Re: [AV Media Matters] Tape to Film

[amsden@btinternet.com]

Jim Lindner wrote:
>So while you most
>certainly CAN record video to film, please do not confuse that process
>with preserving video because you most certainly are not preserving it.

I agree with almost everything that Jim has to say on this issue,
except perhaps this last statement. Is it possible that the enquirer
was not interested in preserving a video? I know that this is a much
argued subject, but there seems to be two aspects to it. Usually it
is an argument dominated by the purist, who will have nothing but
the original or an exact copy.

However, video holds images, and it may be more important to
preserve them, than worry about which media they are on. There are
all kinds of question marks hanging over the life expectancy of
magnetic media at this time, but with film stock we have a fair idea
about its future. It seems to me that a degraded image on film would
be better than no image on video. Perhaps we should go for a belt
and braces approach, and preserve on both types of media if the
images are unique and the cash is available. Dismissing film in this
issue has always made me feel uneasy. -- Peter Amsden, ASAT
Productions Argyll, Scotland