In Broadcast June 2012 - 62

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 9 - JUNE 2012

InFORM

The Digital Archiving Migration Process
Front Porch Digital’s archiving guide aims to help the archivist understand the process for migrating videotape and ﬁlm based media to a digital archive
This approach has been tried and tested in many of the world’s most important archives, and as such is an important part in successfully migrating any collection. Migration of videotape to digital ﬁles can be a process which at times appears to be cumbersome. However, if the archivist is well prepared for the migration process and has realistic expectations based on a broad understanding of both the archive and process, migration can be a successful venture with profound results. Archive type, collection health, migration plan, and quality control are all considerations which an archivist may face when formulating a migration project. However, following a phased migration plan, segregating workﬂows, conducting restoration as needed, and utilising a content storage management system; any videotape library can be successfully migrated into a modern digital archive. • Aggregate – one which has had a multitude of video production sources. Archival master condition is not fully known; • Institutional – one that has elements of both a broadcast quality archive as well as an aggregate archive. Examination of both the archive as a whole in addition to the tapes is crucial to expectations during a migration process.

Workﬂow Breakdown
The ﬁrst step is to step back and view the archive health as a whole. Considering the sources of the footage will allow the archivist to gauge the success rate of migrations. While most migrations are successful, alterations or developments to the migration infrastructure may be required for some tapes. It is best to examine the collection health and segregate tapes which might need more attention than others. By segregating all high-risk collections, low-risk collections can be migrated without disruption. Cleaning of both collections is recommended and SAMMAclean offered as part of DIVASolutions by Front Porch Digital. If a migration does fail, restoration can be performed. It is highly recommended that a professional tape cleaning service be consulted. If the archivist seeks restoration on a particular video tape, it is also recommended that the archivist retain the unfaithful migrated archival ﬁle. If restoration fails, this may be the only archival ﬁle which can be created. If restoration is successful, re-migrate the tape and dispose of the ﬁrst archival ﬁle only when it has been proven that the new archival ﬁle is a faithful reproduction of the original content. If the migration is successful, the resultant archival ﬁle is now a faithful archival master and should be stored accordingly. At this point the migration is complete; however content storage management is needed. This will allow the
Recommended Workﬂow

archivist to manage the archival ﬁle, including metadata control, rights management, and allows for web publishing of content. Full function program suites are recommended such as DIVASolutions DIVArchive, DIVAdirector, and DIVApublish mpx.

Quality Control
The ﬁrst step in the migration process begins with preparation of material to be migrated. At this point, essential metadata is associated with an asset which ensures that the asset is trackable. Front Porch Digital’s SAMMAprep offers both preparation software as well as a barcode system which prepares the asset for migration. The second step in the migration process involves the physical encoding of material into digital ﬁles. This process can be accomplished with either an array of encoders, or a simpliﬁed workﬂow inclusive system such as Front Porch Digital’s SAMMAsolo or SAMMArobot. This system allows for the simultaneous encoding of multiple ﬁle formats to ensure that the archival master is only processed through a VTR once. The SAMMA system also automatically collects metadata about the ﬁle and tape which is essential in gauging the quality of the digital ﬁles. Following encoding with the SAMMA system, health reports and graphs are generated which

Archive Types
There are three main types of archives: • Broadcast Quality – those which have had one major source. Each archival master is part of a consistent well maintained collection;

give an accurate picture of the asset health. This step is essential in determining if the asset was successfully migrated. Without Front Porch Digital’s SAMMA system, each individual digital ﬁle must be reviewed to ensure successful migration. At this point the physical migration of the material is complete, however a minimum of four new ﬁles have been created, all of which are now treated as the new asset. An archival ﬁle of preservation quality, a use copy ﬁle for editing, low-resolution proxies, as well as a metadata xml ﬁle have been created which now require asset management. It is suggested that the asset package be checked into an asset management program such as Front Porch Digital’s DIVArchive, which will be able to manage and control the asset. Following ingestion, comparison of later derivatives of the asset is essential to the long-term management of the asset. Since multiple copies of an asset exists, comparison to each other is necessary to ensure that all copies are faithful to the original archival ﬁle.

SAMMA Workﬂow
Front Porch Digital offers a simple but powerful migration system
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SAMMAsolo migration engine

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