Recording super8 footage off a projector

[bradywurtz]

ok, so i'm not filming off a projector though. But i have an old converter box, which basically just makes me project the film into this small box that reflects it off a mirror and then i record that mirror

BUT here's the thing, i think my camera shot the footage at 24 fps and played it back at 18fps so it looks real slow. but now i'm trying to record the footage onto my camera (panasonic hmc-40) so i can air it on youtube.

here is what i got so far...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHoSU_f4KtY&NR=1

but i guess since it plays back at 18fps it get all this ghosting in my video where i can see blended frames.

i shot my panasonic hmc-40 at 24fps. i can also shoot at 30p or 60i or 60p.

is there any help on how to properly record this footage off to make it looks as good as it looks coming out of the projector?

also, any tips on what to set the shutter speed to?

 

[David G. Smith]

I used to use a lot of Super8 and, and used a DIY transfer system. What we used to do was project the image to a white card (just plain, non-glossy typing paper) and film the image directly off of the card. That seem to give us the brightest image. What you want to do is project the image as small as possible but still be able to frame it in the camera. When I was using Super 8, we were shooting SD video which was all interlaced at 30fps. You should test withe HMC-40 and see what works the best. If you are going to YouTube, you may not want to use 24fps. As for the shutter and getting rid of the flicker, what we had was a Super 8 projector that had a variable speed motor on a rheostat (potentiometer) and we just dialed it up or down to get rid of the flicker on the monitor. You will need to experiment with your camera and it's shutter speeds to see what works best. I would start at 30fps, 1/60th/sec and then work downwards to see where the flicker stops, or least noticeable. There is probably some what to figure the math out on that, but I suck at math. If I remember correctly I think that Super 8 projectors had dual blade shutters, so the image was projected on to the screen twice for every frame interval. You used to be able to get projector modifications, on high end projector models, where a five blade shutter was installed. This virtually eliminated the video flicker. Of course, I am sure that service has gone the way of typewriter repair and would not be available today. You might run across a projector on the used market that has a five bladed shutter. They should be labeled as "Film chain" projectors, or something like that.

I have also seen some DIY set ups on the web where some folks have modified digital photo scanners for Super 8 transfers. The images I have seen from system like that are outstanding... but the set up takes a tad bit more computer geek skills then I want to get into. You may want to see if that is something you can tackle.

Here are some examples of Super 8 footage I have posted to YouTube (Kinda NSFW). These videos were made almost 20 yrs ago, transferred from Super 8 to 3/4" Umatic SP, and these copies taken from the VHS first generation dubs off of the Umatic, to DV to MPEG4 to YouTube. I would imagine that you could get vastly superior results today with a camera like the HMC-40. Good luck.