35mm Transfer to HD -- Portable?

pmark23

pmark23

Veteran
(Sorry if this is the wrong forum -- seemed the most appropriate.)

We're working on a documentary to be shot in HD, and there are several hours of archives on colour and BW 35 and 16 mm which we have bought the rights to.

This footage is on crappy Soviet-era film stock and looks quite bad (though the subject matter -- stuff blowing up -- is fascinating). We need to capture this to HD, then do colour-correction and cleaning.

One big gotcha -- the footage can't be moved from their archives. We need to bring something in (to a neglected corner of Russia). Otherwise I'd send the film to LA or Germany.

Apparently they have a projector for transferring film to video, though I haven't seen it yet. I'm picturing replacing the SD CCD block with an HD one, though don't know if this will be possible.

Are there any other options (like a self-contained projector/CCD such as the old 16mm ELMO)?

The goal is to capture the film at a high enough resolution and bandwidth so it can be cleaned to a high degree (we'll probably be sending the final tapes to a pro in the West.)

Any ideas? Anyone gone through this before?
 
Best advice I can offer is to PM Barry Green or Kevin Muse... They are the only people I know who might have an idea on what direction you might need to go with this.
 
Ive been concerned about this issue
film to digital
only i have never heard of such constraints .
A scotchlite screen comes to mind and so does a beam splitter .
Then manipulation of the shutter of the taking camera .
I dont know if you have the resources for a celco scanner .????
That would be the best .
And i hope that what ever the contents of the private messages that you fell free to share it here as usefull info for all !!
.I have several suggestions if you search my threads under "other cameras ">" Film 35mm "etc >film to digital transferr service .
all the methods are untried .
FILM TO FILM ????
Hey what about a FIlm contact printer and just print everything to film and then work from there ?
Will they allow that ?
I know many mitchell cameras as well as the Bell and Howell cameras will allow you to bi pack the print (or target footage ) with raw stock and then you can get a film print .
But Wow.
Bi Pack mags !
and or joining sections of the target footage with chambered raw stock !!!!
.Almost impossible without cutting up the original .
If however you can transport an appropriate contact printer to the location where the footage is stored .,
You could leave with a film print .Id still do a front projection of the footage and copy it on any digital media rather than leave with nothing .....
Good
Luck
Bruce
 
Do you have a big budget? Roger Evans of www.MovieStuff.tv could probably build something for you that would do the job for 35mm; he already makes 16mm film-to-video transfer units. But for 35mm... that might take some work, especially for a quality job. I mean, I've got a little Keystone 35mm projector that would qualify for portable, and maybe he could modify it with a motor, but the optics would be just awful.

Sent Roger an e-mail and see what he can do, and when.
 
Barry
Great post !!
What about a 105mm nikor lens for your set up ?
That should help the optics .
Again great post .
Im going to talk to this guy .
I have a giant air force library in 16mm .
Thanks
Bruce
 
We have a budget, but certainly not enough for a film-film transfer!

I used to have a 16mm video projector, early 80's vintage which worked but didn't give the best transfers. I was hoping that someone made something similar but more up-to-date. Roger's "Sniper-16" looks like it'll do the trick -- but too bad there's no "Sniper-35"!

I think the best thing to do is to get a look (and take some pictures) of their existing equipment, and then contact Roger and whoever else anyone can recommend to make suggestions.

Thanks.
 
This sounds all to familiar to me. I am involved in reissuing audio projects on DVD and DualDisc and have encountered similar problems with original audio tapes. Ever since the 9/11 attacks, content owners have been less than willing to let irreplaceable media move by air carriers (though it has gotten better in the last two years). Still, we have been forced to take everything (mastering tape machines, custom A/D systems and capture computers) to the tapes to do the transfer work. This is less than ideal as we normally work at a mastering facility in LA (BGM) and try to do as much of the level correction and equalization in the analog domain as possible.

Well, our experiences are not directly applicable to your situation, but what you might want to investigate is the underlying concerns of the content owner. If it is the safety of the material (which is what I would guess to be the case) then perhaps they would let it move by a "safer" carrier over a shorter distance. Could you have an internegative made locally? That has its own problems, but might be a decent solution.

I can tell you that shipping hundreds of kilos of expensive equipment around has its own problems and costs, not the least of which is getting around the customs issues. Often you have to post bonds and have brokers involved and depending upon the level of sophistication of the equipment, you can have issues with technology security as well.

Best of luck on this!
 
The problem is that everyone here still thinks that they're living in the Soviet Union, and that everything is a secret. Sure, we got permission to make a high-resolution digital copy, but somehow the act of moving it across a border might reveal some sort of state secret.

In. sane.

Several years ago, through a local friend I found a lot of never-before-seen Eisenstein footage from the 1930's when he taught at a local film school -- and to this day I still don't have permission to copy or license it. It's rotting in a damp basement (if they haven't thrown it out yet.) Makes you want to cry...
 
Hmmm, this is a toughie.

I wonder if you could get an animation stand with a 35mm camera (Mitchel), put some diopters on it so you could focus super close and then re-photography the film, frame by frame. Sounds very time consuming.

Another option is get a high end digital camera and do the same thing. It would mean having tons of storage cards. Then you could import the stills into a timeline a frame at a time. Again, very time consuming.

Finally, hire the Mission Impossible team to break in to steal the film and replace it with a reasonable facsimile. I here the theme music playing as I type.

Scott
 
Scott
Your suggestion is bold and I think correct .
I even see rear screen projection to a large ground glass to avoid keystoning or front screen with a beam splitter .
this involves
-projector +lamp with heat shiel or replacement of high watt lamp with law watt cool lamp /
-ground glass
-beam splitter
-mitchell camera or bell and howell or even arri !!!
-appropriate stand based on configureation .
-raw stock .
I suggest 5245(due to grain structure ) but whatever !!!
filter packs to controll color temp at the lamp house level ....
Get that stuff out of the area ON FILM !!!
Then Mess with it and scann it where you can manage your resources ...
double up and do a digital " ƒilming" of all the above and you have a saftey copy .
now your no longer carrying out a digital video image at just 500 lines !!!
Cheers and Good Luck
Bruce
 
Great post Thanks

Great post Thanks

donatello said:
take a look at the JK digital optical printer .. same unit takes 8mm to 35mm gates (35 gate $1200) , pin registration , records to digital still camera at many resolutions ( 2k +scans) approx 6900 with 16 gate ... it is compact
http://www.jkcamera.com/digital_printer.htm
Click to expand...
:thumbsup:
Thanks for the response !!
I am taking the liberty ,with the moderators permission , to include this link in my other post on " film to video transferr service"
which you will find under
"other cameras " 35mm film etc .
Thanks agian for the link to JKcamera it provides a look at the configuration for those of us who have the bravado to attempt to build one of these rigs ,
Cheers
Bruce :thumbsup:
 
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