2020 Is off to a great start. We’re finishing up the digitization of over 1200 hours of media content for both CLIR/Mellon Foundation “Recordings At Risk” grant funded projects with the State University at Geneseo and the Squeaky Wheel Film and Media Art Center within the grant deadlines and within budget. We’re also well ahead of our timeline digitizing 2300 videotapes from the largest bank in the Caribbean Islands. We’ve also digitized a rare short film for preservation, featuring actress Karen Allen (Raiders/Animal House) for “Movies On A Shoestring” and we have started the restoration on several mix master original ¼” audiotapes featuring the famous Jazz Singer, Blossom Dearie. The tapes were stored in less than desirable conditions and had fallen off their cored reels into large clumps of tangled and creased balls of tape. The painstaking process of slowly untangling the tapes, removing the creases and re-spooling them onto proper NAB hubs, then baking them has begun. We’re looking forward to the time where we can use our custom Mike Spitz-built ATR-100 deck to digitize these unique tapes for digital re-mastering and commercial release.  At the beginning of March we also began digitizing a collection of audio and videotapes for a new client, the Scholes Library at Alfred University. The project is a South Central Regional Library Council grant-funded project. It includes audio cassettes, reel to reel audiotape, ¾” U-Matic and VHS videotapes digitized to both preservation master and access files. 2019 In late November, projects with a tight turnaround came in from both the Rochester Institute of Technology and the National Technical Institute for The Deaf. Even with all the work in house, we were able to digitize over 150 hours of content on audio cassette and video formats for these clients, before the end of the year. In June, we began a 12 month project digitizing 2,300 videotapes in eight different formats from the largest bank in the Caribbean Islands. The recordings cover 30 years of the bank’s history, on nine different videotape formats. Tapes document the bank’s growth, advertising commercials and corporate meetings, to training videos and community sponsored events. Preservation files will be produced for all video formats. Back in May of 2019, two of the clients we have been working with in 2018 for grant applications received “Recordings at Risk” grants from the Council of Library and Information Resources, sponsored by the Mellon Foundation. One is the Squeaky Wheel Film and Media Art Center in Buffalo, NY. Since June, Squeaky Wheel has been working with Media Transfer Service to digitize a large collection of ¾” U-Matic videotapes comprising the Axlegrease collection, curated selections of video art and documentary films created by local and national artists that were broadcast on a weekly basis in Western New York between 1987-1999. The other CLIR grant was awarded to the State University at Geneseo. Their collection consists of recordings made by Professor and Ethnomusicologist, James Kimball. In his 40+ year career at SUNY Geneseo, Professor Kimball has documented master traditional musicians of New York State, specializing in the Eastern square dance tradition. These include unique interviews and community performances of notable fiddlers, square dance callers, dance musicians and community members whose knowledge bridges 19th century repertory to contemporary practice of tradition. Original media formats in this large collection include reel to reel audiotape, cassette audiotape and video. Both collections combined total over 1200 hours of content and are being digitized for preservation and shared access. We’re proud to have assisted in helping both these clients receive these grants, of which only 20 in this round were awarded out of hundreds of applicants across the country. Beginning 2019, we started with another round of DVD recovery and migration for Niagara County Community College. We also begin digitizing rare 16mm motion picture films from the archives at Saint John Fisher College. The films center around the past NBA team - the Rochester Royals, covering games and highlights from the 1950's. We also began digitizing videotapes from the Thomas Golisano collection at the Wallace Memorial Library at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Mr. Golisano was founder/CEO of Paychex and a philanthropic billionaire. The videotapes range in format from D2 to Digibeta and cover news and media events featuring Mr. Golisano outside of Paychex. We also digitized video, audio, motion picture film and slides from a private collection to be housed at Cornell University and another private audio collection which included cassette tapes, reel to reel audiotapes and numerous formats of disk recordings including Gray Audograph disk recordings from the 1940's. Digitizing Gray Audograph disks require special equipment and software. They play from the center out and vary in pitch from the start of the recording to the end. Custom turntables allow us to slow the playback speed down to 20RPM  - a middle ground for the speed of these recordings. After transferring the Gray Audograph disks, professional audio processing software enables us to change the pitch throughout the recording so that the final WAV files result is a steady pitch throughout. We also digitized more videotapes from the Brockport State University Writers Forum collection, for preservation and reference. We’d also like to congratulate both Kirk McDowell and Lindsay Kurano, two second-year students with the Selznick School at the George Eastman Museum, who interned with us over the past year. Both have accepted positions at the Library of Congress - Culpeper Facility, where they begin their full-time careers preserving the nation’s audiovisual heritage.  2018 finds us digitizing more videotapes from the Brockport State University Writers Forum collection, for preservation and reference. They include early interviews of famous Pulitzer-Prize winning authors. As qualified vendors for the University of Rochester, a wide variety of various projects have been coming in from different departments. We've worked on several high-profile cases for local law enforcement agencies and law firms. We have also migrated two rounds of content from Niagara County Community College. The College has a large collection of DVD video disks from the Department of Performing Arts library. Because the disks are checked out by students and teachers, a good portion of the collection has contaminates and scratches on the data side and a percentage of the disks are also starting to have data layer fading. Our job is to pull the data off the disks as a file based format for preservation. First, we resurface the disks so the data can be properly read, then we rip the data off the disks with a special data recovery program. To date we have had a 100% recovery rate. Saint John Fisher College has us digitizing another round of reel to reel audiotape media from their Rochester Radio History Collection. These tapes are human interest broadcasts that were produced for public radio, many of which went national. The tapes suffered from a myriad of issues: flaking, soft binder, sticky shed, decaying tape slices and a wide variance of azimuth settings between each broadcast - 15-20 broadcasts per reel of tape. We were able to successfully digitize all of the content without any loss. We also have a major influx of larger consumer collections coming in including: slide collections, video collections and motion picture film collections. One of the consumer projects includes digitization of a wonderful collection of 16mm motion picture films covering the construction, heyday and end of the Rochester subway and trolley system from the 1920's, through 1960's. This content will be shared with the local library system, local transportation museums and local cable access stations for broadcast. We’d also like to congratulate both Katherine Pratt and Conner Simon, two second-year students with the Selznick School at the George Eastman Museum, who interned with us over the past year. Katherine accepted a position at the National Archives and Connor is producing content for local cable access as well as working with Janice Allen at Cinema Arts, Inc.  2017 has us finishing up projects for The Dharma Ocean Foundation, The Sisters of Saint Joseph Archives, as well as a new collection of 3/4" U-Matic tapes from Brockport State University's Writer's Forum. The shows were produced in the 1960's through 1980's for local cable access. Many famous Pulitzer Prize winning writers and poets were featured on the show, including names such as W. S Merwin, Richard Wilbur, Isaac Bashevis Singer, John Ashbery and Anne Sexton as well as other historically significant writers such as Allen Ginsberg, Robert Hayden, Isaac Asimov and Gene Roddenberry just to name a few. Some of these programs were on tape formats that required treatment prior to digitizing and/or very special signal processing to stabilize the video signal prior to digitization. Now these programs can be enjoyed by the general public as well as researchers for years to come. We also started scanning a second round of several thousand still image assets from the Caesarea collection for the Universities of Cornell and Cincinnati. St. John Fisher College has sent us another round of reel-to-reel audiotape digitizing for their Rochester Radio History Collection. Progressive Insurance has also commissioned us to digitize another round of audiovisual media in their corporate archives collection. We’d    also    like    to    congratulate    Brett    Scheuermann,    our second-year   student   with   the   Selznick   School   at   the   George Eastman   Museum,   who   interned   with   us   over   the   past   year. Brett    took    a    position    with    Sony    Memnon.    Brett    is    a    key player   for   Memnon’s   film   archiving   services   based   at   the Media     Digitization     &     Preservation     Initiative     at     Indiana University,    one    of    the    largest    digitizing    projects    in    the country. 2016   L arger   projects   of   note   include   high-resolution   scans of    over    8,000    still    images    including    slides,    large    format transparencies,    large    format    photos    and    35mm    roll    film negatives.   These   images   document   the   excavation   of   the Promontory    Palace,    built    by    King    Herod    in    25    BC    in    the ancient   city   of   Caesarea   Maritima   (located   on   the   shores   of Israel).   The   dig   was   co-funded   by   Cornell   University   and   the University    of    Cincinnati.    As    the    palace    was    unearthed photographs   were   taken,   documenting   the   excavation   and the   palace.   The   palace   was   then   buried   again   to   preserve   it. The   scanned   photos   will   serve   researchers   and   scholars   for generations   to   come.   Another   large   project   has   us   digitizing 1,000   videotapes   from   the   Dharma   Ocean   Foundation,   one of   the   most   well   respected   Tibetan   Buddhist   teaching   and meditation   foundations   in   America.   Digital   derivatives   will be   used   for   both   educationa l   streaming   now   and   archival master   preservation   files   for   future   content   preservation. We     also     digitized     another     round     of     promotional     and advertising     assets     from     Progressive     Insurance.     We've started   moving   digital   information   from   over   1,000   aging DVD   video   disks   to   file   based   format   for   the   University   of Rochester's   Mount   Hope   Family   Center.   We're   also   digitizing a   collection   of   oral   history   interviews   on   cassette   audiotape and    historical    16mm    film    for    the    Sisters    of    Saint    Joseph archives.    We've    upgraded    our    video    capabilities    adding several    legacy    videotape    formats    to    accommodate    new client    requests.    We're    also    pleased    to    announce    a    new partnership   with   the   George   Eastman   Museum's   Selznick School   of   Film   Preservation   -   one   of   the   highest   regarded schools   for   film   preservation   and   archiving   in   the   world. MTS    hires    masters    degree    students    to    help    with    the growing   workload   at   MTS.   The   students   work   in   a   real   world environment   that   is   related   to   their   degree   and   MTS   gets help   from   serious   young   professionals   that   are   up   to   speed in many aspects of archiving. 2015    finds   us   working   on   more   content   from   Georgetown University,    and    the    estate    archives    of    well-known    Jazz musician   -   Don   Elliott.   New   projects   include   digitization   of video      and      audio      oral      history      interviews      from      the organization    -    Densho:    The    Japanese    American    Legacy Project.   Based   in   Seattle   Washington,   they   are   one   of   the largest    repositories    of    Japanese    American    history    in    the country.   Video   formats   we   digitize   to   archival   master   file and   reference   file   are   being   posted   to   the   web   and   available here:   http://ddr.densho.org/         MTS   also   took   on   a   project digitizing    the    archives    of    commercial    producer    Steven Vaughan.    Back    in    the    '70's    and    '80's,    Steve    was    a    very successful      commercial      producer      on      contract      with companies    such    as    US    Air,    Channel    Fragrances,    Giorgio Armani,    Fanta,    Nestle,    Anheuser    Busch,    and    Chrysler    to name   a   few.   His   1"   master   videotapes   had   taken   on   mold contamination   and   moderate   sticky   shed   breakdown.   After treating   the   tapes,   we   transferred   them   to   archival   digital master    files    and    reference    files.    By    September,    our    new 2,200    square    foot    facility    was    operational    with    plenty    of projects    to    work    on.    The    second    half    of    2015    found    us continuing    with    another    round    of    historic    interviews    of Japanese   Americans   interned   during   WWII   from   the   Densho organization.    At    the    same    time    we    began    a    new    project digitizing   several   hundred   video   and   audio   tape   interviews of   Holocaust   Survivors   from   WWII   for   the   Jewish   Federation. Digital   derivatives   will   be   used   as   part   of   an   educational curriculum   for   city   schools   as   well   as   master   archival   file versions    for    preservation.    We    digitized    another    round    of media     from     the     archives     of     the     corporate     offices     of Progressive    Insurance.    We    also    digitized    original    music produced   for   NASA   that   was   played   to   astronauts   while   on missions   during   the   80's   like   Skylab.   This   music   was   also inserted   into   landers   and   probes   as   part   of   a   time   capsule representation. 2014    continued    our    success.    The    Walter    Williams    PBS documentary   finally   finished   in   February.   Overall   -   a   very nice    piece    to    go    to    broadcast    in    the    spring    of    2015. Continuing   projects   for   the   Memorial   Art   Gallery,   St.   John Fisher     College,     Georgetown     University     and     Progressive Insurance   kept   a   steady   flow   of   new   audiovisual   materials coming     in.     New     projects     included     the     first     round     of digitizing    unique    video    and    audiotape    masters    from    the estate   of   well   known   Jazz   Musician;   Don   Elliott.   With   the help   of   his   friend,   Les   Paul,   Don   built   one   of   the   first   multi- track    recording    studios    in    the    country.    Content    from    his estate   includes   live   public   concerts   and   private   jam   sessions in   his   studios,   which   include   friends   such   as   jazz   greats:   Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan, Phil Bodner and Big Joe Williams. 2013    was    our    busiest    year    yet.    Projects    for    the    PBS documentary   on   Walter   Williams,   Memorial   Art   Gallery,   St John    Fisher    College,    University    of    Rochester    mentioned below   were   ongoing.   Highlights   of   new   projects   includes: digitization   of   both   video   and   audio   assets   from   the   Jean Craighead   George   estate   (famous   children   book   author),   as well    as    16mm    motion    picture    film    from    the    1930's    and 1940's   for   Camp   Pathfinder   -   the   famous   canoe   camp   based in   Algonquin   Provincial   Park.   We   also   began   a   multi-year project   with   the   Department   of   Neurology   at   the   University of   Georgetown,   digitizing   their   holdings   of   over   1800   hours of   very   valuable   videotaped   lab   studies   on   brain   plasticity. MTS   was   commissioned   to   digitize   Georgetown's   collection that   spans   40   years   on   over   10   different   legacy   videotape formats      for      both      laboratory      coding      and      long-term preservation.    We    also    began    a    long    term    project    with Progressive     Insurance     to     digitize     all     of     their     archival audiovisual    media    assets    for    reference,    re-use    in    future advertising   campaigns   and   preservation.   Finally   we   digitized camera   original   16mm   film   taken   by   famed   ornithologist Gladys   Gordon   Fry,   documenting   her   trip   as   one   of   the   first woman   to   explore   Trinidad   and   Tobago   as   an   ornithologist back    in    the    1930's.    Gladys    worked    for    the    Museum    of Natural   History   in   New   York   City   and   was   know   as   the   "Bird Lady   of   Central   Park"   for   her   unique   bird   watching   tours through Central Park.