On the transfer workstations, Shoah technicians use an Electrosonic video processing system and proprietary software to perform multiple simultaneous dubs, outputting a digital video MPEG stream and communicating with the Foundation's huge database. Technicians load the field master tapes, initiate the transfer on a touch screen, and the follow the transfer on audio and video monitors. "We had a wish list for what we needed their control software to do," says Transfer Supervisor Kreitman, "and we got everything we wanted."

Innovative technology preserves history

The result of Electrosonic's ongoing partnership with Shoah engineers was a custom-built tape transfer facility at the Foundation offices in Los Angeles. The facility allowed technicians working at sixteen fully-automated duplication workstations to process up to 64 videotaped survivor interviews a day. "Each one," says senior producer June Beallor, "is an irreplaceable piece of history."

The Visual History Transfer System duplicates the field tapes in four formats: digital Betacom, VHS, S-VHS and an MPEG version. The duplication system incorporated Electrosonic documentation tasks, including timecode, slate generation and database interface. Copies were simultaneously produced for the survivors' families, Foundation archives and the cataloging department using a simple process: Technicians simply loaded the field master tapes, initiated the transfer on a touch screen and then followed the transfer on audio and video monitors.

All the transfers were automatically tracked through an e-mail based log and fault reporting system. Status and fault reports were automatically sent over a Novell network and via MS Mail to personnel throughout the Foundation offices and to Electrosonic's office in Burbank. And a remote monitoring system allows Spielberg to access and view the workstation video screens from his office.

A true collaboration

"In collaboration with Shoah engineers, and with the development of Electrosonic's Digitape software, the tape transfer stations were also integrated into the Foundation's massive digital multimedia system to create the 150 terabyte multimedia database," says Sam Gustman, Shoah Foundation Director of Information Technology.

"Electrosonic has experience with everything from actually building and wiring the racks that hold the equipment to developing control software, so as a partner they were a great source of information," says Ricky Kreitman, Shoah Foundation Transfer Supervisor. "Now,after everybody's hard work, we have the system we envisioned."