DO25029 Scanning 35mm film strips. V01 311025

 Great question — digitizing 35 mm negatives is one of those projects where automation can save a lot of time and produce much more consistent results than doing each frame manually. Let’s go through how you can automate scanning 35 mm negative strips into digital files, from low-cost DIY setups to semi-professional workflows.

🧩 Overview: What’s Involved

To automate scanning negatives, you need to automate three tasks:

1. Feeding and positioning the negative strip.

2. Capturing the image (either via a scanner or a camera).

3. Processing and inverting the raw scans into positive images.

🔧 Option 1: Dedicated Film Scanner with Batch/Strip Feeder

🏷️ Examples

• Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED + SF-210 or SF-200 strip feeder

• Plustek OpticFilm 135i (semi-automated feed)

• Pacific Image PrimeFilm XA (auto-feed for strips and slides)

⚙️ Automation

• These scanners automatically feed 6-frame strips, scan each frame, and save files.

• Software like VueScan or SilverFast allows:

• Batch scanning all frames automatically.

• Automatic naming (Film_YYYYMMDD_Frame01.tif etc.).

• Automatic inversion for color negatives (with film profiles).

✅ Pros

• Excellent quality (4000 DPI+)

• Fully automated scanning + saving.

• Handles color correction and dust removal (Digital ICE).

❌ Cons

• Expensive ($800–$2500 used)

• Slower per frame than a camera setup.

• Hardware availability can be limited.

📸 Option 2: DSLR/Mirrorless Camera + Automated Film Transport

If you already have a good camera, this route offers speed + flexibility.

🧱 Components

• DSLR/mirrorless camera with macro lens (e.g., 1:1 magnification).

• Light source: LED light pad (CRI > 95, uniform light).

• Film holder: Essential for flatness (e.g., Negative Supply, Valoi, Essential Film Holder).

• Motorized film transport system (optional but ideal for automation):

• Negative Supply Film Carrier MK2 + Motor Module

• Valoi Advancer + stepper motor DIY mod

• Arduino/ESP32 film transport controller for DIY builds.

🧠 Automation Workflow

1. Use a motorized film advancer to move the strip one frame at a time.

2. Use tethered shooting software:

• DSLR Remote Pro, Capture One, or Smart Shooter for automatic capture + file naming.

• Trigger next-frame advance via Arduino or USB relay after each capture.

3. Post-process automatically:

• Use Negative Lab Pro (Lightroom plugin) or FilmLab to batch-invert and color correct negatives.

✅ Pros

• Extremely fast (1–2 sec per frame).

• Can be fully automated with code + stepper motor.

• Produces 4K–8K equivalent digital scans.

❌ Cons

• Requires DIY setup or expensive automation hardware.

• Need to calibrate exposure and white balance carefully.

🧰 Option 3: DIY Full Automation with Raspberry Pi or Arduino

If you like to build your own system:

Hardware

• Raspberry Pi + Camera Module or DSLR (controlled via USB).

• Stepper motor + 3D-printed film holder + rollers.

• LED backlight.

• Micro switch for frame detection or image-based alignment (OpenCV).

Software

• Python + gPhoto2 for camera control.

• Stepper motor control via GPIO pins.

• OpenCV to detect frame boundaries automatically.

• Optional: Batch processing scripts for inversion and color correction.

This can get very close to a commercial scanner in automation if tuned well.

🖼️ Post-Processing Automation

Once you have your negatives digitized:

• Auto inversion:

• Negative Lab Pro (Lightroom)

• FilmLab

• ColorPerfect (Photoshop plugin)

• Python + OpenCV script for DIY inversion

• Auto cropping & frame detection:

• OpenCV or ImageMagick batch scripts.

⚙️ Recommended Automation Stack (Mid-Budget, High Quality)

Component Recommendation

Camera Any 24 MP+ mirrorless or DSLR

Lens 60–100 mm macro

Light source LED panel (CRI ≥ 95)

Film holder Valoi 35mm + Advancer

Automation Arduino + stepper motor

Software Smart Shooter (trigger), Lightroom + Negative Lab Pro

Processing Batch export to TIFF/JPEG

If you tell me:

• your budget,

• whether you already own a camera, and

• how many rolls you want to digitize,

…I can recommend an exact setup (ready-to-buy components or a DIY parts list with wiring diagram and scripts).

Would you like me to outline a DIY automated film scanning rig (with Arduino + camera) or focus on commercial semi-automated scanners?

DP25028 Compendiums by John Brockman V01 261025

 Just purchased Real Time by John Brockman and Edward Rosenfeld. An amazing book but not his first compendium. 

No — Real Time: Talking About the Universe (1984), edited by John Brockman and Edward Rosenfeld, was not John Brockman’s first compendium.

Before Real Time, Brockman had already edited and published several anthologies and works that could be considered compendia, such as:

• About Time: Essays on Science and Philosophy (1973) — one of his earliest anthologies, also co-edited with Edward Rosenfeld.

• Afterwords: Explorations of the Future (1973) — another early Brockman/Rosenfeld collaboration, collecting essays on science, technology, and culture.

These earlier works established the style and themes Brockman would continue exploring — bringing together scientists, philosophers, and thinkers to discuss the frontiers of knowledge — long before Real Time.

DP25027 A 1973 Catalog of Ideas and Information. V01 251025

 A very unusual  Book Catalogue listing 129 books representing much of the leading areas of ideas and information in 1973. It’s a snapshot of where things stood in respect of many ideas and technologies in 1973 and in that respect it is an interesting historical artefact. Amazingly it lists Isaac Asimov’s Biographical Encyclopaedia of Science and Technology. (1967) listing 1195 biographical sketches. Isaac never did anything insignificant !!

Here’s a summary and commentary on Real Time 1: A Catalog of Ideas and Information (and by extension “Real Time” as used) by John Brockman & Edward Rosenfeld (1973).

Bibliographic & background info

• Real Time 1 was published in 1973 by Anchor Press/Doubleday (in the U.S.). 

• John Brockman (born 1941) is a literary agent and author, known for bridging science/tech and culture. 

• Edward Rosenfeld appears as co-author/co-editor.

• The book’s subtitle is “A Catalog of Ideas and Information”. 

• It seems to have a companion volume, “Real Time 2: A Catalog of Ideas and Information”. 

What the book is about

• It is less a traditional narrative book, and more a curated collection or catalogue of ideas, quotes, fragments, observations — many drawn from then‐emerging fields (cybernetics, systems theory, communications, computer culture). 

• The idea is to capture how “real time” (in terms of information, communication, technology) is affecting society: the acceleration of information, new communication media, computational thinking, etc.

• For example, one study paper notes: “REAL TIME 1 & REAL TIME 2: … A Catalogue of Ideas and Information” referencing the book. 

• It reflects the late 1960s/early 1970s concern with “the information age”, cybernetics, media theory and how man, machine, communication and society interplay. 

Key themes & significance

• Acceleration of information: The book foregrounds that information flows, communication speed and real‐time media are transforming society.

• Technology & human condition: It engages with how computing, cybernetics, networks change how we think about human, machine, consciousness. (Brockman’s earlier writing touches on such themes.) 

• Catalogue form / non‐traditional format: Rather than linear argument, the catalogue format allows the reader to dip into many short “idea bites”, reflecting a fragmented, rapid‐info environment.

• Historical snapshot: It gives insight into a period when thinkers were grappling with the future of technology & communication — so it has archival value for those studying media/cyberculture.

• Bridge between disciplines: Because Brockman is known for linking science/tech with broader cultural concerns, this work helps show the cross‐disciplinary currents of the time.

Limitations / things to keep in mind

• Because of its catalogue style, it may not offer deep sustained argument or case‐studies like a monograph would.

• Being published in 1973 means many of the technological assumptions are from that era; some ideas may now feel dated or speculative.

• For someone looking for a practical “how‐to” guide or a recent forecasting work it may feel less directly usable, but more as a historical “idea source”.

For you: Why it might be useful

• If you’re interested in how thinkers in the early “information age” thought about real time, media, communication and technology, this book is a useful reference.

• If you are exploring the genealogy of cyberculture, media theory, or the shift towards “real‐time” society (streams, networks, instant communication) this book offers early material.

• If you like browsing collections of provocative quotes, ideas, fragments (rather than long treatises), this is aligned with that style.

If you like, I can check and pull up the table of contents of “Real Time 1”, maybe highlight some especially interesting excerpts, and see where you might get a copy (UK / second-hand) if you’re thinking of reading it. Would you like me to do that?