Hello,

This is my first post here, after lurking a while, gleaming valuable information about preferred cameras, film stocks equipment etc.

Basically i was wondering if anyone knew a lab that would perform the following service for me:



Develop and digitize super 8 negative film.
Film is scanned and each frame is saved off as a separate uncompressed image.

one frame = one image
in 8bit color depth
pixel resolution = approx. 1000 x 1360
uncompressed format (targa, tiff etc.)

and dumped on a hard drive.
(no printing to video, or mini dv)

Final delivery would be the film as a sequence of images, numbered so that they create a sequence. such as:

aliShortFilm_0001.tga
aliShortFilm_0002.tga
aliShortFilm_0003.tga etc.

Each uncompressed image at that resolution and color depth would average about 4megs. Which would come to about 5.7 gigs of drive space per minute of film (shooting at 24fps).

*Bonus points if they can scan at 10 or even 16bit color depth.




Thanks,

-Ali


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flickr.com/photos/artofali

Don't know if Yale Film & Video (http://www.yalefilmandvideo.com/) do precisley what you need, but even if they cannot accomodate your specifications they'll usually have a few ideas on who can.

They are nice peeps. :cool:

Then, there's always FotoKem (http://www.fotokem.com/site_index.php).

Zensteve - thanks, I email Yale film and video, but fotokem doesn’t have a email? Just phone number, and i can only imagine the horrors of being transferred to 20 different people to explain something that barely makes sense on paper.


-Ali

http://www.pro8mm.com/main.php develops neg.

Looks like this (http://www.fotokem.com/content/downloads/scanning/scan_request.pdf) may be the form you need from FotoKem, btw, if TIFF is a good format you.

Don't stress about calling them up. FotoKem has the various department extensions listed on their site, and Yale is a fairly small place.

Your bio says you're local, so heck, you could even just walk in the door. The peeps at Yale won't treat you like an idiot if you have questions. They walked me through the whole process of Super-8, from stock selection to how telecine works, when I dropped by a while back.

Never been to FotoKem in person, but I have an account there. If you call 'em up and aren't sure who to talk to, they'll find you the right person to talk to.

Btw... your idea is not as crazy as it sounds. ;)

Why not just get an uncompressed 10 bit tk by cinelab and then seperate into frames yourself using software like virtual dub?

well i emailed the following labs:

pro8
cinelab
yale film and video
frame discreet
cinepost
bono labs
shooters inc.

Ill post the results, when they get back to me.

fyi - Ive been exchanging emails with Justin at frame discreet, and i just have to say he is extremely helpfull, his system seems very promising and inexpensive, unfortunetly he scans at 720 x 480, which is too low rez for me. But if any of you guys are looking for a similiar service, and dont mind the lower pixil rezolution, then frame discreet is a good choice.

Zensteve - thanks, I guess ill call photokem, though i detest asking complicated questions over the phone.

WideShot - what does a 10bit tk mean? I couldn’t find much by way of explanation on their website.
By separate frames, do you mean to render out a video as a frame sequence? i can do that easily but I don’t want to risk rendering out at 24fps, when the footage is shot on varying fps, I’m worried i would render out images that were 50% blends of two frames etc.

tk = telecine

I mean yes render out each frame. Since each shot is a different fps, just divide the file into different shots in virtual dub or another program, then individually set the fps in vdub.

http://www.bonolabs.com/HiDefspecials.htm

The confirmation test drive is a required step for all new drive clients. It gives you the opportunity to ensure compatibility and functionality of your system and the workflow. (We are not testing your abilities, so please do not get offended by this requirement.) We'll send you your choice of one of our USB 2.0 Firewire 400 or USB 2.0 mini drives loaded with several test clips in either 1080/24p (23.98sf) QuickTime (Blackmagic codec) 10-bit uncompressed, DVCPro HD or HDV for MAC users or 1080/24p (23.98sF) AVI (Blackmagic codec) or HDV for PC users to try out on your system. The clips are of footage in the public domain and are designed to test functionality and for you to work with the display options (including the inverse anamorphic) and compare the best-light and flat transfers. There is an option to test NTSC, if you prefer.

You can add Spectra Film and Video to your list.

They are located in North Hollywood, Ca.

818-762-4545