The expanding digitization universe

In the audiovisual preservation lab of the UCLA Library, we have our own instruments. The process of transporting analog recordings into the digital world is dependent on loved and collected yet obsolete and neglected complex machines. A usual day in the lab can include replacing the belt of a Umatic video deck or rewiring a cascading sea of cables while crouched behind a digitization rack.

As an AV archivist who grew up with the rise of digital, analog isn’t so much of an unknown but a familiar fascination that calls for frequent revisiting. Nostalgia, a prerequisite to the archivist’s career, happens often as I work on machines at the lab.

I remember the family VHS-C camcorder and my first Walkman with the Punk-O-Rama CD that saved me in middle school. But in preservation we’re not just operating machines, we’re maintaining them with the rare documentation that we’ve tracked down and the skills we’ve usually taught ourselves. Caring for and understanding our equipment is a continuous journey whether we’re scanning schematics, watching online tutorial videos, or sharing what we figure out with friends in the field.

AV machines are unpredictable, especially analog. Some days there’s an arbitrary break in the signal path, the software can’t detect the device or you’ll go to power on a machine and it starts making scary noises. With so many components, a digitization station can break down, blow, snag, flicker and even smoke at any given time. Usually these issues are due to mechanical or electronic malfunctions, human error or perhaps cosmic interference. Some propose that machines respond through an internal intelligence to the negative or positive emotional energy of the humans that operate them.

The original video and audio digitization stations were set-up at the lab in 2013 and started the possibility for in-house digitization by UCLA's Preservation Department. By 2017, the hardware and signal configuration of these stations needed some updates so we could keep up with the growing demand for research requests and projects. The stations are regularly updated as we learn about new equipment and ways to improve the workflow. Each person who has worked in AV Preservation has brought new ideas and skills to the stations that have helped us to grow our knowledge of the formats and equipment and make our stations even better.

The original video rack was set up with help from a hired contractor. The station used AJA mini converters to transfer the analog signal of the video decks to the digital signal of the computer. We decided to change the converters because the devices had consistent power issues. The station sent the signal from the video deck to the AJA converter (for SDI conversion that syncs the audio and video signals together) to the Kramer digital switcher to the Tektronix analog scopes (for monitoring) to the DPS 290 TBC (for adjustments) and to the Blackmagic converter (for digital conversion and connection to the computer). But when one element goes down in the station, the signal won’t pass through. Because the mini converters had power issues, the signal was cut off at the beginning of the path.

To use the station, we would test mini converters until we found one that would power on, and connect the working converter to the playback deck we wanted to use. The process could take a while and the station was positioned in a small room with limited access to the back of the rack. We decided to reconfigure the station and started troubleshooting the best way to redirect the signal path and what machines we would need to remove, add or replace. We started by taking out the mini converters from the signal path because of the power issues and time needed to find a working one.

As a temporary solution we ran the signal directly from the deck to the DPS 290 TBC through the scopes and into the Blackmagic. While this resolved the mini converter issue, it also changed the signal from an SDI to composite, no longer syncing the video and audio signals prior to conversion. We decided to use the composite signal transferred through the Blackmagic since there were no power issues and we could continue transferring the researcher requests that kept coming. Later we added a Bittree patchbay to be able to connect multiple video decks to the station and easily patch between them instead of connecting one deck at a time.

While we were working on the video rack, we started to assess the audio station. The station could handle one open reel deck, one audiocassette deck and a digital audio tape deck (DAT). The decks were connected to a patchbay linked to a Benchmark ADC to the computer and DAC to analog speakers. With this set up, we were able to digitize one tape at a time. UCLA has a huge audio collection. The station was working great but we wanted to build a parallel station that could simultaneously digitize multiple tapes. We started to research multi-channel ADCs, DB25 snake cables and playback decks that we could use to expand the station.

We’d just inherited a bunch of analog machines including open reel decks, mixers, turntables, converters and other digitization equipment. After testing the machines to see which ones still functioned and which needed to be set aside for repair, we prepared a budget for the equipment we needed to buy – two patch bays, decks, cables and converters. For the equipment that needed to be repaired, we started looking for local electrical engineers and video and audio repair shops.

Shipping heavy, fragile equipment for repairs was an expensive and complicated process with a high risk of the repaired machine getting damaged on the way back to the lab. We found two local vendors in Burbank called SD Video Engineering and Audio Design and Services. When we have a machine repaired we always ask more about the issue and how it can be fixed. But it’s known engineers aren’t always willing to share their secrets, so we take what we can get and figure the rest out ourselves with help from YouTube tutorials (some of our favorite channels are 12voltvids(opens in a new tab) and Obsolete Video(opens in a new tab)).

For video, the signal would be routed from the decks through the analog and digital components and into the Mac. We utilized a daisy chain to link the machines, a technique commonly used to connect the waveform and vectorscope to the TBC and CRT monitor. At first some of the machines were malfunctioning and we realized we needed some adaptors and longer cables. Through a process of building the steel rack, installing the shelves, loading the equipment, connecting the equipment, troubleshooting the connections, connecting the rack to the computer, troubleshooting the software, testing the station, finding a flaw and reconfiguring the path, and testing the station again—we finally had the new version of the video rack up and running.

Next steps were to draw out the signal path, make a workflow, and in a few months we decided to build a second rack following the same model. Now we have two video digitization stations that can transfer multiple video formats.

For the audio station we prioritized building out the rack to be able to digitize multiple tapes at once. Audio has more flexibility when it comes to digitization with software and hardware capable of handling multiple recording channels. Previously I’d worked on a parallel audiocassette station at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, built by Sound Preservation Engineer, Brian Paulson. We built our station at UCLA with the model of UNC’s rack and with help from Brian.

Header Image: Laurie Spiegel – genius and inspiration to us all – working on various synthesizers and reel-to-reel tape recorders in 1970. Photo by Louis Forsdale. From "Laurie Spiegel: Grassroots Technologist" on Newmusic USA.