[MacDV] 8mm and Super 8mm movies to video revisited

[R B Williams]

Here's a technique we use that is tried & true. The closed boxes are not the way to go
when transfering movie footage. The best quality comes when following these principles -

1) Project a large, focused image. I frame at 4 1/2 feet wide. This helps minimize the
light intensity difference between the center of the image and the corners.

2) Turn down the bulb brightness or use a lower wattage lamp (same reasoning as above)

3) Work in a completely dark room - I also have a shield kit fashioned out of tin that
prevents light from the projector vents from hitting the screen.

4) Use a matte finish, low reflective screen surface. Really! The high reflexion screens
for home movies create strange surface pebbling. The results from my smoothly painted
white wall panel are infinately cleaner.

5) Set the video camera exactly on center if possible. I have a keystone correction lens
on the projector, so it is mounted 30 degrees above and the Video camera can sit on
center to the screen. But you can come really close by snuggling the camera to the side
of the projector. I also intentionally frame 3" or so in from the image edge since that
is the portion of the film most often scratched or damaged.

6) Experiment with projector speed while viewing your camera on a video monitor (for
every reel, camera speed was a hit or miss proposition, especially on the battery run
models). There is always a point where flicker is least noticible. You can later correct
for viewing speed once the footage is available in Final Cut, but it's important to
eliminate the flicker before capture.

Good Luck,

R.B.

Bill Wilson wrote:

> Some time back there was quite the discussion about film-to-video transfers....