where to get a GOOD telecine transfer

[jamie tolagson]

Hi everybody.
I recently had my 20 minute black and white super 8 film transfered to mini dv and was shocked at how bad it looked. I had it done by a place here in vancouver called Triad that is supposedly the only place in town with a telecine machine (the best for transfer, right?) The transfer they did was very soft with no contrast at all. It's almost like they threw the whole thing out of focus just a fraction. It's alright looking, but doesnt look like super 8 because there is no grain or clarity. It almost looks like black and white video. I want a transfer that is sharp as a tack, I want to SEE the grain of the film. Does anyone here know of a place that provides excellent SHARP super 8 transfers to mini dv? Much obliged to anyone who answers.

[MovieStuff]

Originally posted by jamie tolagson:
I had it done by a place here in vancouver called Triad that is supposedly the only place in town with a telecine machine (the best for transfer, right?)

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hi!

Actually, any form of film to video is called "telecine" and there are several different devices that will provide telecine transfers.

Originally posted by jamie tolagson:
I want a transfer that is sharp as a tack, I want to SEE the grain of the film. Does anyone here know of a place that provides excellent SHARP super 8 transfers to mini dv?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">http://www.moviestuff.tv

We'll do a free test, if you'd like. I think you'll find our transfers are very sharp.

Roger

[Scott123]

WOW, that whole process sounds awesome. too bad it's a little too out of my price range.

[Nigel]

You should check out www.flyingspot.com they are in Seattle. I haven't used them yet but I am going to when I get enough S8 footage built up. If they are out of your league then I would go with Roger for sure.

Good Luck

[oseus]

Jamie, I believe that Triad uses an Elmo TRV-S8 or a Sony BM2100. Can't recall which they mentioned when I called them. Both of these machines, to the best of my knowledge are relatively old. You could also try "London Drugs"(they also use one of the previously mentioned machines). They will transfer your film, it will likely be cheaper than Triad, but it will take up to 6 weeks to go to Toronto and back. Someone suggested that I try "Rainmaker" which is a professional post lab servicing mainly the 35mm industry in Vancouver. I have not had a chance to call them yet to inquire. If they are able to help you out it will likely cost you a bundle.

Other than that I think your best bet if you want a "sharp" image is to break into your piggy bank and use Roger's service or Flying Spot in Seattle. I have seen samples of both and they look great. I plan on giving them both a chance once I finally get that first short made...

Here is a link to another web page with a run down on transfer options:

http://www.8mm.filmshooting.com/telecine/index.php

As an aside, if you are looking to Develope Ektachrome in Vancouver Action film will do it for about $25.00 and it will take three or four days. Or you can go with London Drugs ten bucks cheaper and once again up to a six week wait.

[jamie tolagson]

hey everybody, thanks for all the replies.
I think i am going to send a test reel to Roger for starters and go from there.
The place in seattle has a strange, enigmatic website that I couldnt find anything about super 8 film transfers on, so I will have to get a link from somebody to their transfer info.
Thanks for the tip about Triade's equipment and London Drugs. For some reason i just don't feel that optimistic about London Drugs transferring my stuff, but maybe i'm wrong. Anyone had anything transferred by them?
Also, a final question to everybody. This is offtopic but: Has anyone tried that new Kodak Surveillance super 8 stock? I'm curious how it looks.

[woods01]

There was a topic about this recently about 8mm
telecine in Vancouver. I saved this piece of
advice but have never acted on it:

&gt;There's a whole bunch.
&gt;Limelight Video, Kerrisdale Cameras, Camtex, &gt;Rushant Cameras.
&gt;I believe Kerrisdale Cameras and Rushant &gt;Cameras send it off to some guy who does it &gt;professionally. Of these two places, choose &gt;Rushant Cameras. The people at Kerrisdale &gt;aren't too friendly.
&gt;
&gt;Camtex does it digitally and it could be quite &gt;expensive depending on your budget. I &gt;personally think they're a rip off place.
&gt;
&gt;Limelight Video is a nice place and cheapest. &gt;They transfer optically.
&gt;
&gt;Good luck!
&gt;Let me know how it goes.
&gt;
&gt;Jeffery

Its dissapointing to hear about Triad being bad.
I was considering using them for about 1000 feet
of film. I had heard that the CBC and others use
them for transfer old stock for documentaries.

Moviestuff seems to be universally praised but
if you've got a lot of film buying one of their
rigs and then reselling on ebay when your done
might be an option. Regardless of where you get
it done, large volumes of film with cost $$$$.

I used to work at London Drugs and once asked
about the film transfer service. Apparently its
done in Edmonton and they will give a VHS copy
only no mini-DV tape. Didn't know that they
developed Ekta! I had one roll done at Action
Films, it looks great altough they loose points
for not putting on a leader and putting the film
on crappy reels.

If you try out another transfer service in Van
post it here and share your experience.

BTW I just checked out that Seattle website. Very
creative design (for high speed net users) but
it is brutal to navigate in! Cool looking but
impractical its like playing Myst.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 11, 2003 04:48 PM: Message edited by: woods01 ]</font>

[jumar]

Originally posted by oseus:
As an aside, if you are looking to Develope Ektachrome in Vancouver Action film will do it for about $25.00 and it will take three or four days. Or you can go with London Drugs ten bucks cheaper and once again up to a six week wait.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Does London Drugs develop anything else? (ie. tri-x / plus-x?) They don't seem to sell anything but K40.

[Nigel]

The reason that you couldn't find prices from www.flyingspot.com was that they give quotes only after they know to which format you are going to and exactly how much footage you have.

They are not cheap. They will got HD however. It may be overkill but I am drooling to see how it looks.

Good Luck

[jamie tolagson]

Just a quick response to a few things:
I don't think i should have said that the transfer i got from triade was "bad". It wasn't bad, it just wasnt what i wanted. Most people who saw it thought it looked fine, I just wish it was sharper. I may be looking for something that doesn't exist, the "perfect" transfer or something. I don't want to badmouth them because they did do a decent job.
The other thing is, regarding Camtex doing a digital transfer and it being expensive, this is completely opposite of my experience with camtex. I took them a 50 foot roll for a test transfer to dv. I got it back and it was, without a doubt, the WORST transfer i have ever seen. You could have done a better job filming it off a wall, easily. Triade is leagues above Camtex in that respect, but more expensive. Camtex transfers are actually quite cheap, but you get what you pay for. In the case of Camtex, crap.
Rant, rave, snort.