I would appreciate any information on what you could consider to be "budget-friendly" means of getting footage shot on 16mm into the computer for editing on, say, Final Cut Pro (this is with audio sync-up for dialogue and other necessary sounds in mind).
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Cost-friendly alternatives to telecine
- Thread starter SkepticalMetal
- Start date
How cheap you wanna go? 
Rent a 16mm projector, screen against the wall and shoot it with a camcorder. That's about as cheap as it gets. Looks appropriately awful, too... but it gets the job done.
You could buy or rent a transfer box, which is essentially the same but the camcorder shoots the small window. A lot more accurate, but still a mediocre image. (Some of the pricier models even let you shoot frame-by-frame! Could possibly use a DSLR to record it! Forgot the name of the popular one. My buddy has one for Super-8)
But really, you should look up the rates at a place like www.YaleFilmAndVideo.com , just one of several reasonably-priced film labs with options for transfer quality. If you've gone to all this trouble to shoot some sweet, sweet 16mm film, why drop the ball at transfer and end up with junky-lookin' footage to edit with?
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Rent a 16mm projector, screen against the wall and shoot it with a camcorder. That's about as cheap as it gets. Looks appropriately awful, too... but it gets the job done.
You could buy or rent a transfer box, which is essentially the same but the camcorder shoots the small window. A lot more accurate, but still a mediocre image. (Some of the pricier models even let you shoot frame-by-frame! Could possibly use a DSLR to record it! Forgot the name of the popular one. My buddy has one for Super-8)
But really, you should look up the rates at a place like www.YaleFilmAndVideo.com , just one of several reasonably-priced film labs with options for transfer quality. If you've gone to all this trouble to shoot some sweet, sweet 16mm film, why drop the ball at transfer and end up with junky-lookin' footage to edit with?
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Telecine is the 'cost-friendly' option. The more expensive option is a scan.
If you have comprehensive camera reports you could potentially only telecine or scan the 'circled' or 'print' takes.
Telecine is usually charged per hour, so that should reduce your time in the suite slightly.
Zensteve mentions some options, but as he's already pointed out - why would you shoot 16mm only to junk-up your footage to save a bit of money in the transfer?
If you have comprehensive camera reports you could potentially only telecine or scan the 'circled' or 'print' takes.
Telecine is usually charged per hour, so that should reduce your time in the suite slightly.
Zensteve mentions some options, but as he's already pointed out - why would you shoot 16mm only to junk-up your footage to save a bit of money in the transfer?
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This seems like an interesting option... http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/kinograph-may-be-the-savior-of-film unfortunately seems it's a bit stalled and not actually available.
How cheap you wanna go?
Rent a 16mm projector, screen against the wall and shoot it with a camcorder. That's about as cheap as it gets. Looks appropriately awful, too... but it gets the job done.
You could buy or rent a transfer box, which is essentially the same but the camcorder shoots the small window. A lot more accurate, but still a mediocre image. (Some of the pricier models even let you shoot frame-by-frame! Could possibly use a DSLR to record it! Forgot the name of the popular one. My buddy has one for Super-8)
But really, you should look up the rates at a place like www.YaleFilmAndVideo.com , just one of several reasonably-priced film labs with options for transfer quality. If you've gone to all this trouble to shoot some sweet, sweet 16mm film, why drop the ball at transfer and end up with junky-lookin' footage to edit with?
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That's a good point. Is there possibly a directory somewhere on the net that could help me find similar laboratories?
EDIT
Been looking through Kodak's directory -- for some reason, 16mm B&W Reversal won't show up as a transferable medium for any of the labs in their listings.
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Cinelab does reversal... I suspect many other do too.
http://www.cinelab.com/16mm.html
EDIT: That might just be processing, not telecine.
http://www.cinelab.com/16mm.html
EDIT: That might just be processing, not telecine.
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Yale (linked above) does reversal, too. Lots o' places do it.
You're not gonna make me break out this dreaded link, are you?
Your best bet will be to call a number of labs, explain that you're trying to telecine reversal (I assume you have it processed already), and see what the best price is that they can give you. I'm not sure how much footage you need to transfer, but a 5 minute short with a 3:1 shooting ratio will have a much smaller cost (as you might only be in there for an hour) versus a 2.5 hour feature with a 20:1 shooting ratio
With the projector and screen method, here's a couple of tips from personal experience. Shoot at a higher frame rate than the projection (30fps or 60fps). Auto focus and exposure off. Run through the film dry to set the exposure and focus. Start recording... Then start the projector. Let the recording go a couple of seconds after the end as well.