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Aloha everyone, I couldn't figure out where to put this, maybe someone can recommend the right category and I can repost. Anyway, I have a question about making a digital transfer from old source media. I have a client requesting the digital transfer of a film to enable him to upload onto a streaming service. Ordinarily this would be fine, but the best available source material is from a D2 digital video tape. The target resolution is 1080p. My understanding of resolution and scaling is mainly in graphic design and print, so jumping from 486p (SD) to 1080p (Full HD) seems like a pretty significant jump. I've already attempted to up-res the file in DaVanci Resolve (free version) and unsurprisingly the image isn't that great, not terrible, but most likely not what the filmmakers intended. In addition, interlacing lines are also noticeable and deinterlacing the image just makes the image muddy and blocky. The current plan of action is to have a transfer house rescan the D2 as a Pro Res 422, 486p with an SDI cable, and attempt to up res the file from a new scan. As a note, I have an existing file that is Pro Res 422, 486p but do not know what was used to scan it. I was told by the transfer house that this was doable even as the new scan would still be 486p. Is attempting to upgrade the resolution from a D2 digital tape to a 1080p digital file, without a significant loss of quality even possible? Could there be an alternate affordable process I'm missing? Thanks in advance to anyone that answers this.

Hello everyone, If this has been covered in a previous post please link, I was unable to find much on a few cursory searches. I am requesting advice or suggestions for a good lab who I can send Super 8 cartridges to for processing, telecine, and most importantly good quality post and colour grading. I am based in the UK (London). Normally I rely on someone local who hand-process the film and does all the post for me. I have always been very happy with his work, but I'm interested to see what kind of results I can get from a 'lab'. I am aware of Andec in Berlin ( andecfilm.de ) and the S8 Reversal Lab in the Netherlands ( super8.nl ). Though I have no experience with their service or even if they provide a Grading/Post service. Anyway, I am requesting suggestions, based on experience, of good labs. I'm happy to ship internationally NY, LA etc. for good results. Ideally it would stay EU though. Keep in mind, I am not seeking cinematic quality, for me the decision to use Super8 has always been a point a shoot, in camera, portable film format, so I am not seeking perfection. My main concern is over levels of noise and uneven exposures which I feel might be remedied with a higher quality transfer and greater attention to detail in the grading process (never mind my lack of attention to these details during the filming). I sincerely appreciate your advice, suggestions and shared knowledge. All the best

Just wanted to take a moment to talk about a recent experience with Gamma Ray Digital. After a less-than-ideal experience with another east coast business, I talked to Perry at GRD about scanning for a short I was shooting. He was polite and answered all of my questions clearly and quickly. their pricing was cheaper than every option I found in LA, and it was simple to budget for the scan since their scanning is done by the foot, NOT by the hour. I shot about 3900' of 5-8 year old 35mm color neg for this short. It was all processed and prepped for transfer by Fotokem in LA, and I overnighted the negative and a drive to Perry as soon as it was picked up. 4 days later the drive was on my doorstep with some great 2k DPX scans of all of the film. He ground shipped the negative back to me, and it arrived unharmed and well packed. That's all!

Hey everyone! So I live in NYC and I've been shooting Super 8 as a fairly serious hobby since last summer. I love it. This forum has been a source of so much info. I've already bought several cameras, shot vacations, field trips, events, etc. Problem obviously is it ain't cheap! And even more of an issue is minimums. Given that I don't normally shoot 4+ rolls at a time, I've been forced to wait for weeks if not months while I slowly shoot more rolls until I meet the minimums. I've gotten developing from Spectra with their film+processing packs for ~$40/roll but that of course doesn't include shipping to/from costs then I have to ship it out for HD telecine unless I do it somewhere in NYC but to be honest, I prefer the pro places as their quality and turnaround is been way better than local in my opinion. Moving on, I've also just bought film locally at B&H/Adorama for ~$38/roll or Du-All for ~$32/roll then sending for processing/scanning at CineLab. That's probably my cheapest method I've found since Spectra scanning is pricey!! Anyways, even with that, I run into the minimum issue with CineLab and Spectra. With $ minimums around 200ft for processing and $150 for HD scanning, that's around 6 or even 8+ rolls before I hit the minimum. I've gotten as low as 6 rolls telecined at CineLab for around $125 which is below their minimum but I guess they just shrugged their shoulders and did it when I mailed the package. All in all, if done right and hitting minimums, I can get a roll bought/processed/scanned for around $70 if not a little less including all the shipping. I know Spectra has their "Rank-A-Roll" packages but those are pretty steep in price in comparison to doing it normally. (~$105/roll) And Yale has its "Reel Deal" packages which are $125/roll. I've also (early on in my tests) gotten 2 rolls developed and scanned as a "Test Roll" from CineLab for around $90 but I'm not sure they'd let me do that every time. So all that to say... you guys have any advice as far as best quality/price balance for low volume Super 8? Does no one else run into this issue? You guys just always shooting 10 rolls at a time? haha. Help a budget filmmaker/enthusiast out!! I know I'm kinda asking for the moon here with film costs these days but the cheaper I can get my methods, the more I will shoot! And I'm always itching to shoot more film! (Also I am very eager to hear more details about Kodak's new S8 packages in the fall. Seems like that would fix my issues if the price is right) Sorry for the wall of text. Slow day at work haha.

Hello, I'm wondering if the slight ghosting of the previous frame is inherent in the Spirit transfer process. In the screen grab, you can see it around the eye and cheek of this snowman. The lines are where those were on the previous frame. Is this found with use in Arri scans, etc.? Thanks

Hi there, First post on this forum, nice to meet you. I'm looking to get some reels of 9.5mm archive film transferred. I've looked around on the internet (before finding this forum), and am now chatting to Images4Life in the UK. They seem to offer a great balance of options and price. I'm looking for a reference. Can anyone recommend their services? It looks like they're using a flashscan Choice. I'd be getting the scanning done at the full resolution, transcoded to ProRes 444. I see lots of discussion about quality on this thread. Does anyone have anything to add? Thanks! Stephen *Edit: full res would be their 2.3K

Hi I have been trying to research the best places to get my film 16mm stock developed (UK) and then transferred into digital format. I found a company called idailies Has anyone had any dealings with them? Would love to know if people have used them and what costs where involved Anyone have any footage I can see that they processed would be a treat too many thanks David

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.)