Low-cost A/V Digitization Prof. Laurinda Weisse University Archivist

Composition of Magnetic Tapes The binder is responsible for holding the magnetic particles on the tape and facilitating tape transport. If the binder loses integrity - through softening, embrittlement, loss of cohesiveness, or loss of lubrication - the tape may become unplayable. Sticky tape and sticky shed are commonly used terms to describe the phenomenon associated with deterioration of the magnetic tape binder. Dr. John W.C. Van Bogart Magnetic Tape Storage and Handling: A Guide for Libraries and Archives. National Media Laboratory. June 1995. CLIR Publication 54. https://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub54/2what_wrong.html

Compact Cassette Tape Born 1963 Bulk 1970-2000 Polyester magnetic tape Compact cassette. Image by Lori Dedeyan, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). Courtesy of UCLA Library Special Collections.

VHS Tape Created 1976 Oxide-coated Mylar magnetic tape

Digital Audio File Types Uncompressed Lossless Lossy WAV FLAC MP3 Uncompressed = exact copies of the original source audio. Standard format on Windows PCs. Large in size - around 10MB per minute of music. Compressed = takes up less space. Lossless format = audio quality same as the original source. Better for listening than WAV, but limited choice of media players (ex:VLC Media Player). Most common lossy format around. Compatible with most media players. Low quality, but small file size Proprietary Formats also exist Uncompressed  AIFF: AIFF is made by Apple, so you may see it a bit more often in Apple products. Also uncompressed, this format is like WAV, but a little less widely used. Since both these formats are uncompressed, they take up a lot of space.   Lossless  Apple Lossless: Also known as ALAC, Apple Lossless is similar to FLAC. It's a compressed lossless file, although it's made by Apple. Its compression isn't as efficient as FLAC, so files may be a bit bigger, but it's fully supported by iTunes and iOS (while FLAC is not). APE: APE is a very highly compressed lossless file, meaning you'll save the most space. Its audio quality is the same as FLAC, ALAC, and other lossless files, but it isn't compatible with nearly as many players (must download a plugin or extension to play in most popular media players). They also work your processor harder to decode, since they're so highly compressed. Lossy AAC: Advanced Audio Coding, also known as AAC, is similar to MP3, although it's a bit more efficient. That means that you can have files that take up less space, but with the same sound quality as MP3. It is almost as widely compatible with MP3.    WMA: Windows Media Audio is Microsoft's own proprietary format, similar to MP3 or AAC. It doesn't offer any large advantages over the other formats, and it's also not as well supported as MP3 or AAC.

Digital Video File Types Preservation Access No single accepted format AVI, MXF, MOV all accepted MOV and AVI played by many common players like Apple Quick Time MP4 – most widely used online https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/policy/transfer-guidance-tables.html#digitalvideo https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/initiatives/dav-faq.html

Essentials + OR +

Creation of access copies or clips Workflow Metadata Creation Digitization Transfer onto Server Inspection of tapes Creation of access copies or clips

Inspection of Tapes http://www.specsbros.com/white-paper-basic-inspection-techniques-to-sample-the-condition-of-magnetic-tape.html

Creation of access copies or clips Workflow Metadata Creation Digitization Transfer onto Server Inspection of tapes Creation of access copies or clips

Track 1: Consumer Transfer Solutions Many options available Generally bundle of hardware and software Most in the $50-$100 range Designed for ease of use

Parameters for Consumer Digitization Tools Very easy to use All-in-one (or close) Cheap Easy to acquire – either from vendor already in our system or via Amazon

Elgato https://www.elgato.com/en/video-capture

Elgato: Technical Specs Automatically detects NTSC, SECAM, PAL and PAL/60 video formats for worldwide compatibility Video resolution: 640×480 (4:3) or 640×360 (16:9) Video format Mac Software: H.264 at 1.4 MBit/sec or MPEG-4 at 2.4 MBit/se Video format PC Software: H.264 at 1.4 MBit/se Audio: AAC, 48kHZ, 128 kBit/sec

Elgato: Digitization

Elgato: Basic Name your file, hit continue a few times to check input, then record Very few options to choose from

Elgato: Evaluation Intermittent hardware issues Out-of-sync audio and video Options too limited BUT Dead simple to use Possible option for organization which needed access copies and had very limited skills

Roxio Easy VHS to DVD http://www.roxio.com/enc/products/easy-vhs-to-dvd/standard/overview.html

Roxio Specs Export video as MPEG1, MPEG2 or MP4; audio as MP3 Go directly from VHS/cassette to DVD  Set frame rate, resolution, and data rate individually OR Use the slider to choose a quality and the other values will auto-adjust to that

Roxio: Digitization Choose This

Roxio: Digitization Finalization

Roxio: Evaluation A few more options than Elgato Easy to use Audio and video sync properly Light-weight video editing capabilities included in software Still very limited options and no archival video formats BUT Good options for orgs with limited tech skills

Limitations of Consumer Transfer Systems Output formats not preservation quality Output formats limited in metadata capabilities One-size-fits-all approach to a media type with significant variations mpeg4

Track 2: Open Source Software Bonus: It’s free! Pay only for hardware needed

Cassette Transfer

Audacity Formats available: AIFF, WAV (16 bit), WAV (32 bit), MP3, OggVorbis, FLAC, MP2, M4A, AC3, AMR, WMA, Custom Easy import/digitization Advanced editing options Customizable metadata

Video Transfer

Creation of access copies or clips Workflow Metadata Creation Digitization Transfer onto Server Inspection of tapes Creation of access copies or clips

Metadata for A/V Dependent on type of project Dublin Core PBCore

Example partial oral history metadata Interviewer Interviewee(s) Location Date Signed consent form? Subjects discussed in OH Summary/abstract File format File name Length of recording Person who digitized Transcript available? Transcript file name Language

Creation of access copies or clips Workflow Metadata Creation Digitization Transfer onto Server Inspection of tapes Creation of access copies or clips