Assessing the Preservation of DPX ImageSequences
within
MoMA’s Digital Preservation Ecosystem

Doug Aitken. sleepwalkers. 2007.
Six-channel video (color, sound)Film by Joe Mortell from the Noun ProjectFile Format Glyph by Jazman Zhens from the Noun ProjectHard Drive by Ben Davis from the Noun Projectmov by Serkan Doğan from the Noun ProjectDigital Repository forMuseum Collections(DRMC)

Lime Kiln Club Field Day
1913/2014

AIP

Package by lastspark from the Noun Project
Straight Pipe by Ben Davis from the Noun Project

AIP

Jammed Pipe by Ben Davis from the Noun Project1In TBs

Diapositive 211I'll end it around here or another slide that basically describes the problem we face and you can pick it up with the analysis of DPX and how
we're trying to solve the problem. Sound good?
Peter Oleksik; 23/10/2018

The challenges of DPX
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Massive quantity of DPX files
coming into MoMA’s collection
Complexity of DPX in terms ofingest
Ingest workflow was designed
around single file ingest, notcomplex multi-file sequences
How to capture the preservation
decision making process
Adapting our ever-evolving
condition assessment anddocumentation workflows to multifile sequences
Bridging knowledge gaps between
vendors and conservation
department

The challenges of DPX● Lack of consensus amongst thefield in terms of the handling
and/or preservation of DPXmaterials● File format sustainability
unknowns● Curation of material (what tokeep and why?)Research into the DPX format● Researching and examining the DPX fileformat.
○ What it is?
○ How is it supposed to be rendered or
played back?
● Characterization methods, metadata
extraction, embedding metadata, tools● How others are working or managing large
quantities of DPX files

What we are doing and how we are doing it● Establishment and Refinement ofInternal Procedures and Workflows(within and across depts) to capture
and assess material in an efficientand responsible manner● Trying to understand the significant
properties of DPX● Strategies to document process
history and decision making in the
DPX file format itself

Metadata● Reviewing FADGI guidelines● Analysis of Tools○ MediaInfo○ Exiftool○ Imagemagick○ DPX Analytics○ GraphicsMagick● Analysis of Terminology○ how fields are translated
From one tool to thenextPlayback, transcoding, and packaging tools● Playback○ ffplay○ DaVinci Resolve○ Adobe Premiere● Looking into lossless transcoding options for efficient storage
and preservation○ MXF/OP1a○ MXF/JPEG2000○ FFV1/MKV● Lossless compression/packaging tools
○ ZIP
○ TAR

Preliminary results
1.

2.

3.

2K resolution DPX directorycomposed of 14,619 files amounted
to 103.03 GB transformed into a
70.51 GB MKV using RAWcooked
2K resolution DPX directorycomposed of 49,003 files, amounting
to 616.99 GB transformed into a
210.14 GB MKV using RAWcooked
2K resolution DPX directorycomposed of 17,525 files amounting
to 145.57 GB transformed into a50.52 GB zip directory

Archivematica
1. ~5 hours to process a valid bag ofFFV1/MKV in Archivematica
2. Research into ‘store AIP’ failures
3. Working with Artefactual to create aseparate archivematica (v 1.8) pipeline
exclusively for processing DPX

Next steps● More testing including escrow retrieval● Deep analysis of our research results● Develop a methodology for the condition assessment of DPX
files● Attending #NTTW3● Starting robust dialogue with colleagues and peers including aconvening for a peer forum in November to see and discuss
what others in the field are doing

Questions?