DigitalFusion announced that nearly 100 years after C. G. Jung, the famed Swiss psychologist began to draw, paint and write about his personal thoughts and dreams, his seminal work, the Red Book, will be published for the first time. DigitalFusion’s team delivered fine art digital capture services and pre-press for the Red Book on location in Switzerland from the original that had been protected by the Jung family and seen by less than two dozen people. For nearly a quarter century it had been locked in a Swiss vault. Now, the most influential previously unpublished work in the history of psychiatry will be revealed by publisher W.W. Norton & Company. Having previously collaborated with DigitalFusion on Larry Vigon’s Dream: A Journal, W.W. Norton knew that they could count on the company to make the capture a success.
Dr. Sonu Shamdasani, the Red Book editor who spent over three years convincing the Jung family to move ahead with this project and who edited the book for publication was thrilled by DigitalFusion’s efforts. Upon completion of the art capture, he said, “Thank you so much for pulling off the most spectacular and remarkable logistical event in the history of Jung publishing without a hitch!”
Dr. Stephen A. Martin, President of the Philemon Foundation which he and Dr. Shamdasani started in 2003, said, “I want to thank both of you [Hugh Milstein and John Supra of DigitalFusion] for one of the most profound experiences I have ever had. It goes without saying that your professionalism boggles the mind (as does your talent) and that this project could not have happened without it.”
DigitalFusion principals Hugh Milstein and John Supra traveled to Zurich with eleven unassuming large black cases of digital capture, photographic and computer equipment. Their task was familiar, digitally capture each page of a fine art book for print production but from the start they knew this one was unique. There were few details about the condition of the original or the exact nature of the content. Upon arrival,Milstein and Supra setup their gear and were visited by members of Jung’s family who took a keen interest in the process and were pleased that the DigitalFusion team would handle their family heirloom with the utmost care and attention.
Milstein and Supra had prepared for the project back in Los Angeles using their experience and expertise, building a mock-up of the book based on the known information and a handful of xeroxed sample pages. They customized the DigitalFusion book capture rig, completed a series of tests and planned for the unexpected. Understanding that this was a once-in-lifetime opportunity, they carefully packed two of everything to ensure that they could successfully complete the project.
The next morning, the Red Book arrived via black sedan amongst much security. Although the dimensions were well known, it seemed larger and heavier than expected. A hush and reverence filled the room when the historic work was revealed. The century-old book was in outstanding condition and the color and hand drawn art work was stunning.
After examining the Red Book, Supra customized their book capture rig to hold the book in place securely. This enabled the team to move smoothly from page to page. Once all of the odd or right-hand pages were captured, the book was flipped to start working backwards to capture the even or left-hand pages. This meant supporting the weight of the book vertically and keeping the spine at nearly a 90 degree angle to preserve its integrity.
The capture days in Zurich would be the only opportunity to match the color. Milstein spent significant time comparing the color of the original with the capture and creating a set of adjustments that could be used during the post-production and pre-press process. With such vibrancy in color throughout the Red Book, it was critical that the color work be precise and often custom for each page.
Each day, Supra would make multiple copies of the captured digital files onto the company’s custom HardFilm – keeping one with the Red Book, one in their hotel’s safe and one with him. He would also post the images online using DigitalFusion’s DF Studio system. To ensure the safety of the digital files, Supra and Milstein returned to Los Angeles with multiple copies of the data and also sent copies back with others on different flights.
After successfully capturing each page, significant work remained. This task was left to Milstein and DigitalFusion’s world-class post-production team. Each page needed to be color corrected using the color work done by Milstein on location. Final adjustments were made to prepare the files for press at renowned Italian printer Mondadori to ensure that the digital masters would print identically to the original material.
The Red Book will be published on October 7, 2009. The event will be marked with the first public showing of the Red Book at the RubinMuseum of Art in New York from October 7, 2009 through January 25, 2010.
“Everything else is to be derived from this,” the acclaimed Western psychologist Jung writes in his introduction to The Red Book. Mr. Milstein feels the same way about DigitalFusion’s efforts in the fine art world. With rare works of art in family collections, art galleries and museums around world, the company has developed the capability to travel to these prestigious works to capture them for publication, archiving and for sale.
ABOUT DIGITALFUSION
Founded in 1999, the Los Angeles-based DigitalFusion is the premier digital photographic post-production, capture and digital archiving facility. Specializing in state of the art retouching, scanning, printing and archiving, the company offers world class experience and expertise handling one-of-a-kind originals. Renowned for its unmatched digital capture and lighting techniques, clients are serviced on location worldwide or in the company’s capture studio. www.digitalfusion.net
