View Full Version : 8mm Film to DV


Chris Burchfield
August 17th, 2003, 08:39 PM
Has anyone used the GL2 to get great looking 8mm film transfers without the flicker? If so, what setting should I be using? Thanks for any help with this.

Brian Maier
August 17th, 2003, 11:10 PM
I use my Gl2 to transfer R8 and S8 film and have had great results from it but i also use it with a workprinter. So im actually taking a picture of each frame of film. If you are gonna try and use one of those boxes or just video it off the wall i think you are gonna want to use the 1/60th setting on the camera. Also if you have a 5 bladed projector you will get much better results than a 3 bladed one.

Chris Burchfield
August 19th, 2003, 07:15 AM
Thanks for the reply Brian.

I don't know how many blades my projector has, how can I check? Also, how do I determine what frame rate my projector is, 24, 30, or something else?

What is a workprinter?

Brian Huey
August 19th, 2003, 12:42 PM
I don't know about the blades, but I believe that all 8mm is 18 fps.

I was helping my grandpa transfer some of his old film and ended up using the 'Slow Shutter' setting on my old Sony Digital 8. It blurs the picture slightly where there is motion but it does nearly eliminate the flicker.

Cheers,
Huey

Joe Sacher
August 19th, 2003, 02:17 PM
Workprinter is a specialized 8mm projector. It has an adaptor to interface with the computer via a modified mouse. Each frame is loaded into view and then captured. This gives a perfect, frame accurate capture. I also use this and love the results. I can make 24 fps DVDs from the frame accurate source and they look great.

If I remember correctly, the web site is: www.moviestuff.tv Although it looks like it is down right now. With all the virus problems going on, I'm having a hard time getting anywhere at Amazon. :)

Brian Maier
August 19th, 2003, 02:19 PM
Unless you have a pretty nice projector chances are that it is a 3 blade. Post what brand and model and ill find out for you. As for the frame rate it will either be 18 or 24 fps. If any of your film has a magnetic stripe on its side it will be 24 fps for sure.

A workprinter will give you the highest quality transfer of your film without paying the $100-$300hr price of a rank transfer. A workprinter gives you frame accurate, flicker free, rock solid registration film transfers. Here is where you can find out more info on workprinters and Cinemates.

http://www.moviestuff.tv/8mm_telecine.html

Shameless self promotion que now....

If you are interested ill transfer 1 50ft roll for free so that you can view the results, and if you want to get the rest of your film transfered it would be $0.10 ft. You can find out more info about what i can offer here.

http://www.redfusionfilms.com/about.htm

Brian Maier
August 19th, 2003, 02:34 PM
joe is right one draw back/advantage depending on how you look at it is that you need to have a computer to use a workprinter, a cinemate you do not however.

Don Palomaki
August 20th, 2003, 08:10 AM
My understanding is that most regular 8mm film was shot at 16 Frames Per Second (FPS), and Single 8, Super 8, and silent 16mm were typically shot at 18 FPS. Sound often was shot at 24 fps.

Chris Burchfield
August 20th, 2003, 08:17 PM
Brian Maier,

Thanks for your replies. I have explored the WorkPrinter web site and even talked with Roger. I will more then likely end up buying the XP.

Do you use RAID-0 or simply just a dedicated data drive? What do you know about the DODCAP program that is suggested for frame capturing, or what NLE program do you use?

I have found out more information about my projector. It is a 3-blade unit running at 18 fps. Given what I know about the WorkPrinter system my hold Bell & Howell unit may be stuffed in the closet.

Brian Maier
August 20th, 2003, 11:19 PM
On my old setup (PIII 933 512mb ram) i tried raid 0 and single drive setups. Both worked just fine with no problems. The raid was 2 older 46 gb imb drives and the single was a WD 120gb w/8mb cache. As for software i started out using adobe premiere 6.0's stop motion feature but have now switched over to Dodcap. Dodcap is much easier too use and saves LOTS of time rendering. It is definatly worth the money in my opinion.

Miles Blow
August 21st, 2003, 04:35 AM
hi gGuys
If you are using the xm2 and happen to be in a contry that uses 50htz power supply (like australia and europe) you can use the clearscan function (68.4 hz for 24fps and 53.1hz for 18fps on our projector) to remove film flicker. We do it all the time when transfering super8/8mm/16mm to video.
It probabley works with gl2 in the US but I cant confirm this.

Hope this helps

Joe Sacher
August 21st, 2003, 11:17 AM
I use Dodcap for capture with the Workprinter. I don't use any pull-up/down with it. I use Vegas to do the pull-up/down. I set the video to play progressive at 24 fps and see how it looks. If it is the right speed, then I author the DVDs at 24 progressive. If it is another speed, 16 or 18 fps, I use 30 fps interlaced, to let the interlacing make the extra frames play smoother.

Brian Maier
August 21st, 2003, 12:12 PM
Joe that is a good idea im gonna try that the next roll i transfer. Your using Vegas 4 right?