I was wondering if the June town hall is still on the table or if it will be pushed back.
1 Like
I feel that we should set up regular meetings (ideally that aren’t recorded but minutes taken) as that might be the best way forward. That would allow everyone involved, or who would like to be involved the space to find their ability to contribute. At the moment Kinograph is still a one person project, and that needs to change if we’re going to see it succeed.
Matthew’s approach and vision is clearly governed by the principles of MVP (minimum viable product):
When Filmfabriek came to market they spent three years creating their MVP and initially it just did small gauge formats and it had no audio readers. Blackmagic acquitted Cintel International IP and also spent two years redesigning the diTTo to be a minimum viable product with a set of different goals and it too only supported two formats with no audio readers at launch. That’s basically the stated goal of Kinograph - no one is saying that 8mm can’t be worked on, far from it, but MVP means taking things step-by-step and ensuring the features that you add are: well designed, usable, reliable, and functional.
With MVP you have to touch all bases, you can’t just chase functionality. That’s the space of DIY, there’s nothing wrong with that approach, and in fact if you walk into a large film lab you’ll encounter custom built and custom modified machines and I don’t mean scanners. All of the lab equipment takes training and a skilled workforce to keep going, and most of it is expensive to run and/or maintain as well. But that’s very different to the goals of Kinograph which is to be a device that an ordinary person with no special knowledge or training can use.
Adding 8mm is fine but it will take time that’s all. Blackmagic took the better part of a decade to officially support it on the BMD Cintel, the reason it took that long is because of their limited R&D budget. Once Kinograph is MVP adding 8mm is limited only by the resources available - and as an open-source non-profit project there will probably be more contributors and larger resources available to do that compared to BMD.
There’s been plenty of collaboration behind the scenes from those in the commercial space back to the amateurs/DIY people it just hasn’t been as visual. With film everyone helps each other out (unless they’re a complete recluse 
). Half of the reason there were DIY scanners to begin with was because people that worked in the industry wanted a way to scan something that they couldn’t scan on their commercial machines, or couldn’t scan on them due to running costs, or because their machines were 35mm-only etc. The other half was extending the life of obsolete tech by re-engineering it. Don’t forget there’s things that the commercial scanning devices won’t do that archive, libraries, individuals etc want to do. That’s basically why Cube-Tech exists, the Inspectionscan.One will run you about the same price as a brand new LaserGraphics ScanStation, and does far less than what a ScanStation can do, but it does tasks that a LaserGraphics won’t do.
Matthew envisions Kinograph as a non-profit project, but clearly following the MVP principles which is also what many successful commercial projects do. The MVP principles are just as important, if not more important, in the non-profit space. The modern commercial film scanners are a perfect example of MVP. LaserGraphics has added features and altered their software due to customer feedback. The Arriscan 1.0 cost a fraction of the price of a 4K Spirit, and that was achieved in part by sacrificing functionality that they recognised their scanner didn’t have to perform. Audio for example. It was also designed to be upgraded.
1 Like
I think you are missing this:
Developing a project comes up against a reality: having a lot of time and willingness to sacrifice. Is that the case here?
And willingness to share ones design too.
Perhaps it’s the difference between giving and sharing.
By the way, where can I find your design, including all the construction details?
The link to your blog doesn’t seem to work.
In return, I’m happy to share photos of a fully functional version, along with a detailed description.
https://forums.kinograph.cc/t/snailscantoo-or-2/
Edit: I have seen your design pictures and description, great build.