Zafar Asim Kidwai - Session 01

AR-020-18-1

(00:00:00 – 00:05:00) Zafar says he joined in "February 1990" after completing a three-year diploma in electronics/communication, and that when he arrived he encountered the large studio setup that had been installed in "1982" (he mentions York University/Canada in this context). He credits the institute’s founding vision to the then Vice-Chancellor "Professor Anwar Jamal “Khadwai”" (name as it appears in the transcript) and situates early media-centre work alongside CEC-related production (recordings/scripting done in their studios/editing labs). He describes the initial studio as a "geometric low-band" setup with "mostly Sony" equipment (mics, mixers, recorders, cameras). He then notes a "1990–91 cooperation project" where the "Japan government provided ~27 crores" for upgradation, after which they moved "directly from low-band to Betacam SP" (skipping high-band). He adds that low-band quality was weak, lighting issues often caused "green/blue casts", while audio fundamentals remained analogue.

(00:05:01 – 00:10:00) He emphasizes that audio is fundamentally an "analogue signal" (and even remarks “no system in this universe is digital”), framing “digital” as a representation/processing layer rather than something that exists in nature by itself. He also contrasts editing/control methods across formats: Betacam uses "timecode", while the earlier geometric setup relied on "CTL control track", which constrained “insert” edits; if you needed changes after making a copy, you often had to "redo the process" with the same time cost.

(00:10:01 – 00:15:00) He explains that student outdoor shoots produced more troubleshooting because students handled equipment more roughly; typically, a student crew included "one technical person + one lighting assistant" to support safety, power, and troubleshooting. He lists typical kits for these exercises: "VO 4800 portable recorders", geometric portable recorders, "ITC 730", and "Ikegami" cameras. He recalls a student accidentally enabling a "negative test image switch" and panicking because the viewfinder looked “negative”; Zafar reassured him the "recording was fine" and explained it was a maintenance/testing function. He also shares practical sound-recording tips: place the mic "with respect to wind direction" so wind doesn’t strike the diaphragm directly, and sometimes use an "umbrella as a wind block" to reduce noise.

(00:15:01 – 00:20:00) He notes that analogue machines’ tape transport involves "moving/locking guides before recording starts", so handling during transport matters. He advises students to keep the recorder "on their lap rather than on the vehicle floor", and to protect microphones during handling. He also warns against connecting XLR / handling audio chain carelessly at high levels, he explicitly mentions that improper handling can cause "surge current" and damage the microphone.

(00:20:01 – 00:27:30) He describes analogue tape systems as mechanically “cumbersome,” where tape speed stability is critical: the transport includes a "video head on a drum", a "control track", a separate "audio head", and a "pinch roller/holder"—and if tape speed varies, you won’t get proper "audio-video recording". This is why technicians repeatedly had to guide students on small operational details during field exercises.

(00:27:31 – 00:35:17) He expands the comparison by describing film-era editing infrastructure: Steenbeck editing tables (6-plate/4-plate), 16mm cameras, and film editing that required running "three reels simultaneously", marking cut points, "splicing", then sending the copy to a lab to make a "positive", which he calls a tedious process. For separate audio recording, he mentions having expensive "“Naga/Nagra 4.2”" recorders (the transcript spells it “Naga”), with multiple units used for student teaching/exercises. He then notes the economic barrier in the analogue era—normal individuals couldn’t afford editing tables/studio gear, so people depended on institutes and studios—whereas with digital tools the gap reduced sharply: a laptop plus cheaper gear can enable home recording/editing, though quality still depends on budget and compromises.

(00:35:18 – 00:35:40) Zafar prepares to explain the "why" behind a statement, characterising the reason as simple and something the listener will find relatable. Following a prompt from the interviewer, Zafar mentions a specific scene involving a policeman standing on a corner in Rakin Nagar.(00:00:00 – 00:07:30) Zafar explains analog signals using the example of a continuous sine wave, while digital signals are binary (0/1), “step-wise.” He defines “sampling” as cutting the wave into small "vertical portions"; if sampling is not high enough, information is lost "between two cuts", which changes what you hear. He says this is why trained listeners - especially musicians-often “never love digital audio,” and he gives personal examples from working with musicians to illustrate how ears pick up what’s missing.

(00:07:31 – 00:15:00) He contrasts analog-era “component-level” repair (finding and replacing a faulty capacitor/resistor/transistor) with digital systems where chips contain “billions and billions” of components and cannot realistically be repaired at that level. He notes how SMDs and multilayer PCBs further increase miniaturization and complexity, pushing modern maintenance toward "card-level replacement". Even then, he stresses fundamentals are still required to identify 'which' card is faulty.

(00:15:01 – 00:22:30) Zafar describes a shift toward a “remote engineer” model, one experienced engineer can support/control equipment remotely instead of having an experienced engineer at every location. He compares this to MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), where one teacher can reach thousands across locations without physical classroom boundaries.

(00:22:31 – 00:30:00) He explains how engineers track which cards fail most often and use physical cues (excess heat, burning smell, etc.) to label certain cards as “most vulnerable” after specific working hours, feeding this back to companies. The discussion connects to chip manufacturing: chips come from circular silicon wafers, and parts toward the edges can be less reliable - helping explain why “8-core / 9-core / 10-core” product variants exist.

(00:30:01 – 00:37:30) Zafar shares a story that early large-scale computer cabling could be physically disrupted—he mentions rats damaging cables in the US, changing information and triggering a serious false signal (fighters came out of hangars before the issue was noticed). He then urges people to stop being afraid of computers, arguing that “nothing is deleted” until repeated confirmations, and even then recovery/undo-like actions may exist—so the fear is often psychological rather than real.

(00:37:31 – 00:45:00) He questions the push toward 4K/8K/12K/16K, noting human perceptual limits (e.g., beyond certain frame/frequency thresholds the eye cannot “judge” differences easily). He frames higher resolution as an attempt to match the perceived quality of analog film (“celluloid”). He also touches on aspect ratio changes (e.g., 4:3) as part of the evolution.

(00:45:01 – 00:52:30) Zafar briefly links fundamentals to real systems, mentioning transformers used in audio and the idea of step-up/step-down voltage. He also uses optical media history as an example of technological evolution: early CDs were market-bought and not recordable at home; later advances enabled new ways of recording/reading (he mentions the shift to laser-based mechanisms when discussing CDs).

(00:52:31 – 01:00:00) Using biology as a signal-processing metaphor, he argues systems minimize delay by keeping processing pathways short (e.g., ear-to-brain distance). He then pushes back on “AI will finish everything” claims, saying: "who made AI?"- and uses the “lock” analogy: the one who makes the lock will be more expert than the lock itself, calling the fear/claim a “myth.”

(01:00:01 – 01:03:42) He warns about the problem of “authenticity” in the digital era—calling books the most authentic, while criticizing WhatsApp/YouTube as not reliable sources. He also notes Wikipedia used to be more controlled/authentic but can now be edited by anyone, which can degrade knowledge quality for users.

24 July 2025

Oral histories of technical personnel in Broadcast and Community Video

Zafar Asim Kidwai