8mm Telecine

Hey, for those of you that have done it, where's the best place to get 8mm telecine and a digital file from? I'm working with a new client that has an 8mm reel from the 70's she wants incorporated, it's already developed, just need a usable version.

How long is turnaround?

Thanks for the help!
 
I've used Yale Film & Video for Super-8 and 16mm transfers. They also do R8 transfers.

They didn't have HD transfers, last time I checked. I'm not sure what resolution their digital files are. Turnaround was next-day.

Pro8mm has a 2K scanner, and much higher rates.

:)
 
Hey, for those of you that have done it, where's the best place to get 8mm telecine and a digital file from? I'm working with a new client that has an 8mm reel from the 70's she wants incorporated, it's already developed, just need a usable version.

I'd be very wary of putting 8mm film through a telecine. A proper film scanner (Pro8mm uses what is essentially a modified telecine) that can deal with older film formats shouldn't have sprockets or use any kind of pin registration. Both of these can seriously damage older film, which tends to shrink quite a bit. There are lots of other issues with telecines, particularly when encountering splices. The film has a tendency to jump a little through the gate, resulting in a momentary warping of the image at the splice. This can only be corrected through pretty painstaking work in a film restoration system, or for simpler stuff After Effects or similar compositing tools.

While some modified telecines call themselves scanners, the important distinction is to look at the kind of imaging system used: a scanner that has a full-frame CCD for instance, will take a "snapshot" of each frame of film. A telecine will use a line scanner that scans the film as it rolls past. This is what causes the warping effect at splices. With a scanner that images the whole frame, you avoid the warping problem. Plus, modern scanners tend to be way more gentle and that's critical with old film.

-perry
 
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