Jump to content

How can I view/invert Super8 negs transfered to ProRes on a PC?


Matt Stevens

Recommended Posts

So I have researched and read and am so far not finding an answer. I'm having some test footage shot on Super8 transfered this week (at 1080i) and will receive the files on a hard drive in ProRes format for Final Cut. That is all they can do.

 

I do not have a Mac or access to Final Cut and won't for at least four weeks. I need to see this footage yesterday.

 

Yes, folks, I am a PC man. No Mac in house. :)

 

In looking at Vegas Movie Studio Platinum HD 10 (which is the stripped amateur version of Sony Vegas) I cannot see an option to view that file type and, more importantly, invert from negative to positive so I can actually see what we shot.

 

Does anyone here have any options that might work for me? Will the stripped down Vegas I have be okay for this?

 

I don't have money to spend. i am tapped out. Broke. And will be for at least two weeks. But I really truly need to see this footage yesterday. It's late already and it took a ridiculous amount of time to get the negative stock back from the lab.

 

I should note that two of the transfers are of negative stock (one 200t one 500t) one transfer is of B&W Tri-X Reversal and the final is of color 100D.

 

Apologies if this has been covered, but my search here turned up dozens of unrelated threads/topics.

Edited by Matt Stevens
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Project.

As in a projector? No, I do not have one. Buying one would be costly. And projecting a negative would just give us negative.

 

I have already paid for the transfers. They will be ready tomorrow morning.

Edited by Matt Stevens
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have my footage and cannot view it as anything but a negative because I cannot for the life of me figure out how to flip/invert (whatever you call it) the footage.

 

Can someone give me an assist? I have QuickTime Pro 7.6.6.

 

My system doesn't like this footage, lots of stuttering, but it does play back. I just need to see my negative as NOT a negative, using laymen's terms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Command- or Control I? (How do you make the dcommand key appear?)

 

 

Seriously, though, if you didn't punch enough light through the negative it's probably not ever going to look good with the color footage. You have to have a camera with the ability for very precise colors, since neg. dynamic range is highly compressed, and the base color makes it very difficult to punch through.

 

 

A grey patch on ECN-2 should read (for Kodak) 0.80R 1.20G 1.60B which would normally read 80 straight across or 100 straight across optical density. The AIMs for a patch status A (dye density, not the density we see) are 1.09 1.06 1.03. Gamma on neg. is less than 0.60, 0.55 or less on modern stock. Gamma on print film is near 3.0, think it's 2.2-ish on most monitors?

 

So that gives you an idea of how you need to convert the colors. You see where stretching out a flat image to make it a very contrasty one can run you into trouble. . .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Control I just brings up information.

 

All I am trying to do is see how our exposure and focus is. I know it's not going to look amazing like this. That' not the purpose.

 

Still no idea how to invert though. Not having access to a Mac is truly a pain.

 

What I am looking at...

qtneg.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not having access toa PC is a pain for me!

 

 

Sorry, I am not an expert with the software you are using. I can at least help you with the image you posted though. Keep in mind my home computer isn't color calibrated in any way, but this gives a rough idea of how it'll look as best I can approximate it.

 

I just primitively cut out the image you posted, neutralized the color cast, adjusted the gamma, and then inverted in Photoshop.

 

qtPOS.jpg

 

 

 

 

EDIT: It looks different online, even though I thought I'd accounted for web colorspace. I'm pretty good at reading color neg.'s. Your exposure looks a little flat, and there's ugly fluoro spill on the telephones (at least if this were a drama, if all available lighting you can't pick and chose). But there's enough detail in the shadows to pull it out, at least on the film. Don't know about the image. I wasn't successful in rendering it without noise, as you can see.

Edited by K Borowski
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Ok

 

Download this:

 

http://djv.sourceforge.net/

 

 

 

And then once you have the footage open:

 

go to

 

Image --->display profile----->show

 

then there are 2 sliders for output simply reverse them. The top one run to the right and the bottom one run to the left and it should invert your image. I just tried on my mac (program is the same iirc) with some normal video and it inverted it.

You can then play it back as a video file.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...