RE: [AV Media Matters] MII Revisited

[amipa2@pobox.alaska.net]

I too was caught in the middle of one of these ploys, involving the
introduction of D3. Working at Capitol Video in Washington DC in
1989-91, the entire editing and engineering staffs were asked to
evaluate D3 vs D2 (both composite digital formats). The overwhelming
choice was D3. Off we all headed to NAB, there to be publicly
announced as the first facility to receive D3 (6 decks). Lo and
behold, Sony leapt in and made a screaming deal with management
behind closed doors ( a common Sony operating style, in my opinion),
offering decks, switchers, and DME's, and the next thing we knew, we
were a D2 facility! The task then for all of us was to explain to
our clients, who trusted us and had been energetically sold on D3,
exactly how D2 was really the "better" format. A very embarrassing
scenario for the workers (and presumably management).

One moral here is to be very careful of what is accepted in the
commercial video world as a "standard". Business is not always
pretty, and quality does not always come first. But I expect most
folks on this list have a pretty good idea of video production
business ethics already.

Bob Curtis-Johnson

AMIPA
Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association
amipa2@pobox.alaska.net
phone 907-279-8433
fax   907-276-0450