Media, broadcast and archive specialist TransMedia Dynamics (TMD), has drawn on its involvement in major implementations to develop a dedicated software module for its Mediaflex asset management suite, Mediaflex Collections.
Advances in digital storage and database capabilities mean that it is now common for broadcasters to store and manage all content in an asset management system. The structure of such a system, which allows remote searching and detailed databases as well as tracking the content, also makes it attractive for non-broadcast applications of content storage. Major national, cultural and historical audiovisual archives are an excellent example, where there is a need to make a large number of items available to a wide audience.
‘The requirements of an audiovisual archive are significantly more challenging than broadcast,’ the company says. ‘First and most obvious, an archive is likely to contain more than just sound and video recordings, extending to paper documents and other artefacts. In a major archive, the total number of elements across all the content types can be very large indeed, with millions of assets not uncommon.
‘The nature of acquisitions, accessioning, preservation and access in an archive is much more complicated. While for broadcast an asset will arrive and be ready for use almost immediately, a bequest to an archive might include hundreds or even thousands of individual items, all of which will need to be examined, validated and catalogued, and many of which may need restoration. A curatorial view must be added to track these critical processes.’
‘Our core Mediaflex product has the depth and breadth of capabilities in its architecture to meet these greatly extended requirements, as we have demonstrated in successful archive systems around the world,’ says Carlton Smith, CTO of TMD. ‘But while these specialised facilities are not required by many of our broadcast customers, it is important that they are clearly defined for archivists.
‘That is why we have grouped all this additional functionality into a dedicated module, Mediaflex Collections – it puts the right capabilities into the hands of those that need it, without complicating the product for others. This is central to our philosophy of providing the best possible asset management solutions in a form which allows our customers to realise their ambitions without restriction.’
More: www.tmd.tv
