Re: [ARSCLIST] Prefered format for digital archiving?

[John Spencer <johnsp@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

It's not really that loaded.  Most organizations are recommending Broadcast
Wave Format (BWF) for a variety of reasons (multiple bit and sample rates,
metadata header, etc.).

Here is the main information page:
http://www.ebu.ch/departments/technical/pmc/pmc_bwf.html

Where I am confused is by your statement about having access to "the whole
thing".  If you are talking about individual files that are created within a
DAW such as ProTools, they can be saved as BWF files and opened most
anywhere.  Did you mean uncompressed?

If you are talking about how to handle the saving of "plug-in" data, that is
a different issue.  The NARAS document handled the plug-in issue by saying
that you should (preferably) save a "dry" file and a "wet (plug-in enabled)"
file.

There are more questions to be answered, and preserving the ability to
revisit them again later is not solely determined by file type.

John Spencer
Bridge Media Solutions
www.bridgemediasolutions.com



> From: Brandon Burke <bburke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx>
> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 15:37:29 -0600
> To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Prefered format for digital archiving?
>
> I know this is a loaded question but...
>
> Is there an accepted standard format for audio files that are to be digitaly
> archived on a server of some sort? By this I mean a format that does not
> entail
> condensing and/or any other manipulations that would in any way affect my
> ability to go back, open up, and have access to "the whole thing". I'm not
> talking about simply saving, let's say, a Pro Tools session en masse but
> rather
> a file format that retains as much of the "sound" information as possible. Not
> the session itself. I'm asuming that these are completed sessions. Also, I'm
> not concerned with things like CD-Rs, etc; though I obviously would like to
> preserve the ability to make them again later.
>
> My guess is that we're talking about either a WAV or AIFF files, no?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Brandon Burke
>
> Brandon Burke
> Graduate Research Assistant
> Digital Library Services
> University of Texas at Austin
> Austin, TX
> phone: (512) 495-4439
> email: bburke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
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