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jed · Jan 16, 2002, 10:06 AM

Does anyone know of any easy procedure to get my old film (no sound) home movies onto a dvd? I'm toying with the idea of renting a projector and playing them, while recording the wall with my digital video camera. Any experiences with this? How do those "conversion" services do it? They are really expensive and I do not trust them with my precious reels.

tr · Jan 16, 2002, 12:54 PM

you're idea of projecting and using your dv cam is right on. basically, that's what is done when you have your film sent out for video transfer. sure, there are some companies out there that use better techniques and professional transfer systems (like telecine systems), but it will be quite expensive.

i've actually done it myself: i projected some super 8 footage onto a screen/blank wall, and recorded it onto miniDV. then i imported the video into FCP. worked like a charm.

good luck,

tr

mitchell_pgh · Jan 16, 2002, 01:05 PM

Scan every frame and import them into Photoshop... <joke>

I have seen boxes (around $50 and up) that you set your digital video camera at one end and your projector in the other. It's much cleaner then doing it against a wall as it will appear brighter. But then again, your way will work.

SirCastor · Jan 16, 2002, 02:11 PM

Personally, I would advise against taping projection off the wall.

As mentioned above you can purchase a box which will convert the film to a video signal from a projector. That's the most efficient way and you'll get much better quality.

On the other hand there are services who will do it which have higher quality methods, but they are expensive.. Look around for Film to Video transfer services..

hype · Jan 17, 2002, 11:45 AM

As a film student, I've researched this whole area thoroughly--I needed to get my 16mm shorts onto my Mac so I can burn a demo reel. Basically, there are two ways to do this. The quick and dirty way is to do what you said; project the film on the wall and tape it from there. You'll most likely get a flicker effect, though, from the discrepancy between the 24 fps (frames per second) of film vs. the 29.97 fps of video. It's not bad, but it's definitely noticeable. If you go this route, your best bet is to project it as small as possible so the image stays crisp. You'll also run into trouble if you introduce any sort of sync audio into the mix. For reasons that are weird and complicated, a video of a film does not play at the same speed as the film itself. So if you've got, say, a three minute movie with a door slam two and a half minutes into it, it will not be in sync with your video copy. But you said your movies are silent, so this is all probably moot. The other option is to do a telecine transfer. These can be quite expensive, but they look great; because it's a supervised process, colors look exactly how you want them to look. In other words, there's much less left to chance. Basically, you get what you pay for. I would strongly advise against paying for a cheap, non-telecine transfer from a local dubbing house; all they'll do is project it and film it, which you can do yourself for free. If you're looking at the telecine route, I'd recommend talking to a company called PhotoChem. They're a film developing house out in LA, and are a hell of a good group of folks. Sorry if this got a little long winded, hope it helps-
-miles

tr · Jan 17, 2002, 12:28 PM

I have seen boxes (around $50 and up) that you set your digital video camera at one end and your projector in the other. It's much cleaner then doing it against a wall as it will appear brighter. But then again, your way will work.

i have one of these cheap transfer boxes, and basically the transfer consists of you projecting the film image on the back of a frosted screen, then video taping the front of the screen. The problem is your camera is not focusing on the film plane, but rather on the frosted screen, so the image isn't that great. plus, with a lot of these boxes, you may get a hot spot from the projector. that's why i would recommend projecting on a wall and taping.

as i stated earlier, and has hype said, the best way to transfer is to use a telecine system. but since these are just silent home movies, i don't think you would want to go to all that trouble, and spend all that money.

tr

+ spiral + · Jan 17, 2002, 12:43 PM

Originally posted by tr:
<STRONG>i have one of these cheap transfer boxes, and basically the transfer consists of you projecting the film image on the back of a frosted screen, then video taping the front of the screen.</STRONG>

I also have a transfer box, but it works with a lens to project through and a mirror to record off of. It works rather well. I can find out the name if you'd like.