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This is the trickiest part of the process. 16mm and 35mm motion picture film runs at 24 frames per second (fps) in the U.S. while European film runs at 25 fps. Various 8mm film formats traditionally run at 18 fps.
When the film is running at 24 fps, and the video camera is recording at 30 fps, you will inevitably get a "roll" pattern. The video camera will be photographing the closed shutter, and various partially open positions, too -- think of it as a moiré pattern in video!
Use a variable speed projector
Now, you're going to need a projector that has ‘variable speed’ control. That's because most projectors have a 3-bladed shutter and with it spinning around.....it registers out-of-phase with a video signal (which is actually 30 images per second, with 2 overlapping fields making up each image).
In order to get rid of the flicker for films that were shot at 18 frames-per-second (which is the normal amateur filming speed), the projector has to run at about 20fps, which is slightly faster. Using a variable speed projector, you slowly adjust the speed on it until you no longer see any flicker in the video camera's viewfinder. Then when you load your film into the projector, it will be under ‘load’ so you will have to again fine-tune the speed upward a tad to get rid of any flicker. Trial and error will show you the way here.
Make sure you carefully frame your videocamera lens onto the projected image, zoom in, then out slightly until you can see a bit of room all around the projected image....then zoom in just a bit more until it disappears. Shoot a short test, then remove the tape, and place it into a VCR and watch it on your TV to make sure you have completely filled the frame and can't see any rough edges all around the sides. The cameras aren't that accurate, so you will want to definitely conduct the playback test, prior to spending all the time it will take to transfer your films!
Use a newer camcorder:
With a professional digital video camera the process is much easier. Newer cameras have a feature called "Clearscan" that is designed to eliminate roll interference when taping video and computer monitors. Remove the roll with a small adjustment of shutter speed using Clearscan. The resulting video did not exhibit the jerkiness of a 15 frames-per-second video because it is very close to the normal 30-frames-per-second.
Once you have the system set up, project the film you want to record to digital video, capture the film on tape, then use an application like Apple's Final Cut Pro to capture the footage (usually done over a FireWire cable), and do some color correction (always necessary in my experience). The results are worth the trouble, and the equipment can be set up whenever you need to make a film-to-video transfer.
If you're skilled in electronics:
Disconnect the DC-wires to the motor inside the projector. Then connect and run the motor from a extern power supply which is adjustable way over the normal running voltage (12V) Then You adjust the speed until flickering disappears and You got a perfect transfer with a slight increase in motion. Nobody bothers about that , it just gives a nostalgic touch to it. If needed , bring the clip into a video editing program (Adobe Premiere or FCP) and bring the speed back to normal.
Modify the film projector
The device used for years and years to get around this problem is a film projector modified for video transfers. They're known as "five-blade" projectors because of the number elements or gates used to give a particular "frame rate." The human eye only mildly perceives the difference, but with a video camera, it's night and day. You should check AV rental houses, I'll betcha if there's one for rent, it's on the back shelf somewhere and you can get a good deal on renting it. Most of what they carried was 16MM, however. The majority of the 5-blade 8MM and Super 8 projectors I ever saw were at 1-hour-type photography stores that also do home movie transfers. They have "Elmo" machines that actually have a single or 3-CCD camera built-in to the projector. It has a video out jack which plugs into your VCR de-jour.
The simplest solution is to speed up the projector slightly, or slow the shutter on the video camera until the roll pattern goes away.
Last update: 11:06 PM Tuesday, June 9, 2009 |
