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Building the World's Most Advanced Digital Archive
Keith Cass, Director of Technology, talks about ITN’s new DAM system
The digital archive project is something that we planned to implement as far back as 1998 when we installed Inspiration (the incumbent newsroom production system). We always considered an archive component but several factors contrived to prevent us going much further than the drawing board.
Back then, the Quantel clip boxes that were at the heart of our news production system did not support file transfer and the cost per minute of storing material on digital video tape was far cheaper compared with storing it in a digital archive. We also felt the asset management software and tools were not best suited for broadcast applications. We had to accept that the technology was not really ready for us and what was available was just too expensive to meet any sensible business case. So, like many who made the change to digital server production in the late 90s, we had to leave our archive on video tape and accept the associated workflow inefficiencies.
But it was not too long before our ideas and requirements for a digital archive began to change and a technical solution looked achievable and affordable. Today, it is unthinkable for a video server not to support file transfer, the storage management systems have matured considerably and the cost of digital storage has plummeted.
In addition this time around, we had a second factor to support our project. We still wanted to provide an online digital archive to support our news contracts for ITV News and Channel 4 News and remove the dependency on video tape, but we now had a supporting business case from ITN Source to provide a digital platform to support its rapidly expanding online clip sales operation.
Getting it off the ground
Three years ago we revisited the basic requirements of our system. We needed to consider not just how much we had to store each day, but also the amount of restoration to service our newsrooms and the amount of restoration and file conversion that online customers to ITN Source would require. We produced a detailed requirements specification and after looking at a number of companies who could provide a solution, we eventually chose Sony to act as the prime supplier and system integrator.
Together with Sony we selected what we felt were the best of breed components to deliver our digital archive solution. Our system would be based on a Quantel SQ server at the core, FP DIVA as the storage management system and controlling the movement of media assets around the system is Server Load, Server Base and Server Archive from IBIS. The mass storage system is a fully expanded Sony Petasite which will store 100,000 hours of footage at IMX30 resolution on SAIT 2 drives. Key to the success of our project was a tightly controlled control process managed by Sony based on elements of Prince 2.
Our system is one of the largest of its kind in Europe. It is particularly unique as it effectively connects the output from our News production platforms to an online browse and download system available over the internet to visitors of the new ITN Source web site. Separate to the project with Sony, ITN also engaged FramFab (Now LBi) to handle the web site development.
Workflow
The workflow is as follows: media assets are digitised into the Quantel server from where ITN Source staff identify those elements that are to be sent to the Petasite. IBIS Server Load and Server Archive handle the movement of assets onto the Petasite using the DIVA middleware from Front Porch.
DIVA makes a copy of the archived asset in a hi-res Quick Time format which is then viewed by archivists to make a detailed shot list which is stored on our in-house database system called NADS (New Archive Database System). Not all assets can be made available for internet viewing and so the shot listing process is not just about describing what is to be stored and associated key words, but also what can and can’t be published to the Internet. This means we have two separate search and retrieval systems -> a complete and unrestricted set of all assets which is available for ITN newsroom use and a restricted set for publication on the ITN Source website.
ITN built its own metadata entry tool as part pf the NADS system. Called ‘Shotlister’, it provides archivists with a dual-screen system for viewing and registering details about video assets into the database. Shotlister allows easy entry of time-code numbers in and out points against, and has numerous fields for additional metadata to be added. Drop down menus provide control over data entry and additional tools allow associations with similar assets to help broaden the options when searching. Keywords can be added which also help identify ‘Concepts’, the new creative stock shots section, which is seen a key market growth area for future sales over the internet. Finally, tools within Shotlister control restrictions over assets, how they may be applied and whether the shot can be made available for viewing and sale over the internet.
One of the key elements to our system is the principle of partial restoration. As the majority of our restorations involve only part of a packages or programmes it would be inefficient to have to restore the entire clip. Our newsroom or internet users can select just the element of clip required and the system will restore it directly to the production server or client PC.
Today
From the ITN Source web site, users can view thousands of iconic clips and creative moving image packages on the system. We add over 5000 new clips every week, and coming in 2007, we will include an e-commerce function, that will allow customers to download and buy footage at the touch of a button in a variety of formats and resolutions.
The transaction management system will bring to a close this first stage of what will be a continuous process of redevelopment of the DAM system and ITN Source.com, so that the services we offer our clients remain at the forefront of what technology has to offer. ITN have a highly expandable and adaptable digital archive platform that will underpin our existing and future business developments for ITN Source, to make it the most advanced moving image resource in the world.