Ron Mowrey/PE's Emulsion Making Book/DVD set

[Nicholas Lindan]

Almost everyone in North America

And I thought it was only the old farts who still used film cameras. I wonder when DVDs will become 'hip'?

I haven't checked - are hipsters collecting VHS tapes? I confess to chucking several crates of the things after my last VHS player started cracking its nylon gears. The old Dolby VHS sound tracks were often better than what was offered on DVDs and Blu-rays. The old laser disc sound quality was also hard to beat. Both were analog FM recordings.

 

[markjwyatt]

And I thought it was only the old farts who still used film cameras. I wonder when DVDs will become 'hip'?

I haven't checked - are hipsters collecting VHS tapes? I confess to chucking several crates of the things after my last VHS player started cracking its nylon gears. The old Dolby VHS sound tracks were often better than what was offered on DVDs and Blu-rays. The old laser disc sound quality was also hard to beat. Both were analog FM recordings.

Still trying to figure out what to do with my laser disks.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I have the books and the DVDs. Maybe I should transfer the DVDs to hard drive for posterity in case of bitrot and if my BluRay/DVRW drive fails at some point, though I think it's one of the most reliable USB peripherals I've ever owned. Made by Kanguru and it's got to be at least 10, maybe 15 years old. They still around?

 

[Don_ih]

Someone asked about YouTube. The video would not get enough views to make monetizing from ad revenue worthwhile. However, YouTube does have a pay-to-view service that would be worthwhile for PE's family to look into. I think the videos should just be uploaded to YouTube since the set is out of print.
The book, however, should not be put on Kindle - it should be made available through a print-on-demand service like Blurb or Lulu. Then a price can be set and any profit would go directly to the family. Also, being a nice old piece of pulp, digital copies will not easily freely circulate. The Youtube videos could link to the book. (The book could sell on Amazon but be printed on demand. However, Amazon will eat any profit - better to sell through Blurb or Lulu.)

 

[Kino]

I have the books and the DVDs. Maybe I should transfer the DVDs to hard drive for posterity in case of bitrot and if my BluRay/DVRW drive fails at some point, though I think it's one of the most reliable USB peripherals I've ever owned. Made by Kanguru and it's got to be at least 10, maybe 15 years old. They still around?

You can rip the DVDs to ISO files and use a virtual player to view them on your computer. Easier than making new media or converting them to other media formats. This way you keep the entire DVD image with working menus, etc...

 

[fdonadio]

If there was a reprint or if the book was sold through a service like Blurb, I would buy it. I got @dwross’ “The Light Farm” through Blurb and the quality is great.

In the end, I’ve never got seriously into emulsion making, but I will do it sometime. Ron’s book is definitely an invaluable resource to have.

 

[laingsoft]

You can add me to the list.

 

[Joshua Reisbord]

I would like to start getting into emulsion making, and Rom's book is something I would love to own. Have there been any updates on a re-run of the book?

 

[equipeng]

Hoping someone made progress on getting these resources out to the community....

 

[Kino]

And I thought it was only the old farts who still used film cameras. I wonder when DVDs will become 'hip'?

I haven't checked - are hipsters collecting VHS tapes? I confess to chucking several crates of the things after my last VHS player started cracking its nylon gears. The old Dolby VHS sound tracks were often better than what was offered on DVDs and Blu-rays. The old laser disc sound quality was also hard to beat. Both were analog FM recordings.

There is a fairly robust underground of people in the US who currently scavenge thrift stores for used DVDs to rip and place on home storage solutions like a NAS (Network Attached Storage) to avoid paying streaming services the filthy lucre they demand. People are waking up to the fact that if you don't own the physical media, you will have to pay to watch titles over and over again. Besides that, despite common Internet knowledge (i.e., unfounded blather), not everything is available to stream.

As for VHS, yes there are those who collect and hoard VHS titles just like just about anything else, but I draw the line at CDs and DVDs. I lived through that era and have no desire to relive the torture of tape-based home video viewing/production. Loved Laser Discs when they came out, but the players were largely unreliable with a few exceptions and the video quality was only, in retrospect, marginally equal Super VHS and Laser Rot was a real thing...

 

[ProfessorC1983]

Hoping someone made progress on getting these resources out to the community....

A few years ago I was able to track down a copy of the book and DVD set via interlibrary loan, I believe from the University of Texas. There are 2 or 3 copies in the ILL system in the US. It's not simply a matter of "getting the resources out to the community" since the material is copyrighted.

 

[Don_ih]

It's not simply a matter of "getting the resources out to the community" since the material is copyrighted.

That's a nice sentiment. If the book and video were being made available for sale, then the people would probably buy them. However, the number of people who would buy them is likely in the double digits. That makes it not worthwhile to try to produce and sell those things. And while it's "not nice" to infringe on copyright, it's unlikely anything would happen to anyone that did. As in, no one would care.

It's far better that the work be available to those who would want it than simply vanishing due to a lack of publication.

 

[Bill Burk]

@Mark Osterman is producing a movie about making film which may be of interest to anyone seeking emulsion making entertainment

 

[armadsen]

That's a nice sentiment. If the book and video were being made available for sale, then the people would probably buy them. However, the number of people who would buy them is likely in the double digits. That makes it not worthwhile to try to produce and sell those things. And while it's "not nice" to infringe on copyright, it's unlikely anything would happen to anyone that did. As in, no one would care.

It's far better that the work be available to those who would want it than simply vanishing due to a lack of publication.

In general, I'm a strong proponent of paying for things, not stealing them. I was a teenager and young adult when Napster and file sharing in general were huge, especially among people my age. Even then I refused to use them at all, and bought CDs and records.

That said, Ron is no longer with us, and I think the value of the information being out there so it and the skills it can help people develop are not lost to history outweighs the desire to avoid infringing copyright. I didn't know Ron, but were I in his position, I'd hope people would keep my work alive.

Now if someone in Ron's estate to whom the rights have passed (I have no idea the situation) is willing/able to make the material available again, even digitally, I'd happily pay for it.

@Mark Osterman is producing a movie about making film which may be of interest to anyone seeking emulsion making entertainment

He's also seeking help funding the whole thing with a GoFundMe. I donated a bit the other day. https://gofund.me/ce6b3b9e6

 

[Don_ih]

Now if someone in Ron's estate to whom the rights have passed (I have no idea the situation) is willing/able to make the material available again, even digitally, I'd happily pay for it.

I said long ago what could be done. The video could be openly on YouTube and the book could be print-on-demand. That is the only way any money could be made from it (and it would not be much). This is not something that will ever be spec published.