Digitizing historical media to share is a good idea right? Especially when it’s shared for free, right? At least that’s what I thought.
But then it occurred to me, after I digitize the video it has to be stored somewhere. Well, that should be no big deal right? Except for the fact that when one is digitizing media for historical preservation it makes sense to preserve it in its highest quality form.
When it comes to digital video, that means very large file sizes. Which led me to the realization that I would need a very large storage space. That kind of storage space isn’t free. Storage space with fast connection can also be expensive. The run of the mill multi Tb external drive might work, but it would definately make transfers last a looooong time and forget about editing off of one.
I am pretty good at getting good quality used stuff for cheap. (Yes, I am a man of many hidden talents!) And so that is what I have done! I think I should be up and ready to digitize sometime in the beginning of February. That is assuming that my old vhs, beta, and super 8mm video players still work. But why wouldn’t they, right? I got them all when I was an adult, and I’m not THAT old right? Right????
True Aiki is free for all to read, but it is not free. As little as $1 can help to cover expenses and possibly add features to True Aiki.
Thank You!
Please consider becoming a patron of Allen Dean Beebe's True Aiki. Your ongoing support will best assure the continuance and growth of True Aiki.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT!
3 Comments
Michal Miksik · January 8, 2019 at 5:59 am
Hi Allen! Great that you might be able to digitize the footage in the near future! If you have any issues with the 8mm video player, I have one that still works and have the cables to connect it to the computer too…
fred veer · January 9, 2019 at 7:03 pm
Hi Allen,
Since you essentially plan to make them available they should be in the highest resolution possible.
Some 12 years ago our organisation made a nice instruction cd-rom. Problem is that the movies are in such a low resolution for current equipment that it is now unwatchable.
So essentially you need 4k resolution if possible, even if youtube now cannot deal with that resolution.
That means you looking at several Gb per hour of movie time.
If you scan at 720p, you will have to rescan in several years, if that is still possible with the aging formats.
Indeed an interesting conundrum.
Allen Dean Beebe · January 10, 2019 at 1:17 am
Hi Fred,
Yes, I will digitize them in the highest resolution that the converter allows. They then will be down converted to the highest resolution allowed by Youtube at the moment. The down side is that the videos were made in resolution available at the time, which of course is nothing compared to today, much less tomorrow. I am hoping that I will have enough space to store the originals. In addition, I am hoping to make a clone of the drives upon which I will store the originals. Well, we will see how it all plays out.
I’m thinking that the best hope for survival and dissemination of the material is to make it available to all regardless of the quality of format.
For years I tried to teach all that I learned from Shirata sensei to a limited number of individuals in a manner that was as high fidelity as possible. I succeeded to disseminate bits to different individuals but never the whole thing. At this point I think that that will be an improbable task. It is almost a certainty that no small amount of information will follow me to the grave. Nevertheless, this has always been a hard fact when it comes to transmission. Takeda did Takeda’s Daito Ryu. Ueshiba did Ueshiba’s. Shirata did Shirata’s and I do mine. Things are created and things are lost. It is the natural order of events. These days I am taking a two pronged approach. I teach what I think is essentially important: here and in person. And, I teach what I can to whomever I can, whenever I can. My hope is that if the information is “out there,” it will find itself again. I have found this to be true. Different individuals from different lineages (but their teachers knew each other and were influenced by each other), having different backgrounds, different cultures and diverse times all across the globe who have sincerely followed their passion have found each other and influenced each other again. It is quite remarkable. So I have faith and hope that as long as the information exists somewhere, it will coalesce again at some point.