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< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 2
Preservation Television Archives
Overview
• Broadcast archives: Mandates• Preservation management• Formats in television archives• Magnetic tapes• DVDs• Setting Preservation Priorities• Preservation Projects• Obsolescence• Moving from the analogue to digital domain
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 3
Preservation Television Archives
Broadcast Archives
1. Department within broadcaster: Service department to support Production (and preserve cultural heritage) – Public service broadcasters– Commercial broadcasters– Small and or local community broadcasters
2. National audiovisual archives / National Broadcast Archives: Preserve cultural Heritage (and support production for external broadcasters)) – May be part of national archive or national library
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 4
Preservation Television Archives
Television Archives within Broadcasting Corporations
• Audiovisual archives• One of many departments in a company
– often lack of awareness of archival needs within company, competition for resources
• House programmes produced by the company usually after transmission
• High percentage of holdings are unique and are not available elsewhere
• Rights held on high percentage of programmes: Assets• Professional tapes and recording equipment in house• Technical infrastructure and know-how available
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 5
Preservation Television Archives
Mandates of Television Archives
• Preservation– Safeguard company assets: programmes produced by
company– Preserve audiovisual cultural heritage (important where no
legal deposit laws exist e.g. Germany)
• Access– Serve the needs of programme makers: provision of resources
(stock footage) and information– Provide access to audiovisual cultural heritage
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 6
Preservation Television Archives
Aims of AV Preservation
• To ensure the long-term survival of audio-visual content and preserve its integrity
• To provide access to content in the present and in the future– unknown factor: access needs of the future
• Preservation and Access go hand in hand
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 7
Preservation Television Archives
Users of Television Archives
In-house• Programme planers
– Repeat broadcasts– Re-versioning
• Programme Makers– Stock Footage
• PR• Other departments
– Financial, legal etc.
External• Programme exchange
– Partners, TV networks
• Programme Sales• Cultural Organisations• Academic research• General Public (public
service broadcasters)
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 8
Preservation Television Archives
Access
• Descriptive metadata as means to find content that is sought
• Technical metadata with information on storage format: carrier
• Access to audiovisual content is only possible via replay equipment
• Logistics– Traffic - loan management– Copying facilities for external loans or where no access copy
held– Satellite links for fast delivery
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 9
Preservation Television Archives
Preservation Tasks
• Slow down natural processes of decomposition by keeping physical carriers in optimal storage conditions
• Eliminate environmental hazards• Protect originals by providing access copies• Monitor physical condition of holdings• Restore damaged carriers • Maintain replay equipment for all formats held (especially
for obsolete formats in collection)• Migrate obsolete formats to newer formats to ensure
continued accessibility
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 10
Preservation Television Archives
Preservation
• Passive– Preserving carriers for restoration/digitisation at a later stage– Storing in ideal environment (controlled temperature, relative
humidity) to prevent or slow down decay
• Active– Transferring to newer formats– Restoration of carriers
• When financial resources are limited, emphasis on passive preservation measures
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 11
Preservation Television Archives
Formats in Television Archives
• Broadcast Masters– transmission tapes produced in advance of transmission
(technical quality control), master for copies
• Production formats– post-production, news, current affairs; IT-sound track, clean
feeds (important for stock footage)
• Viewing formats– to select footage or for general viewing; consumer formats
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 12
Preservation Television Archives
Common Formats in TV Archives
• 35mm Film (Negative and Positive)• 16mm Film (Positive and Reversal)• 16mm Negative Film• 17,5 and 16mm separate magnetic sound tracks• 16/35 mm Film with magnetic or optical sound track• 2”, 1” tapes (B or C Format) • U-Matic Low or High Band • Betacam, Beta SP, Betamax • D1, D2, D3, D5 ……• DigiBeta• Hi8• DVCpro25, DVCpro 50• IMX
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 13
Preservation Television Archives
History of TV Formats at SWR
• Broadcast Masters– 1954- 1962: 35mm Positive– 1957 - 1962: 16mm Positive– 1961 - 1984: 2” Quad tapes– 1984 - 1996: 1”B-Format– 1991 - 1998: Betacam SP– 1996 - 2003: D5– 1996 - DigiBeta– 2003 - IMX– 2005- Video Files
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 14
Preservation Television Archives
History of TV Formats at SWR
• Production Formats– 1954 - 35mm Negative/Positive– 1959 - 16mm Negative/Positive– 1963 - 1987: 16mm Reversal Film– 1983 - 1991: U-Matic (3/4”)– 1991 - 2003 Betacam SP– 1996 - DigiBeta– 2001 - DVCpro25, DVCpro50– 2002- IMX– 2003- Video Files
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 15
Preservation Television Archives
History of TV Formats at SWR
• Viewing Formats– 1954- 35mm Positive– 1959- 16mm Positive– 1963- 16mm reversal– 1973-1979: VCR – 1977-1990: VCC / V2000– 1978 - 2006 VHS– 1999 - mpeg1/real video files– 2006 - DVD
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 16
Preservation Television Archives
Television Formats: Carrier Categories
• Original recordings– Raw material / rough cuts / camera tapes– Off-air recordings of live broadcasts
• Transmission tapes• Broadcast masters• Different versions of programmes
– With / without captions– With / without mixed commentary track (broadcast version)– With / without credits, title
• Copies– Loan for selection of footage or general viewing– Loan for broadcast (external users)
• All categories except copies are covered by preservation management
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 17
Preservation Television Archives
Formats in TV archives today
• Vast majority – Magnetic Tapes– Studio productions – Magazines– Recordings of live events, off-air recordings– Transmission tapes
• Film – high end productions – features, documentaries – Newsreels - reversal
• Files: news, current affairs; files for transmission
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 18
Preservation Television Archives
Magnetic Tapes
• Audio, video, analogue, digital• Various band widths (<1/4” – 2”)• Reel to reel, cassette• Different recording techniques: helical scan, longitudinal
scan • Professional and consumer formats
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 19
Preservation Television Archives
Magnetic Tapes
• Physical composition– Base layer– Magnetic coating in which recorded signal is embedded– Adhesive holds two layers together
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 20
Preservation Television Archives
Magnetic tapes: storage
• Storage environment: 15 – 20° C, low humidity (35 – 55% RH)
• Production environment: often 20°+, acclimatisation• Cassette: always rewind• Store in upright position on shelf• Keep away from magnets: danger of signal loss (= loss of
content)• Keep clean: tiny particles on surface interfere with
interaction with heads on replay equipment
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 21
Preservation Television Archives
Threats to magnetic tapes
• Wear and tear – use in replay equiment, ejecting from player if not rewound
• Surface dirt / debris • Binder degradition – hydrolisis • Sticky shed syndrom• Magnetism• Obsolesence
– Experience has shown that most magnetic tapes are obsolescent before the end of their natural life cycles (+/- 30 years)
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 22
Preservation Television Archives
DVDs
• Consumer format designed for viewing • Not archival format – data reduction• Instability of medium: recording process
– Dyes – Pressing
• Fragile – layer structure• Compatibility issues
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 23
Preservation Television Archives
Preservation Management
Metadata • Tracking
– Records of carrier loans – to whom, for what purpose• Records of transferral from one format to another
– Generation History: New carrier is copy of which old carrier• Technical data
– Machine / unit on which content recorded, used for transfers • Condition monitoring
– Records of checks and findings• Brand names
– Record with carrier information• Digital tapes
– Monitoring of BER (block error rates)
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 24
Preservation Television Archives
Preservation Strategy
• First Step: Assessment of Preservation Needs– Gain knowledge of general condition of collection – Define areas for active and passive preservation– Establish priority areas for active preservation
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 25
Preservation Television Archives
A B
C
A: Carrier conditionChemical decayPhysical decayObsolete
B: Carrier statusOriginal/Master
C: ContentUniqueHigh demandHigh value
Setting Preservation Priorities
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 26
Preservation Television Archives
Television Archives SWR Stuttgart
Format (approx. figures) Period of use
• 30,000 IMX tapes 2003 -• 15,000 D5 tapes 1996 - 2004• 10,000 Digi-Beta tapes 1998 - • 5,000 DVDs 2005 - • 200,000 Beta SP tapes 1990 - 2005• 80,000 VHS tapes 1985 -
2006• 4,000 1“ MAZ open reel 1984 - 1996• 40,000 rolls 16mm Film + sep mag 1954 - 1998• 2,500 rolls 35mm Film + sep mag 1954 –1995• No 2“ MAZ open reel (migrated) 1962 – 1986• No U-Matic cassettes (migrated) 1981 - 1992
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 27
Preservation Television Archives
Assessment of Collection: Problem areasSWR Television Archives
• Reversal film (news/current affairs 1962 – 1983)– original: held only on film (no copies, no rushes)– Degradation: bad splices, sticky shed, colour fade, wear and
tear– Of long-term value/unique: depicts all aspects of society/no
commercial broadcasters in Germany until 1980– Obsolescent format within broadcaster: no duplication
transfer facilities for short-term access needs– Restoration highly labour intensive: expensive
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 28
Preservation Television Archives
Assessment of Collection: Problem areasSWR Television Archives
• 35mm/16mm Film– Older b/w film: physical degradation: wear and tear,
scratches etc. (in past used as viewing format)– Colour fading of earlier colour TV productions– Some evidence of chemical decomposition: Vinegar
syndrome most noticeable for productions of 1960s, separate sound track especially vulnerable; not in danger zone yet
– Transmission tapes and access formats available for most 16mm/35mm positive film: no more wear and tear of film likely
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 29
Preservation Television Archives
Assessment of Collection Condition: Problem areas
• 1“ tapes – Degradation of certain tape brands (mainly Agfa), oldest
tapes in poor condition (1980s)– All tapes threatened by obsolescence: replay equipment
within company being phased out– Part of collection original status: live recordings, original
recording no longer exists– Inferior technical quality where 1“ represents 3rd archival
generation (reflects technology limits of 60s/70s and not content integrity)
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 30
Preservation Television Archives
Implementation Steps
• Funding– Create awareness of value of assets at top management level:
support + money• What are the expected benefits, return on investment? • How much has to be invested?• Proposed plan of action
– Lobby users– Publicity
• Collection gems• Service provided by archive
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 31
Preservation Television Archives
Business Plan
Putting a figure on the costs• Assessment of collection
– Volume– Condition– Content
• Assessment of Requisites for Project Realisation– Technical Personnel – Archival personnel (logistics, cataloguing backlog and deficits)– Equipment – Time
• Prioritisation– Selection criteria
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 32
Preservation Television Archives
Preservation Strategy: Concept
• Passive preservation where no immediate danger to content• Transfer high priority film and 1“ tapes to digital format • Active transfer when there is access demand• Provision of optimal storage conditions for film and tapes before
and after transfer to digital access format
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 33
Preservation Television Archives
Implementation: PrioritiesSWR Preservation Project
• High priority– Transfer 1” tapes with sticky shed to IMX tape
• Medium priority– Transfer remaining 1” originals to IMX
• 1” will not be supported by broadcaster after 2007
– 16mm newsreels that have not been transferred to tape
• Later– Transfer remaining film to digital carrier– Create browsing files for legacy holdings– Transfer to high-res video mass storage system
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 34
Preservation Television Archives
Preservation and Digitisation Projects
• 2002 – 2003– 1“ tapes with sticky shed
(approximately 1500 tapes)
• 2004 – 2012– 28,000 1” tapes – 5,200 hours of Film (newsreel + features, documentaries on
negative/positive)– From 2008: files gradually to replace physical carriers as target format
• 2012 – 2018 ? – 5,000 hours film (productions on negative/positive, remaining newsreel)
• 2012 - ? – Content on other obsolete formats (D5, Beta SP) to be transferred to
digital archival storage system
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 35
Preservation Television Archives
Preservation Project and Archival Personnel
• Logistics – moving material, tracking records etc.• Parallel to the transfer to new carrier cataloguing input
– technical metadata on carriers that was not recorded in database in the past
– Missing content description– Updating, additional information, correction of entries etc.
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 36
Preservation Television Archives
Preservation strategy today
• Cost conscious– Avoid large-scale format transfers– Balance between active and passive preservation
measures– Application of selection criteria for active preservation
• Reflect digitisation policy of broadcaster– Help archive meet new production requirements:
integration in digital workflows• Lay foundation for video mass storage system
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 37
Preservation Television Archives
Criteria for digital archival preservation formats
– Uncompressed, no data reduction– Standards based– Independent of storage media– Robust format– Non-proprietary systems– Affordable
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 38
Preservation Television Archives
Disdvantages of data reduction for archives
• Present day bandwidth constraints and prohibitive cost of uncompressed video storage likely to be resolved in not too distant future
• Today’s limitations should not become tomorrow’s handicap
• Transfers involving different systems of encoding and decoding within the production workflow lead to artifacts
• Data reduction does not preserve content integrity
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 39
Preservation Television Archives
Preservation Formats: Guidelines
• Broadcast archives must be involved in the decision-making process when new formats are being introduced
• Formats that do not meet the criteria of archival preservation formats should be avoided
• Loss of quality is the result of every transfer involving analogue recordings and when migrating from one digital encoding/decoding system and/or compression format to another
• Every format migration incurs enormous expense: if unsure about format, wait!
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 40
Preservation Television Archives
Obsolesence
When new technology for production, transmission is introduced:
• Survival of content not necessarily endangered• Access to content a problem when replay equipment
becomes unavailable• Access for production purposes problematical, especially
for news and current affaires where there is demand for fast / instant access (copying takes time)
• Particular format information on carrier becomes important: – Old
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 41
Preservation Television Archives
Metadata TV formats - Film
• 35mm or 16mm• Negative, Positive, Reversal• Original, Copy• Version: Complete production with or without titles and
credits; short item for magazine programme, rushes, edited or unedited
• Separate sound track, optical or magnetic track on film, separate IT sound track
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 42
Preservation Television Archives
Metadata TV formats: Video - magnetic video
• Tape width: 2 inch, 1 inch, ¾ inch, ½ inch, ¼ inch• Type: Quad, Betamax, U-Matic, Betacam Digibeta, VHS,
V2000, IMX, DVCpro, D1, D2……..• Version: Off-air recording, broadcast master, take• Original, copy, telecine• Sound track information
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 43
Preservation Television Archives
Milestones in Television Development
• Film -> Magnetic tape• B/w television -> colour television• Linear editing (film) -> non-linear
editing• 4:3 aspect ratio ->16:9 aspect ration • Analogue -> Digital broadcasting• Content storage on physical carrier ->
file• Standard Definition -> High definition
Year SWR (approx.)
• 1962• 1968• 1983• 2006• 2006 – 2010• 2006• 2010
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 44
Preservation Television Archives
TV Archives and New Formats: 1967 –1969 Introduction of colour TV
• In beginning colour productions denoted as such; no information = b/w production
• When b/w became the exception to the rule, no information = colour
• Transfer of information in paper catalogues to electronic database: information on all productions b/w or colour or colour with b/w
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 45
Preservation Television Archives
Attributes not recorded in earlier information systems
• Black-and-white• Mono• Analogue• Aspect ratio 4:3• Standard definition
As long as there is no alternative to such systems, this information of minor relevance
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 46
Preservation Television Archives
TV Archives and New Formats: 2006 Introduction of 16:9 aspect ration
• Standardisation with introduction of new format: – Regulation of Technical Department that all new tapes must be
labelled as one of the following:• 4:3 • 4:3 letterbox• 16:9 Full format• 16:9 full format Letterbox
• This information entered in Archive Info System– Tapes prior to 2006 are not labelled 4:3 – Some older carriers are labelled “Letterbox”, usually meaning 4:3
letterbox; occasionally “16:9” as additional carrier information in free text data field
• Next step: High Definition TV – Necessity to distinguish between 16:9 SD – and 16:9 HD
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 47
Preservation Television Archives
Parallels between introduction of colour TV and 16:9 aspect ratio
• Improved image quality immediately obvious to viewer with “new technology” TV set – i.e. colour TV in late 1960’s, widescreen TV set today
• In changeover period problems with re-use of recent archive footage in “old” format (b/w – 4:3)
• Necessity to distinguish between old and new formats in archive information systems
• Problem: deficit in catalogue information for carriers deposited in archives before introduction of new technology– Not of major relevance to present, possibly to future
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 48
Preservation Television Archives
Differences Colour TV / aspect ration
• B/w cannot be converted to colour• Colour viewed on b/w TV set looks like b/w production; no
irritation on part of viewer• 4:3 can be converted to 16:9• 16:9 can be converted to 4:3
– However, the conversion methods entail loss of information (top, bottom or side of image), distortion of image (stretching, squeezing) or distracting black bars, non screen-filling image
• Conversion / reconversion increases the loss of picture quality
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 49
Preservation Television Archives
Metadata on TV formats in TV archive information systems: SWR
• Paper based catalogues– free text, more or less standardised carrier descriptions
• Databases introduced in late 1970’s, 1980’s– Standardised text fields, e.g. FESAD 1985: lists of carrier
attributes to chose from, only listed terms allowed; one text field for additional non-standardised information
• Database updates, new data bases: 1990’s, 2000’s • Increased standardisation; e.g. New FESAD 2004: enlarged
list of carrier attributes to reflect new technology – pop-up lists, tick-box options
• Databases with video files (content) and metadata on both content and file format – Video files and metadata generated during production are linked
with descriptive in archival cataloguing database
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 50
Preservation Television Archives
Film, Tapes,One item user at a time
Heavy tape traffic Lossy format migration
Tapes, FilesMultiple, simultaneous and remote
Access = reduced tape traffic,Lossless and automatic migration
Bridge
On the way from analogue to digitalTV-archives today
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 51
Preservation Television Archives
Expectations for digital archives
• No loss of information in copying/migration process • Automatic migration to new format generations• Automatic quality control• No external loans of carriers:
– wear and tear minimised– no loss of carriers
• Savings in storage costs
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 52
Preservation Television Archives
Why digitise?
• To combat format obsolescence?• For Access?
– To provide a better service?– To meet new demands?– To reach new user groups?
• To save costs in long run?– Labour, storage, migration
• To make money?– Exploit new digital dissemination possibilities
• For preservation?• Combination of some or all of the above?
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 53
Preservation Television Archives
Going Digital
Definition of Digitisation• To transfer content from analogue formats to digital
carriers?• Access for viewing/selection purposes using browsing files?• Integration of TV archives in tapeless production
environment? (high resolution files)• Long-term storage of content in video mass storage
systems instead of on shelf?
< >Tape Workshop, Glasgow 12 –16 May 2008, Catherine Lacken© SWR 54
Preservation Television Archives
Digitisation Policy
• Combine aims of provision of access with those of preservation
• Cost-conscious– Avoid large-scale manual format transfers – Balance between active and passive preservation measures– Application of selection criteria for active preservation
• Reflect new production requirements– Facilitate integration of archive within new digital production
workflows• Lay foundation for future digital archive system
– Long-term perspective – now just the here and now
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