I would assume that the documentation would be done in a way that the next person could reproduce the same results.
I would assume that the documentation would be done in a way that the next person could reproduce the same results.That there are no Ektachrome experts at EK right now is both bad and good. That there are no experts there now means that it'll take them longer to get the formulation right based on the documentation than it would if there are experts there that already know how to make it. That's the bad part.
The good part is that (theoretically, at least), the people they have making it now are younger than the ones who were making it before (and are no longer with EK), so the knowledge is preserved in the form of human experience rather than documentation, which may mean that it will be easier for the knowledge to be passed on to other, younger, folks as the older ones retire.
That there are no Ektachrome experts at EK right now is both bad and good. That there are no experts there now means that it'll take them longer to get the formulation right based on the documentation than it would if there are experts there that already know how to make it. That's the bad part.
The good part is that (theoretically, at least), the people they have making it now are younger than the ones who were making it before (and are no longer with EK), so the knowledge is preserved in the form of human experience rather than documentation, which may mean that it will be easier for the knowledge to be passed on to other, younger, folks as the older ones retire.
Well in 2012, they must have had enough engineers, and I doubt the two deceased ones were working at EK at the time.At present, Kodak engineers are all negative film engineers. Ektachrome is a reversal film. Thus my comment!
PE
Ah, the enthusiasm of youth.Look here, even if they were all negative engineers, I don't see why they must specialize in reversal processes in order to work on such a project.
They just need to turn a negative into a positive!Look here, even if they were all negative engineers, I don't see why they must specialize in reversal processes in order to work on such a project.
Ron, perhaps you should embrace the sentiment on my favorite observed bumper sticker:Reversal and negative are quite different!...
Here's an alternative expression.Ah, the enthusiasm of youth...
Ron, perhaps you should embrace the sentiment on my favorite observed bumper sticker:
Here's an alternative expression."I feel much better since I gave up hope"
When I was growing up and advocated or engaged in something less than wise, my late father would recall his early years by recounting some event from them, starting with:
"When I was young and stupid..."
Everyone's experiences and knowledge are never completely documented.
What has been documented can be lost or damaged amazingly fast.
I worked for many, many years for a mining company. They once had a very serious accident destroying much of the mine shaft structure through which all workers, supplies and mined ore traveled. The accident literally shut down the mine for weeks and affected many workers and their families. The investigation revealed that certain basic maintenance processes were no longer being done. Over the years senior workers had left taking their valuable memories with them. Documentation and checklists had been lost and then reproduced from memory. As-built information had been stored away and forgotten, some of it damaged by moisture and rodents. Technology changed and new materials were substituted. All of this over a period of about 20 years. The structure was quite robust but eventually the lack of proper maintenance and the introduction of newer, untested materials took their toll and parts of the structure collapsed.
I suspect that the chemistry and production processes for producing color reversal film is almost certainly as complex as maintaining the structure of a large mine shaft extending thousands of feet into the earth, probably far more complex. I doubt that Kodak employees expected any of these processes to ever be revived and much of the knowledge and documentation will now take time to bring back into the mainstream. I would believe it probably will require more than just two 80 year old employees to run and maintain such a process so that means another group of people have to be newly trained in these processes that people once did almost automatically.
All of this is certainly possible, and has already been done once. But it will likely take some time. I am very glad that Kodak seems willing to step forward and make this possible again.
Thanks Ron for the correction.Well, to start with, I never worked for NASA. I worked for the USAF who leased space at the Cape to NASA, and thus we were overseeing daily tasks such as photographer, where I worked.
Making color film isn't difficult, but making HIGH QUALITY color film is VERY difficult!Photo product making (color) is very arcane.
There are a few other things appropriate for that sentiment. Hair, in my case, is one of them....I sure wish I had energy that I had when I was 18....
Journey down memory lane. Accentuate the positive!
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