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Workflow for correcting issues with Super 16 Bolex footage


Adam Levine

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Hi all,

 

Infrequent poster here. I am working with Super 16 footage I shot on a Bolex that turned out to have a number of issues - light leaks on one side of the frame, a nasty thick hair along the top of the image, and a slight but persistent registration problem. The gate on the camera was recently converted and as I used to finish on film (I make short experimental films) this is my first time actually finishing on video. After talking to a few friends, I decided to scan to 2k instead of 4k as it seems like some find the higher resolution more noisy. So, with all that background...

I am thinking my workflow should be as follows:

1.Picture lock without processing any of the footage.

2. Use Premiere's Warp Stabilizer with no motion option (footage was all shot on a tripod except for a couple of shots which I will treat separately). Also select "no crop" for stabilizer.

3. Crop the image to hide all/some of the light leak and hairs. I assume that the crop will have to be the same across the whole project so that the grain size remains consistent. Am I right about this?

4. Grade and export

 

Does this seem like the right way to go? I only ask about 4k above as I'm wondering if there will be less degradation/softening of the image after cropping, but if that resolution is noisier anyway, maybe not? The final presentation is for a video installation on two 60" monitors, if that makes any difference.

 

Thanks so much for your help and advice! Happy to post examples if that would help.

Edited by Adam Levine
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I personally always scan 16mm in 4k, there just isn't any reason not to. 

With a 2k file, if you want to manipulate, you're now decreasing your resolution. 

Also, for distribution 1080p web streaming files look like crap. The compression is horrible. So you always want to upload any finals for web streaming, you're now having to work in a 4k workflow from start to finish. 

So yea, 4k for the win.

Yes you will want to do the edit first. Then do the clean up later. You can copy and paste the cropping to all the clips and then reframe each one individually if need be. 

I use Resolve for all this work, it's smoother has way better stabilization and is much easier to make consistent across the board. It also has cleanup tools specifically designed for film, which are nice when you need them. 

 

 

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Thanks so much! So you've had no issues with increased noise in the 4k scans? This possibly doesn't make scientific sense, but I heard a few people mention that they feel like the higher resolution includes more unwanted detail in the interaction between the pixels and film grain,

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9 hours ago, Adam Levine said:

Thanks so much! So you've had no issues with increased noise in the 4k scans? This possibly doesn't make scientific sense, but I heard a few people mention that they feel like the higher resolution includes more unwanted detail in the interaction between the pixels and film grain,

It should be "crisper" for sure, but that's a good thing, not a bad thing. 

Some scanning techs do turn on the sharpening quite a bit on the scanner. Our scanner doesn't have this problem, the sharpening is off, so we actually slightly sharpen in post to control it better. 

Here is an example (test footage) 

 

Edited by Tyler Purcell
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