Neal Elias was one of the pioneers of modern origami, utilizing techniques such as box-pleating to create complex, intricate designs. But other than being a folder, he was a documenter of origami, corresponding with some of the best origami innovators of the 60s and 70s, exchanging ideas with them and diagramming all of their designs, as well as his own, for personal future reference in his multiple volumes of notebooks.

These notebooks made it into the hands of Dave Venables, who dedicated many years to sorting through them, extracting some content for older publications, and re-diagramming some for other booklets. Now these notebooks are released in full in DVD-ROM format (a physical book of over 1,500 pages would not be practical), but this DVD contains much more than just a straight up copy of those notebooks.

Dave Venables and Marc Cooman went over the notebooks, bringing them into the digital age using hyper-links to make sense of the all the interlinked designs. So if an Elias model starts with a Yoshizawa base that appeared many pages before, you can jump to that base and then back with a click of a mouse. Also, everything is indexed and bookmarked, by model name, by designer name, conception dates and more. There is even a pictorial index with thumbnails of all designs on the DVD.

With over 1,100 diagrammed designs, this is an incredible snapshot of the state of origami in the 1960s. Though focused mostly on American designers like Elias himself, Fred Rohm, Robert Neale, Samuel Randlett, George Rhodas and Patricia Crawford (among many others), there are many designs from around the world, such as those of Ligia Montoya, Robert Harbin, Adolfo Cerceda, Akira Yoshizawa, Eric Kenneway, Iris Walker and many, many more.

The diagrams are in short-hand form, so may not be up to today's diagramming standards. Nevertheless, they are not un-decipherable, either. A dedicated folder could be able to figure out how to recreate the models, and the task will get easier once the techniques are figured out.

The DVD doesn't stop with the notebooks. The array of supporting materials is staggering. There are biographies and recollections from those who were in touch or influenced by Elias' work, clippings from newsletters in which he was featured, audio and video segments, diagrams for several unfinished designs, a few photos of Elias' work, and a selection of his designs diagrammed by others. You will also find the list of designs in several database formats.

A spectacular reference, this collection should be in the hands of everybody, whether interested in modern origami history, or looking for interesting buried treasures of origami to fold.