures, and other video content, production staff uses Adobe Illustrator CS4, Photoshop CS4 Extended, and After Effects CS4 for creating lower thirds, logos, animations, and other motion graphics to increase the production quality of on-demand videos. “The chroma keying in After Effects CS4 is superb,” says Strandh. “It lets us produce professional-quality keying effects without a lot of effort.”

The site is created and maintained using Illustrator, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver CS4 software in conjunction with a custom-developed content management system (CMS). “Dreamweaver CS4 is the workhorse of our web operation,” says Mehlin. “It works seamlessly with our CMS and will be integrated with the Subversion version control system so we will have one user interface for both web development and version control; it can greatly improve the designer/developer workflow.”

Interactive games on the site are another avenue for engaging visitors, particularly high school students and educators. Produced using Illustrator and Photoshop as well as Adobe Flash CS4 Professional software, the games are designed to instruct and inspire. According to Strandh, new capabilities such as 3D and inverse kinematics in the newest version of Flash Professional will enable the development team to make the games even more captivating for students moving forward.

Better quality, full-screen capabilities
To stream video on demand on the site, Nobelprize.org uses Adobe Flash Media Server 3.5 software. According to Mehlin, Flash Media Server was easy to set up and provides Dynamic Streaming, a quality of service monitoring feature, to manage the flow of multiple bit-rate video streams on the site. Adobe Flash technology has enabled Nobelprize.org to deliver higher-resolution video files than it could in the past, providing a more engaging experience for users with lower bandwidths. Viewers access the content using a custom media player built by the Nobelprize.org using the ubiquitous Adobe Flash Player. In addition to providing video on demand, Nobelprize.org is working with Akamai’s global content delivery network to stream events live via the Flash Platform, including the 2009 Nobel Prize announcements.

“Adobe Flash Player scales video very nicely. It has enabled us to offer site visitors better quality video on demand and larger window sizes. Users can even play the live video in full-screen mode if they wish,” says Mehlin. “Perhaps even more important, the Adobe Flash Player enables us to reach virtually anyone on any platform, including Windows, Mac, and Linux. For us, Linux is crucial because we cater to so many people in academic environments.”

Advancing end-to-end video workflows
With so much online content to offer, Nobelprize.org is looking to Adobe technologies to help make its content more discoverable to millions of site visitors. Speech Search — available in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and Soundbooth CS4 — is a key feature that provides the opportunity for Nobelprize.org to transcribe spoken words to text, and then use the recorded information as metadata that can be used throughout the production workflow and associated with assets to make them more searchable.

“One of our main roles is to promote the prestigious Nobel Prize awards and educate audiences worldwide,” says Mehlin. “We appreciate how Adobe software continues to help us push the boundaries of how we engage and inform our online audiences while providing us with tightly integrated media workflows that increase our efficiency and reduce costs.”

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