vsnarchive is a Media Asset Management system with an advanced DAM (Digital Asset Manager) that covers all aspects of ingest, catalogue, storage (whether it be on-line, near-line or off-line), browsing, tape management and distribution.

With vsnarchive you can digitise thousands hours of low resolution video on-line, immediately available for browsing and previewing from any network terminal or through Internet. Material in high resolution can be stored in a near-line data tape robot or in off-line video tapes with bar-coded stickers. The bar-coding of off-line tapes allows the system to instantly identify the off-line tapes, its contents and other pertaining information.

Cataloguing
Journalists can start pre-cataloguing images which have been previously stored in high resolution in servers' hard drives. The cataloguing process is achieved through the use of templates, adding general metadata such as description, category, journalist, cameras, and key words. It includes digital rights management (DRM) and partial cataloguing through segments within the same material.

In off-line storage, the system keeps track of which tapes are not full in a particular category to be able to completely fill them. If there are no tapes with enough space for the material, a new tape will be started and the system will generate a barcode sticker with the chosen format, including EBU-IBTN for tape identification.

Material can be retrieved in one of three ways: asking for a loan of the original tape, a copy of the material in a new tape or copy of the material in the server's hard drive. If material happens to be in near-line storage, it will be automatically brought on-line without the intervention of an operator. In the event that the material happens to be off-line (in tape) vsnarchive automatically notifies the cataloguer the tape's identification code and its physical location. When the cataloguer introduces the tape into a VTR, the system automatically reads the barcode and intelligently brings on-line only the segment requested by the user.

Customisable
vsnarchive includes an API plugin, allowing customization to a particular need of a client by using cataloguing and browsing pro-forms. It can even be integrated with other databases or external programs.