Just an Archive.org gripe.

[AlecWest]

As many of you know, Archive.org is a place where you can find an awful lot of public domain stuff - even feature films downloadable in DVD-ready MPEG2 files. What I didn't realize until recently was that they put some significant roadblocks in the way of those who want to donate/upload films to the Archive.

A friend of mine in Michigan is a real public-domain film nut. He haunts a lot of TV stations in the Detroit area looking for (and sometimes buying) old 16mm stuff they're trying to unload. Sometimes he just asks to borrow the film or even "rent" it, though, if they're unwilling to part with it. Then, he takes it home and uses his own 16mm projector (with appropriate "intermittent") to capture the film digitally. Being modem-bound, however, he's unable to upload these huge files anywhere.

Anyhoo, he recently snagged a copy of the 1932 film, "If I Had A Million." I had a copy of it on DVD ... but it was copied from a VHS tape and (ugh) really looked pretty bad. So, I asked him if he could burn the raw MPEG2 file to a DVD and send it my way. When I received it, I made my own DVD copy. But, I also:

1) re-encoded it as a VCD-compatible MPEG1 file.
2) re-encoded it as a broadband-streamable WMV file.
3) re-encoded it as a modem-friendly RealVideo file.
4) split the MPEG2 file, re-encoded the MP2 as AC3, and put it back together.

My own DVD copy looks great ... and I thought I'd be a good Samaritan and upload the four files to the Archive. Well (ahem), the first thing I learned is that they don't allow for threaded uploads. One thread only. The second thing I learned is that they throttle back upload speeds to 42-45k/s ... meaning my 4.3gb MPEG2 file would take 28 hours and 45 minutes (apx.) to upload - with the MPEG1 file, WMV file, and RM file taking an additional 6 or 7 hours to upload. That's a total of, at best, 35 hours of upload time - and they give you a 48-hour window to upload files and "check in" before they cut off access to the directory and delete it.

Still, I decided to take those limitations and do it anyway ... until I discovered a new and perplexing roadblock. As I said, the MPEG2 file alone takes 28hrs/30mins to upload. Ahem, well, their servers "cut you off" at exactly the 24-hour mark ... and attempts to upload afterward refuse to "resume" ... and overwrite instead.

Needless to say, I left some unkind words in their forum area - not to mention sending a terse comment to a support rep named Alexis.

P.S. Alexis asked me why I bothered to upload the MPEG1 file since their servers automatically "derive" an MPEG1 file from an MPEG2 file. I told her it was because Archive-derived MPEG1 files are not VCD-compatible ... while mine was. No comment from the peanut gallery on that one.

Has anyone else had similar problems uploading DVD-sized MPEG2 files to the Archive? And, have you found a way around their limitations? If you have found a way around them, do let me know. BTW, the first thing they suggested after the 2nd failed attempt was that my ISP might be throttling my speed. I called my ISP during an upload and they told me the throttling wasn't local.

[BJ_M]

i upload to a server off site with a massive backbone connection - and send it from there... i didnt notice any real throttling except their servers couldnt keep up with the upload speed .... then again i'm not seeing real time transfer rates ....

[AlecWest]

I wish I could do that (sigh). It could be that Comcast is lying to me about not throttling my connection. They could have a s*itlist of high-bandwidth sites and purposefully throttle them. But, if Comcast is doing it, they're not alone. Others are experiencing the same throttling with other broadband ISPs.

I think what I'll end up doing (and I hate to do this) is splitting the MPEG2 file into two relatively equal parts size-wise. That way, even with the throttling, I won't run into the niggly 24-hour server cutoff problem ... with each half only taking 14 hours to upload. And then I'll leave a cranky note as well (grin) in the comments area when I'm finished.

Hmm ... just curious. Do you know when TV stations stopped using 16mm projection scenarios to show films and converted to more digital methods? FWIW, I've noticed that the American Movie Classics channel is using what appear to be very badly burned DVDs to show some of their films. I can see the same artifacts I used to see before I started using Taiyo Yudens exclusively.

[AlecWest]

Finally got the thing uploaded - with the MPEG2 file cut into two files, as mentioned in my last post. Here's the URL:

http://www.archive.org/details/If__I__Had__A__Million

[offline]

Then, he takes it home and uses his own 16mm projector (with appropriate "intermittent") to capture the film digitally

Can you explain this "intermittent"? I'm going to do a quick & dirty capture of some 8mm stock, via Digicam, and I'd like to get as good quality as I can without spending hours on the project. I'm a newbie to converting film to digital, but I don't need or want to hire any telesync equipment.

[AlecWest]

I think it's called a "3:2 intermittent." It's a device that adjusts for the framerate difference between movies and television. Until everything went digital, that's how TV stations used to show movies. A 16mm projector projected the film into a "box" and a video camera right next to the projector captured the projected image - with the projector adjusting for the framerate difference. Apparently, if you don't use this device, you'll see a horizontal line in the captured picture.

Years ago (blush), when I was managing theaters, a projectionist explained it to me. At the time, he had a (ahem) friend at a local TV station that used both 16mm and 35mm projectors to show movies. When "E.T." was making the rounds, it ended up at this TV station (I knew nothing about it, I swear) where the projectionist's friend made a videotape capture of the film. When I saw it later, the quality of the tape was quite good.

[AlecWest]

Just a brief P.S. on my Archive.org experience. In hindsight, I suppose I could have uploaded the entire 4.3gb MPEG2 file in sessions. Say, upload 14 hours ... then reboot, with the file resuming on a new connection, thereby escaping the 24-hour cutoff problem. However, a lady in the Archive forums said that most people would prefer two-part file downloads. I'm not one of them (grin) but wonder if that's really true.

FWIW, while I was uploading the biggest MPEG2 file, I lost my connection. And when I rebooted and got the connection back, it DID resume from where I left off (phew). I'm still perplexed as to why it didn't resume when the Archive invoked its 24-hour cutoff scenario.

[MOVIEGEEK]

^Kind of like a reverse Kinescope.
I like archive.org,thay have alot of old shorts and PSA's.