Creation & Control: Digital Asset Management at Wales on View

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DAM IN HERITAGE & CULTURE 2011

Wales On View

‘Creation & Control’

Mark ThomasImage Resource Manager

Welsh Assembly Government

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In this presentation…

Background

Organizational overview

Workflow: image creation

Workflow: file-naming and metadata

Internal sharing

External licensing

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Wales On View

Who We Are

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Background…

The Welsh Assembly Government

Is the devolved government for Wales, working to help and

improve the lives of people in Wales and make Wales a better

place in which to live and work

Approx 5,000 staff

Visit Wales

Is the tourism promotional department of the Welsh Assembly

Government

Is part of the Sustainable Futures Division of the Welsh Assembly

Government

Approx 130 staff

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Wales On View is…

The central photographic unit for Visit Wales

Full-time staff of 4

Main unit functions:

Photographic commissioning

Digital image post-production / ‘image grading’

Digital asset management for all Visit Wales’ still image and video

assets

Licensed image distribution to internal and external users

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Wales On View statistics…

Commissions over 80 photo shoots per year

Works with a Framework of 35 external photographers

Receives and processes approx 100,000 incoming RAW image files

per annum

Averages approx 5,000 new images added to main Visit Wales

database each year

Number of images added grows by approx 15% each year

All imagery created by Welsh Assembly Government is Crown

copyright

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Wales On View statistics…

Each year we process approx 2,000 to 2,500

individual image requests

We distribute between 18,000 to 20,000

images, per annum, all under license

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WOV: Image Centralization Project

WOV is also responsible for the Image Centralization Project.

The aim of Image Centralization is to collect, collate, catalogue

and publish all of the imagery commissioned by the Welsh

Assembly Government.

The Project is currently in the collation phase

Current ‘valid’ asset count is approx 82,000 still images and approx

3,500 HD video clips from various departments

When ready, select image assets will be made available for

browsing via our intranet system (using Portfolio NetPublish)

It is the intention to also publish an external image website

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Wales On View

Creating Our

Assets

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The RAWS are loaded to Adobe LightRoom.

WOV: Incoming Workflow

Photographers deliver imagery as original camera RAW files

During loading, the RAW files are converted to Adobe

DNG format (our chosen ‘original’ archival file format)

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WOV: Editing & Grading

In LightRoom the DNG files are reviewed, selections made, image enhancements applied and images are then exported as A3-size 16bit ProPhoto profile RGB PSD files

After finer editing in Adobe Photoshop, final

assets are created by batch automating the

PSD files to A3-size 8bit ProPhoto RGB

maximum quality JPEG files (our chosen asset

storage format)

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WOV: Metadata

Mass IPTC metadata –copyright info, rights, owner etc – is added to the finished JPEG files by applying a metadata template in Adobe Bridge

The JPEG files are then added to one of several Extensis Portfolio catalogues where final description metadata is added and embedded

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WOV: Handling Video Assets

With the use of video increasing, we have had to make decisions as to how to create, handle and standardize the delivery of HD video assets. These assets can be long-form pieces or short B-Roll clips

We now have physical stocks of of asset collections on either HDCAM or SD DigiBeta tape for postal distribution

We are currently implementing a digital video file storage system utilizing Extensis Portfolio Server and embedded metadata

All our HD video clips are stored as:Apple ProRes (HQ) 422 1920x1080QuickTime Movie files

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Wales On View

Our DAM

Approach

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Digital Asset Management

As part of Image Centralization, each department that holds images

receives…

1. One or several Extensis Portfolio Catalogues with which to

manage its images

2. Extensis Portfolio Client software for select staff within those

units who act as catalogue Editors

3. Training for those staff in the use of the software as well as

briefing on their responsibilities for the assets

4. A reference document that outlines the methodology for both

applying filenames as well as creating metadata descriptions for

their images

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Making use of Filenames

As an organization we have regularly received image and video assets that contain the usual filename suspects, eg: Img_0001.jpg or Pic-1.jpg

After consideration of our requirements we now have a filename structure that captures…

1. The broad general geographic area of Wales the image is from

2. The department that commissioned the image

3. The person that commissioned the image

4. The financial year the image was shot in

5. A unique sequential number for the image

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Filename Breakdown

A typical filename for one of our images would be:

SVW-C46-1011-0044

This breaks down as:

1. SVW (the image was shot in South Wales)

2. SVW (the image was shot by Visit Wales)

3. -C46- (the 46th shoot commissioned by Visit Wales Commercial)

4. -1011- (the 2010 to 2011 financial year)

5. -0044 (image number 44 from that shoot)

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The ‘Description Equation’

To simplify creating useful image descriptions, we have implemented

a structured - yet flexible – method for building those descriptions.

This methodology may be loosely defined as including the following

building blocks:

1. Macro genre (i.e.: general activity)

2. Specific genre / activity type

3. Macro geographic location (i.e.: North, Mid or South Wales)

4. Localized Geographic location (i.e.: County)

5. Specific geographic location (i.e.: town or village)

6. Specific detail description of visual image content

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Example: Tourism / Lifestyle

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Example: Tourism / Lifestyle

Family (parents and

young son) walking on

beach with lighthouse

to background

Wales Coast Path

Talacre Lighthouse

Near Point of Ayr

Flintshire

North

Walking

Activities and Sports

Image content (parents

and young son) walking

on beach with lighthouse

to background

Specialized location

Specific location 2

Specific location 1

Localized location

Macro location

Specific genre

Macro genre

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Example: Historic Site

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Example: Historic Site

General view in snow

Dolwyddelan Castle

Cadw Sites

SAMN: CN040

NGR: SH721523

Conwy

North

Castles

Medieval

Defence

Historic Sites

Image content

Specific location

Specialist info

Specialist info

Specialist info

Localized location

Macro location

Specific genre

General genre 2

General genre 1

Macro genre

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Example: Project Funding

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Example: Project Funding

Team Zenith - pupils from

Bryn Celynnog

Comprehensive School

(female teenage

pupils)

STEM (Science

Technology

Engineering and

Mathematics) Cymru

project

Singapore

Raising Skills and Training

Skills project

WEFO Funded Project

Image content

Specific location

Specialist info

Special

ist info

Specialist info

Macro location

Specific genre

General genre

Macro genre

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Wales On View

Using Portfolio

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How we use Extensis Portfolio

Currently all assets contain only descriptive metadata for

searching*

We use Portfolio’s ‘Gallery’ option to create bespoke collections of

images for user requests

The Galleries are used to produce Adobe PDFs of low resolution

images for quick distribution

We use Portfolio’s drag-and-drop functionality to distribute copies

of assets across our network

We use watched folders to ensure our catalogues of images are

constantly synchronized

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In praise of PDFs…

We use Portfolio’s ‘Gallery’

option to create bespoke

collections of images for user

requests

This allows us to send

relatively large collections to

users for them to choose

images from

A 62 page / 558 image PDF

file can be as small as 6MB in

size

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Wales On View

Assets. Values.

Ethics.

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Copyright Control

All Visit Wales imagery is ‘Crown copyright’

Crown copyright is controlled in the UK by the Office for Public

Sector Information (OPSI)

OPSI consider photography to be a ‘value added’ asset (i.e.: it

carries a commercial value and should be carefully controlled)

In order for Visit Wales to distribute the imagery, OPSI have

granted a license specifying to whom - and under what

circumstances - we can distribute the images

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Requests Control

Only Image Centre staff are authorized to access & distribute high

resolution imagery

All image requests are individually vetted and each must state:

o Who the end user is

o The ‘wish-list’ of imagery they require

o Where & how the imagery will be used

Requests correctly matching our policy criteria receive imagery

without charge

All other ‘commercial’ users must pay for imagery

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Distribution Control

While a global image and video website is in development, all

requests are currently processed as follows:

Incoming requests receive an email containing a URN (Unique

Reference Number)

PDFs of image thumbnails are dispatched with a response

‘categorizing’* the request

Customer sends email listing serial numbers of images required

Final imagery is dispatched by FTP or occasionally on CD or DVD,

by post

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Wales On View

Our DAM

Benefits

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Operational Benefits

We are handling our financially valuable assets responsibly

We are compliant with our organizational goals of promoting Wales

as a destination

We are compliant with our Crown copyright license requirements

We are protecting our intellectual property

We are delivering exactly the right assets to the right customers

We are reducing internal IT overhead, through centralized storage

and controlled distribution of assets

We are increasing revenue and providing greater ROI year-on-year

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Wales On View

Conclusion:

Questions & Answers