may 2010 newsletter

Well, is that winter just around the corner? It doesn't seem that long ago we were trying to stay cool, now...

This months newsletter theme is a bit more so on restoration and preservation. As well as an interesting project I just completed up popped some news on how they are approaching it in the USA. This is all extremely interesting to me, but at the same time I find it very scary. Why? Because there is so much material on film, video, photos and sound recordings from the last century and we stand to loose much of it.

This is partly because there is so much, it is a massive task, and partly because the media itself may deteriorate too far for the contents to be recovered before it can be transferred. Along with the fact that the equipment used to make those recordings is wearing out. As my stories show, it can sometimes be possible to get around these problems, but such methods of recovery can also be a very difficult, time consuming and expensive process.

Paul Perry

Facebook (and all That)

Before I get into stories I mentioned above, here is some news on Aureola Productions developments.

If you have a Facebook account you may now see Aureola Productions on Facebook. I will be regularly posting short newsy items, just like in this newsletter, on techno subjects old and new as well as developments in services I can help you with. In case you miss this mail out each month I will post a reminder and a link on Facebook.

If you do not have an account it is very easy to sign up. You can coast around quietly until you get a feel for it and just watch everyone else. I will suggest that you very carefully look through your account privacy settings, never assume you are protected on the Internet by default settings.

More is to come. As well as a changes to come on my web site, mentioned last month, I plan to add more articles and will be producing some short videos you may view on my site as well as on YouTube and others. And even more yet is in the pipeline, still in the planning stages.

A Wedding Video Almost Lost

Just recently I completed a most interesting project recovering a wedding video. Nothing unusual so far, but this was 36 years old on 1/2" reel to reel tape in black and white and was almost lost, and before too long would certainly have been.

This video format was one of the first small systems. In the 1960s a number of companies produced video recorders using 1/2" reel tape, but all used their own standard which was not interchangeable. In 1969 these companies got together and developed a common standard for 1/2" tape, the E.I.A.J. format, firstly in black and white and later in colour. The next format development in this area was the Umatic cassette, again 1/2" tape but in a big cassette.

There are 2 big problems with any tape this old, first you must find a recorder still working that will play the tape and second hope that the tape itself is still playable. Many tapes this old have developed what is termed sticky syndrome, the glue that binds the magnetic coating to the tape base has combined with moisture in the air - and gone sticky. It can often be dried out, but must be done carefully and it is only temporary. In this case it did work and although some sound was lost the video image was mostly saved.

Media History we Stand to Loose

In the course of the project above a point was raised on preservation by the chap who did the actual transfer of the video tapes for me (I do not have a recorder able to do this, there are very few available and I am pleased to have contact with ones who do have access to very early equipment).

He commented that there are many old broadcast TV tapes in storage around this country in the very early 2" quad format of the 1950s and 60s. A history of our nation in old TV shows that may not be able to be transferred in time. Either they will deteriorate too much firstly or the remaining recorders will just wear out. There are no spare parts to replace the video recording heads in any of these old machines and there is not enough life left in working recorders to allow transfer of all stored tapes.

There is much that can be done to recover media such as this, but time, facilities and available funds are often against us. Inevitably some material will be lost forever.

The Library of Congress Ultimate Archive System

The United States Library of Congress has a vast store of media material and a will to save it for the future using the ultimate archive system.

The division within the Library of Congress responsible for audio visual and film materials covers a collection of 6.3 million items. This includes 140 million feet of cellulose nitrate based films dating back to the 1890s which although highly inflammable and if left alone will decay to a brown gooey mess, can be kept safely for a very long time if stored correctly. As a back up though and where possible these will be copied to cellulose triacetate safety film.

Part of the very earliest films though are based on a very different material. Copyright law of the day did not recognise moving picture film and could only define it as a series of still pictures. So copyright law required films to be printed to a long strip of photographic paper and deposited with the library. These "prints" are now a more accurate record of those early films than any surviving copys and were held in storage for many years almost forgotten. Attempts have been made to copy them back to a projectable film, but it appears registration between frames is not accurate and a process of individual photographic copying of each frame and computer assembly is being attempted.

Humour

An elderly gentleman is calmly sitting in front of a computer with his hand on a mouse newly caught in a mouse trap. His wife is standing next to him and in an agitated tone is speaking into a telephone, "your father has managed to find a mouse, now what do we do"?

Your computer may not be able to make tea and coffee for you, but did you know more recent models come with a cup holder? Press the button next to the DVD symbol (Dedicated Versatile Draw) and out pops a little draw just the right size for a coffee mug, though alas it just does not seem to be strong enough to take the weight. (Warning, the above is for information purposes only, I do not recommend you try this at home, though you may wish to use this as a test of another persons computer knowledge.)

Please feel free to contact me with any questions and comments on this newsletter and suggestions of what you would like me to cover in future issues.