Transfering Super 8 Film to digital format

quote:

Originally posted by Don Atkinson:
Transfering Super 8 Film to digital format
I imagine the most accurate means of transfer would be to scan each frame of the original film then run them at 18 frames per second in digital format. I also imagine the scanner would need to work at about 4,800 dpi or 9,600 dpi ?

Is this feasible?

Is it feasible in DIY mode?

Is there any sensibly priced kit available for diy ?

Or should I simply project the film image onto a white wall and capture the image on a tripod mounted mini DV tape camcorder ?

Cheers

Don

I have seen some super 8 transferred to tape some years ago (via the "white wall" method you mentioned) and it looked pretty impressive.
....I seem to remember that using a Camcorder with adjustable shutter speeds gives the best results.
If you have a super 8 projector and a digital camcorder already in your possession give it a whirl and see what you think of the results.
Scanning the original frames would surely give excellent results ...but how long would it take ???

There are a lot of firms on ebay who will transfer the footage for you - cost will depend on how many feet of film you want transferred.

I've also seen a number of kits on ebay to help you do-it-yourself (didn't Hama sell such a kit?)

Cheers

Peter J

quote:

...but how long would it take

50' film lasted about 3 minutes IIRC. At 18 fps that equals 1080 fpm and about 3,240 frames per reel.......some task if done by hand - unless there is a feed system with rapid scan per frame!!!!

Hence my search for experience from others on this inspirational forum.

I have tried the white wall projection process - with mediocre results. Ditto with systems using mirrors.

Cheers

Don

I did a search on the web for companies that did cine to digital conversion - chose a relatively local one - they used a telecine process that scans each frame as the film runs thru the telecine machine, with this method you avoid keystoning that you can get shooting a video of the projected movie film - also you possibly have better control over the colour balance.

Now I need to re edit the film and convert to a DVD. The film looks good on the computer as it is.

Don

Snappy Snaps can do it for you - good quality and reasonable prices. I had some 8mm and 16mm transferred to DVD last year.

I then edited it down on my Mac. Easy peasy, cost me about £80!

If you go to their website you can find your nearest branch and get a quote. Otherwise there are plenty of professional firms but if you use them your bill will run into hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds.

A couple of years ago I copied about two hours' worth of Super 8 movie footage by projecting onto my cinema display screen & using a digital camcorder to record directly.

With a bit of careful setting up I managed to avoid key-stoning, and the results, given the relatively poor quality of the source material, were very good.

I used Adobe Premier Elements to edit and enhance a bit, but I suspect you'll get just as good a result with MovieMaker & the like.

quote:

As its quite easy to do on any pc if you know what to do?? I dont.

Munch, how do you get Super 8 film into a pc?

Cheers

Don

quote:

I used Adobe Premier Elements to edit and enhance a bit,

Once I get the Super 8 film into a digital format, I intend to use Premier Elements to edit and enhance. I've had Premiere Elements for a couple of years now, but have never had the time to learn how to use it, or even Photoshop Elements for that matter!!! In fact, when I looked a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't find a textbook for Premiere Elements - any suggestions?

It all seemed so simple when I had a Panasonic Jog-Shuttle Super-VHS - lay down a few audio backing tracks, string in a sequence of clips, find the exact frames with the jog shuttle and "trim" to precisely edit.

Still, progress is progress, and I'm sure that in a few weeks time all this new stuff will seem a real doddle........

Will try Snappy Snaps for the Super 8 transfers to DVD as suggest above, many thanks.

Cheers

Don

Hi Don,

I used to have a copy of "The Missing Manual" for Premier Elements which helped a bit but it was still a pretty steep learning curve!

Once you've got your head around the Timeline business it then becomes relatively straightforward and like a lot of such programs Premier Elements contains lots of stuff you probably won't use.

Still a very good program though.

quote:

It all seemed so simple when I had a Panasonic Jog-Shuttle Super-VHS - lay down a few audio backing tracks, string in a sequence of clips, find the exact frames with the jog shuttle and "trim" to precisely edit.

Yeah that's what I was used to doing - and like you I'm still trying to find the time to learn PC based editing (in my case Ulead Media Studio Pro)

Actually I've just bought a second hand HI8 Camcorder to archive my old tapes (my old Sony having gone kaput) now all I have to do is find a simple way to get the HI8 footage onto my PC!

A good friend of mine who makes music videos told me that on a low budget video he made recently, they couldn't afford to send the super 8 footage for tele-cine, so they projected it onto a white wall and filmed it with a good quality video camera. He was so impressed with the quality that he thinks that using the tele-cine companies is a thing of the past.

I suspect the camcorder used to film the cine film was probably worth about £4k though!