We also used the HVR-Z1U for awhile and chose to ingest as Apple HDV in the QuickTime MOV wrapper. We realized later, it made more sense to transcode the HDV to ProRes for archiving and editing (in the Final Cut Studio suite), as ProRes renders more quickly than HDV. We also chose to archive in ProRes because we're using Final Cut Server as our DAM, with ProRes being the native format on that platform. Also a perk with ProRes: With the bourgeoning AVCHD format (H.264 marketing-speak), being introduced in both consumer and pro camcorders, Final Cut Pro ingests and transcodes that format directly to ProRes.
As we've adopted a pure Mac post-production workflow, we're comfortable with the ProRes format for the long-haul --10-years at least. However, the archival community has a different take, as the ProRes format is both proprietary (Apple-owned and Mac-based) and lossy (in the sense that minimizing file-size and bit-rates is the codec's objective). If archival fidelity is your goal and being OS-platform-agnostic is important, you might consider Motion JPEG 2000 as an archival format. I believe the Library of Congress (as well as other library institutions) are using Motion JPEG 2000. There my experience stops. Anyone else use or can recommend a workflow involving Motion JPEG 2000, especially on a Windows PC? As for AVI as a container for the long-term, I read conventional AVI has a file-size limitation of 2GB. OpenDML AVI (AVI 2.0) is not subject to that limitation. However, AVI is subject to some limitations and hurdles that newer codecs don't have, especially that AVI does not provide a standardized way to encode aspect ratio information. This would be a problem for us since we have SD and HD material (what about Anamorphic content)? Hope this helps, Adam Carrier Digital Media Technician The Mariners' Museum 100 Museum Drive Newport News, Virginia 23606 Phone (757) 952-0431 Fax (757) 591-7319 acarrier at MarinersMuseum.org www.MarinersMuseum.org America's National Maritime Museum -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ari Davidow Sent: Friday, September 03, 2010 2:19 PM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: [MCN-L] archival video format(s) We have a lot of video, original created using a miniDV camera, that we downloaded to .avi files and are archiving in that format. We recently did a project where the videographer, using a couple of the new HD cameras (sony Z7U, Z1U) and working on Mac hardware is getting the downloads in .mov format. She is asking whether she should save those raw .mov files for our archive, or process them into "ProRes" files (still a .mov format?) or what? Conversion to .avi sounds either unfamiliar or potentially just taking the time to exchange one wrapper format for another. This is a time when HD formats are pretty up in the air. My question is how we want to store this video so that 10 years from now we can re-edit it and/or regenerate our web files. What are current best practices or thoughts? Many thanks, Ari _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/
