Version 2 DIY 35mm Movie Film to Digital Video Transfer Device Telecine | 4K

This is a new DIY version 2 color negative 35mm film to 4K digital transfer system. With improved light and motor control, I combined an old Arri / Arriflex movie camera with a new 4K digital camera to transfer 35mm film to digital video. A do-it-yourself high-quality, low tech way of making low-cost transfers of both positive and negative 35mm motion picture film. Like a telecine, but true one film frame to digital frame, 24 frames per second. Lots of sample footage included.

[@johanperjus616]

I would also like to add that I think your work is incredibly important from a historical and cultural standpoint as there are so many news reels and by now historical footage collecting dust in archives. Inventing a more affordable way of transferring and making it available to the public is a great service to us all, so thank you sir!

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Thanks for watching!

[@ohbor]

Dude. May be the gin, or the mental issues I’m going through right now, but your video brought me to tears, such a genuine dude with a genuine idea and genuine results. As a tog enthusiast, this shit gets me hard, I hope someone discovers your concept. Cos I’m impressed as f***

[@thescanmangallery]

Amazing work. You definitely nailed all of the issues in dealing with frame capture. The most important being frame positioning. I'd like to see more about the Color Invert and Correction portion of your process. I have scanned a few negatives, both 16mm and 35mm and have found it difficult to get the color correct. Even when I had a reference positive to compare to. Thanks for sharing this!

[@Badutspringer]

Love it. This is what KZbin was made for. Keep it up

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Please subscribe - I'm in the beginning stages of a 16mm transfer system.

[@allys537]

WOW, this is just magical. the footage looks fantastic!

[@iblamepoetry]

The Gift That Keeps Giving. Excellent work.

[@ghuck100]

Fantastic transfer unit. Wow the results are stunning. This looks like it out performs the much higher end units by a mile. Great job and your presentation is spot on.😄

[@cidmachado2287]

Amazing idea and outcome!

[@gadgetsgimmicksandtech]

An amazing amount of detail and work! - very nice.

[@tselinsky6452]

Thank you for sharing this! I have about 50,000 feet of 35mm color negative from my feature that I had no idea what to do with, and my old Arri IIc that I shot it with. I was toying with similar ideas but your video drastically shortened my learning curve, so now I have a great starting point.

[@aarbtheorigin]

This is INCREDIBLE!!!!! Very impressive skills!

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Thanks for watching!

[@kroket8696]

The results are really good!

[@jessekhan3857]

Incredible video!

[@Hdhead]

Amazing skill and patience.

[@NordicLab]

Excellent work!

[@OnnieKoski]

this is awesome. thanks for sharing!

[@chanceizosom]

Amazing video. Thank you.

[@elijahvincent985]

Very smart setup! It looks like a Kinescope in reverse!

[@ThatPsychoUpstairs]

Very well done!

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Thank you very much!

[@OaklynMediaLLC]

1:22 This looks incredible!

[@The1983333]

awesome channel you ve made...

[@CinemaRepository]

I love your ingenuity! Very clever. This new design is much better. Limited by how much film you can run, as the majority of lab rolls are over 1000ft, but for personal projects, it’ll work well. This is one of the biggest issues with 35mm, there are so many variants in perf and film length, it does cause some issues. In fact, I bet a 1000ft lab roll with leader for scanning may not even fit in the magazine. But still very cool!

[@FreshGroundPictures]

That's true. I have tons of footage processed by Duart, and they normally only put 3 rolls on a flat. I was surprised however to find out that many times the last reel I shot was only a short end, so it fits within the mag. Duart usually put about 70 feet of leader on the flat, but the 1000' mags actually hold a bit more than 1000' so it usually fits. Because everything runs so slow, you can get away with using the 1000' mag on a 2C body - something you shouldn't do when shooting.

[@jimfitzgerald3862]

Very nice!

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Thanks!

[@josematus]

fANTASTICO ! muy ingenioso. y la calidad del video importado esta excelente. gracias por compartir tu proyecto.

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Thank you!

[@GustavLjungdahl]

this is fascinating i love it

[@johannes914]

That's awesome 😎

[@mcmadskillsz]

This looks so good. This is a genius idea. I wonder if using a bigger digital sensor looks any better? as a bigger sensor would be more light sensitive.

[@uriahocean6968]

I nerded out on this...wow that's cool. Imagine developing a desktop unit for sale. We would buy something like this. The world of DIY is booming right now, ie 3D desktop printing. The market NEEEEEEDS this.

[@DennisTrovato]

Wow wow wow, these 4K transfers look absolutely stunning. What an amazing contribution to analog media preservation. (Only thing is the distinct lack of grain. I don't know how grainy that film stock usually is, but I don't see a lot of it in this footage. Maybe it's just naturally fine grain and it gets lost in the KZbin compression or there's a touch to much digital de-graining going on.)

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Many thanks!

[@allenpayne9182]

Absolutely fantastic. It would be nice if you could talk more about the lens itself, test images, waveform monitoring. And also some more information about those LED lights itself. If you capture a waveform, I bet it is pretty easy to create an "inverse matte" to fix luminance issues in Resolve. Again: Awesome work. Any plans on selling the stock footage on sites like Artgrid?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

I'd like to offer the stock footage, I'll have to look into Artgrid, thank you.

[@RetroBerner]

I'm just getting caught up with this whole series, it's so cool. I figured you'd switch to RAW files at some point, that laptop is p what's holding you back. You need a better PC with faster connectivity and NVME drives, but you probably already sorted that in one of the later videos I'll be watching soon.

[@Capturing-Memories]

It's an astonishing quality, How do you capture audio though?

[@STARanoff]

Genius! ! !

[@richardsisk1770]

I process my RAW images in DXO Photolab 4 and find the conversions to be far superior to Adobe products which I have a subscription for but only use photoshop not Adobe camera Raw. The fly in the ointment would be your lens+closeup adapter as DXO lens/camera combo corrections are a key aspect. I do think you are doing something very amazing here! Watching this again on a 42 inch 4K monitor.Thanks

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Thanks! Very interesting. I'd like to be able to find a macro lens that had a bit more enlargement so that I didn't have to use a close-up lens. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what would work, but new lenses come out all the time...

[@MRKITTYMEOWMEOWable]

Fascinating video! Thank you so much for sharing - your videos actually inspired me to start building a similar system for a 2 perf 35mm system I’ve recently bought. Do you have any tips for this set up?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Interesting - what system did you get? I've thought about 2 perf, but converting the Arri 2C is a bit complicated. To transfer the footage on a 4 perf system at 2 film frames per digital shot would be easy, but you'd have to have some way of cutting out each frame and then numbering it in the correct sequential order. Might be able to do that as a script in Photoshop...

[@vj512]

WOW the setup looks great and you have amazing results but the movie loses color quality due to poor quality LEDs. You can see that the colors are off. Try to use LEDs with at least CRI95 or even better with an incandescent lamp - you will see a huge difference in color quality and the film will regain its unique characteristics. It is not about the white balance, but about the discrepancy in the saturation of certain colors and tonal transitions.

[@HobbsBhipp]

Awesome, a first.

[@ScottGravlee]

you can solve the import issue using the free Adobe DNG converter and batch converting to DNG.

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Good idea!

[@tbip2001]

I’m really interested in the sci fi feature film you made. It looks genuinely amazing. Do you have and bts footage? Is there anywhere the film can be seen?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Hello, thanks for your comments! I'm still working on the HD restored version which I plan on posting on this channel this year. You can rent an SD version on Amazon - it's titled Death on Saturn's Moon - not my idea, but the distributor at the time wanted that. The restored version will by slightly re-edited with additional scenes and effects. When I post the film, I'll also post the DVD supplements that were included. There are no official DVDs available for sale anymore, but you might find one used on Amazon or eBay - there's a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff on the DVD. Be sure to get the the DVD titled "Ascension", as it's the only one with extra material and the only one I ever approved. Thanks!

[@johanperjus616]

Love this, I’m amazed at the image quality of these scans! Please consider re-publishing a 4K scan to KZbin in 4K, I would love to see that. Also what are the CRI/TLCI value of the projection LED light? Yuji LED appears to make the best LED lights in the industry with a CRI value of 98. Is that what you are using?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

This video and its samples is posted in 4K. As to the lamp, it's a tricky compromise. The current setup has 2 festoon style holders. The LEDs are not top quality, but they supply very broad, very bright light that can be directionally pointed to get the most even spread across the frame. I have ordered some other bulbs, including xenons which supply very high color quality but also produce more heat and don't have the same spread. The white balance on these bulbs is closer to 3200K (as opposed to the LEDS which are around 6000K) which means the camera balance would have to compensate more to eliminate the orange mask. I plan on doing some experimentation with different bulbs, but it's a matter of brightness (allowing a stop of around 5.6 on the camera), heat, beam and color reproduction.

[@johanperjus616]

@@FreshGroundPictures Funny, a 2160p option is not availablee to me, is that a premium feature perhaps?

[@lehrerkind3169]

Yeah!

[@richardsisk1770]

Great work. I am very impressed. I have 16mm film and would like a similar 16mm version which it seems might be feasible with an Arri 16st. Have you a way to reproduce sound from 35mm prints?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Hello - no I can't do sound from a print. I'm thinking about doing a 16mm system, maybe using the gate and movement from an Arri 16s. The 16S body has rollers behind the pressure plate, making it difficult to put in a light source without major modification. The 16m would work better, but the prices have really gone up in recent years. My idea would be to use the film movement and synchronize film platters for feed and take up. If I can find enough parts I'm thinking of building a couple and selling some. It would be interesting to see how much difference there would be in image quality between a cropped high-quality 16x9 frame out of a standard 16 image as opposed to a Super 16 image. There are so many standard 16 cameras out there, but it's so expensive to have them converted.

[@richardsisk1770]

@@FreshGroundPictures yeah everything is too expensive lately. I was wanting to convert a regular 16mm ACL to Ultra 16. However the acls have gotten too expensive.

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Super 16 was important when doing optical blow-ups to 35mm, but I'm not sure it gives you as much with digital tools available now. The only cameras that can be converted without compromise are the Aaton and Arri SR. To convert an ACL correctly requires recentering and retiming the mirror and losing a few degrees on the shutter. Even then, the gates are not properly done, as most are just cut outs, and still have the full guide on the Super 16 side. I had an ACL converted years ago, but still had issues with slight flicker in the extended frame because the mirror was not recentered. There was a conversion kit someone made with a new Super 16 gate and mirror linkage, but I think they're all gone. At any rate, maybe Regular 16 is good enough - these cameras were designed for that format and perform brilliantly with it.

[@richardsisk1770]

@@FreshGroundPictures good points. Thank you.

[@gdmoore]

Could this work with a Bolex Camera for 16mm? That would be awesome...

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Not sure - 16mm cameras have very little space behind the gate for a lamp system. Also, most Bolex cameras only use 100 foot spools of film. I did create a 16mm system based on Arri 16 camera components - there are 3 videos posted on the site. I decided to remove the camera components and use them in a unique configuration that allowed 1200 feet rolls and more space.

[@obsidiannews]

This is an awesome workaround. I have negatives from a 35mm feature sitting in storage that I would love to get transferred. Have you considered renting this unit?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Honestly, I didn't think about renting it out. It's a bit bulky to ship, and the setup has to be just right. Let me give it some thought...

[@johanperjus616]

@@FreshGroundPictures Probably easier to have people ship you the film, but I guess you didn't build it to become a full time film transfer service?

[@ConnerHall]

@@johanperjus616 I work for a company that does this stuff professionally. There are services out there, but it does cost some money and take time depending on the season (we get very busy). Anyone interested, pm me :)

[@waterup380]

how do you do sound if the film had it

[@lewkmiller]

I really want to make a 16mm rig using this method! Do you have plans to make a 16mm as well?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Yes, 16mm is on the agenda - hopefully this Spring.

[@yawarapinima]

✨

[@adityabhalerao4744]

How did you make camera contact switch? And, is it possible to make one that can work on any DSLR?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Yes - you need to purchase a remote switch/cable for your digital camera and then take it apart so that the contact points in the switch run through the momentary switch attached to the film camera inching knob. I bought a cheap $14 off-brand lumix remote, but it should work with any camera and remote shutter combo.

[@rudde7251]

After doing research on how I would create a film transfer system I concluded that Telecentric lenses seems perfect for the job of doing film transfers. But I've never seen anyone do it, or even mention Telecentric lenses in their transfer system or process. Do you know what the reson for this is? Or why telecentric lenses are never considered to be suitable for this task?

[@SanjeevKumar-ci7mw]

Hello how to pickup audio ?

[@kirk4517]

I would love to know your workflow for turning RAW photo file to RAW video file

[@FreshGroundPictures]

I use Adobe After Effects. Just import the sequential raw files as a movie (sequence). You can then adjust the raw levels, crop and so forth as in photoshop. Because it can be computer intensive, I generally then export an "in the ballpark" 444 Quicktime movie that I can final correct in Davinci Resolve.

[@yawarapinima]

you can transform raw files to dng with adobe dng converter and do everything on resolve. you don't think it looks better without noise reduction?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Noise reduction is a very subjective thing. The older 500 speed stock is surprisingly grainy. The 50 speed daylight stock has very fine grain. I guess I tend to be old school where grain was viewed as a defect, but now many people watch digital images which are usually very clean so grain is seen more as an artistic expression. The newer grain reduction software works so much better than the old real-time grain reduction on Ranks and Spirit transfer machines, which softened the picture and added smear if too heavily applied. I guess to each his own...

[@johanperjus616]

@@FreshGroundPictures I’d love to know how a analog Degrain worked on the Rank’s and Spirit’s ... There is a lab and transfer here in Stockholm still, they process all motion picture film for Scandinavia. But I don’t know which Telecine they have.

[@35mmMovieTrailersScans]

Micro switches have rating, like a “UL/CUL 5A 125VAC” has a mechanical life rating of 500,000 cycles and electrical life is 100,000 cycles. 500K, that's about 5.7 hours of film.

[@Nantawat_Kittiwarakul]

How much does a switch cost? A few $ maybe? And it's available everywhere. Not an issue - at all.

[@35mmMovieTrailersScans]

@@Nantawat_Kittiwarakul Since 2014, and still making improvements today, I've been working on such machines, I released the "Gugusse Roller" in 2019, it is my invention which I published as a free DIY project. In an older model (Gugusse 16mm) I used such micro switches and as cheap as they may be, as easy as it is to replace them, having a piece that breaks while you're trying to scan is no fun, so yes, it is an issue.

[@35mmMovieTrailersScans]

​@@Nantawat_Kittiwarakul But don't read me wrong, I'm impressed with the stability of the picture. If I had an old 35mm arriflex camera sitting somewhere I would probably have done the same..

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Awesome rig. But filtering away the grain is a big NO NO!!

[@homeboyradiopodcast3454]

What is the fastest you can scan per sec or min?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

I generally run it at 1-2 frames per second. Mechanically it could go much higher, but the digital camera I'm using cannot take full-rez raw photos any faster. Maybe jpegs...

[@robertulrich3964]

the S1 sensor only holds 14 stop of light but film can go much higher. how can you capture the full dynamic range?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

I don't claim to capture the full range of film exposure, especially highlights. I think most scanning systems will have some loss. The Arriscan system has the ability to do 2 passes on each frame, one for shadows, one for highlights. Converting film exposure to digital information creates a whole different animal. I'm happy if the digital scan captures the "essence" of the film image.

[@robertulrich3964]

@@FreshGroundPictures thx, how hard would it be to do 2 passes? auto RAW bracketing with HDR compositing maybe?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

@@robertulrich3964 That might work - the easiest way would be to either do 2 exposures of each frame and blend it in post, or even better workwise is to blend the raw files in camera. I know the Lumix S5 can do this, but I'm not sure it can be automated to run with a single remote shutter activation. Either way, it would be a compromise on processing time either between frames or in post. Interesting...

[@robertulrich3964]

@@FreshGroundPictures i made a free after effects project that will HDR merge images/video if you'd like to try it. i also checked and indeed the S1 has built in iso bracketing!

[@FreshGroundPictures]

@@robertulrich3964 That's great! I'm busy with other things at the moment, but if you send me a link I'd like to try it.

[@area51pictures]

You should really start selling these.

[@BALtimore2001]

So I can digitize my 35mm movie trailers, with sound.

[@FreshGroundPictures]

Unfortunately, I don't have a way to do optical sound yet. Thanks!

[@BALtimore2001]

@@FreshGroundPictures Anytime.

[@therealsaintseiya]

Hey there, would it be possible to mail you some 35mm to scan ?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

It depends on a couple things... Please email me - click on "about" on the KZbin page. Thank you.

[@siskokidd]

On board until I realized how much cropping of individual image frames was required. Unless there is a macro for auto cropping/resizing/saving thousands of image frames with one click, I'm out.

[@TheWeirdAlley]

I recommend you not adding DNR to the end result

[@35mmMovieTrailersScans]

You know that a mechanical shutter of a DSLR usually has a lifespan of about 300,000 clicks?... That's about 3.5 hours of film.

[@FreshGroundPictures]

I'm strictly using the fully electronic shutter of the S5.

[@Nantawat_Kittiwarakul]

I also have a similar setup scanning Super 8 film using mirrorless camera with electronic shutter mode. I probably had burnt no less than half a million "shot" as of now. NONE issue found so far.

[@deepseadiver8191]

No. Sorry. This does not work. The resulting quality is nowhere near the potential of 35mm film. Even regular 16mm, not S16, looks better when properly scanned.

[@FreshGroundPictures]

First off, it's not designed to compete with an Arri scan or Scanity that do multiple passes to capture highlights and shadows. It's a fraction of the price. Also, the scans I've shown are from Academy 35mm frames. As far as your comments on 16mm and Super 16mm, I've shot and scanned thousands of feet of each, and 35mm, on many systems and I think your comments there are way off. 4K from 16mm is a stretch even with extensive digital cleanup.

[@deepseadiver8191]

@@FreshGroundPictures 4K is just a digital resolution. Meanwhile optically, in the very center of your system is a $10 diopter lens… At least get a proper lens and probably also read about what diffused light does to the scanning/printing potential of a negative. It’s a cool hobby project though, I didn’t mean to be harsh. All the best.

[@FreshGroundPictures]

@@deepseadiver8191 Interesting though that Scanity chose a diffuse led light globe for their system to reduce scratches and dirt.

[@deepseadiver8191]

@@FreshGroundPictures It’s scanning as the name suggests. I thought you said you were not comparing yourself to them, are you?

[@FreshGroundPictures]

It’s a ridiculous argument on many levels. Thanks for watching.