Transfer:
You’ve got a box of film in the basement with a smartphone, smart TV, computer or other device upstairs. You’d like to play the film on these devices. You may have even discovered how to convert 8mm film to digital,but assembling the equipment to actually do it is another question.
The following pieces are required to properly convert 8mm to digital, some of which are combined in some products:
- Device that projects film. Film was created to be viewed by shining light through it so that it is seen on a screen of some sort. This screen is not the electronic screens of today, but anything from a wall to a “high-tech” self-rollup screen just for this purpose.
- Device that captures the projected film. Rather than focusing the light through the film onto a screen, the image must be projected into a device that can capture the image in digital format.
- Computer with the power to process captured video. Once captured, the film needs to be edited, rotated, color corrected etc. Computers without the needed horsepower will be frustratingly slow if they work at all.
- Software for editing and encoding. Depending on the type of editing required, captured film correction to the brightness/contrast balance, color correction, clean framing and more. Most ‘included’ software on new computers is not adequate.
Acquiring, connecting, and installing these devices and software enables the straightforward conversion of 8mm film to digital.
Device That Projects Film
Before a reel of film can be captured into a digital form, an analog image must be produced by shining light through it. Originally, this was done with a projector using one reel containing the film and a take-up reel collecting it as it passes in front of a light bulb which shines through each film frame onto a screen.
In the early years of 8mm digitizing, old projectors were used as the projecting units, the image used with a number of different capturing techniques. Today’s custom-built machines project more accurately and light-balanced than the original projectors could and also because the supply of usable projectors has been almost completely depleted.
Device That Captures Film in Digital Format
Several different options have been used to capture the projected 8mm film into a more modern format so that it can be viewed again.
The simplest of the early formats was to simply use a VHS camera and videotape the screen as it was being projected. The obvious limitations are the resolution of the film itself being captured by a relatively low-resolution VHS camera. At the time, this was a great method for preserving film before it degraded to the unusable point. The same happened with subsequent videotape to digital formats: VHS-C, Hi8, miniDV, and microMV.
Many of these tapes have subsequently been converted into DVDs over the years. All of these videotape formats are now being converted into digital formats with the promise of lasting much longer than its preceding formats. Videotape to digital requires its own set of conversion equipment.
Following the videotape capture method came the improvement of projecting 8mm film directly into a digital camera. This becomes tricky because the projected film must be timed with the camera to take a picture at exactly the right time to capture a whole frame for thousands of frames in a row. The capture device then must automatically or via custom instructions convert all of the individual frames into a video file that can be played.
Improving upon this method, laser timed capture, high resolution scanning, and sprocket less custom film scanning machines have been developed to provide better and better resolution, color, and lighting than ever before. These capture devices scan frame-by-frame and also must process all of the captured frames into a video file. There are now a multitude of both scan-time options as well as process-time options for a broad variety of choices in size, format, and resolution.
Computer With Power to Process Video
As the digital resolution (quality) goes up, so does the computing power needed to process. A medium-level gaming computer with appropriate video card gives a rough idea of the power required to appropriately take advantage of today’s video options. Advanced editing can require even more power.
The amount of storage required for each video grows dramatically as the quality goes up. The format chosen also makes a drastic difference to required storage. Mov files (.mov) for example require about 4 times the storage of an mp4 file of the same quality, but mp4 files have less flexibility for custom editing. The difference between the lowest quality and the best quality of a video file can be 10s of gigabytes per hour or more.
Software for Editing and Encoding
Captured film rarely has a full frame AND a clean border. Producing the most viewable video from converted film, the captured frame must be adjusted, cropped and/or resized a small amount. In addition, lighting, brightness, contrast, color balance and more can be adjusted with good editing software. A wide range of choices and capabilities are available to fit all conversion needs.
Once edited, the captured film must be output to a format that is usable to all devices. Mp4 is the most common format today, but mov and others are occasionally used.
Equipment to Digitize 8mm Film: Next Steps
- Call or text Jamey (About Jamey) at 720 204-5464.
- Set an appointment (every project receives my individual attention).
- Drop off your tapes (and records, cassettes, slides, or negatives, too). Check Pricing!
In a week or less, pick up your new digital conversions.
