Media makers have faced many technological challenges as the field has evolved. The early portable video technology introduced in the 1960s offered a very limited control over the recording and playback of images. When introduced, editing systems were expensive and the process laborious. Tools providing “special effects” such as colorization, superimposition and the like, were available only in expensive broadcast studio situations.

Artists working in this time-based medium wanted tools which specifically addressed the processes of electronic image construction. Through collaborative strategies among artists, tool designers and engineers, existing commercial equipment was modified, and new imaging instruments were created. These hand-built machines offered imaging techniques not seen before, allowing artists to explore the essential inherent properties of the medium.

• Tools List - a list of texts in the biblio database that provide descriptions of video and audio instruments
• Texts - includes articles, essays, manuals and other writings which offer insights into the desires of the image-makers, and the ways the electronic image was defined. This list is also from the biblio database
• Tools Links  - for other web sites on this subject