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Cheap Processing and Telecine.


Matthew Buick

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Hi.

 

I e-mailed Todd-AO about the cost of their ECN2 Processing + Telecine and was shocked to find out it was £50.00 + VAT. Is there anywhere cheaper that can Telecine to an uncompressed DVD in PAL. I really don't mind sending film abroad.

 

Best Regards.

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Unshock yourself young man.

 

That seems like a fair price. Processing alone is going to be around 15-20 dollars. The additional amount for a rank transfer seems reasonable. It appears to me they have waived their 1/2 hour or one hour minimum.

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It appears to me they have waived their 1/2 hour or one hour minimum.

 

Indeed!?

 

If you find some time, Matthew, I would welcome if you could put some "flesh" on this quoted offer. Is that for per cartridge out of a total of one cartridge, or do you exceed minimum footage/minute requirements that they have, and is it uncompressed onto a DVD-ROM or just telecine onto a DVD video? Did they had any issues with your Pro8mm EXR stocks?

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Indeed!?

 

If you find some time, Matthew, I would welcome if you could put some "flesh" on this quoted offer. Is that for per cartridge out of a total of one cartridge, or do you exceed minimum footage/minute requirements that they have, and is it uncompressed onto a DVD-ROM or just telecine onto a DVD video? Did they had any issues with your Pro8mm EXR stocks?

 

 

Erm, the email I recieved stated that the minimum fee for dealing with Super 8mm was £50.00. I don't know if that's in set up cost or what it is, I suppose it works out a better deal if you have more that one cartridge for processing and telecine, but as I've mentioned previously these EXR rolls are for special occasions. I only requested a quote for a one roll transfer to uncompressed DVD-ROM. I didn't get too much info in the reply, sorry. If I don't get any joy with NanoLab I'll just go for it, at least I know I'll get a quality job.

 

Thanks peeps. ;)

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Hi.

 

I e-mailed Todd-AO about the cost of their ECN2 Processing + Telecine and was shocked to find out it was £50.00 + VAT. Is there anywhere cheaper that can Telecine to an uncompressed DVD in PAL. I really don't mind sending film abroad.

 

Best Regards.

 

 

This is the cost for one roll?? Lots of labs charge that for a one off, but if you do more than one roll, the price could go down a considerable amount. Cinelab charges $15 US per roll for color negative and tk charges are very reasonable. They can and often do transfer to uncompressed 10 bit PAL. They may have a minimum order requirement, just like most labs, but the processing is still 15 per roll. There link is on this website.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Mathew,

 

I think you'll find that the Todd-AO £50 (+VAT = £58.75) is for the complete package. It includes the cost of one cart of Vision2 stock (200 or 500), processing, prep and telecine to BetaSP or DigiBeta. If you ask they'll also provide a dub to DVD or MiniDV as well.

 

I haven't got the exact figures to hand here at home, but I was quoted about £25 for them to telecine 50ft of S8, and their price for the film on its own is only a tad higher than some other UK sellers, and cheaper than others. If we reckon on that being about £12 then their processing is also about £12. Looked at in those terms its not too bad.

 

Their advantage is they are prepared to handle one cart. at a time. Other places may work out cheaper per ft, but the minimum lengths they'll handle can be a limitation for 'hobby' projects as there'll be a large bill in one go. The other thing you'll find from Todd-AO is that their telecine is a 'best light', most other places will offer 'one light'.

 

If you compare with the price from Andec:

 

x4 carts of V2 stock = 4x19.25 =77 Euro

x4 carts. processed at Andec is 4x20Euro = 80 Euro

Prep. for telecine is 0.40 / meter = 24.40 Euro

10 minutes of negative telecined to BetaSP from Andec is 250 Euro, and in the absence of further details I'd guess it's one light.

Foreign treatment charge = 3.50 Euro

 

Total = 434.90 + VAT = 517.53 Euro

So approx. £402.76 plus whatever UK customs may wish to add on top.

This works out at £2.01 / ft

 

 

The same thing from Todd is 4x50 = £200 + VAT = £235

So £1.18 / ft

 

In fairness, Andec will Tk to MiniDV only, for half the price of their BetaSP Tk (thus bringing their overall price to £259.22), but then it's no longer a direct comparison with Todd.

 

 

If you do the maths you may be surprised to find out just how quickly 16mm becomes cheaper: List price for 100ft of stock in the UK is about £25 (+VAT, direct from Kodak with free postage). The best I've found for process/prep/Tk is 21p/ft with 400ft minimum (about 10 minutes), best light to BetaSP/DigiBeta.

 

4x£25 = £100

400x0.21 = £84

£184+VAT = £216.20 or £0.54/ft (but don't forget 16mm uses twice the length of S8 for the same screen time).

 

16mm also has the advantage you can get short ends/recans/unused stock at cheaper prices. I've got a couple of 400ft cores of 7201 in the fridge which cost me £30 each. I have to respool it onto 100ft spools myself, but for my own projects I'm prepared to take the risk of the problems using non-fresh stock can give. For ME it's worth the risk, if I was on a paid job or filming a once in a lifetime occasion then I'd use fresh stock. Of course if one is eligible for a student discount then all those prices can fall further. Unfortunately I'm not :(

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Check these guys out (in norway):

 

http://www.smalfilm.no/en

 

fremkalling means developing (i think the pprice list is in english) and the telecine is very cheap

 

 

Hi Mathew,

 

I think you'll find that the Todd-AO £50 (+VAT = £58.75) is for the complete package. It includes the cost of one cart of Vision2 stock (200 or 500), processing, prep and telecine to BetaSP or DigiBeta. If you ask they'll also provide a dub to DVD or MiniDV as well.

 

I haven't got the exact figures to hand here at home, but I was quoted about £25 for them to telecine 50ft of S8, and their price for the film on its own is only a tad higher than some other UK sellers, and cheaper than others. If we reckon on that being about £12 then their processing is also about £12. Looked at in those terms its not too bad.

 

Their advantage is they are prepared to handle one cart. at a time. Other places may work out cheaper per ft, but the minimum lengths they'll handle can be a limitation for 'hobby' projects as there'll be a large bill in one go. The other thing you'll find from Todd-AO is that their telecine is a 'best light', most other places will offer 'one light'.

 

If you compare with the price from Andec:

 

x4 carts of V2 stock = 4x19.25 =77 Euro

x4 carts. processed at Andec is 4x20Euro = 80 Euro

Prep. for telecine is 0.40 / meter = 24.40 Euro

10 minutes of negative telecined to BetaSP from Andec is 250 Euro, and in the absence of further details I'd guess it's one light.

Foreign treatment charge = 3.50 Euro

 

Total = 434.90 + VAT = 517.53 Euro

So approx. £402.76 plus whatever UK customs may wish to add on top.

This works out at £2.01 / ft

 

 

The same thing from Todd is 4x50 = £200 + VAT = £235

So £1.18 / ft

 

In fairness, Andec will Tk to MiniDV only, for half the price of their BetaSP Tk (thus bringing their overall price to £259.22), but then it's no longer a direct comparison with Todd.

 

 

If you do the maths you may be surprised to find out just how quickly 16mm becomes cheaper: List price for 100ft of stock in the UK is about £25 (+VAT, direct from Kodak with free postage). The best I've found for process/prep/Tk is 21p/ft with 400ft minimum (about 10 minutes), best light to BetaSP/DigiBeta.

 

4x£25 = £100

400x0.21 = £84

£184+VAT = £216.20 or £0.54/ft (but don't forget 16mm uses twice the length of S8 for the same screen time).

 

16mm also has the advantage you can get short ends/recans/unused stock at cheaper prices. I've got a couple of 400ft cores of 7201 in the fridge which cost me £30 each. I have to respool it onto 100ft spools myself, but for my own projects I'm prepared to take the risk of the problems using non-fresh stock can give. For ME it's worth the risk, if I was on a paid job or filming a once in a lifetime occasion then I'd use fresh stock. Of course if one is eligible for a student discount then all those prices can fall further. Unfortunately I'm not :(

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