Indiana University selects VidiCert for film digitization quality control
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—The Indiana University Libraries hold one of the largest and most diverse collections of motion picture film of any university in the United States.
In June 2017, IU announced its Media Digitization and Preservation Initiative (MDPI) would digitally preserve and provide access to all significant audio and visual recordings, including 25,000 film rolls, by the IU Bicentennial in 2020. To aid in that effort, VidiCert, an industry leader in video and moving image baseband quality control, was selected to ensure the quality of the film digitization process.
VidiCert, created by JOANNEUM RESEARCH, will be used for incoming quality control after delivery of the digitized files. It has been integrated into IU’s workflow and applies a two-stage approach:
- In the first stage, a fully automated process detects segments exhibiting defects, like dust, dirt, focus or colorimetry.
- In the second stage, the detection results are validated by a human operator, resulting in a defect report, which forms an integral part of the archival package.
Initial planning for quality control foresaw manual checking of the digitized files for defects or artifacts. VidiCert’s highly automated defect-checking capabilities enable the digitized files to be checked thoroughly from end to end, allowing for strategic and time-efficient, interactive QC.
“By using VidiCert, the MDPI project gains thorough quality control on all digitized films, reducing our budgeted manual QC costs and maintaining our timeline for the Bicentennial,” said Carla Arton, MDPI director of technical operations, film. “The automatic defect-detection capabilities for film material will enable our QC staff to efficiently and strategically navigate the results of the automatic detection stage. Segments with defects will be identified and verified with minimal effort.”
Dennis Cromwell, MDPI executive director, said, “In addition to MDPI creating greater access to IU collections, it is important that the initiative create preservation masters that are a true reproduction of the original film. VidiCert enables us to minimize the risk of having major defects or issues created by the digitization process.”
“We are excited that Indiana University has selected VidiCert for its demanding film preservation project,” said Peter Schallauer, VidiCert product manager at JOANNEUM RESEARCH. “Especially, VidiCert’s film specific defect detection capabilities, and its flexibility in workflow integration, can be fully utilized.”
About JOANNEUM RESEARCH
JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH is a leading international research organisation that develops solutions and technologies for businesses and industry covering a wide range of sectors. As an INNOVATION COMPANY focused on applied research and technology development, it plays a key role in facilitating the transfer of technology and knowledge in Austria.
DIGITAL – The Institute for Information and Communication Technologies develops new technologies for the World Wide Web, specialising in image, video and acoustic signal processing applied to remote sensing, communication, navigation, audiovisual media preservation and broadcast.
About Indiana University
Founded in 1820, Indiana University is one of the United States’ top public universities. With more than 114,000 students and 9,000 faculty on eight campuses, IU is also one of the largest institutions of higher education in the United States. Its annual budget for all eight campuses totals over $3 billion. Each one of the eight IU campuses is an accredited, four-year degree-granting institution. The largest and oldest IU campus is in Bloomington
Media Contacts
Georg Thallinger
JOANNEUM RESEARCH
DIGITAL
Cell: +43 664 602 876 1240
georg.thallinger@joanneum.at
Ceci Jones
Indiana University
IT Communications Office
Office: 812-856-2337
Cell: 812-360-4348
ccjones@iu.edu