Spirit to D5

[Michael Collier]

I got a deal on transfer rates at a NY transfer house, and before I agree to the deal I wanted to know if its a good deal (they quoted it to me being a self-financed 'student' film with proccessing done on an 'availibility' status) so I think its well below their normal rate.

 

They offered a spirit 2k to D5 (no experience in this format) for 350/hour (by labor, not including tape stock)

 

I checked around and found a workflow that will let me edit this effeciently, but it is more than I wanted to spend (though I also was figuring on a SD cut for submission with plans to go to HD for festival showings, its below what I thought an HD finnish would be)

 

is this a good rate for the telecine? I have offers from other labs that are good, but nothing that got me to an HD finnish in this price range.

 

The other question I have is about D5. I had written off DI, based on cost, but I ran the numbers and if I did this route, theoretically it would be cheaper at that point to DI to 35mm if I get into a big film festival, rather than start over and do a blow-up (also very attractive, given the digital effects that will be in the short, they are not key, and could be cut, but I would prefer to keep them) Is D5 a solid enough format to do the DI route with from the original scan? Keep in mind this is reg 16mm cropped to 1.85, so true 2K and 4K seems like abit of overkill, given my budget.

[Will Montgomery]

The real question for me would be who is the colorist? The Spirit is a great machine, you just want to make sure the operator will care enough and has the talent to do a good job.

 

The rate is decent as long as you don't have an intern doing the transfer. Good colorists with a Spirit can run $500/hr+ easily for HD.

 

How will you be editing? You might get away with an anamorphic DV copy of the D5 that you can cut in Final Cut Pro or Avid. This would be a little tricky, but I bet a decent transfer house could provide it.

 

Last HD transfer I did was to HDCAM and the DV copy I had made just lopped off the sides to get to SD. In retrospect, I wish I could have made an anamorphic DV copy of that HDCAM tape.

[Sam Wells]

It's definitely a good rate esp if a Spirit 2K

 

I'm mastering to D5HD currently, but am working in DVCPRO HD from that. I think DVCPRO HD is rather "fragile" for DI. 10 bit Y CrCb 4:4:2 would be much better (D5HD is 4:2:2 10 bit), but for a real DI I don't know, would want to test.

 

Next step up is HDCamSR but if you got that in $ 350/hr package I'd be surprised.

 

All depends on what you want to do & how much you want to spend post wise

 

-Sam

[Michael Collier]

I am getting the first transfer at a good rate, so i am going to offline with that. After the spirit transfer, that is all up in the air. D5HD is not a common thing up here in good 'ol Alaska, so I am finding my cheapest option. I have external drives big enough to transfer all the footage to (thanks for the specs on D5, I was looking but not finding. 4:2:2 10 bit is a good starting point)

 

D5 will be transfered in town if I can find it, or at a post house in the lower 48 if I can't. Another option would be to simo-dub to a different format (DVCPRO HD, HDCAM etc) I think I may be able to find a place here that can do that (like I said our PBS station went HD, so they must have something that could be patched into an edit bay to capture....I hope) One way or another it will get into a hard drive and be conformed in my edit bay. Then it will be put out to tape, once I decide the format I will master too (based on the festivals options) I might end up with a dub in several formats.

 

D5 would be to hang around in the off chance I get into a prestigious film festival. If I got in one at my age and my experience level, I would want to make a strong showing, so as not to drown in a sea of competition. DI would be light touch up work. I agree that DVCPRO HD would not be good for a DI (especially if I have a D5 master laying around, even at the expense of another conform)

 

The lab is PWNY. I am waiting to hear from the colorist, but I have heard good things about them. I really want to set up a relationship with a colorist, because A. its my first thing on film. B. I really want to have a 'go-to' guy right off the bat, so my next film I have someone I have worked with prior. I will need to put a lot of trust in the colorist, as I will not be there to supervise. There is a chance I may be able to be on teleconference when they transfer, so I can relate some things to him not in notes, but in general I will talk to him more in emotions and shared memories (color of a coke can, color of the sky general things like that). Not precise, but as close as I will come. I may take a bunch of still photos and print them, then decide what look I am going for and send those to him. Trust will be a big thing. I imagine though a professional working my film will still amaze me in color quality after years in DV, Beta and HD. In the end however I can coax the color into place if something is off by a little bit at my shop.