High Speed Film to Video Transfer Machine -- Need IVTC Help

[videoFred]

Actually, when I was talking about Roger using a cam, I wasn't talking about a camcorder, but a mechanical cam (i.e., a disc with one edge flattened) used to press a switch which in turn signals the camcorder to take a picture.

A microswitch right? I'm using an optical swith.. infrared. A lightvalve...The output signal of that switch goes straigt to the machine cam trigger input.. no modified computer mouse needed. It's simple: the cam takes a frame when it gets a trigger pulse. :)

Because machine cams are using electronic shutters, this goes fast. Again, I can capture at 20fps this way. Frame accurate and progressive.

Fred.

[2Bdecided]

This is all fascinating - thanks for sharing you two.

I haven't tried this yet myself, but a thought about HD: I think it would work OK with something like the BlackMagic Intensity card, which allows you to get the raw data from an HD camera (e.g. HV20) without compression, and then use your own choice of compression (e.g. M-JPEG or lossless) within the PC.

I don't think it would work as well with HDV. Given the potentially noisy source, and the frequent "garbage" frames, I think MPEG-2 (i.e. inter-frame) compression is going to struggle a bit. At least, there is the potential to see more artefacts than you'd ever see with DV's intra-frame compression - since the "garbage" frame stands alone.

Have you done HD yet John?

Cheers,
David.

[johnmeyer]

I haven't tried this yet myself, but a thought about HD: I think it would work OK with something like the BlackMagic Intensity card, which allows you to get the raw data from an HD camera (e.g. HV20) without compression, and then use your own choice of compression (e.g. M-JPEG or lossless) within the PC.

I do HDV all the time, but my FX1 doesn't have an HDMI port. I'm not sure what percentage of high-res cams have this. However, this is clearly a better way to go, rather than dealing with HDV.

[2Bdecided]

With your 16mm film sources, did you get more detail out using HDV than DV?

Have you shared any HDV transfers anywhere on the web in HD? e.g. Vimeo?

Cheers,
David.

[johnmeyer]

I may do some 16mm to HD later this month. I'll try to remember to post something then.

[2Bdecided]

Thanks. Are you working with other film sizes too then?

I've got some 9.5mm stuff, but my projector is too rough to trust with it.

Cheers,
David.

[johnmeyer]

Some people have developed rigs for scanning film on a flatbed. Unless you have a projector for the 9.5mm, you'd have to do something like that. The flatbed approach is also a possibility if you want to try to rescue "vinegar syndrome" film. VS makes film shrink so it won't go through a projector anymore, even if you slow down the machine.

I do 8mm, Super8, and 16mm.

[dokworm]

Any update on this stuff guys?
I'm about to build a rig for 16mm transfer and would appreciate any new advice!