Professional Cine Film Transfer.
As you start to investigate the possibilities of having your cine film transferred to DVD you will find a maze of companies claiming various different methods of transfer in order to offer that BROADCAST quality result... Please BEWARE as the truth of the matter is that most companies run some form of converted film projector and a DV based camera in order to capture the image. Although this does work the results are far from what is technically possible.
The cost of the transfer equipment is a good indication of the quality of the equipment and more importantly how gentle the equipment is on your precious film not forgetting the final image quality. Projector based transfer units cost anywhere from £100 to £3000, some companies make their own equipment from old cine projectors and give it a fancy name, details on how to do this can be found on the web.
The Flashscan transfer unit is different, the cost of the unit is approx. £35,000 and has been developed in Germany by a company called MWA. This company has been producing audio/film equipment since 1926 and as a result has created FLASHSCAN which is the only dedicated cine film transfer unit to be developed over the past 2 years using new mechanics and up to date video electronics.
For more technical information on the Flashscan sevice please HERE
Before choosing any company to perform your film transfer ask them about their transfer process, ask them if they use a projector based unit or a converted projector based unit. Any company NOT willing to explain and/or show you the equipment should be avoided at all cost...
At Images4life we are different. We can show you exactly how we do the transfer and are happy to meet and greet customers who have any reservations and would like to see our process in action.
At Images4life we would love to hear from you, we are more than happy to explain in very simple terms how we transfer the cine film or if you are after a more technical discussion again we are happy to go over the very technical aspects of the transfer process such as colour balancing and 10Bit Uncompressed Video Transfer.
Below is a simple step by step guide to show the process we use. For more technical information on the Flashscan sevice please HERE
The Process ...
Step 1 - Before we process any of your film on our equipment we manually check the film for defects that could cause problems during the transfer, these defects include poor quality joints, damaged feed holes and poor emulsion bonding. All defects are repaired manually using our in-house technicians and then approved for transfer.
Step 2 - Prior to loading the cine film into the digital transfer unit we clean all film with a special fluid specifically formulated to remove dirt and grease from the cine film transport layer. This step ensures a clean transfer of film footage ( less years of dirt and grime ). Also the cleaning of the film helps the natural flow of the film as it passes the digital scanning head thus leading to a crystal clear image.
Step 3 - The cine film is now loaded into our digital transfer unit ready for transfer, this is where the magic really starts..... The FLASHSCAN unit transports the film silently and smoothly though the mechanics, the FLASHSCAN does NOT incorporate any "PULL-DOWN CLAW" as used in projector systems so the film is NOT damaged due to the intermittent start/stop as used on cheaper systems. The film keeps moving gently from start to finish and all the images are captured into a high resolution video file.
Two levels are colour correction are performed at this stage by the FLASHSCAN unit, these include colour correction at the image scanner level and also colour correction using the primary light source which we can change from White to RED,GREEN,BLUE dependant on the age and condition of the film.
Step 4 - The FLASHSCAN unit has already adjusted the video footage from 15,16,18,20 or 24fps up to 25fps which is the requirement so that you can view the resulting video on a TV screen or Video Monitor.
The video file is then loaded into our MAC-PRO based editor and we start to perform the third and final level of colour correction, for this we use a Vector scope to ensure the white balance and video signals are within legal limits which is a requirement prior to transfer to DVD, Blu-Ray, Tape or File.
If your cine film contains an audio soundtrack then Images4life will process this audio track using our audio spectrum analysers, this removes unwanted audio defects such as pops, clicks and mains hum.. click here for more details on our sound enhancement services
And finally the whole production is then supported by a selection of background music which captures the full emotion of the memories (for silent footage). These music tracks are professionally mixed into a Dolby Digital soundtrack to bring the whole production to life.
Click here for our on-line Music Juke Box
Step 5 - This final step in the process is to export the high resolution video file to your required format. This can be one of many formats but is typically either DVD, Blu-Ray or DV ( mini DV or DVCAM ).
If as part of the project you have requested an enhanced transfer service then at this stage the DVD editors will set to work on creating a stunning interactive DVD presentation which will contain a fully personalized introduction menu and each cine reel will then become an independent chapter on your DVD. This enhancement adds character and flare to final product and also provides an easy navigation tool to help users gets to the section of the final presentation that they require.
If you have selected DVD as an output format then your will also receive your DVD customized with our in-house Everest II thermal disk printers. These printers use thermal technology to apply the photographic quality images to the disk and as a result the disks are fully light stable and waterproof. We can also provide your footage on Blu-Ray disks for customers who have High Definition TV and a Blu-Ray DVD player.
Finally all projects are returned in a full colour DVD presentation case and seal wrapped making them ideal for commercial distribution and/or gifts...
Click Here To View Our On-Line Demonstrations
The link below will take you to our on-line cost calculator which will provide you with a real time quotation for the transfer of your cine film to DVD , Tape or File. Simply click the link and enter your film reel sizes and finishing option.
Our On-Line Cost Calculator
NOTE... Please do not mistake "thermal print" technology with "inkjet" technology , these are completely different technologies and in terms of durability and quality the thermal print technology provides a far superior output and this is what we use as standard... if you would like a sample disk please call 0800 043 0668 and we will be only to happy to drop you a disk in the post.
For more technical information on the Flashscan service please here
