What should be the characteristics (desired and required) of the base data in such a general purpose collection?
All agreed that data with visual, audio, and text combined would be most useful. One respondent suggested video footage where the visual experience is the primary source of information/entertainment, for example, sports video, aerial surveillance, or satellite footage. Content scenes should include different levels of motion (static to fast moving objects), close-up figures (talking heads), and outdoor and indoor shots (particularly a laboratory or conference room environment). Composition should include short and long shots, and camera motion boundaries (pans and zooms). Additionally, cuts, fades, and dissolves would enhance the usefulness. Some sources noted that audio should be presented with background noise and speech, music and speech, as well as simple narration. Inclusion of closed captioning was recommended. The suggested duration of video varied from 30 second clips to 10-20 minutes in total length. The format (or compression) of the video varied as well. Those mentioned were
