[PAML] Production - Recording & archiving

An important part of the project management of a live recording is determining how, and in what format, a recording of a live production should be archived. In the PAML Pilot Project each of the participating companies held the firm view that recording a live performance flattened it and that live work often did not translate well to screen. All the companies had their recording shot professionally with careful consideration given to capturing the performance with dynamic and energy. They each chose a documentary format for inclusion in the digital library. Several of the companies decided not to include the whole performance but rather sections of the work, concentrating on capturing the essence of the live production as well as presenting the working process and information about the company. The companies were also committed to archiving the multimedia products created in their program of products.

Recording methodology

All of the participating companies defined a recording methodology to best capture their respective live performances within the scope, budget and time constraints of the PAML Pilot Program. The companies took a range of approaches to recording the live production from a dedicated shoot over time, to a multi-camera, half-day shoot within the scheduled season, to recording the live performance over several performances with a small unobtrusive film crew.

Unlike live performance the camera has the ability to get in close to the action and the companies made use of this through close-ups and mid-shots of sections of the performance. Cranes, dollies and hand-held shots were also used extensively to provide the dynamic and movement shots. The companies endeavored to cover the live performance from a variety of angles to ensure a range of editing options in post-production.

Arena's camera positions

Camera Position 1

Camera Position 2

Camera Position 3

Camera choices

Each company made different camera choices for recording their live performances. These ranged from various digital cameras to 16 mm and SP Betcam. Digital cameras offer various tape formats that use different types and degrees of image compression. As a rule the greater the degree of compression the less subtle or detailed the recorded image. The appeal of any digital format lies in the ability to maintain the quality of the original recording throughout transfer processes, post-production and dubbing. So long as the material is handled continuously in a digital form and is not transcoded from one digital format to another there is virtually no loss of quality.

The process of adopting digital technology in mainstream production started in the realm of post-production and from there has permeated high-end video shooting. Digital technology also swept into use in low-end production and domestic markets in the form of DV camera equipment. Consumer DV, as it is known uses either a standard size cassette or the well-known mini DV cassettes. DV was also picked up for new media applications such as CD ROM and Internet.

The better quality professional and mid range digital cameras are probably the slowest to proliferate as they gradually replace the very successful Betacam SP market. At this point in time it is still easier, and even cheaper, to hire a Betacam SP. The digital video formats available today include at the highest end production D1, Digital Betacam (DBC) or Betacam SX, which are used for mastering commercials and other broadcast uses. No compression is used at this level.

In the semi-professional consumer production range the DV format including mini DV spans the domestic market, the semi professional and at times the professional industry. It compares favourably to analogue formats such as Hi8 and Super VHS. It can deliver "broadcast quality" results with experienced cinematographers and has been used successfully for documentary production. Independent producers use DV for long running low budget shoots. It is also used for observational recording where minimal intrusion is essential. Mini DV cameras are light, compact, fully automatic, simplified camera/recorders but they are limited in scope. Continuous timecoding can be a problem and the footage needs to be transferred to a more robust format for post-production. None of the video formats above meets the standards for the proposed High Definition Television (HDTV) formats. At this point in time Super16 and 35mm film are the only acquisition formats in regular use that can meet these standards.

Encoding for streaming video

Shooting on a digital camera still requires encoding for the material of be streamed or downloaded in online delivery. The pilot project documentaries were all mastered on SP Betacam in preparation for encoding and deposit on the SWIFT Digital Media Services. The digitised copies were also maintained for the purposes of long-term archiving as part of the Performing Arts Multimedia Library.

During the earlier part of the

SWIFT Digital Media Services delivery trial a great deal of investigation was made into encoding products at a quality standard. Each title was digitally compressed and encoded and then subjected to a set of quality evaluation criteria. These included assessments of colour, movement, pixellation, stability, framing and sound. Some problems with titles in the delivery trial have included the framing within shots, grainy film type, or intensity of detail within a large depth of field. This is not to suggest any fault in the original material but rather that certain cinematic styles and subject matter are not conducive to the compression standard adopted.

Due to the limitations of the technology in converting live performance to screen; some care needs to be taken in shooting for a digital outcome. For example, ensuring where possible, that scenes are not too busy with large amounts of information from foreground to background. As images will be transformed into digital bits that may appear as "blocks" an overabundance of lines or a lot of moving objects, travelling at some speed will present some problems in compression.

Metadata and its role in archiving Websites

The world wide web has evolved without much regard for information management and research is now attempting to deal with the problems associated with the volume and nature of information on the Web. The main purpose of metadata is to improve management and retrieval of information. In simple terms it is the data about the data. A resource such as a Website with the relevant metadata information about the form and content of the Website will allow more efficient access and retrieval. A comprehensive system of metadata would provide a comprehensive system for describing different media features. The Dublin Core, which has been devised as a possible standard of metadata provides a set of 'elements' or features, which can be used as metadata to describe the media.

It is important for all performing arts producers to consider the importance of metadata for creating effective Websites and for cataloguing information to archive a Website for retrieval at a later date. It is possible that an international metadata standard will be established and that this will become crucial to the project management of any online product. Performing arts companies will need to ensure the multimedia developers of their online products can imbed or supply separate metadata information for the products created.