Last week Jim Gibb wrote>
 
>The Lost Towns of Anne Arundel Project received a grant from the
>National Center for Preservation Technology & Training for development
>of three-dimensional models, video archives, and video. We use a Sony
>digital camera, Firewire, PhotoModeler, etc. Contact Jason Moser, the
>project manager, for details: [log in to unmask]
 
Members of both Britarch and Histarch have expressed interest in the
use of digital imaging in archaeology.  In accord with the above
mentioned
grant, our project has acquired the use of a digital video camera
capable of
collecting both digital still images and digital video.  The camera we
use is
a Sony DCR VX-1000, a US$3,500.00 investment.  The camera has several
unique
features which may be of particular interest to the members of this
list.
 
This model camera stores digital images on a 60 minute mini-DV cassette
tape.
The camera takes approximately 7 seconds to capture and write a still
image to
tape. This allows storage of over 500 digital on tape at 740 x 480.  Of
course
the resolutions of these images are far too low for use as a primary
recording
medium.  Most digital cameras produce resolutions similar in quality to
a
polaroid picture.  As a result, we still rely on conventional
photography for
much of our recording.   However, as one list members stated, the camera
is an
excellent tool for keeping running commentary and recording notes to
"jog the
memory" about particular aspects of excavations. It is for this reason
that
the combination of digital video and still image capablities into one
camera
is so useful to our project.  And though the quality is not quite up to
the
standards which archaeologists require, I expect the next generation of
cameras to meet or exceed these expectations.
 
The second feature which has revolutionized digital imaging is the
firewire
interface.  Firewire is a industry standard means of transfering digital
images from cameras to computers without any loss in quality or
resolution.
In this way images can stay digital during the entire process.  From the
moment of capture through editing on the computer to re-writing on a
cd-rom or
back to tape there is no loss in quality.  Conventional high 8 or super
8
video cameras require a means of taking an analog image which is then
converted to digital in order to transfer it into the computer.  The
process
does result in some loss in quality, and frequenty introduces
"artifacts" into
the image or sound track.  So unless you have access to a full blown
video
editing studio, digital imaging is probably the best way to go.
 
There are a host of other issues with which we are still dealing,
probably the
most important being the archival storage of digital images.  We will
present
our findings and discuss them at the next SHA conference in Salt Lake
City.
 
 
Jason D. Moser
 
The Lost Towns of Anne Arundel Project
Annapolis, MD