Four spots on my print, advise on 'Erasing' them from film transfer

Matt Stevens · December 13, 2012

Hello, all. Tommy at Video & Film Solutions transferred the 35mm blowup of my first short film (and Tommy is a great guy who does great work) and as expected, it has some spots. Long story, but in the blowup process all 2,300 or so frames have 3 to 5 specs. They are in fixed locations so normal DNR cannot be used.And yes, they are crazy distracting.

You might wonder why I didn't transfer from a 16mm print. Well, I don't have one. To save our budget we had a 35mm blowup made directly from the negative.

I have the 16mm negs in A B C rolls and transferrinf them means much more money (more than double). Not in the budget. Next time though. I just wanted to get this thing transferred since all I have had for years is a crappy VHS from Avid. :angry:

Anyway, I have watched a few tutorials and read some articles. No two methods are alike, that's for sure. And I gotta say, it looks a little out of my league. But I'll give it a shot and would love to hear from the experts on my best shot.

I am on a PC, a pretty darned good one and I run Adobe CS5 Production Premium. I do not have the money to upgrade or buy new software. I need to work with what I have or what's free.

But I imagine I could do a free trial of CS6 since I see some are using Premiere pro and Photoshop's clone brush/tool. I wonder if installing it and then removing it will mess up my CS5 install???

I'll be patient with this. I know there is no overnight fix and that it will take work, but advice is welcome.

This tutorial looks outdated and possibly inadequate for what I need.

https://vimeo.com/24850536

A newer way, requiring CS6.

http://www.premiumbe...ects-photoshop/

Here is what I am dealing with. (please note... These are not frame exports. I just hit print-screen with the file in QT and then pasted them into Paint Shop Pro, so do not judge telecine from these examples.)

Dirk DeJonghe · December 14, 2012

Get a 30 day trial license for PFClean from Thepixelfarm. Use the Clean Lens Dirt tool.

I don't understand why the lab delivered this print to you. Dirt on the gate of the printer is a reason to refuse the print, it should never have been delivered to the customer in the first place.

Matt Stevens · December 14, 2012

It was 11 years ago and I knew nothing. He said it was spots on the projector that was projecting the film. Well, it wasn't and I found out when I projected it at a festival a month later and whoops...

People here will know who he is so I won't say but I think he just had a bad time with my job. Ship happens. No one seemed to care at the three festivals it played. It kind of looked like the screen itself had spots, which many screens do (I've witnessed tens throwing buttery popcorn onto screens and that stains).

Anyway, one of these days when I have money to burn I will scan the 16mm negatives at 2k, color correct and have a 16mm print made for preservation.

As for your suggestion, that is a $7,800.00 program and don't see a trial version on their website. I doubt if they have one.

Edited December 14, 2012 by Matt Stevens