Your Dedicated Memory Tour Guide During the Past Three and a Half Centuries

It is not difficult to imagine how Master Kau, smiling in front of us, rented video tapes (you read that right, video tapes!) to customers and handled various matters in a FOTOMAX branch. In the era when film photography was popular, he, like other store managers, determined the best printing colours for each FOTOMAX store for the day. In recent years, he has retreated from the frontline and become responsible for video tape and digital file conversion. Shifting from the frontline to the back office, from the era of film photography to digital video recording, Master Kau has been using his experiences to preserve the most genuine memories for people who take the images.

Master Kau sees FOTOMAX as his home and has been here for almost 40 years. "I love video tapes to an extent that I even have an editing system at home," he said bluntly. Having reached retirement age long ago but never quitting, Master Kau mentioned his frontline experience and recalled that in the late 1990s, many families became able to afford Hi8 video recorders. After 2000, family elderly often shot with DV cameras unskillfully, with the purpose of simply recording their daily life. However, after the shooting, what should be done with these videos?

In the domestic market, playing recorded videos was usually through the video recorder itself, by connecting it to a TV with video and audio cables. Therefore, the videos were actually seldom played after recording. Meanwhile, various video tapes could easily form large piles at home. Many employees had frontline work experience, and their contact with customers allowed them to better understand their needs, bringing potential business opportunities to the company, such as file conversion services which may actually be demanded by the market.

No one would have imagined the rapid development of the video recording market. From VHS, Hi8 (V8), DV, RVC to DVD, the technology has continued to evolve. With the popularity of video recorders, people began to shoot casually, but the problem that followed was the decreasing number of players and a lack of file converting equipment at home. Nothing could be done except storing the video tapes. "When the department was established in 2008, we had already entered the era of DVD production. At that time, almost no one in Hong Kong dared to start such a business. An external burner cost more than HK$30,000, but FOTOMAX had purchased two. Just think about it. Today, the price of a DVD burner has dropped to over HKD100. Moreover, DVD technology is also on the verge of decline, with USB interface already upgraded to 3.0." Although files have been changing as fast as time, Master Kau said emotionally that if the video tapes were not converted, the images might become unreadable. However, as long as there had been a need for shooting, he hoped to render all possible assistance to help people preserve the beautiful memories.

From two burners at the beginning to more than a dozen now in the factory, Master Kau and TIM SIR (the Head of Printing at FOTOMAX), have been responsible for the conversion work. Master Kau said that this "museum" not only meets business needs, but also undertakes the historical mission of video documentation. "As we had experienced the most primitive era (laughing), sometimes when we see some video tapes, we think: what can this machine do? Some equipment, which has been broken or discontinued, may no longer be available for purchase. To settle for second best, TIM SIR goes to Apliu Street to find old equipment for parts replacement. I admire his machinery capabilities, while I am mainly responsible for video design and editing,” said Master Kau.

Video editing, which Master Kau has always been proud of, is actually an attentive value-added service. Generally, the length of each video to be converted is about one hour, which requires one hour’s time for input, followed by another hour for conversion. There is no fast input or conversion. Due to immature card reading technology in the past, noise problems were relatively serious. Therefore, after conversion, Master Kau would manually process the images with heavy noises to preserve the authenticity of the records.

Both FOTOMAX and Master Kau might not have expected that with the arrival of the immigration wave, Master Kau would be able to show his talents again. During the interview, more than a dozen machines were running at the same time. Even when sharing details of his work, Master Kau remained very focused, paying attention to tape replacement while adjusting the noises and studying the effects with TIM SIR." It's good to have new colleagues joining us now, so that I can pass on not only my knowledge and experiences but also my attitude to them," he said.

Master Kau remembers customers’ videos, in which every scene was full of human touch, whether it involved a wedding, the birth of a baby or travel memories. "When I am working, the people always make me happy. This is my motivation. I press the buttons and look at the screen and feel happy," he smiled and said. When asked about what he would miss the most when he really retired, Master Kau replied: "I like this room the most. I will take a photo when I move out and this room will remain in my memory!"

The videos FOTOMAX accepts for conversion now are mainly in VHS, VHSC, V8, Hi8, D8, DV, DVCAM, Micro MV and BETACAM SP formats, while digital file formats include Compact Flash, Memory Stick, Multimedia Card, MMCmicro Card, USB Flash Drive, SD Card, miniSD Card, Micro SD Card, CD and DVD. Files received can be converted into MPEG2, MP4, or both of the above two formats. The converted formats are compatible with personal computers, tablets, smart TVs and mobile phones, allowing customers to replay the precious memories anytime and anywhere.