TransMedia Dynamics (TMD), a world leader in the development and delivery of solutions and services
to the global media, broadcast and archive industries, is introducing a new version of its Mediaflex asset management and workflow product at IBC2010. Following on from a large-scale implementation at the Australian National Film and Sound Archives, this new version has been specifically developed around the needs of cultural archives.
The requirements differ significantly from contemporary broadcast and media asset management. It needs to support curatorial workflows: whereas in broadcast an asset will be ingested and become more or less immediately ready for use, in an archive there might be a donation of many hundreds or even thousands of elements, all of which need to be examined and potentially undergo multiple stages of restoration before digitisation into a common accessible format.
Cultural and national archive systems also need to be able to reference and track elements which are not necessarily stored in digital form. Original film, for instance, will be preserved, with a digital proxy available online. Archives frequently store related artefacts, from posters and scripts to costumes and props. The scope of the catalogue has to be greatly extended, therefore.

“Our experience with the Australian National Film and Sound Archive, and other national and cultural archives around the world, has brought home to us just how complex the requirements are,” explained Tony Taylor, chairman and CEO of TMD. “The system in Australia has to treat the wedding dress in a glass case from Muriel’s Wedding in exactly the same way as a digitised audio clip in terms of tracking, protection and visibility.

“What we have now done is take that experience and turn it into a product, using the language that archivists understand,” he added. “As a product they can take it, tune it to their specific requirements, and implement it very quickly, secure in the knowledge that it is proven and ready to meet their needs.”

For more information: www.tmd.tv.