A WorkPrinter Question (Filming Test Shots)

[tfunch24]

Roger Evans states that the best "test film" to use for setting up the WorkPrinter/CineMate would be very bright with good contrast. If you were to make your own film specifically for testing one of these units, what reversal stock would work best? My guess would be Tri-X or Plus-X.

Tom

[dr.sanchez]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="90%" bgcolor="#333333" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bgcolor="#FF9900"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by tfunch24:
Roger Evans states that the best "test film" to use for setting up the WorkPrinter/CineMate would be very bright with good contrast. If you were to make your own film specifically for testing one of these units, what reversal stock would work best? My guess would be Tri-X or Plus-X.

Tom</font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

Though I don't yet use a workprinter, my transfer experience suggests that a 'good' contrast may not necessarily mean a ~high~ contrast. I think that because video has less range than film, the details in the highlights and shadows will disappear in the transfer. Therefore, wouldn't you want to test the workprinter and video camera settings on something that can accurately be reproduced on video? That is, on a test film where the range of dark to light is within the video's range?

What if you had a few minutes worth of shooting a test card, like a gray card, with 20 bars of different shades of gray (from black to white) as well as a bunch of bars for color adjustment?

[MovieStuff]

The reason you want film that is bright and has good contrast or, rather, sharp contrast, is to aid in adjusting the focus and camera alignment. Scenes that are murky, dark or soft will make alignment a nightmare. Old black and white cartoons are a terrific way to set up the WorkPrinter or the CineMate. However, you need to take into account that they are generally a print with the emulsion on the opposite side as camera original. For initial alignment and testing the mechanics of the unit, they work fine. Then you need to switch to some real footage that has a good grey scale and nice color to see how your camera works.

Roger