Category Archives: Tape Storage

Archive to thrive

Posted on December 7, 2012 by | 1 Comment

This week the BBC announced it has digitised programme listings from old copies of the Radio Times in an effort to rediscover missing content from its archive. With the first issue dating back to 1923, the project has required the digitisation of 4,500 copies of the publication. As a result the BBC archive development team has identified around five million programme records, which, when compared with the one million programmes currently sitting in the BBC archive, demonstrates the amount of television content that has been lost, or misplaced over the years.

This poses the question of how much other content is out there just waiting to be rediscovered, hidden gems simply forgotten. In a time when production budgets are tight, content libraries need to be maximised. Restoration services now mean old dusty reels of tape that look like they are unsalvageable, can be digitised and brought back to life.

With the wealth of content now being produced, it is vital that content owners are effectively archiving assets. Digitising content is the most efficient method of doing this, allowing for quick access that transcends boundaries quickly. But if tape is still the norm, ensuring it is properly stored in a stable environment is paramount.

Content is valuable and keeping it in check allows you to maximise this, whether it is now or in the future.

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Posted in Digital, Tape Storage

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Digital drives investment and expansion at JCA

Posted on June 18, 2012 by | 2 Comments

The way content is distributed, stored and managed is evolving. At JCA we have seen a sharp rise in demand for our digital media services, particularly digital distribution. To ensure we meet this increase in need from the market, we have embarked on a staged expansion plan.

The first phase is a £600k+ investment, which will increase capacity across all service areas. The expansion of bandwidth provision, an increase in storage, and the addition of extra transcoding farms for automated versioning and delivery, will allow us to ensure we continue to grow as a company alongside the rise of digital. JCA, digital services, digital distribution, encoding services, transcoding services, film restoration, digital services london, jca expansion, digital asset management

However, that is not to say that tape solutions are redundant within the media industries. Despite the rise of digital workflows, we have ironically seen a considerable increase in demand for file to tape services. It is true that there has been considerable uptake of digital workflows by new entrants to the market, but there are still a lot of companies whose infrastructure is not geared towards file delivery. Therefore, additional capabilities have been developed in this area too.

The new kit we have invested in includes HDCam SR Decks, additional standards conversion capacity via an Alchemist Platinum HD, XDCAM, further PF Clean licenses and Mac workstations. We have also expanded our quality control facilities and now offer HD/SD Harding (Photosensitive epilepsy check) in the file and tape domain.

To ensure we maintain a hands-on service for clients, we have expanded our technical and operations teams with 8 new recruits already this year. Watch this space to find out more about the new JCA team members.

So what’s next? We will be looking to invest in additional shared storage along with establishing premises. We are also continuing to develop international strategic partnerships in order to provide a more global service to clients. The second half of 2012 is set to be as successful and busy as the first.

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Posted in Business Development, Company News, Digital, Tape Storage

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Tape: past, present and future

Posted on September 2, 2011 by | 1 Comment

The Sony tape shortage, which was a result of the devastating tsunami that hit Japan earlier this year, brought the ‘the status of tape’ into the limelight. Luckily, here in Acton in west London we had tape aplenty. But that was not the case for many companies. So here at JCA we decided to carry out a survey to find out how it affected the UK production industry. The crisis forced many production companies to review their distribution methods, and the study revealed that there was a great deal of concern surrounding the tape shortage. How can we get hold of tape? Are there other alternatives? Should we think about digital distribution methods? These questions were suddenly at the forefront of people’s minds.

We discovered that although the production industry still uses tape, there is an increasing demand for digital alternatives. Obviously there are technical obstacles to overcome when migrating distribution to digital methods, but this does not need to be a scary prospect. At the ERA event in July, we announced that we have adopted the LT05/LTFS format combination, as a contribution to an industry-wide campaign to standardise data archive tape formats.

As more and more companies shift to ‘file workflows’, we wanted to find a common file based distribution medium to make our clients’ lives easier and cheaper. After all, clients come to us to take care of the technicalities, so they can focus on the distribution. Our survey found that 50% of respondents do not yet employ digital distribution methods. However, if we can standardise data archive tape formatting, it will certainly be an even more attractive option for companies. The benefits of digital delivery methods are obvious. In terms of archiving, transportation and cost, the advantages are big, and can seriously transform the way a company functions.

Currently we are in transition. Yes, digital is the future, but historic formats may never be obsolete. They are often irreplaceable, and there is nothing more rewarding than discovering a reel of film or an old format video tape, digitising it, restoring it, and delivering it in high definition, better than ever before. At JCA we pride ourselves on bridging the gap betweenmedias’ legacy formats and digital’s exciting commercial opportunities.

Matt Bowman, Commercial Director – JCA

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Posted in Business Development, Digital, Media Management, Tape Storage, Television, Television Production

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