8mm film capture to pc via Canon XL1 snafu

[ghost4]

Hopefully I'll get some suggestions on this one. I am transferring old home movies to computer. I don't have thousands of dollars for a Hollywood level telecine machine, so I am using the poor man's method of projecting the image onto a SIMA light box, and then videotaping that image using my Canon XL1. Here is the problem (well, 2 problems)...

1. The image is dark around the edges on the video camera (looks just like a bad "cam job" illicit Malaysian moviehouse videotape of a Hollywood Movie right off the theater screen).

2. MOST IMPORTANTLY: The color saturation of the videotaped image is awful. This is a 6K dollar 3 chip camera known for color separation, but the colors look as though someone took their "color setting" knob on their TV and turned it down about 1/2 way towards black and white. The colors on the image from the projector are beautiful bright emerald green grass and azure blue sky, but on the camera viewfinder (and on the computer captured image) the colors are very muted. I just don't understand why I cant get the camera to faithfully record the colors I see on the light transfer box with my naked eye!

Anyone?

[charonjr]

Originally posted by ghost4:

1. The image is dark around the edges on the video camera

2. MOST IMPORTANTLY: The color saturation of the videotaped image is awful.

<font size="2" face="verdana, sans-serif">Hi! The SIMA box is good, but you need to remove the translucent screen. You only need the front surface mirror to reverse the projected image so that the camera will see it properly. The next thing to do is move your camera in until the brightness fills the image. What we're doing is called Aerial Image Cinematography, because you are aligning the focal plane of the camera with the focal point of the projected image. (If I remember right....)

Anyway, you'll be shoot the aerial image directly without a screen interfering and causing a drop in your color saturation. Also, when your focal plane is aligned correctly with the aerial image, it will be lit evenly. Just make sure to set your white balance on the projection lamp without film first.

All of this is detailed in the American Cinematographer's Manual (1980) pg. 517 in the article "Aerial Image Cinematography".

Hope this helps. I made use of a similar approach with my Bolex and got good results. [img]graemlins/film.gif[/img]

[Alex]

Charonjr,

Thanks for your contribution! Ghost4, thanks for your question, it's highly relevant for those trying different "do it yourself" telecine transfer techniques.

Film and Video Transfers in Northridge California offers a pretty nice quality Super-8 telecine and Regular 8 transfer for around $95.00/hr plus stock (telecine is not a Rank Cintel Transfer, although they offer Rank Cintel Transfers as well)

<font color="#7BC618" size="1">[ October 07, 2003 01:15 AM: Message edited by: Alex ]</font>

[charonjr]

Thanks, Alex.

I found further information that can be useful.

In the 1986 American Cinematographer Manual (Addendum to 1980), on pages 284-298, is the article "Front Projection Process". It details the Zoptic process used in "Superman: The Movie", involving a Scotchlite screen. It has a diagram on page 285 that shows the nodes of projector and camera (film gate and focal plane) being equidistant from the partial mirror used in this process.

All that needs to be done to adapt this process for re-photography is use a front surface mirror at 45 degrees to both devices. As the camera is moved closer to the mirror, the hot spot of the image will grow to encompass the image, evenly lighting it. This is the proper position for the camera to be in to shoot the image from the projector.