Is it worth it?

Phil Rhodes · July 8, 2005

Hi,

I await a demo of this fantastic homebuilt scanner with baited breath. If it's any good, I suspect it cost more than several video cameras!

Phil

Stephen Williams · July 8, 2005

Hi,

I await a demo of this fantastic homebuilt scanner with baited breath. If it's any good, I suspect it cost more than several video cameras!

Phil

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I guess he has based it on a film camea, quite possible.

Stephen

Robert Hughes · July 8, 2005

I dunno, the home brew film scanners I've read about on the web would take from now until Doomsday to scan in a significant length of film.

Phil Rhodes · July 8, 2005

Hi,

I'm not sure it's even that hard to do - a decent DSLR, and the movement from a nice steady camera, plus a bit of computer ingenuity.

Phil

Stephen Williams · July 8, 2005

Hi,

I'm not sure it's even that hard to do - a decent DSLR, and the movement from a nice steady camera, plus a bit of computer ingenuity.

Phil

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Hi,

Exactly! An old aerial image, optical printer or Oxberry from E-Bay!

Stephen

Brant Collins · July 9, 2005

Cost aside.... I have only shot film twice. Once whin I was 8 my cousin and I made a short film and last year when I got my Super 8 of e-bay. I am head of commercial production at a TV station and I am 35 so my only experience is video. I got to demo a SONY HD yesterday(HVU-Z1) the footage was amazing for the price(5k), but I was a promotions producer at another station 2 years ago and my creative director wanted shots for a NEWS opens(launched a new station). She was set on FILM, the company I hired was Waymack and Crew here in Little Rock, AR they do all the ARMY OF ONE spots(They use HD same camera as Lucas). Waymack tried to talk my director into the 24P HD due to budget( they said they could shoot all day for a lot less than film) but my director wantedd film. She got film.(Wamack shot on an Arri 16-it looked great)Was it beter that 24P HD or more expensive?That is not the point, I want to have my own production house someday and if a client comes along and wants film I want to be able to do it. I will be honest, I do not feel compfortable with film yet and it is scary and harder than just pointing a video camera and looking at the monitor. That fear is what holds alot of video guys back from doing film. The other is planning, not much planning on video shoots(tapes cheep) but with film you need to know your shoots and be confident with your creative decisions. So I feel what makes film look like film is the process. Alot of work and effort goes into a good film shoot.

HD is here I will get a HD video camera, but I will learn Film so I can rent a 16mm when a client must have film.

John Hyde · July 9, 2005

Brant,

If you want to experiment with film on a low budget (or for an edgy, film look with some of the video you shoot), I would recommend giving the guys at Spectra Film a call. They have a decent supply of affordable, serviced super 8 film cameras with warranty and plenty of advice. They are a full service facility and will have everything you need to shoot, process and transfer to video.

Check them out here: www.spectrfilmandvideo.com

Shoot bits of super 8 and build it into your video budgets (for cut-aways and transition shots). If you mess up, it may work even better! That will give you the practice you need with little or no money out of your pocket. As you gain experience you will have a much easier transition to 16.

Edited July 9, 2005 by John Hyde

Alessandro Machi · July 10, 2005

I will be honest, I do not feel compfortable with film yet and it is scary and harder than just pointing a video camera and looking at the monitor. That fear is what holds alot of video guys back from doing film.

Good points.

The other is planning, not much planning on video shoots(tapes cheep) but with film you need to know your shoots and be confident with your creative decisions. So I feel what makes film look like film is the process. A lot of work and effort goes into a good film shoot.

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Well stated.

Robert Hughes · July 10, 2005

"...I feel what makes film look like film is the process. A lot of work and effort goes into a good film shoot."

And that's the point. If you put the same amount of time effort into making a video shot look good, it will also look better than the standard video shoot.

It doesn't have to look like film but it does have to look better than mediocre video.

Ted Hoppe · July 27, 2005

Hi,

Oh, get serious; you can buy a half-reasonable prosumer video camera just for the cost of the transfer.

Phil

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When was it last time that you shot 1080p with a prosumer camera?

BTW: the scanner in a nikon film scanner I purchased via ebay for around 700.00. The scanner came with 35 and 16mm frame holders. I do a 3k scan per frame. It takes around 1.5 hour to to about three minutes of film. I am able to color correct each jpeg then I place the series into a mjpeg video in Avid. - I know its not for features. But much cheaper than shooting with a 75,000 dollar or more camera plus any transfer costs for HD video.

If you can shoot 1080p video for cheaper, I am listening!

Bon Sawyer · August 3, 2005

BTW: the scanner in a nikon film scanner I purchased via ebay for around 700.00. The scanner came with 35 and 16mm frame holders. I do a 3k scan per frame. It takes around 1.5 hour to to about three minutes of film.

3 minutes of film = 3 x 60 x 24 = 4320 frames

1.5 hours = 1.5 x 60 x 60 = 5400 seconds

5400 / 4320 = 1.25 seconds / frame

Are you sure about this? That's much quicker than any other claim I've seen for such a scanning method...

-Bon

Brant Collins · August 4, 2005

3 minutes of film = 3 x 60 x 24 = 4320 frames
1.5 hours = 1.5 x 60 x 60 = 5400 seconds

5400 / 4320 = 1.25 seconds / frame

Are you sure about this? That's much quicker than any other claim I've seen for such a scanning method...

-Bon

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Can you scan 8mm in a nikon scanner?

Bon Sawyer · August 4, 2005

Can you scan 8mm in a nikon scanner?

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I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't think so. You might be able to put one or two 8mm strips into the 16mm holder. (Probably only one, since Super 8 has different perfs to 16mm... maybe you could put in two if using regular 8mm?) But I doubt they'd stay in place well enough to scan properly, especially when moving. And even if they did, I don't imagine the registration would be good enough to make stable video clips out of the scanned frames without a lot of time and effort. To be honest, I'm surprised to hear that this method works well even for 16mm.

Super 8 doesn't really have the resolution to justify this kind of effort, in my opinion.

In any case, I think Ted is referring to 16mm, not 8mm.

-Bon

Edited August 4, 2005 by Bon Sawyer

Brant Collins · August 4, 2005

I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't think so. You might be able to put one or two 8mm strips into the 16mm holder. (Probably only one, since Super 8 has different perfs to 16mm... maybe you could put in two if using regular 8mm?) But I doubt they'd stay in place well enough to scan properly, especially when moving. And even if they did, I don't imagine the registration would be good enough to make stable video clips out of the scanned frames without a lot of time and effort. To be honest, I'm surprised to hear that this method works well even for 16mm.

Super 8 doesn't really have the resolution to justify this kind of effort, in my opinion.

In any case, I think Ted is referring to 16mm, not 8mm.

-Bon

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I saw plans on the net where guys have made auto advancing devices to scan Super 8 but look like too much work. Bono labs has a deal where you buy the film from them they will develope it and transfer it to mini-DV, Beta or directly to a hard drive in a Quicktime file you can edit in FCP. Have not tried them yet?