Mike Crane Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Interesting news from Spectra's site. They are setting up a HD Spirit with dedicated Super/Regular 8 gate for max resolution. spectrafilmandvideo.com Apparently, this is not a modified 16 gate as other places currently offer. The typical mod gates are only capable of obtaining a fraction of the true HD resolution from the Spirit due to insufficient optics. Looking forward to trying this out for some HD work I have coming up in the next few months. It will be interesing to see if they can make a clear difference from the nice stuff I already get from them. In any case it will greatly help with my HD workflow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Will Montgomery Posted October 20, 2010 Premium Member Share Posted October 20, 2010 Great news. They are very good at what they do. Hope they got a good deal on it so we can afford to use it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Vincent Sweeney Posted October 21, 2010 Premium Member Share Posted October 21, 2010 Cinelicious has been doing this for a while now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Burke Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 competition is good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Crane Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 Plus, Cinelicious has the less costly 16 gate mod that does not take full advantage of Spirit resolution. Therefore Spectra's 8mm transfers have the potential to look even better. It is also new that Spectra's Spirit gate is the only one that can also do regular 8mm. So, it should be excellent for archives or anyone that still shoots standard 8. Always good to see more Spirits out there doing 8mm HD. It will only help drive the high cost down making it more affordable for average people to get a top notch transfer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Paul Korver Posted October 22, 2010 Premium Member Share Posted October 22, 2010 Plus, Cinelicious has the less costly 16 gate mod that does not take full advantage of Spirit resolution. Therefore Spectra's 8mm transfers have the potential to look even better. It is also new that Spectra's Spirit gate is the only one that can also do regular 8mm. So, it should be excellent for archives or anyone that still shoots standard 8. Always good to see more Spirits out there doing 8mm HD. It will only help drive the high cost down making it more affordable for average people to get a top notch transfer. I don't care what gate they have over there I want to know what they put in the koolaid! Kidding aside I agree... competition is a good thing for everyone. We compete with Company 3 and New Hat for Commercial jobs every day. Spectra? Not so much. If they got an 8K super 8mm scanner it probably wouldn't drive our prices down much because most of our clients aren't coming to us for the cheapest price (they could pay less at Pro 8mm)... rather for our talent, workflow, and a sweet facility. You should come by and check us out sometime Mike... unless you're getting PR discounts over at Spectra :) The typical mod gates are only capable of obtaining a fraction of the true HD resolution from the Spirit due to insufficient optics. I'm not so sure about that... the optics on our Super 8mm gate seemed to look pretty good in Jackass 3D and the new Weezer video. And I know of at least one filmmaker now who has made 35mm prints from the scans and they very very pleased with the results on the big screen. I guess my point is Mike... don't knock it until you've tried it. Best, Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Will Montgomery Posted October 22, 2010 Premium Member Share Posted October 22, 2010 Never thought I'd hear "Spirit" and "insufficient optics" in the same sentence. :D It's all about the talent. At least with those machines they don't hold the colorist back in any way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Site Sponsor Robert Houllahan Posted October 22, 2010 Site Sponsor Share Posted October 22, 2010 the optics on our Super 8mm gate seemed to look pretty good in Jackass 3D Ha well punch me in the D**K was it actually a Stereo S8 shoot? :lol: -Rob- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Paul Korver Posted October 22, 2010 Premium Member Share Posted October 22, 2010 Ha well punch me in the D**K was it actually a Stereo S8 shoot? :lol: -Rob- I'm not able to comment on production specifics on this one.. Looked good in the theater though! -Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Hyde Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 In my experience cushy furniture, big spaces and arrogant colorists never made any of my transfers look better. I’ve been there and know all about transfer house “fluff”. Don’t have the money or time for it. In the end, it always comes down to the picture and cost. For my two cents, Spectra’s transfers tend to outshine the more expensive houses when I work in SD. So, there is no question they have the talent and take more time without charging me extra. I look forward to seeing what they can offer in HD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Will Montgomery Posted October 23, 2010 Premium Member Share Posted October 23, 2010 In my experience cushy furniture, big spaces and arrogant colorists never made any of my transfers look better. Straight transfers maybe, but if you need a certain look or to match the swatch of orange your client is holding in his hand from some new product packaging, experience matters. Spectra has some talented people so are you saying their furniture isn't cushy? I bet they can fix that. I'm not in LA but I have yet to meet an arrogant colorist. Everyone I've worked with has been amazing and happy to explain what they do and how they do it, especially those active on this board. Even over the phone every LA colorist I've worked with has been good people. Some places do cater to higher-end clients that expect the cushy furniture to impress their clients who really write the checks but that's just business. Understanding their job helps me shoot better and get through the post process with my sanity intact. Maybe just times have changed with so many color houses having to fight for survival... maybe they could afford to be more arrogant before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Hyde Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 I agree that experience matters. My point is that Spectra has that experience without the expensive fluff and attitude. You just don't need it to make a transfer better. Nor do clients (the money people) appreciate it in this economy. I have been to Spectra to supervise my session and they know how to work that DaVinci board as good (if not better) than any high-end facility I have been to. Plus, they are pleasant to deal with and able to follow my detailed creative pass instructions without the typical colorist attitude I have seen elsewhere. Although Spectra has a cool looking space, they lack the money for exclusive designer furniture, receptionist babe and other things that just do not matter to me or my clients. Today, the name of the game is about saving money while getting the “look” and the overpriced facilities closing down all over LA reflect that. Fluff is simply passe. If I can save a hundred bucks an hour for the same picture, I’ll bring my own latte. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now