Python for AV

Python is often referred to as the “swiss army knife” of computer programming languages, capable of meeting the needs of nearly any task with its characteristic ease-of-use, simplicity, and efficiency. In this half-day workshop, participants will be introduced to all the ways Python can have a transformative effect on media digitization workflows.

Designed for archivists working with media collections of any size, this will be a practical and skills-oriented effort, combining a thorough grounding in Python basics with an introduction to a number of tools that allow for the manipulation and analysis of media files. Specific modules/libraries/tools will include: the os, glob, re, subprocess, shutil, csv and json modules; FFmpeg; pymediainfo/MediaConch; pandas; matplotlib; and seaborn.

Prerequisites

Workshop participants must bring their own laptops to the workshop. Laptops should have at least 4GB of RAM, 10GB of available drive space, and Windows 8+ or MacOS 10.10+

Familiarity with the following programming concepts is helpful:

Variables

for loops

if/then statements

Familiarity with the following AV file concepts is recommended:

container formats

codec

transcoding

technical metadata

Schedule

	Setup	Download files required for the lesson
00:00	1. What is Python?	What is Python? What is the command line? Why should I use it?
00:30	2. Running and Quitting	How can I run Python code?
00:45	3. Transcoding One File	How can I use Python to transcode a file
01:15	4. Generating a List of Files	How can I use Python to find different types of files?
01:45	5. 1st Break	Break
01:55	6. Moving and Transcoding Files	How can I use Python to move files from one place to another? How can I use Python to run ffmpeg?
02:15	7. Lossless Compression and Codec Decisions	How can I use Python to losslessly compress files? How can I use Python to make decisions based upon codec?
02:35	8. 2nd Break	Break
02:45	9. Finding Out About Files	How can I use Python and pymediainfo to learn more about media files?
03:15	10. Finding Out About AV Files	How can I use Python to collect more technical metadata? How can I use Python to create CSVs?
03:35	11. Checksums	How can I use Python to generate checksums? How can I use Python to validate bags?
03:35	12. Creating a Script	How can I create a Python script to run outside of Jupyter? How can I use command-line arguments?
04:00	13. Data Analysis and Visualization (Bonus)	How can I use Python/pandas to analyze data gathered from/about my media collection? How can I use data visualization tools like matplotlib or seaborn to present my analysis in a clear and digestible way?
04:30	Finish

The actual schedule may vary slightly depending on the topics and exercises chosen by the instructor.