Video History Project

Chronology

Playback: Preserving Analog Video

Date
2003

Playback: Preserving Analog Video, a DVD produced by BAVC (2003). PLAYBACK is an interactive DVD that invites users to view the technical practices of video preservation and to experience the complex decision-making process artists, conservators and video engineers engage in when the reconstruction of video artwork occurs. Contents include: Analog Video Basics: animations that depict the composition of analog videotape, demonstrate the chemical process of tape deterioration and how the video signal works.

The Preservation Case Study: example of the real-life preservation process of the artwork. The Eternal Frame: a video art piece jointly produced by art collectives Ant Farm and T.R. Uthco in 1976. The Center contributed to the creation of this DVD, providing research into early equipment as well as photographs and access to technical data and ephemera.

Cite this record

"Playback: Preserving Analog Video." Video History Project, Experimental Television Center, 2011. https://www.videohistoryproject.org/playback-preserving-analog-video.

Download RIS citation
Summary

Playback: Preserving Analog Video is a DVD produced by BAVC in 2003; the interactive disc presents technical practices of analog video preservation and the decision-making processes used by artists, conservators and video engineers during reconstruction of video artworks. Contents include Analog Video Basics, with animations depicting videotape composition, tape deterioration chemistry and the video signal; a Preservation Case Study illustrating a real-life preservation process; and The Eternal Frame, a 1976 video art piece jointly produced by Ant Farm and T.R. Uthco. The Center contributed research on early equipment and provided photographs, technical data and ephemera for the DVD.

Submit a change or correction

If unchecked, this will appear as a public note on the site immediately. Spam filters may delay publication, but all submissions are reviewed by staff.

Changes will be reviewed and integrated as time permits. For major changes, feel free to email [email protected].

Last modified 16 May 2011

Related records

  • ReGuarding Video (Preservation) Bibliography

  • Documentation of Cleaning and Remastering Preservation

    BAVC initially inventoried client tapes, sent them to an off-site cleaning technician, checked returns against the inventory, rubber-banded original 1/2" open-reel tapes to new copies and labeled copies with title, artist, running time, format and client. As remastering demand increased, staff created a Preservation Dub Watch form to record playback deviations and artifacts; clients were often not the original creators and frequently did not know tape contents, with common concerns including no color, no sound, missing titles or credits, seconds of video noise between segments and herringbone patterns. The form aided in diagnosing equipment versus tape problems, supported shift-to-shift technical communication and is still in use; BAVC cites Playback: A Preservation Primer for Video (BAVC, 1998) and Appendix 12.3 for the Dub Watch Sheet.

  • Cleaning, Remastering and Restoration Preservation

    Survey of videotape cleaning, re-mastering and restoration practices; early experimenters named include Bob Harris (Anthology Film Archives), Tony Conrad (Media Study/Buffalo), Ralph Hocking (Experimental Television Center), videomaker David Schulman and staff at Electronic Arts Intermix. Methods discussed include scraping, wiping, vacuuming and baking for open-reel tape and RTI machines for cassettes; preservation-format considerations include transfer to uncompressed digital (D-2) or analog (Betacam SP) and creating two preservation masters stored in separate locations. Non-profit and commercial service providers are listed (BAVC, Vtape, VidiPax, Roland House and others); the text advises checking vendor inspection procedures, references and preserving hardware, manuals and engineer contacts.

  • Playback: A Preservation Primer for Video Bibliography

  • Playback: A Preservation Primer for Video Chronology

    Playback: A Preservation Primer for Video edited by Sally Jo Fifer, Tamara Gould, Luke Hones, Debbie Hess Norris, Paige Ramey and Karen Weiner is published by Bay Area Video Coalition.

  • Preservation Terms and Definitions:  Publications, Resources and Links Preservation

    Collection of links and bibliographic references to glossaries and definitions for video preservation, consulting and treatment services, general archival terminology, audio archives, and media reformatting. Includes Video Preservation: Glossary of Terms by Rebecca Bachman (originally published 1996; reprinted in Playback: A Preservation Primer for Video, Bay Area Video Coalition, 1998); Obsolescence Ratings by Sarah Stauderman in the Video Format Identification Guide; and Magnetic Tape Storage and Handling by Dr. John W. Van Bogart (Commission on Preservation and Access, June 1995). Also lists the Magnetic Media Preservation Sourcebook (Media Alliance, 1998), resources from AIC, IASA, ARSC, ScreenSound Australia, ACVL, and references to SMPTE materials and digital conversion glossaries.