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DAILY NEWS
Jul 7, 2008 9:01 AM
Online NFB Site Tests in Public Beta
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As part of its strategic planning, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is creating a financial, technology and rights renewal plan for the digitization and distribution of its collection.
Along those lines, its new website - beta.NFB.ca - is now online, offering full-length NFB documentaries, animations and dramas online.
Content is delivered using an open source platform, along with one of the newest video players on the Web.
The JW Player Media Player is available for Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight. The player is completely open-source and free for non-commercial use; commercial licensees are available.
Films are encoded in MPEG 4 H.264 at 56k, 415k and 1000k. beta.NFB.ca was written in Python within the Django environment, PyAMF, Apache, Twisted and MySQL. The application is hosted on an Ubuntu Linux server under SPARK/ALPHA.
Over the life of the NFB's strategic plan it is estimated that nearly 75% of Canadians will be active Internet users and that almost 95% of Canadian households will have broadband access. Currently, close to 60% of Canadians own a cellphone; that too is expected to grow significantly over the next five years.
As more Canadians engage with the digital world, they will expect a full range of offerings, including audiovisual programming.
Interactivity, creative control, ability to watch programs anywhere and at any time are becoming the drivers of viewer choice. Content should be available in both official languages and wherever possible in Aboriginal languages as well. Currently, the ten most visited Canadian websites are U.S. owned, although some have or are creating Canadian branches, e.g., YouTube.ca, Google.ca, etc.
The digitization of NFB's audiovisual works is essential for the future of the NFB and for its ability to deliver programming and value to Canadians. Digitization is also essential for the preservation of NFB's rich Canadian heritage collection for future generations.
Over the last five years the NFB has undertaken a range of projects to digitize parts of its collection. A significant part of that effort depended on funding from the Canada Culture Online Memory Fund. In that period, a number of titles approaching half the collection was digitized in one form or another.
A comprehensive digitization plan will be put into place, providing and establishing strategic elements such as:
~ An environmental scan of best practices domestically and internationally
~ A comprehensive audit of NFB's digital catalogue
~ A time frame and budget for the digitization of the complete NFB collection
~ Priority criteria for the digitization work
~ Technical standards and procedures for digitization
~ Processes for rights management and rights renewal
~ A financing strategy for the digitization effort
~ A process to ensure that all new productions will deliver a digital master
Canadian Culture Online is part of the Department of Canadian Heritage's strategy to encourage a uniquely Canadian presence on the Internet.
It works with Canadian creators, cultural industries, communities and institutions to produce and make available digital content that helps promote the country's culture, history, arts and heritage.
