[MacDV] Re: The quality of 8MM film

[Leigh Seaver]

Hi!

I have also been interested in transferring some old 8mm films to 
digital media, though I think it may really be an excuse to satisfy my 
urge to tinker.

Anyway, I am in the process of digitizing my 8mm film through my Nikon 
Coolscan 4000.  I've got it set up to accept strips of 8mm film (which 
have been cut from the roll) and scan the individual frames 
sequentially.  This takes an enormous of amount of time (tedious work 
with no "tinkering" fun), so I am in the process of building a 
motorized transport to feed the 8mm film automatically through the 
scanning unit.  I'm trying to program a controller (an old Mac IIci), 
which controls the motorized transport (an adapted motor and film 
transport mechanism from an old 8 mm projector)  to feed the film 
through the unit one reel at a time ... stopping every so many frames 
so that the Coolscan can scan the loaded frames, then resume feeding 
the film through until the next set of frames to be scanned.  I am 
having some problems with the alignment using this method.

Once I have this test reel digitized, I can clean, manipulate, correct 
each individual frame or section of frames.  I haven't begun this 
process yet.

My questions really relate to the processing of these frames (which are 
individual image files) after they have all been acquired.  Do I bring 
them directly into a video editor and combine them to form clips which 
will play at an appropriate frame rate?  Do I need to convert them 
first?  I have a feeling that QT Pro will accomplish what I need and 
then allow me to export the finished project into DV format, but I have 
really looked into it.  Any ideas?  What is the frame rate for 8mm and 
super 8mm?

Looking forward to any comments ...

L



On Wednesday, Jul 23, 2003, at 19:21 US/Eastern, Steven Rogers wrote:

>
> On Wednesday, July 23, 2003, at 05:57 PM, Mark M. Florida wrote:
>
>>  . . .  To use an example of why I believe the transmissive process 
>> works better, scanning negatives or slides at a high resolution is 
>> *ALWAYS* better than scanning a printed photo (even if the printed 
>> photo is perfectly color balanced).
>
> My experience with this method is that light colors are way overdriven 
> and there's quite a hot spot in the center of the image that makes the 
> transfer less desirable than a reflected image.The hot spot comes from 
> the way the film is lit in the projector. The severity of the problem 
> depends on the quality of the projector, but projecting a larger image 
> and using a reflected image minimizes it.
>
> Part of the problem with the copy is that the latitude of film is 
> *much* better than the camera, particularly with Kodachrome. In other 
> words, if you project a movie on the wall of people filmed standing in 
> full sun through deep shade, you can probably see detail all the way 
> into the shade. The film can handle that range of brightness, but 
> video cameras cannot get anywhere near that latitude. When you shoot 
> the film transmissively, you're making the light colors really bright, 
> and making it just that much harder for the video camera to cope with 
> the range of light and dark in the image.
>
> In the end, it all comes down to which way looks better using your 
> particular projector. It is certainly good to have both techniques in 
> your bag of tricks, because you'll probably have to use both to get 
> good copies of all the scenes in your movie.
>
> SR
>
>
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