HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

⬐ sharkweek

I love how when someone is passionate about what they do, that passion permeates when they discuss their expertise. Beautiful video, I feel like I learned something while being entertained at the same time.

⬐ eisbaw

Next generation of TV commercials? At least I would hope so.

⬐ itslogic

Search "how's it made" for full range of episodes about almost anything.

⬐ pierlux

Available on Netflix™.

⬐ rdl

Something like this video is vastly more effective in advertising any product to me than spending 100x as much on banner ads, sponsoring a sports team, etc. I'm probably not representative, though.

⬐ sneak

For people who are willing to pay a premium for quality, I'd say you are representative. It's not like "high quality bulk ink" is a middle-market product.

⬐ rlu

I really wish the video would have mentioned what the difference is between ink and paint. Because if someone asked me what was in the video, I would have guessed paint over ink. It just looks like paint!

⬐ sturmeh

The granularity and consistency of the ink I suppose.

What I don't understand is I'm looking at my CISS tank next to my printer, and the ink is an almost non-opaque liquid and it is not thick like paint at all.

My guess is that the ink in this video is not used for commercial computer printers, but rather larger machines that are used to print news papers and the like.

⬐ fennecfoxen

That's correct. You can find this sort of ink in squat little tins in the right art supplies store, if you ever wanted to do any printmaking yourself. (A local arts institution may offer courses in intaglio or letterpress. You also get to use some really nice paper.)

⬐ speeder

Yes, that is industrial ink, to print packaging mostly.

The ink there is probably custom made, you send the factory the material that you want to print on, and the moustached dude (the guy that is very fast with two spatula) will figure how to get the colours the designer wants on the material, and then they make the ink needed to mass printing on that material.

I've made a arcade machine once: http://tinyurl.com/cnv4h88 it took very hard work to get the colours right on the cabinet (and they actually, are still not right! they are just "acceptable" and I had ran out of money to do more experiments).

Each material reacts very differently to ink and paint (the arcade cabinet is partly painted, partly printed), and the results vary a lot without testing.

Note on the video how he says that after some testing, they add wax for example, this is a important part to make the ink reach some sort of desired effect on the material, maybe the material is think and will be crumpled (like candy wrapping or a t-shirt), then you need a very thin ink, that will not break, or a thick but flexible ink, that will stretch out as needed before breaking. But you might want to print on a very hard material (for example a plastic marquee) then you might prefer a ink that sticks very well on the material (try printing on metal...) and that is resilient (what happens if someone throw a rock on your road sign?)

I always has been a coder, but I would never figure when I went to design school (I am bachelor in design now) that I would find it fun :)

⬐ Pkeod

Different Coloring Agents - Paints and inks have different coloring agents. Paints are made up of tiny bits of colored minerals like clays or talc suspended in a colorless matrix such as polyester or vinyl. A chemical union of tannic acid and iron sulfate dissolved in water or alcohol forms the coloring agent of some inks. Others use such dyes as aniline.

Different Coloring Procedures - Ink soaks into the surface that it colors, but paints do not soak in -- they cover the surface with a coating. In fact, a primer is usually applied to the surface before painting so that the paint won't soak in. For this reason, paint sometimes chips off the surface that it covers, but this never happens in the case of ink.

Surface Protection - Paint not only colors a surface, but also provides the surface with a protective covering that will keep it from deteriorating when assailed by such agents as wind and rain. Ink offers no such protection.

http://www.ehow.com/facts_7225030_difference-between-ink-pai...

⬐ stan_rogers

Ain't necessarily so (other than the protection thing). While you've described iron gall ink nicely, india ink (lampblack suspended in dilute shellac) would be a paint under your definition, as would many printers' inks (pigments ground into an oil or polymer binder), especially those used for serigraphy. Soaking in isn't necessarily a characteristic of inks either; they are often brittle films (which is why palimpsests exist—old ink was merely scraped off of the parchment/vellum and the ground reused). By the same token, watercolours (which are pretty much universally regarded as paints) do soak into unsized papers.

This is another one of those "where do you draw the line" questions where the line is rather broad and ill-defined. It's a continuum. When it comes right down to it, the intended purpose and traditional usage in the field determine what is an ink, what is a paint and what is a stain.

⬐ snogglethorpe

BTW, note that india-ink doesn't necessarily use shellac, although some modern brands do. Traditional india-ink just uses water (which makes it less permanent than shellac-using india-inks, of course, but it has the advantage of being much easier to clean up).

⬐ mrtimo

fantastic use of classical music: Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat, Op. 73 ("Emperor"), 2nd movement

⬐ MichaelApproved

Though the music was nice, I felt like it was too loud.

⬐ borlak

personally I thought it was a horrible choice. didn't fit the theme at all. that music piece is incredibly sad, whereas the video has an upbeat/interesting feel to it. the contrast was bad enough to almost make me stop watching. the only thing that saved it was when the guy started talking.

⬐ lifeformed

Is dust a problem? It looks like everything is uncovered, even when moving big barrels of it around on a forklift. I would think that getting some dust in there would reduce the quality of the ink.

⬐ rjd

At a guess I'd say the whole place has really decent extractor fans as no one really seemed to be wearing much protective gear... and I assume there would be ample chemicals n the air. I'd also guess fans would do a lot for clearing dust as well as stray chemical fumes.

⬐ dakrisht

Fantastic video. Truly shows how passionate these guys are and the quality and craftsmanship involved. If I ever need great ink, I know where to go. Beautifully made video as well.

⬐ jmilloy

How to make ink:

1. Mix the ink powder and with the ink vehicle.

2. Make sure you mixed the ink powder with the ink vehicle well enough.

3. Oh and add some other stuff.

Anyone else feel like they still don't know how to make ink? The concerto makes the process seem pure and reflective, which I don't really think it is; odd choice. Although I will say I've never really thought of assembly line management as being so inspirational and artistic, and I guess it can be. And I do want to know more now, which I didn't really before.

⬐ JshWright

The title of the video wasn't "How to make ink," it was "How ink is made."

Those are similar, but fundamentally different ideas. With the former you expect to come out the the process knowing how to make ink. The later is a bit more vague. To me anyway, it doesn't imply any specific level of detail with which the process will be described, and it's a perfectly appropriate title for something that explains the process in very broad steps.

⬐ minikomi

Maybe a little outdated but see also: How a crayon is made http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMU-wXsgyR8 .. I hope you're ready for the nostalgia wave!

⬐ ajtaylor

Thanks for the link. My dad used to build packaging machines like the ones in the video. It always fascinated me as a young child to watch them at work.

⬐ minikomi

No problem. It's amazing how much of the process was done by hand.

⬐ jspark

His passion reminds me of Jiro in Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It amazes me how much passion is given into products that I would have otherwise found mundane.

⬐ jonemo

Great find! I am actually running a very simple website collecting videos like this (and also shots of fabrication processes without narration) and added this gem to the queue for publishing. The URL is http://www.manufacturingporn.com :)

⬐ syntaxgoonoo

Very cool. How is the ink used? I think I will go read about offset printing. I mean we see the result every day, but just take it granted. Interesting

⬐ fennecfoxen

If you'd like to use this sort of ink in a hands-on way, without a multimillion dollar computerized commercial offset press or anything, look for a local arts institution's course in letterpress or intaglio printmaking. (The latter is more drawing-oriented than the former.) It's rather fun. You also get to use some really nice paper, too.

You can find this sort of ink in squat little tins in the right art supplies store.

⬐ Aloisius

If anyone is in San Francisco, I highly recommend The Center For The Book for their weeklong course on letterpress.

⬐ Ensorceled

I love learning from passionate people, that was an amazing video.

⬐ seanlinehan

The video is interesting, but all I can think is, "Wow. They really just made ink sexy for over half a million people."

⬐ Shivetya

Amazed at how much is done in the open air, unprotected.

Incredible that something so simple in appearance has so much behind it.

⬐ vicngtor

I am thoroughly impressed by his passion.

⬐ cwilson

I love how all of their machines are clearly covered in various non-traditional colors, especially the blue.

⬐ rdl

That blue is the color I've seen for most metal presses and other industrial equipment. It's usually blue like that, gray, or sometimes high-vis for certain parts, or maybe sometimes powder green.

⬐ Aardwolf

Is this what goes in this overly expensive HP inkjet cartridges?

The video sure shows a nicer side of this whole business.

⬐ donw

This sort of ink is used for offset printing.

My brother used to own a print shop, and I worked for him over a summer, so I got a lot of experience in cleaning this stuff out of offset presses.

It's very thick, with a consistency maybe a bit like runny peanut butter, and has an incredibly distinctive smell. You pour it into a reservoir in the press, and then a multitude of inking rollers homogenize the ink, removing air bubbles, before transferring it to the plate.

⬐ swah

Then you tell the computer that that ink reservoir has now a particular color you ordered?

Curious how you tell a computer some colors are to be achieved by the regular process (like any inkjets) and others should come from the "specific paint reservoir for that color"

⬐ Kerrick

No, this kind of printer isn't controlled by a computer, it's much more analog. http://visual.merriam-webster.com/arts-architecture/graphic-...

⬐ alternize

impressive. but only leading to the next question: how are the pigments produced?

⬐ greenyoda

How It's Made - Inorganic Pigments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKFs2qX-Fkc

⬐ huhsamovar

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2012/09/19/printer-ink-wha...

⬐ tomkinstinch

I enjoy videos like this, and was happy to discover there is a subreddit dedicated to them:

http://www.reddit.com/r/ArtisanVideos/

⬐ None

None

⬐ ajtaylor

Thanks for the pointer. Leave it to reddit to have niches for everything. Subscribed!

I really love these behind-the-scenes videos. Always interesting to see how others organisations operate at scale.

Here's how frozen pizzas are made (worth watching just for the pepperoni slicer): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7733602.stm

...and here's how ink is made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fypi6dAJB8E