marktrade's work in progress

[kitsunebi]

Remember when I said I'd be done with NextGen in a few weeks? I just want to apologize to anyone who's waiting.

As has been pointed out elsewhere, we have recently had an embarrassment of riches on the release front, in no small part thanks to you. I download everything as it comes, but I honestly haven't got the time to keep up with actually reading everything, so waiting is definitely not a problem. To call your releases anything less than frequent and consistent would be doing you a great disservice. Take your time. And take a bow while you're at it.

[marktrade]

That's very kind of you to say.

[Areala]

As has been pointed out elsewhere, we have recently had an embarrassment of riches on the release front, in no small part thanks to you. I download everything as it comes, but I honestly haven't got the time to keep up with actually reading everything, so waiting is definitely not a problem. To call your releases anything less than frequent and consistent would be doing you a great disservice. Take your time. And take a bow while you're at it.

Ditto!!

*huggles*

Areala

[marktrade]

Last issue will be up today. What should we do to celebrate?

[Areala]

Last issue will be up today. What should we do to celebrate?

Energy drinks, Gobstoppers, and string cheese!!

*huggles*

Areala

[marktrade]

I'll be working on some scans of magazines that don't have database entries yet. Look for the links around the forum in new threads for those magazines or just check my ADO page.

[marktrade]

I am also thinking of making my own scans of the earliest issues of Next Generation sooner rather than later. No rush, but it would be nice to have a clean consistent collection that's properly credited and archived in 600 DPI. I've always planned to do that and it's something I want. Maybe one or two issues in every next batch of ten will be early Next Generation.

Edited March 16, 2016 by marktrade

[marktrade]

Next Generation Project Completionist Ultra has begun!

https://archive.org/details/NextGeneration01Jan1995

[kitsunebi]

Looks better. Are you gonna replace the file here, as well?

[marktrade]

Looks better. Are you gonna replace the file here, as well?

As long as it meets the approval of the curators. It's going to take me a while to scan replacements so they might wait until I'm done.

[kitsunebi]

Do you have a higher-res copy of the unfolded cover? I'd like to add it to my file, if possible.

[marktrade]

Do you have a higher-res copy of the unfolded cover? I'd like to add it to my file, if possible.

Sure, look in your FTP folder.

You know, if there's any magazine that can make the case of physical superiority over digital, it's the first two years of Next Generation. The smooth sturdy matte finish of the cover and heft of each page, solid enough to not be creased by thumb pinch and not easily dog-eared, just gives me chills. How could I disassemble these beautiful specimens? It sounds crazy but I might actually try gluing these back together. Hey, there are YouTube videos that make me think it can be done.

Edited March 20, 2016 by marktrade

[kitsunebi]

Really? Just the first two years? My first issue of Next Generation wasn't until #27, and it was still a damn quality magazine. If the first couple of years were even better, then they must really be something...But I don't think it takes something as nice as Next Generation to make a case for physical issues. I think magazines are better suited for flipping through quickly and out of order, as they usually aren't read cover to cover in one sitting. So unlike comics (which I prefer in digital form), I've gotta admit that if space were no concern I'd rather have my magazines in the real.

When I finish a scan, I'm always (extremely) tempted to keep the pages. Even loose they can still be read, right? I've gotta force myself to throw them away as soon as I'm done, or I'd never get rid of anything.

Oh yeah - and thanks!

Edited March 20, 2016 by kitsunebi77

[marktrade]

The cover paper stock stayed excellent into the third year, but the page stock had already been changed by the second year. It was thick enough that it was closer to hardback book paper than magazine paper.

[E-Day]

The first issue has been replaced. Keep them coming

[Sean697]

I haven't looked at the quality on the older issues on these. But hopefully you are. I wouldn't waste to much time replacing existing stuff instead of new stuff unless it needs serious improvement. I on;y say this because some of the Issues JohnSmith did which were not early I believe I remember as being excellent and don't need updating.

[kitsunebi]

Pretty sure he's just on a personal mission. Was the new scan of issue one better? Absolutely. Was the old scan bad? Not at all. So was it really necessary? To most of us, probably not. To marktrade, a thousand times yes, I imagine.

[marktrade]

I haven't looked at the quality on the older issues on these. But hopefully you are. I wouldn't waste to much time replacing existing stuff instead of new stuff unless it needs serious improvement. I on;y say this because some of the Issues JohnSmith did which were not early I believe I remember as being excellent and don't need updating.

The old issue is still available on archive.org along with all the other issues from that scanner. There are also three issues hosted on Retromags with a splash page that credits Vanamo Media and were uploaded to archive.org under the user name NightlyNews. I really don't know which ones are JohnSmith and which aren't, but I agree those Vanamo scans are excellent and I may not be able to improve much on those.

[Sean697]

The old issue is still available on archive.org along with all the other issues from that scanner. There are also three issues hosted on Retromags with a splash page that credits Vanamo Media and were uploaded to archive.org under the user name NightlyNews. I really don't know which ones are JohnSmith and which aren't, but I agree those Vanamo scans are excellent and I may not be able to improve much on those.

Same guy I believe on both. I guess he just stopped putting scans here. I believe he didn't like including the Retromags credit page on his scans. I'm just saying if the scan is really good already, not much point updating it instead of working on something else. I personally have not gotten around to looking at the next gen scans including the ones you've done yet. But I will eventually get to them. I just remember John Smith was meticulous on his scans fixing all the scratches and defects and alignment and the few I did look at from him were excellent. I would just see if any of our existing scans are bad, like no cropping, no editing, etc and update those.

[marktrade]

Same guy I believe on both. I guess he just stopped putting scans here. I believe he didn't like including the Retromags credit page on his scans. I'm just saying if the scan is really good already, not much point updating it instead of working on something else. I personally have not gotten around to looking at the next gen scans including the ones you've done yet. But I will eventually get to them. I just remember John Smith was meticulous on his scans fixing all the scratches and defects and alignment and the few I did look at from him were excellent. I would just see if any of our existing scans are bad, like no cropping, no editing, etc and update those.

Some of them were pretty bad and I've already replaced the worst ones. There are a couple that remain that are passable but not good and I'll get to those as well. But I do intend to scan all of them for my personal collection and offer them here. I had always planned to do it at some point, but recent events have spurned me to do it sooner rather than later.

If you have anything specific in mind for what else I should be working on, I'll for sure listen.

[Sean697]

No I just kind of wonder when you say your going to rescan all of them when some of them are less than 2 years old and a few were replacements of older scans already. Why would you replace a perfectly good scan on the site? Obviously older scans that are not great can always be improved upon. But why waste time replacing a good scan with another good scan?

[marktrade]

No I just kind of wonder when you say your going to rescan all of them when some of them are less than 2 years old and a few were replacements of older scans already. Why would you replace a perfectly good scan on the site? Obviously older scans that are not great can always be improved upon. But why waste time replacing a good scan with another good scan?

I think we just have different priorities when it comes to scanning. That's a good thing. I don't know why you "waste time" removing every small speck of a dust from every page, but evidently it's not a waste of time to you. We're all better off for it. Everybody gets to share in something they wouldn't have provided themselves otherwise.

[kitsunebi]

I know I barely qualify to even have an opinion, but the few things I have scanned have been for my own benefit (although I'm of course pleased that other people can appreciate them as well.) The amount of effort I put in is dependent upon the quality of the finished product I want for myself, not because of what other people want/expect. If I want an even-better-than-the-real-thing copy, then I'll take the time to make it, even if a passable copy is already out there.

I personally agree with Sean on a purely selfish level - I'd rather see stuff that I don't already have. But make no mistake, it IS purely for personal reasons I feel that way, not because of some high-handed sense of responsibility for what would be best for the site. Scanning (and in my opinion, especially editing) is hard work, and until it becomes a paying job, I'd never expect anybody to do it for the benefit of other people. So if it's important to marktrade, then that's all the justification he needs in my opinion.

[marktrade]

You'll never be able to convince me it's a waste of time, that's for sure!

I mean, I have some nice scanning equipment. Why not use it to scan my favorite magazine? That's all this is about.

[Sean697]

You'll never be able to convince me it's a waste of time, that's for sure!I mean, I have some nice scanning equipment. Why not use it to scan my favorite magazine? That's all this is about.

I guess I'm sounding vague because in all honesty I've not had a chance to download to DL all the Next Gen stuff yet. So there is no actual criticism here. I've downloaded maybe 2 of the ones you've done to check them out and maybe 3 others that were new in the past year. And they were all great. I guess what I'm saying is I'd be curious to know what exactly you'd be improving on some of the scans if you are going to to replace them. (Better resolution? As an example.) There has to be some justification right?

Edited March 21, 2016 by Sean697