I love Open Source, but not for this purpose. The prime object of an archive
format is broad support for the longest possible time. The OS video formats
have not proven to be effective competitors, and do not have a promising
future. Great in theory. Bad in practice.
While I don't like being attached to "proprietary" formats, there is no perfect
answer right now. MPEG, both the formats and the organization, have a very
long track record and are more widely used in critical applications by a huge
margin. In the longevity wars, MPEG is the absolute clear winner. MPEG is,
quite literally, where all the money is.
While Quicktime is proprietary (Apple), it's important to remember that is only
a "wrapper" and not a codec. It is powerful and very well documented. Right
now, it is probably the most widely supported wrapper, playable on pretty much
any computer built in the past decade. It is well documented and should be
decodable and playable for quite a long time. And because it is only a
wrapper, it is easily "unwrapped" and rewrapped in a future wrapper at very low
effort and zero quality loss.
My choice today for archiving is Quicktime wrapped MPEG. Today this would by
h264 codec, but in the near future it will the MPEG successors. While using
an MPEG wrapper would seem like a better choice, MPEG wrappers are fussy,
inflexible, have wide compatibility issues and poor legacy support. I don't
trust them in the long term. Maybe in the future.
cheers,
tod
On Jul 23, 2013, at 8:27 AM, Maarten Zeinstra wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> When storing digital materials for conservation I would always advise using
> open formats (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_format), for video I would
> use OGG/THEORA or WebM if I had the chance. We do this for openimages.eu.
>
> The problem with QuickTime and Windows Media Files are that they are mostly
> not available on different platforms. It is already difficult to open .mov or
> or. wmv on Windows or OS X respectively. Let alone on Android or iOS and up
> and coming ChromeOS, .
>
> As a trend we see that desktops and offline management system are declining
> (i.e. we work more and more in a browser using browser based management
> systems, either on our desktops, laptops, phones, or tablets) To prevent
> having to re-encode all your video files in the future against high software
> costs I would always choose open file formats. That way any software maker or
> open source developer can create a video player for these files.
>
> My semi-related 50 cents.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Maarten Zeinstra
>
>
> --
> Kennisland | www.kennisland.nl | t +31205756720 | m +31643053919 | @mzeinstra
>
>
>
>
> On Jul 13, 2013, at 21:53 , Leonard Steinbach <lensteinbach at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> A product which you might find useful is
>> Wondershare<http://www.wondershare.com/mac-video-converter-ultimate/#con3>
>> which
>> I have used from time to time for various video conversions. It has many
>> more features, including some video editing capabilities. There is free
>> trial version although it watermarks test outputs. It generally gets good
>> reviews. Hope this help. Len
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jul 12, 2013 at 9:35 PM, T Hopkins <hoplist at hillmanncarr.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On a Mac, you can use the Flip4Mac plug-in. Not free. You can also use
>>> most high-end compression packages. I believe Sorenson Squeeze and Adobe
>>> Encode (part of the Adobe Suites that include Premiere) can compress from
>>> Quicktime to WMV. Both are available for both Mac and PC for that matter.
>>> On Windows, I personally prefer TMPG Video Masterworks for most compression
>>> and conversion, including Quicktime to WMV.
>>>
>>> There may be other lower cost and even free options on Windows. I just
>>> don't know them off the top of my head. I believe it is possible to use
>>> Windows Movie Maker for instance. I would search Google for advise on this
>>> path.
>>>
>>> As Michael points out, compression/transcoding is a tricky business when
>>> quality and compatibility are important, especially if you don't have a
>>> calibrated setup.
>>>
>>> I do not advise the use of WMV for archival video, but that is your
>>> choice. Although it is high quality, and common, it is one of the most
>>> restricted codecs in use. I DO condone the use of Quicktime as long as the
>>> internal codec is a high-quality, cross platform standard such as MPEG4 or
>>> JPEG2000. Unlike WMV, Quicktime is only a file wrapper, not a codec, and
>>> can be played and manipulated on the major platforms with relative ease.
>>> It is much less likely one would ever be "trapped" by Quicktime, even if
>>> Apple drops support. I would suggest that you go ahead and convert for
>>> your system, but keep the "incompatible" original if you can. It may prove
>>> useful in the future.
>>>
>>> cheers,
>>> tod
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Jul 11, 2013, at 11:00 AM, Sarah Gillis wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hello list-serv:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> We recently received a digital media video piece as a gift. The artist
>>>> gave us two copies of what they considered as an archival format,
>>>> QuickTime. Our digital asset preservation plan requires videos be saved
>>>> as .wmv (Windows Media Video) file format. The artist granted
>>>> permission for us to change the format to our archival standard.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I am having a devil of a time trying to change the file format from one
>>>> to the other. Has anyone else experienced this problem before? If so,
>>>> any suggestions?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Best Regards,
>>>>
>>>> Sarah Gillis
>>>>
>>>> Assistant Registrar, Image Management
>>>>
>>>> Worcester Art Museum
>>>>
>>>> 55 Salisbury Street
>>>> Worcester, MA 01609
>>>>
>>>> sarahgillis at worcesterart.org <mailto:sarahgillis at worcesterart.org>
>>>>
>>>> 508.799.4406 x3027
>>>>
>>>> direct line: 508-793-4427
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Our image reproduction application is now available online!
>>>>
>>>> Image Reproduction Request
>>>> <http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/collection_information.html>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Want to own your own custom reproduction of a Worcester Art Museum
>>>> masterpiece? Visit our partner Rudinec & Assoc. today!
>>>>
>>>> Request-A-Print <http://www.requestaprint.net/worcester/index.php>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Introducing: Zazzle! Our online museum shop where you can purchase
>>>> custom merchandise containing images from our permanent collection!
>>>> Check it out today!
>>>>
>>>> Worceser Art Museum - Zazzle Shop
>>>> <http://www.zazzle.com/worcesterartmuseum>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Living In Hong Kong
>> Leonard Steinbach
>> Visiting Fellow
>> City University of Hong Kong
>> Skype: leonard.steinbach
>> 917 821 6207
>> 852 9828 8174
>> _______________________________________________
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>
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