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Master video file type for legacy storage for archive query
I’m currently transcoding digitised U-matic and Betacam footage for archival storage and for the potential licensing of content. We also need to create files to allow public access (using a content management system such as AtoM for example) so they don’t need to be too hi resolution.
In summary we require
a: A master file for broadcast / licensing (to be backed up 3 times)
b: A sharable low-res copy for public access online
I’m looking for a bit of advice about what codec to transcode with and what file size / type is good for legacy storage. We have about 1000 tapes to digitise and transcode.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. Happy to provide more context if needed.
Thank you
Fraser
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3 Replies
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With U-matic (high band or low band), I hope you’re using the ‘Dub’ output which used to be ‘Y-C component’ and which yielded a significantly better image than composite. Also, for Betacam, the component out provided better images than composite.
Digitising analog SD res U-matic and Betacam tapes will create files at about 16 GB/hr if you choose ProResHQ, or 11 TB as ProRes. It is hard to predict the future of any codec or format so it’s hard to know how long ProRes will be relevant/readable in the .mov form. But ProRes has proved durable, so far, and even if it gets deprecated, there will be sufficient advance warning, and re-transcoding 1000 hrs of ProRes to some other format would be a manageable task in the future.
If you want to be codec independent, you could choose to digitise to Uncompressed 8bit 4:2:2 YCbCr, and even that will need about 70 TB for 1000 hrs. Do trials of small portions and review them to get a fix on the format/codec.
For long term storage of digitised files, LTO tapes would work best, with the caveat that every about 5 years, they need to be reviewed and migrated to the current format that that time. Here too, your quantity – 1000 hrs SD – would consume about 1 LTO-9 tape at ProResHQ, or 4 LTO-9 tapes at Uncompressed 8-bit.
For the low res public access format, H.264 works best for playback on most of today’s devices. If you’re using YouTube/Vimeo for publishing the content for public preview, then at their recommended bitrate for SD, 1000 hrs of 480p would amount to about 900 GB.
If you have 1 VTR each for U-matic and Betacam, with a 40 hr week and 1000 hrs split between the two formats, you’re looking at about 13 weeks or work doing the digitising. The transcoding will happen in the background.
You could even consider getting the digitising, transcoding, and QC managed remotely. And have someone at your end only changing tapes. Depending on the condition of the tapes, you’ll need lots of head cleaner, and air sprays. For some tapes, you may even need to physically open the cassette to clean it of fungus on the tape.
Neil Sadwelkar
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Hi Neil, thank you ever so much for all of this information.
We’ll definitely take a lot of it onboard, especially the advice on formats and legacy storage. Re. the initial digitisation, we unfortunately only have the ability to export via a composite output due to the limitations on the U-Matic VP-5040 player.
We’re currently also experiencing some picture / sound interference issues when connecting the component cable (via a loom) into the Decklink 2 Blackmagic capture card using the serial port, so we are considering converting the signal to digital via an analog (BNC) to HDMI converter.
The interference we are experiencing is attached on a short video. I’ve also set up another thread on this.
https://creativecow.net/forums/thread/blackmagic-capture-issue-with-u-matic-player/
We’re struggling to find solutions…
Anyway, thank you again for your advice!
Fraser
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Fraser,
I had a look at the clip you uploaded. Can’t say what the audio glitch is, but the quality of video is poor, compared to what I remember U-matic looking. I’ve come across some U-matic originated clips while editing/conforming docus with archival footage, and U-matic video looks better than what you’ve uploaded. For that matter, even VHS looks better.
I think you need to get a better deck. Or get this one fixed.
As an example, here’s an old Indian TV show where the video has been digitised off U-matic tape. Even this is not a good example of how U-matic looked. I’d say even this is only a fair transfer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WanOZiQsZY0
Unfortunately its rare to come across a well maintained U-matic VTR. But if this transfer is worth a decent amount of money, you could get in touch with a retired broadcast engineer, and buy a couple of VTRs eBay and then use them as parts to recreate a working system.
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