Dirk DeJonghe

This looks like an optical problem in the lens or the telecine (registration) to me. Have you looked at the negative with a magnifier?

If it is E6 process, then no rem-jet backing is possible, no backing removal in E6 process.

the main problem is that B&W has a very different gamma and light absorbtion in the telecine. I would recommend keeping all color and B&W on separate rolls, the telecine calibration is vastly different for each.

If you work with 8bit linear images, you will very quickly end up with banding because there are too few steps in the darker parts of the picture. 12 bit is really the minimum for linear images if you want to do any color correction or compositing at all. Log 10 bit images such as Cineon or DPX solve this problem because they have finer steps in the darker parts and coarser steps in the lighter parts of the picture (unscientific explanation). The human eye is most sensitive in the darker parts and less in brighter parts. I did a digital grading on HDCAM material shot 8bit linear. Banding was unavoidable in night shots. Film is logarithmic, the human eye is too.

I couldn't agree more with Mike Most. Also the difference in quality going from good 2K to 4K is noticeable, but much smaller than the four-times increase in workload would suggest. Producers don't want to pay (mostly) the price premium. I use Baselight for grading, most of the work is done on proxies, instant playback on full res is possible be rarely needed for color correction work. Interactivity and speed are factors that are more valued on a grading session than 2K over 1K proxies.

When we make DVCAM/MiniDV output tapes from telecine transfers, they are made on a DSR-1500 VTR with full timecode/VITC capability. The VITC is generated by the Aaton Keylink keykode reader. The burnt-in timecode/aatoncode/keykode is also generated by the Keylink and placed in the black top and bottom part of the letterbox picture (if 16/9). Actually the DSR1500 is less convenient to work with than a Digital Betacam but many customers ask DV or DVCAM rushes these days. We prefer to include video TC, film TC if present, Keykode, video reel number in the visible information on the picture and do not want to rely on accurate EDLs supplied by the customer for negative cutting. These burnt-in codes are used as a double check on the data generated from the supplied EDL. This procedure has saved many films. Right now I am handling a PAL video where the customers swears it is 25fps but I see a repeat frame every second. This would be difficult to see if no TC/keykode is burnt-in unless there is some movement in the shots. You only cut a negative once. Has to be right the first time.

If properly stored, there should be nothing wrong with this stock. Low speed film ages slower than high-speed stock. It is slightly more saturated and contrasty than the Vision 2 replacement 7201. It doesn't tolerate underexposure as well. Processing is no problem, the chemistry ECN2 is unchanged.

We prefer rolls to be made up in lab rolls of about 1200 to 2000 ft before beginning the transfer. They are spliced and cleaned before transfer. If you bring individual rolls we will ask if they may be spliced together. if not a minimum charge of 15 minutes per roll will apply. Mixing single and double perf is no problem.

Film Recording is usually done to Intermediate 5242 or camera stock such as 5201 but not to 5272.

Ask your lab to do a sensitometric test to determine the processing time. In my experience this stock needs to be processed much longer than 7222 to get a nominal 0.65 gamma. After having established the proper processing time and if the stock is not too old, do an exposure test. I don't hink there are machine readable Keykodes either, but this may have changed.

I also know a school that 'overbought' on equipment. The have the finest audio mixing equipment available, and some very high priced Discreet products that only top of the line postproduction houses would consider. I know first hand they now have to cut back severely on student film productions because of 'no money left'. Ridiculous. Wrong priorities. What will the poor student learn by looking at the equipment instead of making films with it?

Printing color negative onto 5369 Panchromatic High Contrast stock gives very good results but the stock is very expensive, making it suitable for a very limited number of prints.

I would say the reason is both savings on raw stock and longer running times. The format was 2.35. There are plenty of Aaton 35-III 3-perf cameras around here. They are quieter too on 3 perf. It all depends if the lab is equipped and interested to do 3 perf. Picture quality is not an issue.

Last year we completed the film "Een ander zijn geluk" www.eenanderzijngeluk.be/ It was shot on Super 35/3 perf using an Aaton 35-III camera and Zeiss HS lenses mostly used wide open. The DoP Frank vanden Eeden created a stunning visual style, earning him personal congratulations from Vittorio Storaro, president of the Jury at the Thessaloniki Film Festival. Because of some technical problems we had to do about 10 minutes digitally to mix with the optical blow up. The 3-perf negative was first printed directly to 4 perf positive for grading purposed, the IP was an optical blow up to 4perf Anamorphic and the dupeneg was optical 1:1 printed for maximum sharpness. The main problems in 3-Perf work are the Keykode operations, since they run at 64 perf intervals,not divisible by 3.

Dominic, It's now perchlorethylene (PER) and I wouldn't recommend it for hand cleaning for health reasons. Tetra or trichlorethylene is no longer available, banned product, used to clean very well. Isopropyl alcohol is fine for hand cleaning but flammable. These new micro-fiber pads should do fine when moistenend with alcohol.

hello Bernhard, I currently have two ways of doing SD: our Marconi telecine machine (21 years old but still OK for rushes) and our Oxberry scanner (not real time but highest quality). I am in negociations with Thomson and others for an HD/SD capable telecine to be able to do real-time HD transfers. This new machine should be installed before the summer. For very high quality SD or HD we use the scanner to scan direct to DPX 10bit RGB log files that are then graded in Baselight and output as DPX to DDR as data all the way. Only the last step from DDR to Beta Digi is in video domain. I scan at twice PALresolution for PAL so this gives absolutely perfect results after Baselight output to PAL. Scanning the negative on one light to 10 bit Log DPX files means that practically all the information is captured in the file; Our workflow is a bit slow right now but improving as we go. We scan about 20 minutes per day. If you want you can send me a few frames that I can scan and put on tape for you to see the quality.

I have a comparison between the Spirit 1 and the Shadow, same images to data DPX. I think the Shadow is sharper but has slightly more aliasing.

You may want to have a look at my website under 'downloads'. There is a method many of my customers use to determine the real speed of film stock taking into account the processing, lens, exposure meter and all other variables. Basically you try to find the point where a -4 stops grey chart just begins to register. That means you have 3.5 stops underexposure latitude. You determine the overexposure latitude in a keylight test after having run the first test. It's a two step process but very precise. Thanks to Ansel Adams. 'Place the shadows and let the highlights fall in place'.

If you need more than 3dB then something is wrong with the processing,exposure or telecine.

For shorts films with no distribution a direct blow-up may be the most cost-effective solution. You get very high picture quality, lowest cost, and the option to make an IP/DN later using the same grading data. No fancy grading effects are possible. For feature films, very few direct blow-ups are made because the distributor won't pay the price. The production company has to provide either a duplicate negative via IP blow up or a DI negative. Both scanning and recording prices have gone down considerably in the last couple months, a 2K DI with full digital grading is now only somewhat more expensive than a IP/DN blow up if you take the video mastering into account.

Count about 6 Euros per cut, from supplied video and EDL with FLX files to cut negative. Negative cutting is one of the cheapest operations in the lab but also one of the most critical ones with potentially disatrous results.

Do not forget to clean up after processing. These chemicals don't belong in the drain. They need to be collected and disposed of by qualified companies. You will be suprised to learn that this proper chemical disposal costs more than the original ingredients in some cases. Depending on location it could be extremely costly if caught dumping chemical solutions.

Paul, Lasergraphics uses a monochrome CRT tube, not LCD monitor. On another subject, I am comparing a Panasonic BT-LH1700WE broadcasst LCD SD/HD monitor with my current CRT based Barco grade 1 monitor. The feature set is nice, even a built-in waveform monitor, automatic switching from SDI to HD-SDI etc. But completely unusable for serious work: no blacks, they look cut-off.

In my experience, the latent image of color positive stocks ages worst, with up to 3 B&H density points loss of speed over 24 hours. When I record to positive stocks on my Lasergraphics, a compensation has to be added unless it is a very short film. 20 minute reels take about 20 hours to record so I plan it to finish about 12 hours before processing. Camera stocks and intermediat stocks are much less of a problem, I could not detect a practical difference between immediate processing and 24 hours later. There may be a difference but it gets lost in the noise.

last time I looked, informed people who buy used cameras do all sorts of film tests before giving the cash to the seller. These tests include steadiness test, framing tests, scratch tests, noise tests etc. if you buy from a reputable dealer, he will have no objection for you to run these tests and others in his facility. The exterior paint condition of a film camera is absolutely not of importance, this is NOT seen on the screen.