| name | workflow-acquisition-archive |
| description | Ingest from every source — web (yt-dlp), screen / webcam / mic capture, SDI (DeckLink), DSLR tether (gphoto2), NDI network sources, RTSP / IP cameras via MediaMTX, PTZ — then verify integrity (SHA-256 + full-decode pass), preserve metadata (EXIF / XMP / IPTC), normalize to MKV or FFV1 / J2K / ProRes archival containers, and push to cold-storage cloud (Glacier / B2 / Archive.org). Use when the user says "download YouTube playlist", "capture SDI for 24 hours", "archive IP cameras", "preserve VHS rips", "tether DSLR timelapse", "cold-storage upload", or any ingest-to-archive workflow. |
| argument-hint | ["source"] |
Workflow — Acquisition + Archive
What: Acquire from any source on planet earth, verify the bytes, preserve the metadata, normalize to an archival container, push to cold storage.
Skills used
media-ytdlp, ffmpeg-capture, decklink-tools, decklink-docs, gphoto2-tether, ndi-tools, ndi-docs, ffmpeg-streaming, mediamtx-server, ptz-visca, ptz-onvif, ffmpeg-probe, media-mediainfo, media-exiftool, ffmpeg-metadata, ffmpeg-bitstream, media-mkvtoolnix, media-gpac, media-ffmpeg-normalize, ffmpeg-transcode, media-batch, media-cloud-upload, ffmpeg-ocio-colorpro, vfx-oiio, media-ocr-ai, media-tag.
Pipeline
Step 1 — Acquire
Pick per source:
| Source | Skill | Method |
|---|
| Web video (1000+ sites) | media-ytdlp | bestvideo+bestaudio merged, subs + thumbnail + description |
| Screen + webcam + mic | ffmpeg-capture | AVFoundation (macOS) / X11 (Linux) / GDI (Windows) |
| Broadcast SDI | decklink-tools | ProRes 422 HQ 10-bit + PCM 24-bit, or v210 raw lossless |
| DSLR tethered | gphoto2-tether | single shot, intervalometer timelapse, live view MJPEG |
| NDI network | ndi-tools | nditools.py find, record to disk |
| RTSP / IP camera | ffmpeg-streaming or mediamtx-server | direct capture TCP, or multi-camera fanout with segmented MP4 |
| PTZ-positioned | ptz-visca / ptz-onvif | preset-recall, then any of the above |
Step 2 — Verify integrity
- Full-decode pass —
ffmpeg -v error -i <file> -f null - (non-zero exit = corrupt).
- Deep probe —
ffmpeg-probe + media-mediainfo.
- SHA-256 checksum — store alongside the file.
Step 3 — Preserve metadata
media-exiftool — EXIF from photos, MOV udta, XMP sidecars for custom archival fields. ffmpeg-metadata for MKV global + chapter tags.
Step 4 — Normalize to archival container
MKV is the default — supports every codec, attachments, chapters, unlimited tracks. Attach the probe + mediainfo + checksum as sidecar files inside the MKV if using media-mkvtoolnix.
Step 5 — Optional codec normalization
| Archival target | Container | Codec |
|---|
| Deep archive lossless | MKV | FFV1 |
| SMPTE-compliant | MXF | JPEG 2000 |
| Apple-friendly | MOV | ProRes 422 HQ |
| Cross-platform | MXF | DNxHR HQ |
Step 6 — Batch
media-batch (GNU parallel) fans out ingest + integrity + metadata + normalize across N sources.
Step 7 — Cold storage
media-cloud-upload:
| Tier | Cost | Retrieval |
|---|
| AWS Glacier Deep Archive | ~$1/TB/mo | 12 h |
| Backblaze B2 | ~$6/TB/mo | instant (warm) |
| Archive.org | free (PUBLIC) | instant |
Variants
- Continuous SDI with segmentation — 1-hour segments via
segment muxer, auto-delete after 30 days.
- Automated content tagging — extract keyframes,
media-tag CLIP/SigLIP per frame, consolidate tags in sidecar JSON.
- OCR verification — 0.2 fps extract,
media-ocr-ai per frame, consolidate burn-in text.
- Color-space-aware archival — preserve original color tags; DO NOT auto-convert to sRGB.
- Incremental sync — rsync + post-sync checksum verification.
Gotchas
ffmpeg -v error -i <file> -f null - is cheap integrity. Non-zero exit OR stderr with "Error" = corrupt.- Checksums are only meaningful AT CAPTURE TIME. Checksumming an already-corrupt file is useless.
- YouTube / Vimeo re-encode on upload.
--format best is NOT original quality. For true originals, you need the uploader's source.
- yt-dlp filenames can contain non-ASCII characters. Use
-o "%(id)s.%(ext)s" for filesystem safety.
--live-from-start needs source support. Most HLS windows are 20–30 min DVR — older content gone.- DeckLink format codes are 4-letter (
Hp50, Hi59, 2k24). Wrong code = silent black capture. Verify with -list_formats 1.
- 10-bit DeckLink capture requires
-pix_fmt yuv422p10le AND a 10-bit-capable device.
- gphoto2 locks USB. One app claims the camera. Close EOS Utility / Lightroom / Capture One first.
- gphoto2 live-view framerate is camera-dependent (Canon ~24–30 fps, Nikon ~30 fps).
- NDI runtime (NewTek/Vizrt) is a separate install from the SDK.
-c copy preserves codec metadata (HDR SEI, captions) but CONTAINER metadata (chapters, tags) may be lost when changing container.- MP4
udta varies by writer (Apple / Sony / FFmpeg all different). ExifTool is the most robust reader.
- MKV global / per-track / chapter / attachment tags are all separate. Use
mkvpropedit for in-place edits — ffmpeg is limited.
- ExifTool
-overwrite_original deletes the backup. Keep backups until verified.
- ExifTool needs
-charset filename=UTF8 for non-ASCII paths. Fails silently otherwise.
- MOV timecode lives in a
tmcd track. ffmpeg -map 0 preserves; narrow stream selection drops it.
- FFV1 lossless is NOT supported by consumer players (great for LOC-grade archive, bad for distribution).
- MKV large attachments (GB-scale) slow re-muxing. For huge manifests, use separate sidecar files.
Example — Archive 24-hour SDI broadcast feed
decklink-tools capture → ffmpeg segmenter → 1-hour MP4 segments → per-segment: full-decode check + SHA-256 + MediaInfo JSON sidecar → batch-upload to Glacier Deep Archive via media-cloud-upload with lifecycle rule for 30-day local purge after upload confirmation.
Related
workflow-broadcast-delivery — the next step if the archive is to be mastered.workflow-live-production — the live feed that typically drives an acquisition pipeline.workflow-analysis-quality — integrity / spec verification.
