Still from 35mm to Digital for Poster/ Sleeve

[Mov Vid]

I need to take a still from my 35mm negative and convert it digitally (as a jpg, tiff) for my poster and DVD sleeve. What would be the process like? Do I have to cut my negative? What places in Los Angeles do it? And potential cost per frame? Preferably the still would be 7 megapixel resolution.

 

Also I have an HDcam master of the film and was thinking of just taking the still from that via an NLE. I know this is not ideal.

 

Thanks so much.

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

First thing to realise is that there probably isn't - depending on the stock, there may just barely be - 7 megapixels of information in a single frame of 35mm motion picture film. The frame size is much smaller than 35mm stills photography and I would suspect that at poster size it'd start getting very grainy.

 

Possibly the best way to do this would be in a 35mm stills negative scanner, but you don't want to have to try and spool a whole bunch of your O-neg through one of those. You could do it on a Spirit telecine, but that'll only get you about 2 megapixels. Probably the absolute best way to do this would be on something like a Northlight film scanner, which will go at up to 6K and give about the best results you're ever going to get. Look around for a facility that has one, or contact Filmlight in LA and see if they'll do it for you for a reasonable fee on their demo scanner.

 

Phil

[Stephen Williams]

Hi,

 

First thing to realise is that there probably isn't - depending on the stock, there may just barely be - 7 megapixels of information in a single frame of 35mm motion picture film. The frame size is much smaller than 35mm stills photography and I would suspect that at poster size it'd start getting very grainy.

 

Possibly the best way to do this would be in a 35mm stills negative scanner, but you don't want to have to try and spool a whole bunch of your O-neg through one of those. You could do it on a Spirit telecine, but that'll only get you about 2 megapixels. Probably the absolute best way to do this would be on something like a Northlight film scanner, which will go at up to 6K and give about the best results you're ever going to get. Look around for a facility that has one, or contact Filmlight in LA and see if they'll do it for you for a reasonable fee on their demo scanner.

 

Phil

 

Hi,

 

I did this on a Spirit to DPX file 2K, it was better than I expected!

 

Stephen

[Dan Goulder]

Also I have an HDcam master of the film and was thinking of just taking the still from that via an NLE. I know this is not ideal.

This is by far the most obvious and practical thing to do. As your target is for poster and DVD cover, especially since the film has already been transferred to HDCAM, doing a rescan of the material just to pull one frame would probably be expensive overkill. Of course, it's your dime.

[Mov Vid]

This is by far the most obvious and practical thing to do. As your target is for poster and DVD cover, especially since the film has already been transferred to HDCAM, doing a rescan of the material just to pull one frame would probably be expensive overkill. Of course, it's your dime.

 

 

1.) Has anyone out here done this before? (taking a still from your HDcam) And what are the results? I most likely won't need a full size poster....just a legal size poster and of course the DVD sleeve.

 

2.) And if you've taken a still from your HDcam master any tips on accomplishing the best results? The system I'll be doing it is FinalCut Pro through an uncompressed Kona2 card.

 

3.) If I still digitally scan my 35mm negative what would be the estimate cost? Any suggested places in Los Angeles? And do I have to cut my negative?

 

 

 

Thanks all and happy holidays in advance!

[Chris Kenny]

1.) Has anyone out here done this before? (taking a still from your HDcam) And what are the results? I most likely won't need a full size poster....just a legal size poster and of course the DVD sleeve.

 

I've never printed a still from HDCAM, but I've got enough DTP experience to about what you can get away with in print with an image of a given resolution. I wouldn't print an image from HDCAM larger than about 6" wide if it's intended to be viewed close up, as in a book. On a poster that will be viewed at a distance you can get away with a lot more; legal size is probably fine if people are standing a few feet back.

 

If I still digitally scan my 35mm negative what would be the estimate cost? Any suggested places in Los Angeles? And do I have to cut my negative?

Thanks all and happy holidays in advance!

 

If you're willing to cut your negative, you can just scan it on a ~$400 prosumer scanner with a transparency adaptor. If you know any still photographers, they probably have something at least that good. These scanners commonly have optical resolutions of 4800 dpi, which is enough to pull better than 9 megapixels out of a 2.39 super-35 frame. (There might not actually be that much resolution in the negative, mind you.)

 

You might even be able to pull this off without cutting your negative, though it would be a little awkward to manage the spools and you might dent it.

 

If you don't want to cut your negative or risk denting, follow the advice above and go to a place that does motion picture film scanning. I can't make any specific recommendations there.

[Stephen Williams]

If you're willing to cut your negative, you can just scan it on a ~$400 prosumer scanner with a transparency adaptor. If you know any still photographers, they probably have something at least that good. These scanners commonly have optical resolutions of 4800 dpi, which is enough to pull better than 9 megapixels out of a 2.39 super-35 frame. (There might not actually be that much resolution in the negative, mind you.)

 

Hi,

 

I tried this and was dissapointed. A Spirit to 2k DPX seemed to have about double the resoloution.

 

Stephen

[Chris Kenny]

I tried this and was dissapointed. A Spirit to 2k DPX seemed to have about double the resoloution.

 

Hmm. I'm curious specifically what scanner you tried? They've come a very long way just in the last couple of years. Today's prosumer flatbeds have higher resolution and more dynamic range than the dedicated photo film scanners of a few years back.

[George Lekovic]

Hmm. I'm curious specifically what scanner you tried? They've come a very long way just in the last couple of years. Today's prosumer flatbeds have higher resolution and more dynamic range than the dedicated photo film scanners of a few years back.

 

If it's of any consolation, I scanned a medium format negative on my then $500 Epson 4870 flatbed and printed a 25x25 w/ no problem.

 

Again, it was a medium format negtive, but yes, consumer flatbed scanners haev come a long way.

 

george