1JTS June 2007

Film archives’ needs and requirements in the

age of D-Cinema.

Paul Read and Nicola Mazzanti

http://www.edcine.org

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Journalists, technologists and now chief executives of film manufacturing organizations predict the demise of film in favour of digital cinema projection within a few years.

When that will occur is uncertain, but when it does the increased cost of print making, even if still possible, will increase the intrinsic value of all film elements and restrict archives (and all distributors) to digital formats for virtually ALL access and display.

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Journalists, technologists and chief executives of film manufacturers predict the demise of film in favour of digital cinema projection within a few years.

When that will occur is uncertain, but when it does the increased cost of print making, even if still possible, will increase the intrinsic value of all film elements and restrict archives (and all distributors) to digital formats for virtually ALL access and display.

SOME OBVIOUS FACTS ….THAT NEED TO BE STATED.

FILM HAS A LONGER LIFE THAN TAPES, DISCS OR DRIVES.

FRESH FILM IN GOOD STORAGE CONDITIONS CAN LAST AS LONG AS 2,000 YEARS.

FADING FILM CLOSE TO DECAY WILL KEEP FOR 50 YEARS AT -5C.

Film

Paul Read, JTS, June 2007

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Film archives’ needs and requirements in the D-Cinema age

1 A universal open access route for storing digital versions of film content, 2 Route from storage able to generate versions for access, sale, or exhibition. 3 Archives hold video and digital versions of film holdings: these too should be browse-

able, regardless of quality.

4 Digital content will eventually represent the cinema alone. Historic technical metadata, much of it never recorded, may then be the only record of the original film, and of the original film ‘look’.

5 Metadata should be integral to content and accessed and migrated together. 6 If archives are to retain contact with film origins, technical metadata archivists will need

to continue to understand the original film technology.

7 When film in archives finally decays and no analogue preservation route is available long term preservation of a digital version will be essential. There is at present no alternative technology.

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• Film archives accept (!) that projection by “electronic” projectors from digital data files will become universal.

– Film prints will be replaced by digital files (or digital video) in the cinema.

– Film prints, if they continue to exist, will be expensive.

– Film laboratory expertise will disappear.

– Film equipment manufacturing will cease.

– Scanners (and telecines) too will eventually cease to be available.

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• Archives need processes to create and manage digital files from archive cinema, and other, film in a manner compatible with:

– The film archives’ principles of film restoration: historical accuracy and authenticity

– The current cinema industry’s potential new cinema practices, – The need for archives, and their clients, to have ever increasing access to content,

in differing and changing formats for different purposes

– The need to link content to metadata, and to include new metadata. – The changing process of legal and voluntary deposit and the general acquisition, of

digital borne and/or digitally displayed material.

– Recognizing the inherent longevity of film images; storing film for guaranteed future access to its content is significantly cheaper, more secure and simpler than storing any digital formats.

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– The film archives’ principles of film preservation and restoration: historical accuracy and authenticity

• “Sufficient” resolution

• Original frame rates

• Original aspect ratios

• Common height projection principles

• etc

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“Sufficient” resolution”Some archive films may not justify even 2k.”

Modern 35mm colour negatives film stocks require 4k per 20mm frame width, or approx 200 pixels per mm (Information derived from misc. papers, e.g. Morton, Eastman Kodak)

For standard 16mm film (10.26mm) 2,052 p/l for modern negative film (Rotthaler. EBU).

For Super 16 (12.52mm) 2,504 p/l for modern negative film (Rotthaler. EBU).

In 1979 colour negative film required 2950 pixels for an 18mm frame or 163 pixels per mm, (Rotthaler. EBU).

Resolving power drops by 10-11% every contact print generation, i.e a typical 4th generation print release required 2,159 pixels per 18mm frame width, (Rotthaler 1979. EBU).

Comparative empirical tests suggests that 1925 Prussian Blue toned 35mm silent frames (24.5mm width) only justify 700 pixels per line i.e 28 pixels per mm (Read, 1995).

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Original frame rates

“Heritage” frame rates: 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 20-24, 25, 30, 32, 40, 48, 60 fps (etc!)

1896 200719701930

C 16fps 20-24fps 24fps

18fps

16fps

32fps32fps 48fps 32fps 32fps

Feb 2007: The FIAF Technical Commission presented a case to SMPTE to retain all heritage frame rates for digital cinema projection of content originating form archive film.

25fps

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SOME CINEMA FILM IMAGE ASPECT RATIOS

“Scope” & Digitalscope 2.35:1

Widescreen 1.66:1

Widescreen 1.78:1

Academy, 1.33:1

Widescreen 1.85:1

Original Aspect Ratios

111.85:1

“Scope” & Digitalscope 2.35:1

1.66:1

1.78:1

“Common height” projection principle

1.33:1 2.35:1

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1.85:1

“Scope” & Digitalscope 2.35:1

1.66:1

1.78:1

“Common width” projection principle

1.33:1

2.35:1

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– The current cinema industry’s potential new cinema practices, i.e. DCI type cinema specification.

• Open access files format, JPEG2000

• Projected resolutions of 2K or 4K (pixels per horizontal line) only

• Fixed and restricted frame rates – to 24 or 48fps.

• Common width projection “preferred”.

• Encrypted digital cinema package (DCP)

• Limitation on “life” of DCP

• Invoicing mechanism inbuilt to DCP

• DCI SMPTE ASA ISO

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DIGITAL SOURCE MATERIAL

DIGITAL CINEMA DISTRIBUTION MASTER

DIGITAL CINEMA PACKAGE

DIGITAL CINEMA DISTRIBUTION MASTER*****

PICTURE & SOUND IN THE CINEMA

De-encoding, de-encryption, time and security unlocking, fee control

JPEG2000 compression encoding, security encryption, time and fee control

RECORD TO FILM

= DSM

= DCDM

= DCDM*

= DCP

DELIVERY

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– The need for archives, and their clients, to have ever increasing access to content, in differing and changing formats for different purposes

• Old analogue film is not easily or cheaply transferred to restored digital versions, due to deterioration, shrinkage, fading etc. so do it once!

• The range of formats required for access to internet, TV, DVD, home cinema, and “real” cinema is increasing, so create a “universal” intermediate, as a single access point.

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SINGLE

UNIFIED

DIGITAL

STORAGE

(DATA)

METADATA

DATABASE/S

LONG TERM

PASSIVE DIGITAL ARCHIVE

BROWSE & METADATA INPUT

& CONTROLWORKSTATION/S

(separate or common)

DIGITAL CINEMA FORMATS

BROADCAST FORMATS

DVD/HDDVD FORMATS

INTERNET FORMATS

ETC

FILM, any format and AR

ANALOGUE & DIGITAL VT

SEARCH & BROWSE FORMATS

DATA FORMATS

AUDIO A & D

BROWSE DISTRIBUTION

FORMATS/INTERNET

ORIGINATION MATERIAL SUDS ACCESS FORMATSINGEST OUTPUT

FILM ARCHIVE

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– And will any solution…………………………….

stand the test of time?

“Enter the devil, stage right”

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– Archives need to look into their own future, and to design solutions now:

• Technology of theatrical distribution will evolve, D-Cinema standards are only a first step, but they are expected to change..

• Formats for delivery and access are changing and expanding constantly.

• Archives have to face an ever-changing and increasingly complex scenario:

Archives must be prepared

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Timeline

Film

Operating Environment 1

Operating Environment 2

Operating Environment 1+N

T T2 T3

Changing environment: formats, standards, displays, viewing conditions, distribution technologies and models, storage technologies, etc

Archive Archive Archive

THE WORLD TO COME

A Film Archive Timeline

ConservationFilm

Digitised Film

Digitisation

DCinema 1

DCinema 2

Format, Media Migration

DCinema 1→2

FilmConservation

Format, Media Migration

Digitised Film v2

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Conservation Conservation

Aborted

Aborted

Aborted

THE WORLD TO COME

The Migration Jungle

Timeline

T T2 T3

Film

Other

Distribution

Masters

Migration 2

Migration 1

Migration 3

Film Film

DCinema 1

Migration 5 DCinema 1→2

Migration 4

Migration 6

Migration 7

Archive Archive Archive

New Mastering (?)

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Ingest Master Archive Package

Intermediate Archive Package

Storage System(HSM)

Dissemination PackagesDCP‘s for Cinema, TV, Home Cinema, DVD

BluRay, Broadcast HDTV, streaming, Internet etc

Master Archive Package

on long termstorage medium

Metadata

Search and realtime browsing

Film

Digital

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Film archives’ needs and requirements in the

age of D-Cinema.

http://www.edcine.org

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The Film Archives’ Projectwithin EDCINE:• (CRB) Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, BELGIUM• (FHG) Fraunhofer, GERMANY• (MOG) MOG Solutions MOG, PORTUGAL

• EDCine’s archive research group set out to devize a process to manage digital files from archive film in a manner compatible with:

– The changing technology in the cinema

– A need to link content to metadata, and include new metadata. • Archives may have many databases for different sections of their collection.• Archives would like a single database, that incudes non-film material.• Archives would like to browse all the material content in their collection• If metadata was an integral part of digital content it would be less likely to be lost.

– Deposit and acquisition of digital borne and digitally displayed material.• The “film archive” becomes a “cinema archive” (at least in part).• New digital acquisitions need to be handled in parallel manner to film collection.• New digital acquisitions are more at risk than film. • No long term passive digital storage medium exists.

– Access to archived works to different users, and across different platforms

– Formats and media evolution and obsolescence

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Film archives’ needs and requirements in the

age of D-Cinema.

Paul Read and Nicola Mazzanti

END

JTS June 2007

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