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6. PrestoSpace Support for Using New Technology

This section doesn’t explain preservation – that has been done in the previous sections. The purpose of the following material is to have, in one place, an index of the PrestoSpace work that either explains or develops digital technology relevant to audiovisual collections.

6.1 Digitisation: [PRE deliverables]

D5.1 Automated Video Cassette Preservation tool

SAMMA digitisation robot from Media Matters

Automation for Videotape Preservation (Media Matters SAMMA)

The Automated Video Cassette Preservation tool will run unsupervised as much as possible, night and day, so that it can transfer 24h/24 massive amounts of videotapes. The system will be autonomous, in the sense it will transfer, without operator intervention, programmes stored on cassettes, detect when the transfer quality is lower than expected, and take appropriate actions (re-clean, apply specific processes, try another VTR... and reject if necessary). The transferred programmes will be stored on videotapes, and/or datafiles .The system will store information on the position of drop-outs, RF level, and other relevant information, in the view of preparing possible subsequent restoration.

D5.3 Tools for Automation of Difficult Media This Report will identify and document Best Practise solutions and Automation tools for digital preservation of massive amounts of 'difficult media' to 'difficult' media : film rolls, open reel video, audio (SepMag and 1/4 Inch, 78rpm and vinyl disks)... Some Automation tools may be identified as additional (non-funded) deliverables to the Project.

D5.2 Automated Audio Cassette Preservation tool The Automated Audio Cassette Preservation tool will run unsupervised as much as possible, night and day, so that it can transfer 24h/24 massive amounts of audio tapes. It will transfer, without operator intervention, programmes stored on cassettes, clean the tapes, detect and reject the tapes that are likely to fail or damage the player, (optionally apply suitable process to these cassettes), automatically detect the end of programmes, detect when the transfer quality is lower than expected, and take appropriate actions (re-clean, apply specific processes, try another player... and reject if necessary). The transferred programmes will be stored on datafiles. The system will store, as much as possible, information on the position of problems, and other relevant information, in the view of preparing possible subsequent restoration.

D4.2 Improved 1/4 Inch audio tape player

The improved 1/4 Inch audio tape player will used advanced multi-track reading mechanisms, and signal processing tools that will reconstruct automatically from the tape signal the number and location of tracks, compensate on-the-fly azimuth error or fluctuations, and drop-outs. This will provide, without fine tuning effort, the best playback quality.

D4.1 Fast, affordable datacine

The fast, affordable datacine will be robust to archive film conditions (spliced originals, tape and cement splices, punched edges, damaged perforations, curling). This datacine will run as unsupervised as possible, and transfer the films loaded by an operator to a temporary disk buffer, at a resolution compatible with archive requirement (to be confirmed : 2K, 12 bits RGB), and offer exports to several kinds of media : SDI and HD-SDI, compressed file formats will be determined by the User Requirements and the System Architecture&Specifications Phase. The datacine will be reasonably artefacts-free, but will not provide restoration functions beyond those that have to take place at the transfer step. The datacine will gather information on the position of faults such as dirt and scratches, in the view of later use for restoration.

D4.3 Contactless Playback Tool for audio disks

The Contactless Playback Tool for audio disks will use advanced optics and image processing tools for reading 78rpm disks and vinyls, without any contact with the disk surface, thus increasing the robustness of the playback with respect to dust, scratches, or cracks, on the disk surface.

Preservation Project Execution and PREFACTIS

D7.1 An Information System for Preservation Management.

PREFACTIS :

PREFACTIS :
PREservation
FACTory
Information
System

A software solution that will be the workflow application for the Service Providers/Preservation Factory, integrated with Archives input mechanisms, and with Restoration/Documentation Factories

The Information System tool (workflow system) will be capable of keeping an accurate track record of the programmes between the time they are first known to the system, up to the point the preservation is accomplished, and the results safely stored after delivery to the archive. This system will be tightly integrated with the Automated preservation tools (WP04, WP05), with the Turnkey System, and with the Export System (WP18 MAD-Turnkey and Export system Integration), and provide ways to store information obtained manually, and specifically when transferring manually difficult media. It will keep track of the events that take place during the transfer, so that these events can be used for quality monitoring. The system will also provide inputs to the Software tool for planning of storage for audiovisual preservation, and to the Software tool for strategic planning for audiovisual preservation.

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6.2 Media and mass storage options [SAM]

D12.1 Archive Storage and Technology Watch Website http://prestospace-sam.ssl.co.uk/

D12.2 Storage Calculator

The simple tool that tells you how much your existing holdings amounts to, when converted to digital data: http://prestospace-sam.ssl.co.uk/hosted/d12.2/calc4.php

The more complex tool that gives a rough estimate of costs for a digitisation project: http://prestospace-sam.ssl.co.uk/hosted/d13.2/newcalc.php

D12.3 Storage quality management

The overview is on the SAM website: http://prestospace-sam.ssl.co.uk/articles/T8/T8%2d1.html

and the full article is available for download [So why isn't it on the PrestoSpace site??]

D12.5 10-year Technology Forecast http://www.prestospace.org/project/public.en.html

One result of the User Survey was a widespread view that archivists were unfamiliar with digital storage technology, and had no idea where this technology was going. They were attracted by the dropping costs, but intimidated by the high rate of technology change and implied built-in obsolescence. This report gives the best available industry information and forecasts, to shed light on this difficult area.

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6.3 Encoding, files and file types [SAM and MAD]

D12.6 Survey of Digital Formats for Storage

The User Requirements study showed that archivists are also very concerned about the range of digital formats available. Although it is a primary purpose of the website (D12.1) to provide basic information, it is clear that archives need detailed documentation to back up the information already available through the website. This report will be available as a downloadable document (separated into divisions by format for faster access), but it will have management-level information on the website itself, as an update to and extension of the information already provided by D12.1

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6.4 Restoration [RES]

Fig 8 - Restoring 'Opernball'

D8.1 Defect and Quality Analysis Framework (Software + Manual) This SW framework for film and video defects/quality analysis allows fully automatic analysis of the material by analysis modules. Efficiency is enabled by a modular concept where defect analysis for a certain defect can rely on results of other analysis modules. A plug-in mechanism will enable ease of module integration and further extensions.

D8.2 Restoration Management Tool (Software) The RMT will provide a single point of information for restoration related decision making and management for the restoration operator. It provides an overview of material to be restored with information on status and progress of restoration. The RMT monitors progress of the restoration tasks.

D8.3 "Audiovisual Defect & Quality Description Schemes and Descriptors" (Report + Software + Manual) Description schemes to describe typical film/video/audio defects and rich digitisation metadata based on MPEG-7 standard will be developed and documented. A Defect Description API to access and produce such schemes will be provided. The APIs will be documented in an accompanying manual. http://www.prestospace.org/project/public.en.html

D9.2 High Level Restoration and Defect Analysis Modules (Software + Manual) This set of modules will be the implementation and documentation of highly advanced techniques to perform digital moving image and sound restoration and analysis.

D10.1 Visual Restoration Software Subsystem This system consists of the SW Restoration Platform and Interactive SW Restoration Tool providing resolution independent, high-quality, semi-automatic restoration functionalities.

D10.2 Visual Restoration Hardware Subsystem The Visual Restoration Hardware Subsystem consists of a hardware system and the disk-to-disk real-time platform providing the functionality to restore digitally, at affordable cost, video programmes with minimum operator time.

D10.3 Audio Restoration Software Subsystem The Audio Restoration Software is a solution that fulfils preservation oriented audio restoration demands: High volume through-put for automatic restoration in fair quality and operator driven manual restoration with highest quality.

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6.5 Web-access options [MAD?]

[This appears to be a gap. We have something about formats for web access in D12.6. Metadata? Search and retrieval? Portals? Hosting?

If we are only supplying general information, not deliverables, then that information should go elsewhere, because all of this section is focussed specifically on PrestoSpace deliverables.]

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6.6 Metadata and documentation [MAD]

D15.1 Analysis of current audiovisual documentation models (Report) http://www.prestospace.org/project/public.en.html

D15.3 State of the art of content analysis tools for video, audio, speech (Report) Survey of the existing technologies and analysis of their applicability to audiovisual materials. http://www.prestospace.org/project/public.en.html

D15.2 PrestoSpace documentation framework (Report) Documentation structures, processes, user interface, tools integration framework

D15.4 Content analysis tools (Report + Software) Results of experimentation, operational guidelines, integration of tools in the framework

D15.5 Analysis of cross-linguistic IE tools for Metadata Discovery (Report). Survey of the viable techniques for IE in a cross-linguistic framework. Experimentation on real user data and analysis of the results (Performance Assessment). A Proposal for an effective IE architecture as a metadata discovery tool.

D15.6 Semantic interpretation tools (Report + Software) Results of experimentation, operational guidelines, integration of tools in the framework

D16.3 Cross language retrieval and access tools Survey of the existing technologies and analysis of their applicability to archive retrieval. Definition of a test bed and evaluation of the selected technologies.

D16.4 Delivery models (Report + Software) Analysis of B2B transaction models. Definition of a model for the management of the transactions between the Factory and its customers (open to CRM-systems) including the supported file formats and transcoding functionalities.

D16.1 Content retrieval and browsing for the general public Specification of retrieval and browsing interfaces for the public access. This will include browsing tools efficiency evaluation (key frame based storyboard, low quality video, types of indexing provided, etc ...) as well as usability of non conventional query methods (e.g., image based search, free text search on transcripts, category tree traversal).

D16.2 Conceptual search Survey of the existing technologies in the field of automatic data models mapping and ontologies and analysis of their applicability to audiovisual archives, with special reference to the results of D15.5. Definition of a test bed and evaluation of the selected technologies..

D18.1 Documentation platform for the MAD Factory (Software and Manuals)

This implementation deliverable will provide the software infrastructure for the management of the documentation process of the digitized content, including automatic extraction of metadata and manual annotation and validation. The result of the overall preservation process, that is digitized content and associated metadata, will then be packaged and delivered back to the archive. The same package will also be used as input format for the Publication platform.

D18.2 Publication platform for the Results of Digitization and Documentation (Software and Manuals) This implementation deliverable will provide the software infrastructure for the management of the digitized contents and the documentation metadata, including storage and retrieval facilities. The system will be oriented to offer turnkey services to small archives.

D18.3 Turnkey System for Delivering to small Archives (Software and Manuals) This implementation deliverable will provide the software infrastructure for the management of the whole MAD System made up of the Documentation and the Publication Platform customized to small archives needs.