[ruudyvan]

Hello

I hope that I have posted in the right forum.

Can anyone give me some advice on what is the best way to transfer film from an old cine reel projector to DVD (other than going to a professional).

Are there any projectors that have been made in recent years that allow capture from old cine reels to a computer through a connection between the two?

Or is it a case of pointing a video camera towards what is projected from the old projector.

Thanks alot

[chrishull3]

Originally Posted by ruudyvan

Hello

I hope that I have posted in the right forum.

Can anyone give me some advice on what is the best way to transfer film from an old cine reel projector to DVD (other than going to a professional).

Are there any projectors that have been made in recent years that allow capture from old cine reels to a computer through a connection between the two?

Or is it a case of pointing a video camera towards what is projected from the old projector.

Thanks alot

you would have to record your film to tape or some form of camcorder recording,professionals use very expensive equipment and the results are far superior to what you will achieve doing the job yourself but it can be expensive.

[ruudyvan]

thanks alot chrishull3 - looks like pointing a camera towards what is projected then

[chrishull3]

Originally Posted by ruudyvan

thanks alot chrishull3 - looks like pointing a camera towards what is projected then

if your projector does not have adjustable speed you will find that you probobly get get strobing.
good luck

[glesgaguyav]

You can achieve decent results just by pointing your projector at a piece of non glossy bright white card/paper.
You'll need a decent camcorder with as many manual controls as possible, white balance/focus/aperture and epecially shutter speed this should be locked to 1/50 and the projector should have vairable speed and focus control.
After this it's all trial and error, distance of projected image ect, the cam should be on a tripod or "locked down" and ideally fairly in line with the projector they can be placed at a slight angle to each other, you will then probably have to use the Cam's zoom to fill the viewfinder/lcd and always "over zoom slightly" as the viewfinder/lcd usually "crops" the image.
You may have to then slow down or speed up the projector to eliminate any strobbing/flicker and also adjust focus on the cam and projector, you may also want to adjust and lock the white balance and aperture.
I found I got better results using this method than from using the Conversion Boxes (glass and mirror) as these tend to give "white outs" in the centre of the screen

[Roy999]

That was an excellent post and you have some good tips. However I disagree in GENERAL terms.

I have been trying to transfer a box of films for six months now. Even though I bought everything from Ebay I have spent a small fortune on different camcorders, screens, lenses and projectors and it doesn't work.

Even when you minimise (note minimise the flicker) you still get a pulsing effect and when you try to reduce this you get what I call hot spots. Hots spots is where the bulb is so bright that the centre of the picture is over bright and the outside is very dark. Its a bit like shinning a torch at a house at night.

When you do just get it right / as best as you can stand then you go ahead with transferring your films and the bulb blows on the cine projector (expensive) or the projector breaks down or at the worst (happended to me) it chews up your precious 8mm film !

No matter what you do you lose one transfer problem and then gain another.


The only way to do this is Telecine which costs a fortune or with a digital solution scanning in each piece which needs a custom set up as there is no such piece of equipment out there.

I'm not slating your suggestions, I think they are very good but I'm just being realistic as I have a lot of (bitter) experience in this. I have ended up getting my 8mm films and some Super8 films transferred professionaly.

If some one does come up with an affordable set-up then please post it here - but no projectors please !!!

Hi Roy

I have just been reading this interesting forum on Cine film conversion, where did you get your films transfered?

Do they offer a quick turnaround service? As am desperatly trying to get these old films onto DVD for the grandparents xmas pressie!

Sean

[Roy999]

Originally Posted by Sean1981

where did you get your films transfered?

Sean

Hi Sean,

I used Cine to DVD Service - FLICKER FREE ! they were about the best.

Regards getting the cine transfer done before christmas - I don't know, they did mine in 3-4 days from memory, just call them. All I will say is that they do it themselves, many of the other Transfer Companies on the web dont really transfer it themselves. They send your film off (prob to these guys)

You can tell who sends them out by their transfer turnaround - if it says 3 weeks. Also watch out for the ones who dont exclusively do cine transfer. eg the ones that appear to do everything.

Good luck