marks on footage

[Matt Wells]

Hi there,

 

I have recently had both 16 and Super8 footage telecined (via Rank) and there are one or two marks on the screen.

 

They are very difficult to explain, but stay in exactly the same place and looks like a piece of clear film laid over the footage with a couple of oval shaped holes in it. They are quite hard to see, but definitely present.

 

Is this some worn out part of the Rank?

 

Matt

[John Pytlak RIP]

Hi there,

 

I have recently had both 16 and Super8 footage telecined (via Rank) and there are one or two marks on the screen.

 

They are very difficult to explain, but stay in exactly the same place and looks like a piece of clear film laid over the footage with a couple of oval shaped holes in it. They are quite hard to see, but definitely present.

 

Is this some worn out part of the Rank?

 

Matt

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Can you post images? Were both the 16mm and Super-8 done on the same machine (but with different gates)?

[Matt Wells]

Can you post images?  Were both the 16mm and Super-8 done on the same machine (but with different gates)?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thanks for the reply John. I have one of the frames saved in my PC but am not sure how to make it appear in my post.

 

Anyway, in an attempt to descripe it better, both the 16mm and super8 were transfered on the same machine (it is a Rank, but unsure what model - probably about 10 years old)

 

The best way of describing it is when you view the footage it is rather like there is a pane of glass between you and the film and this pane is rather dirty with one or two grubby streak and a couple of random small oval shaped marks. They are not enourmously noticable, but noticable enough to be very annoying and make you feel that something is obscuring the full quality of the film.

 

I am not 100% sure how the Rank works, but is there the possibility that there is some sort of lens or something in the gate that either needs replacing or cleaning? I say this because the place where I go is not a main stream lab and, whilst the guy who owns it is very experienced and knowledgable, I suppose it is convievable that the Rank could be in need of a little more maintenance than it might otherwise get.

 

The marks stay in exactly the same place, and are present on all 6 rolls of 16mm and also the similar marks remain the same on the rolls of super8. They are obviously not on the film itself as a result of a lap process or something.

 

Thanks,

Matt

[Bryan Jacobson]

Thanks for the reply John. I have one of the frames saved in my PC but am not sure how to make it appear in my post.

 

Anyway, in an attempt to descripe it better, both the 16mm and super8 were transfered on the same machine (it is a Rank, but unsure what model - probably about 10 years old)

 

The best way of describing it is when you view the footage it is rather like there is a pane of glass between you and the film and this pane is rather dirty with one or two grubby streak and a couple of random small oval shaped marks. They are not enourmously noticable, but noticable enough to be very annoying and make you feel that something is obscuring the full quality of the film.

 

I am not 100% sure how the Rank works, but is there the possibility that there is some sort of lens or something in the gate that either needs replacing or cleaning? I say this because the place where I go is not a main stream lab and, whilst the guy who owns it is very experienced and knowledgable, I suppose it is convievable that the Rank could be in need of a little more maintenance than it might otherwise get.

 

The marks stay in exactly the same place, and are present on all 6 rolls of 16mm and also the similar marks remain the same on the rolls of super8. They are obviously not on the film itself as a result of a lap process or something.

 

Thanks,

Matt

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It could be a burn correction error, when telecine CRT tubes are not replaced after a period of time it can produce unfavorable results.

 

I would talk to your colorist and ask him about it, maybe put it up again during a supervised session. It could be a water drop problem from processing, were they processed at the same place?. Tough to say. Usually specs on the optical lens gate are out of focus, but like I said, tough to say without looking at it. Very hard to understand small random oval marks coming from telecine, unless they cleaned the film and something happened, which is usually not done when film comes straight from the lab. Try to seperate the possibilities from telecine, to processing, to in camera. Usually when something happens in camera or mag the effects will be blue or black- pre processing.

 

Bryan

[Matt Wells]

Just re-igniting this thread I started a while back - because I have found out what the marks were!

 

I had an attended transfer of some 16mm at the same place on Wednesday and there were some marks present exactly the same as before, as we reviewed the footage after grading and before recording to tape..........

 

They were little bits of dirt in the Rank gate - push of a button on the console and there is a high pressue jet of air fed from a compressor to the gate and the marks vanished!!

 

Matt

Edited September 23, 2005 by Matt Wells

[Stephen Williams]

Just re-igniting this thread I started a while back - because I have found out what the marks were!

 

I had an attended transfer of some 16mm at the same place on Wednesday and there were some marks present exactly the same as before, as we reviewed the footage after grading and before recording to tape..........

 

They were little bits of dirt in the Rank gate - push of a button on the console and there is a high pressue jet of air fed from a compressor to the gate and the marks vanished!!

 

Matt

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hi,

 

You have to be careful when transfering on an older telecine. The tubes for a Rank are very expensive $5000 + and last about 1 year or 1000 hours of use! Often the owners will try to run at a reduced beam current to reduce tube wear, Noise then increases. I have seen telecines with completely worn out tubes, yet the owner says its almost new! Thats one of the problems with bargain telecine transfers.

 

Stephen