Our Film to DVD Transfer Process

Frame by frame stop motion capture telecine 8mm, Super 8 & 16mm film transfers.

There are several types of 8mm, Super 8 & 16mm frame by frame stop motion capture equipment levels, from the most basic which relies on individual frames being projected onto a mirror and transmitted by a convex lends to a video camera which is mounted approximately meter away from the transfer machine.

The next level of equipment such as the DV8 sniper. The 8mm, Super 8 & 16mm film is scanned directly from the film surface off the emulsion side of the film which provides the best clarity and definition (unlike other systems where the scanning head or camera is located behind the film) since the scanning head is located immediately in front of the film surface, the scanning head is not your typical video camera that you are quite readily familiar with and in the strictest sense and cannot be compared to a video camera as it does not have any of the features of a video camera such as adjustable lens, focusing ability or iris control of the light system. The scanning head is similar to that used in scientific and medical microscopic or industrial inspection equipment. Separate control systems look after exposure and the scanning head does not operate the same way as a video camera, in advanced models such as the DV8 sniper pro there is a complete and separate exposure control box which can be set to automatic or manual is will override ability.

The equipment in use at Got Memories, the latter unit has just been modified to the very latest 2008 highest end quality modifications and productivity enhancements currently available.

The process of frame by frame stop motion capture goes a little bit like this, the 8mm, Super 8 & 16mm film is transported one frame at a time by means of a cam wheel actuated film advance pin, there are no sprocket or gears involved in the film transport mechanism, film is handled under light tension which cannot tear even fragile film. Naturally there is a light source that is controllable, this lighting system is now an LED panel array carefully balanced to the correct white light wavelength, this system replaces the our dated 40 watt lamp that produced some issues due to electrical variations that could only be minimised with a UPS power supply due to the frequency of AC power at 50hz there could be unwanted effects on the light, this is totally negated with the new LED system which is unaffected by electrical variance, altogether a neat solution to a vexing problem.

As each frame is advanced a cam wheel trips a micro switch that instructs the computer to capture a complete single frame of film and save it as an image file and this continues throughout the process of a roll of film resulting in thousands of still images of each single frame of film. These days this system of frame triggering is replaced with an audio pulse generator affording precision and speed of capture is increased for greater productivity and rigid accuracy.

From single frame to perfect motion video



Frame Compile - Video Output next steps.



The next process is computerised and requires some heavy duty high-powered equipment to perform successfully and absolutely accurately where the individual frames are compiled into a single video file for later editing and DVD authoring or transfer to videotape for archival storage. The compile process can create video vision at any nominated playback speed from 7.9.12.15.16.18.20.24 & 30 frames per second so if a film was originally exposed at a non standard frame rate, this method is the only way to play back at a normal viewing speed that looks natural, this is something projector based transfers can not do.

We have deliberately simplified the description of the process as it would take many pages to explain the technicalities, however endpoint form:

* Each frame of film has a corresponding video frame which when assembled into a video results in smooth playable and easy to watch video.
* There are no sprocket or gears that could possibly damage the film.
* The LED light source is safe and cannot bleach films.There is no heat from LED
* Quality high-end computers results in error-free transfers and conversion to video file for DVD authoring of the highest order.