[QuadList] Early Quad Color--"Saving Cyd Charisse" gets a secondlook at AMIA's The Reel Thing, this Saturday.

[David C. Crosthwait]

Hello Dale,

Thank you for the compliments. This was quite an effort to modify  
circuitry in the recovery of these tapes. The story of the transfer  
will be told at the meeting in Hollywood. This is same presentation  
that I gave at AMIA (Reel Thing) this past November in St. Louis.  
Unfortunately, due to a scheduling conflict, I will not be able to  
attend (explained later). In my absence, Dan Wingate from Sony will  
deliver the Key Note presentation before the tape is rolled. He will  
also show a second dance sequence with very dramatic lighting  
considering the requirements of the TK 41's.

This Cyd show was heavily spliced. It appears that the show was  
originally shot in one way (most of all the dance segments and the  
other skits), then re-edited later, with new intros and a new closing.  
There is a discernible difference in image quality between these early  
and late segments. But, the CT phase at the splice points was  
generally dead on. This is a tribute to the recordist/editor who lined  
up the record CT phase very well, even after several weeks had passed.

In my opinion, NBC Burbank was always very creative with lighting and  
crane camera moves in lieu of a zoom lens (Andy Williams and Dean  
Martin are good examples). I might add that it appears to me the  
optics in these early shows were generally clearer than in later  
years. I think IO "pleasantness" was due to factors such as the amount  
of light on the set, the IO tubes chosen, and the optical path  
integrity. The fixed lens had better clarity. A dedicated video man  
and lighting director were important.

Many months ago, I committed to exhibiting at the SAA show in  
Washington, D.C. It turned out that the Reel-Thing ended up at the  
same time. In the DC Video booth here, quad recovery will be well  
represented. This includes showings of both the Cyd segments and the  
1958 Dinah segment (11/9/58), which is thought to be the third oldest  
surviving color tape in existence, taped just a few days after  
Astaire. So, if anyone here in the East wants to drop by the booth  
Friday before 3:00 P.M. for a viewing, give me a call on my cell and I  
will do what I can to get you in. This year, we have about 7 hours of  
legacy tape transfers (mostly 2" quad) on continuous display from  
digital tape playback.

Best Regards,

David Crosthwait
DC Video
Archived Media Transfer and Re-mastering Services
177 West Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, CA. 91502
818-563-1073
818-563-1177 (fax)
818-285-9942 (cell)
DAVID at DCVIDEO.COM
WWW.DCVIDEO.COM












Quoting Dale Lamm <dlamm1 at neo.rr.com>:

>
> Is it just my warped sense of beauty, or is there something magical   
> about video from a TK-41 that makes it look so good? David   
> Crosthwait's work is astounding. Wish I could be at the   
> presentation. Q for the group (I've been away from TV for years...)   
> Has somebody managed to code an algorithm that makes video from a   
> contemporary camera appear as if it came out of a TK-41 or PC-70?
>
>
>
>