Film Calculations

16mm film at 16fps 1) 2.5 seconds per foot (this is handy if the film has to be stitched together and cinecap cannot provide footage)

16mm film at 24fps

1) 1.67 seconds per foot (this is handy if the film has to be stitched together and cinecap cannot provide footage)

Film Transfers - Cleaning and Preparing

Overview: Just some notes on preparing and cleaning film before transferring.

How Should the Film Appear On the Rewinders

When one is standing in front of the rewinders, the film should:

• Be mounted on the right rewind post.
• The take-up reel (the empty one) should be on the left rewind post (the drive post with the handle)
• The sprockets should be on the far side of the film.
• The film should be coming off the top of the reel to the top of the take-up reel
• The emulsion side (the duller side) of the film should be facing up (we are talking about the black film and not the leader....may need to unwind the film a little to see the actual film)

Basic Rewinder Process

1. Rewind the film from the “dead” post ot the “active” (on your left).
2. Clean the film with a lint free cloth with a spot soaked in Solvon.
   1. Pinch the cloth around the film as you move the film
   2. I pinch the film near the “dead” post for two reasons:
      1. i.      The film has a longer period to dry before winding onto the take-up reel
      2. ii.      I can brake the “dead” reel easier if I’m near it (needed if you suddenly have to stop)
3. When the film has been moved and cleaned....
4. Move the reels from one post to the other keeping the reels in the same orientation
5. Now thread the film from the bottom of the right reel to the bottom of the take-up reel (the original reel)
   1. The film between the reels should be the glossy side up
   2. The film on the reels should be the emulsion side up

Situations or Problems:

When cleaning and preparing the film for transferring you can come across a few situations.  Here’s a list of them and the solutions:

• Upside down and backwards:
  • How can you tell.  The film will come of the reel with the shiny side (non-emulsion side) facing up.
  • Solution:
    • We have the original reel, call it reel A, and the spare take-up reel, call it reel B
    • Mount reel B (spare take-up reel) on the left post
    • Rewind film from the top of the reel A (original reel) to the bottom of the reel B
    • Reel B will now have the dull side (expulsion side) up
    • Remove reel B from the post
      • With the reel oriented such that the sprockets are near you, the film will now be rolling off the right hand side
      • Mount reel B on projector and scan
      • Replace reel B with reel A (the original reel) and rewind the film back onto reel A
• Splices Only On One Side
  • How can you tell:
    • Examining the film at the splices.
  • Problems this can cause:
    • When scanning 8mm film, the film will tend to get stuck in the track and jam causing the film to bunch up and wrinkle!!!
    • For 16mm film this can cause the film to jerk sharply at the top of the film path and this is turn may cause the projector to stop or the film to break or just to jerk during the scan.
  • Solution:
    • When winding the film through the rewinder keep and eye out for changes in film where a splice has occurred.
    • Generally the splices are at the end of 50 foot films that have been spliced together
    • You can usually feel the splice when cleaning it
• Film On Reel Backwards
  • How can you tell:
    • Look at a film frame closely. The top of the frame should be toward the head of the film (or the top of the frame should be toward the leader).
  • Problems this can cause:
    • When scanning the film (8mm or 16mm), the film will be scanned upside down and backwards.
  • Solution:
    • Rather than winding the film onto the cleaning reel and back onto the original reel before scanning we need to wind the film (while cleaning it) onto a temporary reel.
    • Then mount the temporary reel on the Sniper unit.
    • Scan the film as you normally would.
    • When the film is on the take-up reel, replace the temporary reel wit the original reel and then rewind the film onto the original reel.
    • The film should now be scanned and the original reel should have the film with the head facing out.

Sniper Units' Maintenance

Overview This is a general guide into issues and how to resolve and general tips on maintenance.

Cleaning the Lens

Use a lens cleaning cloth to clean the lens every time you use the units.  The 16mm unit can easily be clean with a finger and the cloth.  The 8mm unit does not have enough space to use a finger and cloth so I use a Q-tip with the cloth on the end of it.  I also use a flashlight shining across the lens to see if it is clean.

Lube 8mm Shafts

At the front of the machine, pull the reels off.  Pull the shaft out as far as it goes and put a couple of drips of sewing machine oil on the shaft behind the shaft flange.  Move the shaft in and out and spin it to get the oil all over the shaft.  Careful to get oil else where.  Clean up extra oil.

8mm unit races and then goes back to normal

This may be resolved by cleaning the sensor.

1. Take the back of the unit
2. Locate the wheel with the white knob that is located sort-of in the centre of the unit and to the left of the motor.  The white knob its attached to a black wheel that has a slot/key cut into it.  Line the slot up to the sensor (so that the sensor is "open").  Then use compressed air to clean the sensor.

8mm Unit Take-up Reel Stops and Starts

Open the back of the unit.  Lightly sand the edge black wheel (top left) at the end of the take-up reel shaft.  Also, lightly sand the part of the white wheel that contacts the black wheel.  Wash both parts with alcohol.  Take a photo of the belt and replace the belt as per photo.

8mm Unit Starts Slow And Then Comes To Speed

Usually after a break of using the machine (1 hour or more) when the motor starts the machine starts up slow and then slowly gets up to speed.  At first I thought it may be slipping belts.  Problem is dry or sticking "transmisson".   Check to make sure the transmission shaft has enough play by going to the back of the unit and pushing and pulling the white knob...you should see the cam on the front move in and out from the face of the unit.  A few drops of sewing machine oil should be added on the shaft that is visible between the back of the cam "plate" and the front of the unit (about 1/8" space).  Move shaft in and out and manually turn it and let it soak in.  After soaking run the motor on and off a few times.  I applied the oil a couple of times to make sure enough got on the shaft....can't get the nozzle close to the shaft so "accurate" dripping is the best one can do.  CLEAN the oil reside from the front of the unit.

Clean the 16mm unit's Audio drum

Every time a job is started one should clean the audio drum using a paper towel and some rubbing alcohol.  The drum is a silver round object about 1" in diameter located in the film path just above the "treble" knob.  Put some rubbing alcohol on the paper towel and place the towel on the drum.  Then rotate the drum by hand until the drum has been cleaned.

Setting the 16mm Unit Timing Wheel

When the scanning encounters flutters or blurrs it usually means that the timing wheel is not set correctly.

• should not move the wheel more than the thickness of the slot (in the timing wheel)
• alignment should be....
  • select the "play" position on the knob so that the claw shows through the slot
  • move the claw to the bottom of the slot by rotating the DC motor shaft up and toward oneself (standing at the back)
  • the timing wheel slot should be coming down into the gap (I found the sweet spot to be the slot's leading edge just coming into the gap)

16mm Garbled Audio

Issue....after transferring the optical audio the audio sounds garbled.  Like this example going from good to garbled:

[audio mp3="http://www.lifetimeheritagefilms.com/knowledgebase/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/good_to_garbled_audio.mp3"][/audio]

   Solution

Make sure the bottom loop in the film path has a loop.  The loop at the top of the film path is normally fine.  However the loop at the bottom is sometimes tight around the roller and this causes the garbled sound.  How to:

• Make a larger than normal loop at the top and close the switch half way from STOP to PLAY.
• Then pull a bit of the loop down from the top to the bottom.
• Then move the switch to PLAY
• Should now have a good loop at the top and bottom (better to generous than not).

Sometimes the top and bottom loop shrink when hitting a bad splice....watch for this as the audio may go garbled....this is what happened in the above example.

Film Transfers - Negative Films

Overview: Negative films (both 8mm and 16mm) require white balancing otherwise the finished film can be off in colour. I also found that if the white balance is off not only the colour can be impacted but so can the clarity of the image. I had one film that I incorrectly white balanced and the film had a green milky look about it. The milky look cleared up once the film was correctly white balanced.

White Balance - How:

1) Set VelocityHD to process NEGATIVE. 2) Load the film into the scanner and cue it up to a "white" section at the start of the film. Usually the best section is a clear piece of film at the beginning. 3) Push the menu button on the camera. 4) Toggle to the white balance and push the toggle in. 5) Run an 10 or 20 second test. 6) Process the test clip and view it. 7) If okay, proceed to the next step, otherwise repeat steps 2 to 6 on a different clip. 8) Re-cue the film to the start and scan it. 9) At the end, don't forget to RESET to WHITE BALANCE ..... set to white balance using no film in the gate.

Note

Setting the white balance on the capture camera WILL stay set even if the camera is turned off.  What will NOT stay set is the exposure setting.  If the camera is turned off the exposure setting will have to be re-calibrated (set it using the same method as before)

More Reference:

Here's a link to moviestuff's instructions on negative exposure.

Film Transfers - How Long Does It Take

16mm Film Scanning:   6 minutes per 100 feet

Processing (Negative):  19 minutes per 100 feet

Scanning and processing:    26 minutes per 100 feet

Cleaning: extra time

8mm Film:

Scanning:   5 minutes per 50 feet

Processing:  15 minutes per 50 feet when processing a file on N to C on Flag

Processing:  18.5 minutes per 50 feet when processing a file on N to N on Flag

Scanning and processing:    20 to 24 minutes per 50 feet

Cleaning: extra time

Film Transfers - Extreme Exposure

Overview Sometimes a film can have an extreme exposure.  For example I just had a 16mm film that was shot in B&W and the subject was highlighted by a "bright" light and the rest of the frame was black.....(you know, sort of like the interrogation under the bright light routine).

Problem:

Using the automatic settings caused the subject to blow out and the black to go gray and grainy.  Not good!

Test Solution:

When you have a film that you know is going to be difficult, test and process a small section so that you can view the result.

Solution:

In summary, the solution is to go manual on the camera exposure settings and/or the LED light source.

I tried using the LED light source and bringing the brightness down to just above off.   The processed film showed horizontal rolling lines in the black.   This is probably due to the LED's not working well at such a low level.  The blacks and contrast looked good though.

Next I tried setting the camera's exposure on manual and knocking it down to -3 of -6.  At the same time I also put the LED's on manual and turned them down a little.  It was a balancing act between the LED's and the exposure setting.  I tried not to turn the LED's too low to make sure i did not get the horizontal rolling lines....I just took the edge of the light.  I did a test section and viewed the results before doing the whole film.

Here's a link to moviestuff's instructions on manual exposure.

Film Cleaning and Prep Pointers

Overview: This article is on pointers regarding film cleaning.

Tools:

Rewinder, film cleaning fluid (Edwal bottles have Solvon), cleaning cloth, splices, splicer.

Basics:

• The rewinder should be placed on the table with the handles facing the operator.  The left rewinder should be the drive or geared rewinder and the right rewinder the slave.
• The film should be mounted on the slave.
• Film reel orientation:
  • for 8mm and 16mm sound, the sprocket holes should be on the far side of the reel
  • for 16mm silent, the sprocket holes are on both sides so they cannot help in orientation
  • BEWARE 16mm leader can be incorrect....ie. I've seen silent leader on sound film (the film has sprockets only on one side)
  • typically the film will come off the top of the reel to the top of the take-up reel
  • the film's emulsion side will be facing up
  • 16mm film frames are facing heads-up toward the leader.  If the frames are heads-down, then the film is on the reel tail out.
    • tail out film needs to be wound onto the take-up reel
    • while winding the film, clean it
    • when done winding, take the take-up reel and mount it on the projector
      • when the reel has been processed to thru the projector....
        • replace the original take-up reel with the original reel
        • rewind the film back onto the original reel
• soak some of the cleaning fluid on the cleaning cloth
• pinch the cleaning cloth on the film as you wind it onto the take-up reel
• then rewind the film back to the original reel
• if the film is very dirty and long I will refresh the cleaning cloth with more fluid part way thru the cleaning.  I may also clean the film on the return to the original reel

16mm Sound Film Pointers

Purpose This article focuses on transferring 16mm sound film.

What Can We Transfer

We can only transfer 16mm film with an optical sound track.

How Can You Identify Sound Film

16mm sound film has sprockets only on one side of the film.  Be aware though that sometimes the leader may not be the same as the film.  I have encountered silent film leader (sprockets on both side of the film) and then the film was a sound film (sprockets only on one side).   An optical sound track runs along the film on the opposite side to the sprocket holes.  The optical track looks like a dark and light wave pattern running along the edge of the film.

Preparation

1. Mount the film on the rewinders with the empty take-up reel on the crank winder.
2. Check to make sure the film is on the reel correctly:
   1. Emulsion side should be facing up...on the outside of the reel.
   2. For sound film the sprockets should be away from the rewinder stands.
   3. Sometimes the leader will say "header" or "trailer"....if it says trailer then the film is more than likely backward on the reel.
3. Check the leader of the film to make sure it has about 3 feet of leader.
4. Clean the film on the rewinders using the Solvon solution and a rag.
5. Rewind after cleaning.
6. Clean the Sniper-16 HD's:
   1. Gate using compressed air
   2. all the other track areas using compressed air
   3. wipe the lens with a lens cleaning cloth
   4. clean the sound drum (big silver drum with a red dot in the middle) with a piece of paper-towel and rubbing alcohol.
7. Set the silent/sound toggle switch to "sound".
8. Check the volume control knob.  It should be set to about 11:00 or 11:30.  Treble and bass are usually at 12:00.
9. Thread the film and run.

Film On Reel Incorrectly - How To Fix

Backward.

Sprocket on the wrong side.

Process 8mm or 16mm Film

Purpose: This document describes how we process film.  The process includes the following stages:

• Identify and catalog the film.
• Make minor repairs.
• Clean the film.
• Scan the film.
• Render the film into the final format.

Before we start any film transfer we do three main things, identify and catalog the film, inspect the physical shape of the film, and clean the film.

Identify and Catalog

Before we catalog the film, we need to make sure the customer information has been entered into the client log, www.lifetimeheritagefilms.com/clients/.  In particular we need at least the name of the client and the email address.  The email address is required if the film process is deluxe.

In the film catalog file, www.film2hd.com/myfilm/ we fill in the boxes in three steps:

1. Initial information such as the customer name, film id number, and various physical film identification stuff.
2. While scanning the film, or after scanning the film, we can add "tags" that identify the content of the film for future searching of our database.
3. After rendering the film we can fill in details such as the length, fps, etc

First let's identify the film:

1. size of reel (check diameter of reel with film size table) <insert link>
2. type of film a) Regular 8mm (Reg8) - film is 8mm wide with large sprocket holes on one side b) Super 8mm (Super8) - film is 8mm wide with smaller sprocket holes on one side c) Super 8mm (Super8) sound - film is same as silent Super8 but on the edge opposite the sprockets you will find a very narrow magnetic audio strip d) 16mm silent - film is 16mm wide and has sprocket holes on both edges of the film e) 16mm sound - film is 16mm wide and has sprocket holes on one edge and a optical sound track on the other edge
3. any identifying marks on the container such as year, title, what is on the film

Inspect Film

Physically inspect the film for:

1. Mold.  If mold is found <link to process to deal with mold>
2. Check to make sure film is on the reel correctly (ie. backwards, upside down, etc) - film orientation a) The leader should have the shiny surface up (this may have dull surface up and it really does not matter) b) the film should have the emulsion surface up c) film frame will have the top of the frame nearest the leader d) mount the reel on the right rewinder (dead post) e) the sprockets must be on the far edge (away from you) f) the film will come off the reel at the top and toward the takeup reel
3. If no leader, add one.
4. Check to make sure the leader is long enough: a) 8mm film - 2 feet b) 16mm film - 3 feet
5. Trim end of 8mm leader if needed - no sharp corners on the edges at the end

Film Is Not On The Reel Correctly - Fixes

Problem: The film head is okay (top of frame is nearest the leader or start of film), but the non-emulsion side is up.

Solution: Mount the reel as per normal except that the leader will be coming off the bottom of the reel.  Take the leader and feed it to the top of the take-up reel.  Then wind the film as normal and rewind as normal.

Problem: The film is backwards on the reel.  The bottom of the frame is nearest the leader (or start of film).

Solution: Wind the film from the original reel to the take-up reel and DO NOT REWIND.  Take the take-up reel and mount it on the projector.  After scanning the film, remove the take-up reel and replace it wit the original reel.  Now rewind the film onto the original reel.

Clean Film

Clean the films on the rewinders using the Solvon film cleaner (in the little brown glass Edwal film cleaner bottles):

1. Mount the customers reel on the right rewinder and the takeup reel on the left
2. Thread the film from top to top of the reels
3. Grab a film cleaning cloth and the Solvon
4. Open the Solvon, put the cloth on the opening and tip the can until you feel the liquid on the cloth
5. Close the Solvon cap ASAP
6. Where the liquid is on the cloth, pinch the film in the cloth near the left winder
7. Holding the winder handle, slide the cloth to the right reel
8. keep the cloth pinching the film near the right reel and wind the film onto the left reel
9. wind film onto takeup reel
10. Switch the reels from one winder shaft to the other, keeping the reels in the same orientation
11. Now thread the right reel to the left reel (customer reel), this time the film should go from the bottom to the bottom of the reels
12. If the film appeared really dirty on the first pass I sometimes will re-clean the film when rewinding the film back onto the customer's reel

Tips

• Make sure that the cap on the Solvon is closed ASAP because the Solvon evaporates quickly.
• On large reels I sometimes stop the rewind and check the cloth to see how dirty the film is.  If dirty I switch to a clean location and put more Solvon on the cloth.

Scanning Film

1. Place machine in "stop" (16mm) or "rewind" (8mm)
2. Clean machine a) For 8mm machine
   • take cover off film track and spray both cover and track with canned air
   • wipe dust off machine with a cloth

   b) For 16mm machine

   • remove and clean film gate with canned air
   • spray canned air of film track
   • clean audio drum with rubbing alcohol
   • wipe dust off machine with a cloth
3. Mount the reel.  For the 8mm machine you may have to place or remove the Super8 adapter on the reel axle depending on the film reel hole.
4. Thread the machine with film a)For 8mm
   • Thread thru the top of the film track and keep feeding until the film comes out of the back end of the film track,
   • Make sure the start of the film is hooked under the film post just below the front reel.
   • Hook the film onto the take-up reel and manually wind the film around the reel a couple of times

   b) For 16mm

   • Thread the film thru the film wheels
   • Feed the film into the slot on the take-up reel and manually wind the film around the reel a couple of times
   • Make sure that there is a fingers spaces between the first wheel wheel and the film
   • Keep the finger in the loop above the first white wheel and rotate the start switch to 2 o'clock
   • Remove the finger from the loop and pull the film down a little to increase the loop below the gate
   • Move the switch to the play position
   • There should be a good loop above the gate and below the gate
5. Run (use the "Motor" switch) the machine for a few seconds to settle in the film.
6. For the 16mm machine, make sure the "silent or sound" toggle is set for the appropriate film.
7. Also, make sure the switch box behind Flag's monitor is set to the correct machine.

The Software - "CineCap Velocity HD"

Start up the software on Flag captures the video feed from the scanner.

1. Make sure that Flag has enough space on the "N" drive...should have at least 200GB or more free.
2. Start up the software.
3. Check the "settings" tab to make sure that everything is set correctly.  Items to check are:
   • Drive to Capture...should be N
   • Manual Sync .... generally should be unchecked.  (used to be that if the 16mm film was bigger than 1200 ft, it had to be checked and set to -5...not sure if this is the case with the new software).
   • SD progressive .... only check if planning to render to SD progressive
   • Process all film as negative ..... check if needed
   • Lossless High Def ....  generally not checked...if checked,this gains about 5% quality and 4X the file size.
   • High Def Progressive .... usually checked.
4. Switch to the "Capture" tab and the image should be displayed from the scanner
5. Enter the correct "Film Type" and the full "Customer" name (ie. john_smith)
6. Usually the "Auto-name" boxed is checked....sometimes not checked if you want to override the naming.
7. Before "Start" is pushed, the filename number is the next number...after the "Start" is pushed it changes to the next number (not the current number).  Move the cursor onto the "Start" button.
8. Start the scanner and push the software's "Start" button before the film starts to show real images.
9. When the film is done scanning or approaches the end of the real images
   • Click the software's "Stop" button.
   • Then click the "keep" button.
   • Make sure the film has cleared the film track (for 8mm this usually requires a little manual push on the take-up reel)
   • Toggle the "motor" switch to off.
10. Rewind the film
    • Thread the end of the film into the customer's reel.
    • Wind film manually for a few turns
    • Switch the scanner to "Rewind"
    • Toggle the "Motor" switch on
    • Once the film has rewound, toggle the "Motor" switch off
11. Remove customer's reel from scanner and put safely away.

Tips

• Generally all toggle switches on the scanners should be up when the unit is running.

Render/Pulldown via CineCap Velocity HD

Go the "Speed Change" tab and set up the scanned film to be processed.