Sound Genie™ — An Automated Digital Sound Effects Library System

The National Film Board (NFB) of Canada's sound effects library currently includes 1200 hours of analog tape material, representing some 40,000 effects. Access is time-consuming, requiring editors to make selections from a catalogue, manually locate and handle tapes for auditioning purposes, and order any copies needed. Order processing is also manual, and sound quality is subject to the usual limitations of analog tape media. The NFB's new automated digital library system, based upon rotary digital audio tape (R-DAT) technology, will allow editors to search for effects electronically, using local or remote terminals — any effects selected can be robotically retrieved, auditioned, and/or digitally copied, under computer control. The system has a capacity of 2000 hours of digital stereo sound.

Print ISSN

0036-1682

Published

1990-05

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J03880