April 2014
www.tvbeurope.com
16mm film, well restored, is a perfect match for high definition television. If you perform a full restoration today, you can regard the archive as the definitive version for the future
Normally the database will be
linked to a browse server, so you can view the selected material, and maybe even perform simple functions like clipping or assembly editing, without recovering the full resolution files from the archive. For some archives only a very small closed user group should be allowed to access the content; for others it could be opened up to a larger group or even potentially everybody. It depends on the nature of the content and the way you hope to realise its value. But the big difference to the tape and indeed the simple files on disk approach is that the full resolution master file is always copied when needed, which avoids loss or damage during use. An asset is most vulnerable precisely at the time it is most valuable!
Restoration Another central question is how much restoration should be carried out before committing content to a managed archive. Restoration tools — automatic and manual — are already extremely capable. We recently won a FOCAL Award for remastering two landmark Sir David Attenborough nature documentary series, Life on Earth (1979) and Trials of Life (1990), and although the 16mm film was more than 20 years old, it now looks like it was shot yesterday. 16mm film, well restored, is a perfect match for high definition television. That means that if you perform a full restoration today, you can then regard the archive as the definitive version for the future. Making the content immediately available to its target market of users is a good way to determine priorities for restoration. Market demand for content will demonstrate what is popular, and user comments on quality will underline what work is required. Together they will help you set up a targeted programme of work. For some organisations, unlocking the value of the archive content is sufficient to pay for the cost of the archive.
Preservation In conclusion, there are a lot of organisations who have audio- visual material which should be preserved because it will have value, in some way, in the future. Along with the obvious broadcasters and production companies, these organisations range from sports federations to charities (we have recently undertaken the management of Oxfam’s archive, for instance).
The chances are that the content will exist across a broad range of formats. This will include film, and at BBC Studios and Post Production Digital Media Services we maintain one of the last functional Rank
Cintel Mk III telecines with gates for obscure gauges like 9.5mm, as well as the regular 8, 16 and 35mm. But much more pressing is video and audio tape, which is degrading faster than film and is
TVBEurope 41 The Workflow
significantly damaged by the wear of each play. Again, we have a remarkable collection of machines to get the best out of those tapes, and a team of engineers who can service our VTRs and customise the
hardware to create bespoke preservation workflows. The critical message, though, is
that you cannot put off this task: preservation has to be considered now or the content will degenerate and may be lost forever.
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