Status: Draft for v0.3. Satisfies issue #15 and extends the Minimum Collection Standard with aspirational guidance for professional-grade archives.
The minimum standard makes records technically usable. This guide describes what it takes to make records production-grade — closer to the quality bar referenced by Tavus Replica training and ElevenLabs professional voice cloning.
These targets are NOT required for v0.3 launch — they are recommended for contributors who can afford studio-quality capture.
| Tier | Minimum (§1) | Mid-fidelity | High-fidelity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sample rate | 44.1 kHz | 48 kHz | 96–192 kHz |
| Bit depth | 16-bit | 24-bit | 24- or 32-bit float |
| Total duration | ≥ 60 s | 30–60 minutes | 30–180 minutes |
| Mic | Consumer USB | Cardioid condenser | Large-diaphragm condenser |
| Room | Quiet room | Treated room | Acoustically treated booth |
| Loudness | -18 LUFS | -18 LUFS, ±1 LU | -18 LUFS, ±0.5 LU |
| Sessions | 1 | 2–3 sessions | Multiple emotion / scenario sessions |
Recording scenarios (high-fidelity)
- Conversational reading (news / book passages).
- Emotional range: neutral, happy, sad, angry, surprised.
- Sustained vowels for pitch / vibrato modelling.
- Reading numerical / technical content for pronunciation coverage.
- Optional: singing or humming (clearly labelled).
Acoustic treatment
- Broadband absorption on first reflections.
- Bass traps in corners.
- Floor coverings to reduce reflections from below.
- Avoid rooms with parallel walls.
| Tier | Minimum (§2) | Mid-fidelity | High-fidelity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resolution | 1280×720 | 1920×1080 | 3840×2160 (4K) or higher |
| Frame rate | 24 fps | 25–30 fps | 60–120 fps |
| Bitrate | best-effort | ≥ 20 Mbps | ≥ 80 Mbps or visually lossless |
| Lighting | Even ambient | Key + fill | Three-point + practical fills |
| Camera | Phone OK | Mirrorless | Cinema camera, calibrated |
| Lens | Phone | 35–50 mm equivalent | 50–85 mm prime, low distortion |
| Capture sessions | 1 | 2–3 wardrobe / pose changes | Multi-day, multi-scenario, multi-camera |
| Audio | Camera mic | Lav mic | Lav + boom + room reference |
Scenarios
- Static talking head (front + 3/4).
- Conversational gestures (no walking).
- Idle / silent moments (≥ 60 s) for stillness modelling.
- Optional: full-body / posture clips for future avatar work.
Post
- Colour-managed pipeline (Rec.709 minimum, ACES recommended).
- Proxy generation for downstream pipelines.
- Edit decision lists / EDL preserved alongside masters.
| Tier | Minimum (§3) | High-fidelity |
|---|---|---|
| Format | png/jpg |
RAW (dng/cr3/nef) + processed tif/png |
| Resolution | ≥ 512×512 | ≥ 4000 px on the long edge |
| Quantity | ≥ 5 angles | 60–120 photos (full angular sweep) |
| Coverage | Front + 3/4 + side | 360° turntable + tilt sweeps |
| Lighting | Even ambient | Diffuse softboxes, calibrated |
| Backdrop | Plain | Colour-checker + plain backdrop |
Photogrammetry preparation
- Use a colour checker in the first frame of each set.
- Capture alignment reference (stickers / fiducials) when feasible.
- Keep focal length and aperture constant within a sweep.
| Field | Minimum (§4) | High-fidelity |
|---|---|---|
| Volume | ≥ 10 000 characters | 500 000+ characters |
| Time span | Single point in time | Years of correspondence |
| Genres | One | Multiple (formal / casual / technical / personal) |
| Metadata | Minimal | Per-message timestamps, channel, recipient role |
| De-identification | Per minimum standard | Per minimum + topic-level review |
| Field | Minimum (§5) | High-fidelity |
|---|---|---|
| Format | vrm/glb/fbx |
Layered: source blend/ma, exported vrm + glb |
| Mesh | Watertight | Multi-LOD, retopologised |
| Texture | Base colour | Full PBR set (BC/N/R/M/AO/SSS) |
| Rigging | Optional | Full skeleton + facial bones |
| Blendshapes | Optional | ARKit-52 + custom emotion blendshapes |
| Animation | Static | Idle, talk, gesture clips |
Use the following rubric in PR reviews and derived/quality_report.json:
| Dimension | 1 (reject) | 3 (acceptable) | 5 (high-fidelity) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audio SNR | < 25 dB | 35–50 dB | > 60 dB |
| Audio loudness | clipped | -18 LUFS ±2 LU | -18 LUFS ±0.5 LU |
| Video resolution | < 720p | 1080p | 4K+ |
| Video stability | shaky / cuts | static head | gimbal / tripod, multi-cam |
| Lighting | mixed colour | even, no hard shadows | three-point, calibrated |
| Image angle cover | < 5 photos | 5–15 photos | 60+ photos / 360° sweep |
| 3D mesh hygiene | broken normals | watertight | retopologised, multi-LOD |
| Consent depth | text only | text + signature | text + signed video + ID-vp |
A record's overall fidelity tier is the minimum dimension score. A single low score (e.g. clipped audio) caps the overall tier.
{
"storage_uri": "s3://dlrs-private-vault/humans/.../voice_master_studio.wav",
"checksum": "sha256:...",
"region": "us-west-2",
"format": "wav",
"artifact_type": "audio",
"sensitivity": "S3_BIOMETRIC",
"access_policy": "private_runtime_only",
"media_metadata": {
"duration_seconds": 7200,
"sample_rate_hz": 96000,
"bit_depth": 24,
"channels": 2,
"loudness_lufs": -18.0,
"true_peak_dbfs": -3.0,
"codec": "pcm_s24le",
"scenarios": ["read_neutral", "read_happy", "read_sad", "sustained_vowels", "numbers"]
}
}{
"storage_uri": "s3://dlrs-private-vault/humans/.../talking_head_4k_multicam.mp4",
"checksum": "sha256:...",
"region": "us-west-2",
"format": "mp4",
"artifact_type": "video",
"sensitivity": "S3_BIOMETRIC",
"access_policy": "private_runtime_only",
"media_metadata": {
"duration_seconds": 1800,
"width": 3840,
"height": 2160,
"fps": 60,
"codec": "h265",
"container": "mp4",
"cameras": ["front", "3q_left", "3q_right"]
}
}{
"storage_uri": "s3://dlrs-private-vault/humans/.../photogrammetry_sweep.zip",
"checksum": "sha256:...",
"region": "us-west-2",
"format": "zip",
"artifact_type": "image",
"sensitivity": "S3_BIOMETRIC",
"access_policy": "private_runtime_only",
"media_metadata": {
"image_count": 96,
"format": "dng",
"long_edge_px": 6000,
"color_chart_present": true
}
}- The subject only consents to text-persona use.
- The subject is a public figure and only public-data is being aggregated.
- The subject is deceased and only memorial-private use is intended.
In these cases, do not collect biometrics that exceed the lawful basis. The minimum standard is sufficient.