[SOA] football films

[John Walko]

Barb:

We do quite a bit of this type of work for different colleges.  I can speak
about the digital file part, but can't really address what is being saved.
Although, I can relate a story one of our college clients told us about
other college game films stored at their facility.

Regarding what to create, most colleges are creating a high resolution file
as their master and a low resolution file as an access copy.  The high
resolution file is usually an uncompressed QuickTime or AVI file.  If
anything is required to be created from this content (such as editing for
broadcast or display on a large screen), the master file is used.  But these
files are too large to use efficiently on a day to day basis.

The access file would be something like an MPEG 4 file or a video DVD.  The
MPEG 4 file is small enough to be easily shared and can be streamed, but it
still relatively good quality.  At least good enough for viewing purposes.
Video DVDs can also be used, but shouldn't be relied upon for the long-term.
We've seen playback problems with recorded DVDs in as little as two years
after they were created.

Sometimes a mezzanine file is requested.  This would be a "middle of the
road" type of file, in terms of quality.  They are compressed, so they are
smaller and easier to work with, and are often editable, meaning they can be
worked with in an editing system.  This might be something like a QuickTime
DV file, for example.  Not all colleges request this type of file...but it
is useful if the anticipated future use of the content is editing into other
programs for kiosks, broadcast, or some other type of display.

Most colleges aren't creating videotape copies from their films.  This is
because videotapes are more expensive than digital files, and the equipment
needed to play back the video is becoming obsolete.  You mention VHS...VHS
would be very low quality compared to other options as well (VHS is lower
quality and a video DVD, for example).  While I wouldn't recommend either as
the only copy from a film, a video DVD would probably be better to request
than a VHS copy because it is higher quality and easier to play back.

One thing that you should be aware of is that digital files require
additional care that videotapes don't.  They need to be backed up onto
different types of media, and that media needs to be stored in physically
different locations.  This is to prevent loss from a hard drive failure, or
accidental erasure.

Regarding storing other colleges games, we work with one college that has
other college games.  These were likely used for offensive review prior to
playing that college.  Turns out, this college has several unique games that
even the college they played against doesn't have.  The college that owns
the films regularly gets requests for copies of those films because it is
the only known copy.  So, in regard to keeping or discarding these other
films, it might be helpful to determine if other copies exist elsewhere.

I can put you directly in touch with some of the colleges we've worked with
in the past.  These wouldn't be on the SOA list.  Please call me at
800-978-3445 if you would like me to get you in touch with these archivists.

Thank you;

John Walko
Media Archive Manager
www.scenesavers.com
800-978-3445
859-291-5100
513-708-1474 (cell)


-----Original Message-----
From: ohioarchivists-bounces at lists.oplin.org
[mailto:ohioarchivists-bounces at lists.oplin.org] On Behalf Of Barb Sedlock
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 12:19 PM
To: ohioarchivists at lists.oplin.org
Subject: [SOA] football films

For college archivists:

Are any of you actively preserving football films?  Are you transferring
them to digital, or just filing the VHS copies, or something else?

We got sent a collection and it includes films that were of other college
teams, presumably from scouting trips.  Am I right in thinking most colleges
would only keep films of their own teams?

I'd appreciate any insight on handling athletic films at a college.
Thanks,
Barb Sedlock
bsedlock at defiance.edu
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