8mm Forum: Sound Striping Question

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Posted by Brian Hendel (Member # 61) on November 06, 2005, 08:25 PM:

I was wondering if anyone knew of a place in the U.S. that does soundstriping on silent film. I have a bunch of old digests I would like to record sound onto... I guess I could ship them to the U.K. but that may get costly. Also, what is a fare rate for this kind of service. Thanks for any info!

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on November 06, 2005, 09:06 PM:

Here is a fellow in San Francisco who does sound striping:

http://www.super8mm.org/sound_striping.html

He charges 35 cents/foot for main and balance.

To be completely honest about it, the difference between this 35 cents and the roughly 11 cents/foot that EVT magnetics in the UK charges pays for a lot of shipping and currency exchange charges, especially as you get up into hundreds and thousands of feet!

(Think of it, just 5 feet runs over a buck more!)

I'd really like to keep my film stateside, but a dollar and change to stripe 3 feet?

PS: I had 350 feet done by EVT about a year ago. The work was excellent, the turnaround was much faster than I hoped and I would absolutely recommend him

EVT Magnetics' E-mail:

magevt@amserve.com

Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on November 06, 2005, 10:05 PM:

Steve, a few quick questions:

1. Can any acetate film be striped regardless of its age/condition? Could I use a striping service to turn my Blackhawk B/W silents into sound films?

2. Is it OK to clean a film with FilmRenew before sending it in for striping? If not, which cleaner is recommended?

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on November 06, 2005, 10:43 PM:

Hi Jan,

If I pretended to be an expert on this, then I'd be a liar as well! However, I've heard that any cleaner that leaves behind a lubricant can make for trouble as far as the stripe permanently adhering. There are ways of removing the lubricants, but they aren't pretty (as in soaking the film in gasoline!)

When I sent my films for striping (Kodachrome and Plus-X shot by me), I cleaned them with isopropyl alcohol and a soft, lint free cloth. I asked Nick at EVT about it and he said this was fine.

A particular concern is splicing method. Tape splices aren't the first choice, but are OK if the tape doesn't cover the stripe area. Overlap cement splices are a problem, because they leave a step the stripe has to climb, and therefore a gap in the adhesive, and therefore a bond weakness prone to peeling. The ideal splice is a tapered cement splice, and finding and learning the Bolex beveled splicer set these two films back several months.

Here's the real expert:

magevt@amserve.com

If you E-mail Nick, he may take a few days to respond, but he has been doing this for a long time and knows the business.

Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on November 06, 2005, 11:27 PM:

Thanks Steve [Smile]

I'll make note of his email address [Smile]

Posted by Tim Christian (Member # 48) on November 07, 2005, 02:09 AM:

I do my own striping on both new and old film, S8 and R8. Many of the older films I get have been lubricated. I find that cleaning twice with isopropyl alcohol is sufficient for good stripe adhesion. It is essential to check all splices for both flatness and security.

One problem with striping commercial prints is that the increase in thickness, about 0.001" or 0.025 mm, means that the film then won't fit in its original box. I've made bigger replica boxes by copying and enlarging the original.

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on November 08, 2005, 02:59 PM:

Brian- in reference to Super 8 Cinema (the site Steve posted previously on this thread), I have used them before. I used them a couple of times and, while they are not cheap, they did a very good job on my film and the turn around was about 10 days or less.

With the special they have going right now (400 feet for $75), thats about half price from thier usual price of 35 cents per foot, so I think you will come out better with them than sending it overseas, with the high exchange rate going right now.

The guy who runs it is Justin Miller and his number is on the site. Call him for details before sending film.

Nick.

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on November 08, 2005, 03:13 PM:

Guys,

When you are doing your own stripping, how could you get the magnetic strips. It is still available now (meaning still being produced) or we just wait until the last batch available?

Same question if we send the film to the professional services, do they use brand new magnetic strips or also the remaining stocks available?

thanks

Posted by Tim Christian (Member # 48) on November 08, 2005, 04:00 PM:

I have a good stock of stripe, perhaps 10 000 ft. I had some from CHC a while back, and pick up batches on Ebay and elsewhere from time to time. I don't know if it still made.

Posted by Brian Hendel (Member # 61) on November 08, 2005, 04:13 PM:

Wow... $75 per 400' is more than I anticipated. I was thinking of having a 5 X 400' reel feature done. But I think I'll just play the DVD along and keep it in synch as much as I can. I guess if I was doing the striping myself I would charge that much considering what a painstaking process it is.

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on November 10, 2005, 09:18 PM:

I got the answer from Nicholas Maltezos <magevt@amserve.com> of EVT Magnetics' as below:

quote:
Hello Winbert

Magnetic striping S/8 film 5p per foot main track only.
With balance track 6p per foot.
No minimum length only minimum charge of £6 plus return postage.
Regret web site out of date price lists of services by post.

E.v.T

Sounds good price...doesn't it?

cheers

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on November 10, 2005, 10:19 PM:

I didn't know that Nick had a website!

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