View-Master preservation project - behind the scenes | BTS

[@Great-Documentaries]

It really isn't accurate to say that GAF began to make more kids Viewmasters. Sawyers had already begun to focus on TV shows and cartoons. GAF just continued that. And GAF continued to make "adult" reel sets and did even after Mattel bough them near the turn of the Century, so you are wrong that GAF turned it into a toy. GAF's real screwup was changing from Kodachrome to films that didn't even last a decade without losing color. There are 1939 reals that look as good as the day they were made whereas there are 70s and 80s GAF reels that were unviewable in less than a decade.

[@TopSpot123]

I honestly appreciate the insight. I was boiling down my perception of the events, but it is true that I'm not a historian and that this isn't a documentary.

[@reagandow850]

These are really neat man. Thank you for sharing these very personal Memories.

[@TopSpot123]

Actually, thank you for being someone that I could share them with! It's a very nice thing to watch and comment, and I appreciate it. I hope that I made it interesting enough, that's the tough thing about personal stories and nostalgia.

[@DoYouNerd]

Always appreciate a good behind-the-scenes look! You put a lot of effort into this process and it's very impressive what you were able to come up with, especially without building off of any predetermined template.

[@TopSpot123]

Thank you very much, my friends. I just like to experiment so I wanted to share my results.

[@missquark_]

I came here for your game collection ideas, but this is the unexpected thing i wanted to see, but didn't know existed on youtube! Your concept is great, I also could easily see the 3D without any device. Yeah, some of the reels are damaged (maybe dome canned air would help?) And are reddened (it could be worth trying to play with the colour curves in photoshop) but, hey, for 50 year old images they still hold well! My mom and grandmother had quite a few reels, i got my tiny collection too. It's nothing major if they aren't perfect, these reels have their own story to tell, it's like we'd discover them in someone's basement, treasures like these cannot always be in pristine condition. I sure hope you will scan them all! Keep up the good work on your channel, I made sure to subscribe!

[@TopSpot123]

Thank you very much for taking the time to comment. I'm glad you enjoyed the show.

[@thatonevideogameguy3033]

I have a view master and 18 reels. It is really cool I understand that some people watching this won’t be able to experience the view-master, so thank you for the amazing video.

[@TopSpot123]

Thank you for checking this out. It's appreciated.

[@mr.c8033]

What a truly amazing, and fascinating video. !wOw!

[@AFGiant]

Very cool project and process. Thanks so much for the vid.

[@TopSpot123]

Thank you for watching!

[@perpetualcollapse]

Aight then.

[@jawoody9745]

I had mine! With Sam Sawyer and the Wizard of Oz.

[@RSEFX]

These are relatively easy to copy with a simple close-up/bellows attachment for your camera. It's much much easier nowadays with digital photography inasmuch as you have so much better of a way to check focus than in the days when these sorts of things had to be shot on 35mm film thru a reflex camera and developed before one was sure the picture was of highest quality. Plus Photoshop allows all kinds of color, sharpness, light balance etc fixes that darkroom dodging and burning couldn't fully allow, AND the ability to clean up scratches and dust. I copies viewmaster reels back in the 70's on 35mm, and, although it could yield pretty impressive results, it was, by comparison, a really fraught, tortuous process (though it didn't seem so at the time when there was no alternative). AND AND AND...aside from the above, the purchase of a film scanner makes things even x-times easier yet. It's really what you need to archive those reels.

[@TopSpot123]

That's amazing that you've done all of that! For my reels, they are not in good enough shape for reference quality archival. I just wanted to try to see what I could get with the equipment already available to me. This way I could archive the original experience as much as I could even if the actual images weren't perfect. If you want to see some beautifully archived reels, please check out @clementj1 . Their work here in KZbin is amazing.

[@RSEFX]

@@TopSpot123 Thanks. I will.

[@ZetaCancri]

man I miss viewmasters

[@TopSpot123]

I feel you.