Technicolor

Curtis Bouvier · April 9, 2007

Just curious if any of you have used technicolor for your 16mm transfers, if so what types of experiences have you had, prices, etc.

Will Montgomery · April 10, 2007

This could open a whole new discussion about how much is too much for 16mm transfers. (Don't mean to highjack the thread though.)

Anyone have a Technicolor LA rate card? When I start paying over $400/hr I start to wonder if I should have been shooting 35mm anyway. The important thing is to find a colorist that you like and knows what you like and follow him/her around wheverever they go like a good barber. (that's not to say trying someone new hurts)

When I used to produce records I worked with a few engineers in Miami that could make practically any studio sound amazing. They would always tell me it wasn't really about equipment (although of course that's a component) it was the skill of the operator. I'd bet Technicolor can attract some amazing talent.

David Mullen ASC · April 10, 2007

My experience with Technicolor has either been for high-end work doing digital intermediates at TDI, or answer-printing and release printing. Or for typical neg processing & video dailies, which are nothing special. So I've never used them for high-end video transfer work.

Last HD transfer I did was at Modern Video and the two before that, at FotoKem. Before that, Ascent Media. And Riot is doing all the HD post work for "Big Love".

Will Montgomery · April 10, 2007

Noticed that Modern Video does 8mm transfers... I wonder if someone would actually do Spirit 4k Super 8 transfers? I'm sure they would do 2k since that would be about the limit of the stock. And what would that cost be? Spirit 2k around here would be in the $700/hr range I think.

Curtis Bouvier · April 10, 2007

I found a place in Alberta, Canada (studiopost.com) that will do my 16mm film for me.

They charge about $450 an hour. IN quarterly segments. They told me it would take about 1/4 of an hour to transfer 100 feet of film to HD Cam Tape. (1920x1080, 24p, 4:2:2) Resulting in a fee of about $112.

Developing 100 feet of 16mm film with them would cost $25 per reel.

So basically purchasing the film, developing it, and having it transfered in high definition would cost me about $850. That's 4 Reels of Film for a 10 minute short film.

I need to find place that will let me use an HD CAM SR deck that doesn't charge an arm and a leg. (no such luck here, I found some where, $1500.00 for a day or somthing rofl...)

Anyway I heard this was about the same pricing as Technicolor, so I thought i'd just ask you guys about Technicolor.

By the way, do you have to leave them a preferance for color? or does the colorist just try to normalize it as much as possible?

thanks

Edited April 10, 2007 by Curtis Bouvier

David Mullen ASC · April 10, 2007

HDCAM is 8-bit 3:1:1 1440 x 1080, which plays as 1920 x 1080. It's a fairly compressed tape format.

If this is for HD mastering for home video, you may consider HD-D5, which is 10-bit 4:2:2 1920 x 1080 with less compression.

Or HDCAM-SR, which is 10-bit, less compressed than HD-D5 (and definitely less than HDCAM) either 4:2:2 or 4:4:4, although 4:4:4 isn't really necessary just for home video HDTV mastering.

Riku Naskali · April 10, 2007

I did a transfer with Technicolor Toronto in 16mm. It turned out okay, but I've heard some critisism for their student services from other students. The footage looked quite soft after they laid it on tape, but it was shot on regular 16 and old lenses. They were very accommodating for me, got a transfer and system conversion in two days after calling them, I was in a bit of rush. I haven't had the time to check the original digital betacam, only downconverts, so I really can't comment too much about the transfer quality.

But damn, you guys have cheap transfers. Especially student deals. List price for Spirit transfer is something like $1000/hr here in Finland.

Will Montgomery · April 10, 2007

But damn, you guys have cheap transfers. Especially student deals. List price for Spirit transfer is something like $1000/hr here in Finland.

Competition my friend. There are tons of 16 & 35mm transfer houses across the country here and quite a few higher end systems too. I've been hearing from houses here in Dallas that business is booming recenty due to producers realizing that HD from film really does look better.

Remember that "list" or "book" rates are almost always negotiable, just leave your name and number and tell them to call you if it's slow and you'll take an hour for $400.

Bill Totolo · April 10, 2007

Does anyone know if CFI has been fully integrated into Technicolor or have they been able to maintain their independence? I used them a few times a few years ago and was blown away by the work there.

A. Whitehouse · April 10, 2007

Sometimes I suspect people forget to quote deck time and stock costs in their transfer estimates on these boards. And with HD-CAM SR tapes running at several hundred dollars, at-least here in Australia anyway, it can be a significant hit. Do some of these, or all of these, US rates include deck and stock? Because generally that is included here, so the rate comes way down for digibeta and so forth. I wish there were direct to drive options here, it would be much easier on so many levels for a lot of the projects I'm involved with as even digibeta can become a real headache, let alone HD CAM SR or D5. I think there are maybe two or three of these decks in Melbourne.

Will Montgomery · April 10, 2007

Do some of these, or all of these, US rates include deck and stock?

Most telecine houses I know of include one deck in the rate. Here in Dallas it can be any deck they have, at least up to DigiBeta for sure, I've never asked about D5 or HDCAM SR (which this house has). Since the higher end suites cost significantly more I would assume a higher end deck would also be included & expected.

Once I asked for a dub from the Digibeta to miniDV and they said there would normally be an additional deck charge but they let it slide since it was so short.