Preserving The Last Analog Motion Graphics Machine!

Engineer Dave Sieg has spent the last 20 years preserving the only working Scanimate, an analog motion graphics machine that was the staple of film/tv animation in the 70's and 80's. Dave discusses the technical and cultural impact of the Scanimate and what the future holds for this iconic machine.
        As digitisation continues at pace across the board it is always good to know how we achieved things in the not so distant analogue only past! Equally analogue musical instruments such as Moog (analogue) synthesisers continue to hold their value and high regard from industry professionals. Film cameras continue to be popular and Vinyl record sales are higher than they ever were, currently at a 25 year high!
        Analogue tape machines, amplifiers and outboard gear are still lovingly maintained at great cost around the world for the sweet characterful sound they impart to recordings. so while I welcome and enjoy the Digital Era with all the riches it brings I still love the tactile organic nature that analogue components offer. I hope future designers will continue to develop and integrate the best of both of these worlds to assist our various artistic processes.
        Back in the late 1980's I worked as a dispatch rider for BBC news, I would meets news film crews on location and then speed their film back to the VT suites at BBC Television Centre Wood lane to be hurriedly spooled, edited and broadcasted. Such work is now consigned to history as there are mobile satellite uplink vans all over town and many other high speed alternatives for the modern film crew. It is incredible how far mankind has progressed technologically in the last century, and the speed of change is growing ever more rapidly.