I thought some of you would be interested in a little project I did for... myself. Since VHS tapes degrade faster than MTV executives’ taste for quality shows, I decided to convert my VHS tapes of Aeon Flux to DVD. I put some screen captures up on my website:

http://www.centralwow.com/aeonflux

-- M-ACE (m-ace@centralwow.com), March 06, 2003

Answers

are you up for trading (not selling) a copy of the DVD?

-- yakov grinberg (yakov@griphus.net), March 06, 2003.

Sure. What have you got to trade? I've got Mission Infinite done except for the cover artwork. Operative Terminus will be done in a few weeks.

-- M-ACE (m-ace@centralwow.com), March 06, 2003.

40 or so Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episodes, the entire run of Family Guy, the Maxx, Harvey Birdman, Sealab 2021, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (BBC Series), a bunch of movies, and a small number of DVDs i can encode to DivX. Oh, and the second season of Twin Peaks...email me for more info and such

-- yakov grinberg (yakov@griphus.net), March 06, 2003.

A bunch of people have been emailing me asking to sell or trade the Aeon Flux DVD's: Mission Infinite and Operative Terminus I'm creating. Most of the offered trade items I already have. I'm a little weary selling the DVD's because of the whole legality issue. I'm interested in people's opinions on the subject.

If I were to sell these DVD's, it would be as inexpensive as possible. Just enough to cover the DVD-R, case, and print work. So around $6.00. Then attach the shipping to that. Also, I would add your name to the DVD menu itself to prevent you Bambara's from sell the DVD's on eBay for $50. If MTV decided to release the whole series on DVD, I would stop selling the DVD's. If MTV sent me a cease and desist order, I would stop selling the DVD's.

So, is it sell or not to sell?

-- M-ACE (m-ace@centralwow.com), March 08, 2003.

well, I'd certainly go in on such a thing.. and I own all the original VHS tapes. And have most of the eps on my comp.

But I'd love it in high quality on DVD.

skye

-- skye (skyknyt@aol.com), March 08, 2003.

how about just have people mail you the supplies and return postage, that way no money has to be exchanged.

-- yakov grinberg (yakov@griphus.net), March 09, 2003.

Hey, im new here, i just kinda got back into Aeon Flux, i would do just about anything to get my hands on some aeon flux episodes, if i sent a DVD-R and return postage or whatever you think you really could make a copy. I dont have broadband or anthing so im pretty much screwed getting them any other way. But, this seems like a community type thing, and i could see how me being new and this being vaguely illegal would rule me out.

-- Karl Harmon (Faaipdeoiad11@aol.com), March 10, 2003.

Could you go into more detail concerning the techniques involved in converting VHS to DVD? I have all of the vhs tapes myself, and I agree that a less "fugitive" means of storing the video would be very nice indeed. Are the files you are producing large enough to require the use of DVD recordable media, or would it be possible to go a VCD route also?

-- Todd Nelson (raininmysoup@hotmail.com), March 11, 2003.

I would definitely be interested. Being a die hard Aeon Flux fan, I already have the VHS. But the images are starting to degrade (probably from too many viewings). Please contact me if you ever decide to make it available to fellow devotees of Aeon.

-- Ian Lin (ianlin@msn.com), March 11, 2003.

I wouldn't care if people send me DVD-R's and the return postage. I just figured it would be more for shipping to send it both ways rather than one way.

Also, if you did send me DVD-R's, I can't guarantee it will burn correctly with my DVD burner. If I use my own media, if I get a bad burn, I won’t charge you for it. Again, if you send me the money, I’ll have sticker art for the DVD’s and the DVD will be in an actual DVD movie case with the cover art that was on the VHS tapes. I figure $15.00 for both AF: Mission Infinite and AF: Operative Terminus which will include shipping.

But in any case, I’ll except both ways.

To answer Mr. Nelson’s question on VHS to DVD, I’m using a Pinnacle Systems capture card and a Super VHS player using monster cables for video and audio. I wanted the highest quality possible so I set my card to capture at maximum quality which is about 1 GB for every 30 minutes at 720x480 pixels (DVD standard). I’m compressing it to standard MPEG2 DVD format and converting the audio from PCM to AC3 Dolby Digital. I did this so I can view it on my DVD Player instead of just on my computer. My main reason for doing this is to get the episodes on a digital format so they won’t degrade has fast as a VHS tape.

If you have any other questions just post them here or email me.

-- M-ACE (m-ace@centralwow.com), March 11, 2003.

Sorry, that should have read 10 GB for every 30 minutes. Oops ;-)

-- M-ACE (m-ace@centralwow.com), March 11, 2003.

I've done the same with an almost identical setup (DV 500+ analog to DV bridge capture / Adobe Premiere + After Effects and JVC S9911U). Think about the more popular "Beavis and Butthead" being sold by Time Life. 80+ episodes for $60 on DVD. That's damned cheap for licensing, no matter how you slice it. I'll bet they or Anchor Bay could pick up "Aeon", as well as "Liquid Television", and maybe "Daria" for a similar cheap deal.

So the big question isn't "Why doesn't Mtv release Aeon to DVD?", it's probably more "Why hasn't someone licensed Aeon for DVD?".

-- Steve Foster (morpheus@foster-vinard.com), March 17, 2003.