[MacDV] Super 8 -> miniDV transfer

[Steven Rogers]

On Thursday, December 12, 2002, at 11:58 AM, Randy Wilson wrote:

> I'm looking at getting a variable-speed super 8 movie projector so I 
> can transfer a bunch of old movies to video.  One projector has 
> "variable speed" but goes from 14 to 24 frames per second.  From what 
> I've heard, it's better to run it at 30 frames per second to match the 
> video better.  Is that true? (If so, I'd better keep looking...)

For practical purposes, no. If the frame rate of the camera and 
projector aren't the same, you're probably going to get an occasional 
"goofed up" frame that is two frames superimposed, or maybe a cut-off 
frame. However, when you look at your movie you won't be able to see 
it. This is a bit of a compromise, but we're not restoring film history 
here, its just a home move and there's usually limited time and money 
available. Usually, you'll get a better transfer by paying attention to 
project at a speed that looks like "normal" action, rather than trying 
to normalize the action in the digital editor.

> By the way, it seems like the optimal way to digitize old film would 
> be to have an adapter that can continuously feed the film through a 
> film scanner (so that you get an image that is 8mm wide by 400 feet 
> long), generate the sequence of frames from that image, and then 
> you've got it.

The optimal way would be to digitize each individual frame, look at 
each one in photoshop to clean it up, color correct them all, and then 
assemble into a movie.  And yes, such machines exist.

SR