DIY 35mm Movie Film Digital Transfer Part 2

[@HenryLoenwind]

It's interesting how you, with a movie background, immediately throw the images into video editing software. I, with more of a picture background, would have run them through batch processing in an image editor first, then sorted the images into folders by cut manually, and only then imported that into a video editor.

[@markjob6354]

*Great demo. Thanks for making this. Neat Video is a great noise reduction filter. Resolve's dust buster filter is also amazingly effective at removing dust particles, or anything in the image you wanna call dust. 👌😃*

[@richardsisk1770]

Good! Now you don’t need to pay residuals to the fly! Seriously, I think you’re on the right track with the DIY transfer and Davinci Resolve corrections. Using the Arri 2C medical camera is a brilliant idea. Thank you for explaining your thought process. Be well.

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Thank you!

[@reapchum]

Thanks so much for your sharing this knowledge.

[@DethronerX]

Awesome work. Its looks neat for a digital look for a 4k remaster. Still crazy that when we shoot on digital, we add film effects, damages and grain for film look and when we shoot on film, we make it look like digital by cleaning it up and erasing as much as we can of the characteristics of film. Color correction for continuity is always good either way, but removing every flicker, grain and some dust and some gateweave is what takes away the characteristics, but, thats the subjective side and what is more immersive without anything interfering with the experience. For people wanting a very clean look, it's the least distracting and for minority like myself, it's too naked of the ornaments of film

[@STARanoff]

We need more! More about filming on film! Do you have 16mm experience? Thanks a lot!

[@lunarfilmsroberthoullahan5041]

Also if you have a Super-35mm gate for the Arri you can probably capture analog optical sound with the picture and then use the AEO-Light decoder to get sound.

[@RetroBerner]

This is so interesting, thanks for sharing. Do you think you'd have to do less post processing if you captured in RAW instead of JPEG, since it's a lossy format?

[@waynekinney3358]

Really nice! Maybe mount the GH5 upside down on the telecine rig, meaning the clips will already be properly orientated with no need to rotate them in post...

[@FreshGroundPictures]

The film is also emulsion side out, which means it's backwards to the camera. Flipping the image around is an easy digital fix in post-production, but I agree that it would be easier to work with if the camera was inverted. Thanks!

[@tbip2001]

Brilliant. How did you manage the settings on the still camera? Appature/iso and shutter of the gh5 need to be set for each scene due to varying light levels scene to scene?

[@dominik.jokiel]

A hint: you could get better colors when you have leds with high CRI rating. I like you aproach with the camera instead of a projector. I bought a cinema projector, rebuild and restored it and i don't wan't to destroy it anymore for capturing. Also you get way better frame "stability*" with a 35mm camera and the DSLR can be mounted more easy. I think if i can get one for a reasonable price, i get one. *the german word is "Bildstand" i don't know if its the right translation.

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Thank you. I'm building a super 8 device as well, using a projector. The super 8 cameras are really no better. I'd like to build a 16mm transfer system as well - the old Arri 16M has a nice set up that might be converted for transfer. Unfortunately, they have become much more expensive than projectors.

[@vj512]

Exactly. Whole setup looks great but colors are off because of low quality LEDs. Its extremely important in film to have great color rendering. LEDs with CRI >98 or tungsten light (better) will do the trick.

[@RetroBulgaria]

@@vj512 for THIS phocamera the CRI of the LED doesn mean too much. Generally speaking with rgb camera you cannot make big deal evn with CRI 100

[@Meteotrance]

To make a color grading easyier and realy valuable way, you need a real scan in DPX format with a log profil in 10 or 16 bit, but with your setup à DNG export with a bracketing capture, is the best way to add some headroom for the highlights and shadow, Jpeg is not realy able to be grade in a proper way.

[@ramseyfendall6865]

Nice setup! I had tried a similar system with an old Simplex 35mm projector but ran into issues with the stability of the image (even after adding image stabilization in Resolve or After Effects) and found that it was never quite good enough. It seems that by using the Arri 2c, the pressure plate keeps the image quite solid. Did you ever run into problems with stabilization?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Actually, the stabilization is quite good. I've transferred footage to HD that had previously been transferred on a Rank in SD, and the stability was actually a little better. Up to this point, everything I've transferred was shot on a 2C as well - the samples on the video as well as the entire new HD trailer of "Ascension" I posted on this KZbin site. As long as the 2C camera you use has a fairly good movement, the claw mechanism both transports and then "dwells" slightly before leaving the frame, assuring stability. The other bonus is that the 2C gate has a spring-loaded side pressure pad to keep the film from weaving side-to-side. Really, the only drawback is that you can only load 1000 feet at a time. I'll be posting a few updates to the system - I'm working on a new motor system and maybe a brighter led light source.

[@ramseyfendall6865]

@@FreshGroundPictures Fantastic, thanks for that info. I like your system very much, particularly how compact it is. My Simplex projector experiment was a cumbersome beast comparatively. It worked mechanically but I kept running into the stability issues in post no matter what I did and I just couldn't solve the problem. Not surprising I guess as projectors don't use a pressure plate or pin registration like a camera, just sprockets. Now I'm going to hunt down a 2C and start tinkering!

[@FreshGroundPictures]

@@ramseyfendall6865 A medical 2C camera might work well, as it did for me. They're less expensive, and don't have a mirror shutter - it's a solid shutter, but easier to remove. They also have the hinged door. Interestingly, the medical camera ran in reverse to the regular camera, so the wear on the components is on the opposite side, leaving the forward moving side of some of the gearing virtually unused.

[@ramseyfendall6865]

​@@FreshGroundPictures I'm now on the lookout for a medical 2C - thanks for the inspiration! I know the 1000' mag is a limitation as labs tend to spool reels together and I wonder about ways to incorporate bigger reels into the workflow? For its many failings, that was the one advantage of my projector system as I could easily incorporate 2000' reels. I'll keep an eye on your channel for updates.

[@FreshGroundPictures]

@@ramseyfendall6865 Thanks! Just for your info, I bought a set of old 35mm rewinds and a tape splicer. I cut the larger reels in half at a convenient point and spliced on some leader. Also used the hand rewinds to rewind the film. In the future, I'll have the lab limit the reel to 800 or 1000 feet.