See the Goko TC-20 Transfer Film to Video in Actio

**Konton** · May 2nd, 2001, 07:23 AM

**AppleCore24** · May 2nd, 2001, 11:09 AM

Not bad. The last few pictures looked alot better to me than the first ones, do you know why?

**Konton** · May 2nd, 2001, 07:06 PM

Sure I do. All the images were shot with Kodachrome 40. But the last few were shot in daylight by me. The first group (the majority of the images) were shot with a small Super 8mm light above us, by my friend who didn't know entirely how to focus the camera. I plan to do most of my films using only one or two bright lights, and I needed to see how well the film would turn out using Kodachrome 40 rather than something like Tri-X. I like color.

**souper8** · May 3rd, 2001, 12:43 AM

Hi Konton,
Thanks for sharing the images. The brightness seems to be pretty even. The images are a little soft and I would like to see more contrast. Does the film look any sharper when projected? Is the lack of contrast on the film itself or from the transfer process? How does it look when shot directly with the digital 8 camera? I'm not sure how much information is loss via the s-video cable. Could the focus on either the camera or the Goko be off a little? It seems like if those two issues were resolved, you have a pretty sweet way of tranfering at home without building a cumbersome setup. In case you did not have time earlier, a white/color balance on the video camera might help also. If this machine can be modified to run at 15fps, you would be able to transfer using progressive frame mode on Sony DV cameras. The result would be a 1:1 frame transfer rather than a 60 field interlaced transfer. I'm thinking about picking up a tc-20 to test out with my Sony pd150.
Cheers,
souper8

**Konton** · May 5th, 2001, 09:45 AM

> Does the film look any sharper when projected?

Depends on how large I'm projecting.

> Is the lack of contrast on the film itself or from the transfer process?

It could be from the software used to transfer the images from digital 8 to my computer. I'm just using a Sony Digital Studio computer.

> How does it look when shot directly with the digital 8 camera?

How does what look?

> I'm not sure how much information is loss via the s-video cable.

I'm told quite a bit. I need a beta SP camera!

> Could the focus on either the camera or the Goko be off a little?

Yes. And the white balance and the black balance and the fact that I don't think I had the outdoor filter on when shooting the film . . .

> If this machine can be modified to run at 15fps, you would be able to transfer using progressive frame mode on Sony DV cameras.

I think it only goes down to 16 fps. But you should find out yourself. I don't have anything to measure it with.

You all make me feel like I'm not using it to the fullest potential. Maybe I should sell it after my production is over.

**MikeBrantley** · May 5th, 2001, 04:37 PM

Hehehe... I want one of these things. :-)

**jeffdod** · May 19th, 2001, 02:28 PM

Any chance that someone who owns one of these TC-20's could create a VCD-compatible mpeg file and post it someplace where we could download? This would give us a much better idea of the quality of these machines. I for one am interested in them for their compactness and convenience. I believe I can get a better transfer with a home system I've rigged up using condenser lenses (looks almost as good as a Rank transfer in my opinion). However, my home system takes a lot of effort to set up and use. I think that if I had one of these Goko's, I could transfer films quickly for other family members and friends, and the quality would probably be acceptable for them.

**capul8** · May 19th, 2001, 05:01 PM

Jeff:
How about describing your home transfer system for us?
There's a proud tradition of DYI among us, and we're always interested in how another guy did it himself.

Thanks,

Bernie

**jeffdod** · May 19th, 2001, 05:57 PM

My current system consists of a variable-speed projector (GAF Dual-800), a Sony DCR-TRV8 digital NTSC video camera, and a Buhl lens system. The lens system is simply two condenser lenses placed back-to-back. I place the projector about a foot from one lens and project the image on its face. I place my video camera the same distance from the second lens and the image is focused directly on the CCD of the camera. This produces an image that is (in my opinion) vastly superior to projecting against any sort of screen and filming that with the camera. It also allows me to film the image dead-on without too many alignment problems. Normally the bulb from the projector (8V/50W) is too bright, so I set the camera to the smallest aperture opening and also fixed a diffusing glass between the projector bulb and gate. I ordered an opal diffusing glass from Edmund Optics about 15mm square and placed tiny strips of magnetic tape around the edges. Then I was able to stick this to the metal plate that contains the film gate. It produces a very evenly illuminated frame with no hot spots. The resulting image is still a little too bright, but I hope to improve my system by modifying the projector to use a lower wattage bulb at a later time. The system also makes finding optimal focusing easy because I can always set the camera focus to the farthest setting from infinity. Then I can just turn the knob on the projector to find the best focus. Also, it seems that ambient light in the room makes little or no difference during the transfer. The image seems to look the same whether the lights in the room are on or off. I remember that when I was doing "off the wall" transfers, it was very difficult to get the lighting in the room correct, and too little ambient light actually caused images that were too contrasty.

One problem with my system is that the image produced is a mirror image of what it is supposed to be. I handle this by flipping it horizontally while editing on the computer. I tried correcting this by putting a first-surface mirror between the video camera and the lens, but this degraded the quality of the image. I will probably order a high quality mirror from Edmunds, which should do the trick.

My system is not perfect, nor is it unique. From what I have seen on the bulletin board systems, there are a number of people using this type of transfer system. It is the best thing available to me at the moment, and is definitely better than having a Rank transfer done. I did this with some of my old family films I wanted to preserve, and it cost a fortune.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling discourse! I agree with you that most film enthusiasts have a strong desire to transfer their own material rather than having it sent off. And for some of us, it has become an obsession! Online discussions of our systems are the best thing to help newcomers figure out how to transfer their own films.

- Jeff D.

**Alex** · May 21st, 2001, 12:58 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Courier, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by souper8:
Hi Konton,
Thanks for sharing the images. The brightness seems to be pretty even. If this machine can be modified to run at 15fps, you would be able to transfer using progressive frame mode on Sony DV cameras. The result would be a 1:1 frame transfer rather than a 60 field interlaced transfer. I'm thinking about picking up a tc-20 to test out with my Sony pd150.
Cheers,
souper8<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My MX-50 has a 15 FPS function...

I've used it to create a "film-look" feel.

Works great on anything that doesn't have
horizontal motion.

-Alex

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