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Topic: Film To DVD. Need Advice
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Claus Harding
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1149
From: Washington DC
Registered: Oct 2006
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posted August 17, 2008 08:39 AM
Hi Larry,
The problem with transferring home movies to video in good quality is that there is something of a gap between the technologies involved, and the prices reflect this.
You have a variety of the lower-end "camera-in-front-of a-projector" devices, ranging from homemade to somewhat acceptable cheaper commercial models, and then you jump to the "real thing" which is the professional telecine units which are the same ones feature films get transferred on.
I personally would never use the former devices, which is why I have yet to transfer my Super-8 family films; I am saving for the admittedly high expense of getting them done on a telecine, which will extract everything out of the image and make them as good-looking as they can be.
Just to give you an idea, check out these two facilities:
http://www.spectrafilmandvideo.com/Telecine.html
http://www.pro8mm.com/pdf/pro8mm.scanning.pdf
The prices aren't pretty, but it's the best you can get.
That said, I have yet to see anything transferred with a camera imager in front of a projector gate that could match this.
Now, someone out there may have a newer "in-between" device that could possibly be good enough; Smallfilm Magazine advertizes such services.
I don't mean to discourage you with this, because saving your films is important, but as always, you get what you pay for.
Good luck with it,
Claus.
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"Why are there shots of deserts in a scene that's supposed to take place in Belgium during the winter?" (Review of 'Battle of the Bulge'.)
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Larry Brutt
Junior
Posts: 5
From: Venice Fl USA
Registered: Jul 2008
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posted August 21, 2008 08:01 AM
I'd like to thank everybody for their replies. Here's how things stand at the moment.
Along with the movies, I also inherited an ancient projector and musty, yellowed screen. The light bulb didn't work, so I had to send away for one.
Last night, for the first time, I was able to actually view some of these home movies. Having never operated a projector before, I made every mistake possible and even had a pile of twisted, kinked film to unravel at one point.
Once I got things running right, it became apparent that this film had deteriorated over the decades. I plan to view every one and see what can be salvaged. Then, I'll contact somebody about transferring them to DVD.
Between cussing fits, all I could do was shake my head at the thought that, once upon a time, this monstrosity was considered "state of the art", "high-tech".
Thank God for all the recent leaps forward in consumer electronics!!
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Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted August 21, 2008 11:30 AM
Well Larry, I don't know what projector you inherited, but it sounds like a piece of junk. Believe me, people would not still be shooting and projecting 8mm and super 8mm , and this forum would not exist, if it were not capable of superb results. I am talking 6ft wide pictures with razor sharpness and intense color saturation. Another thing to remember is that the only film stock which has not faded at all in 75 years is Kodachrome. If your family shot their films using any other film stock, such as Ansco or GAF, they will be almost completely faded to pink.
Yes, modern electronic imaging is great, but don't knock super 8mm just because of your particular experience with the faded films and questionable equipment that you presently have.
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The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj
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