For Still Images: VIRINs uniquely identify every image shot by military photographers by using four pieces of information: the date the image was shot, the Service of the photographer, an identification of the photographer, and a sequence number. Here is an example: 060515-M-1234S-001.
The components of the VIRIN are:
- 060515 - Date the image was shot (in YYMMDD format)
- M - Photographer's branch of service (Use A-Army, F-Air Force, M-Marine Corps, N-Navy, G-Coast Guard)
- 1234 - Last four digits of the photographer's Social Security Number
- S - First letter of the photographer's last name
- 001 - Sequence number for that day (Sequence numbers restart at 001 each day, not each shoot)
The same VIRIN should be used both in the IPTC header (captioning/metadata area of the image) and as the name of the file.
For Motion Imagery: All submitted imagery must include a VIRIN. VIRINs uniquely identify every piece of video shot by military videographers by using four pieces of information: the date the imagery was shot, the Service of the videographer, an identification of the videographer, and a sequence number. Here is an example: 060515-M-1234S-001.
The components of the VIRIN are:
- 060515 - Date the image was shot (in YYMMDD format)
- M - Videographer's branch of service (Use A-Army, F-Air Force, M-Marine Corps, N-Navy, G-Coast Guard)
- 1234 - Last four digits of the videographer's Social Security Number
- S - First letter of the videographer's last name
- 001 - Sequence number for that day (Sequence numbers restart at 001 each day, not each shoot)
- 001 - A subsequence number (Used only if a sequence needs to be split into smaller pieces for transmission)
The VIRIN of the video sequence should be used as the filename of the electronic version(s) of the sequence and as the filename of the corresponding runsheet. Naming each file with the VIRIN ensures runsheets and sequences are properly kept together when received.