I just downloaded the Neat Video filter. Will report back soon.

Just thinking about all the plug-ins that simulate all those flaws from age.
I have also trans from Super8 myself and and had been warned by others about the further damage caused by handling the film itself.
May I ask how you transferred to digital and with what?
Because I also have hours upon hours of Super8 footage and I am always so apprehensive about handling the 40+ year old material.
I was using a projector and a high end digital camera focused on the screen in a really dark room.
I was able to remove some flicker with one of my (Plug-Ins) but I only transferred about 1 hour just to see how it would come out.

+1 for Neatvideo, it does an excellent job on old 8mm material

There might be something even better out there but I personally did not have to look further...

Christian

FPP:

That's pretty much what I did -- a projector and a camera. It helps a lot to have a projector with a speed adjustment control. You can tweak most of the flicker out just doing that.

As for handling old film...
Surprisingly, older film actually holds up pretty well provided it was stored properly. As long as it wasn't sitting in an attic or garage for years, it should be OK. In my experience, film from the 70's is the worst as far as breakage and shedding. I also found the same to be true of audio tape. The reason I've heard: That was the during the big OPEC oil embargo, and since film and tape are essentially petroleum products, manufacturers experimented with alternative formulations during that time. Most worked, but simply didn't hold up as well. Anyway, that's what I heard. Could be total crap! But I can tell you that, in my experience, any film or tape from the mid-70's should be handled VERY carefully.

To have a projector with a speed control is essential. I'm in PAL-land and by running the projector at 16.66 frames/s (1/3 of 50i fields/s) there is NO flickering! You must run the projector warm and cheng the speed from time to time. Set your videocam to 1/500s exposure and adjust the flicker to zero and then shoot normally (1/50th s exposure). If you are in NTSC-land then your projector frame rate should be 20 for the same flickerless result. The frame rate is not too far from 18fps that was a common framerate...

You get actually better results in an controlled ambient light. If you shoot in complete darkness you will have problems with blacks that are so dark that you loose the detalis in the blakcs. Therefore a small (even and non flickering neutral preferably adjustable) light is to the rescue.

Christian

Hopefully John will check in with his scratch remover recommendations. I'm not in the same league but have captured several miles of film, both R-8 and S8. First of all if you are concerned about saving the film don't project it using a conventional projector! They are hard on film and unless you've cleaned the film gates you may be introducing scratches on the film. Did you clean and lubricated the film before projecting it?
There were changes to the film stock over the years but in my experience the biggest concerns are the original processing and the storage. If it was genuine Kodak processing then it's about as good as it gets. Processing by anyone else is a crap-shoot. If it was stored in the proverbial cool, dry place in metal cans then you are very lucky. But I've seen Kodachrome film stored in far less than optimum conditions that is still in serviceable condition. The old film is tougher than most people think it is.
As to capture, shooting the projected image works, but as you have seen produces flicker. I highly recommend something like one of Roger's Workprinters: http://www.moviestuff.tv/ It may seem like an expensive solution but in the end it will save you a lot of grief and you can always sell it when you are finished. You can also send the film in to have him capture it. He's the only one I can recommend, based on my experience. I've worked with film that large commercial labs using a RANK machine have ruined so it's not always a matter of having the right equipment.
S-8 film can produce stunning images that, while not up to current resolution standards, have that beautiful “film look” so many people strive to duplicate. Have fun with the film!

I just got a bunch of Super8mm home movies transferred to digital and want to remove the scratches, blotches and hair cracks from the video. Are there any such filters or whatever for Vegas 11? If not, what would people suggest?There are several parts to this answer.

First, was the film transfer "frame accurate?" This means that one frame of film was transferred to one frame of video, without blending adjacent frames. Transfers done by simply pointing the video camera at the film projector screen are not frame accurate, but transfers done with a Rank Cintel, a Spirit DataCine, or one of several much cheaper, but very capable devices offered by Roger Evans at Moviestuff are all frame accurate.

If your transfer was not done using a frame accurate device, then you will not be able to use digital techniques to remove dirt and other artifacts.

Second, there is nothing available for Vegas that will be of any help in removing gunk. Neat Video is completely the wrong tool and will be of no value for what you are trying to do. The only free tools I know about are those several of us have developed for use with AVISynth. Here is a link to the two extremely long threads that describe these tools:

The power of Avisynth: restoring old 8mm films

Capturing and restoring old 8mm films

Despite what I said above, if your transfer was not done with frame accurate technology, there is still a possibility that some of this restoration technology can still be applied. Here is the link where that is discussed:

The power of Avisynth: salvaging "botched" transfers of old 8mm films to DVD

Someone gave me a transfer done by someone else (not by me) that was not frame-accurate, and I actually was able to use the technology described in this thread to improve the film transfer.

Here is a before/after result of using this technology (best viewed full-screen):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gy9ZG23TTk

This film had sat in the open (no can or box) in a basement for sixty years. I did clean the film, but the gunk was buried in the emulsion. When watching this clip, you will first notice the dirt removal. If you watch it again, look at the mural on the side of the building; at the plants on the slope in front of the building; at the boats in the harbor; and at the telephone poles. Notice how much detail has been extracted that is obscured or invisible in the original. Then watch a third time and note how the clip has been stabilized to remove all the film jitter and gate weave.

Of course I also color-corrected the clip, and that was done inside Vegas using the Color Corrector fX.

Here is a still frame from one of my first uses of this technology which does a great job of showing how much detail can be extracted. Note the vertical railings on the front porch of the house:



Here is a before/after of dirt removal on Polavision film. This is Polaroid's short-lived instant movie film. You put the cartridge in the movie camera, took the film as you would in any other camera, but then you rewound the film in the camera and in the act of rewinding, it developed the film. Unfortunately, the film then sits in the chemical residue forever, and thirty years later that residue turns into mold and chemical stains. This is dirtier than any film I've ever seen, and there is no way -- even with an ultrasonic cleaner -- to remove these stains because they are down in the emulsion. Here's the before/after:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud1XNIoh1P8

If your film is actually in pretty good shape, and you apply this technology, the results can be absolutely stunning. Here is a Vimeo link to film processed by the guy who started the first doom9.org thread I linked to above showing the before/after. I still get blown away every time I see the basket of fruit:

"VideoFred's" Film Restoration Example

One last note. If your film has a lot of scratches, the technology described above will probably not remove most of these. Scratches are really difficult to remove digitally because they are such large objects, and while they seem to be in the same place for many seconds, they are actually moving around a lot. The best way to remove them -- and it is too late for that in your case -- is to have the film transferred by a professional service that offers "wet gate" transfer. They actually apply a slightly viscous substance to the film which physically fills in the scratches. This old-fashioned process is still the best way to get rid of scratches.

Here's a link to my YouTube "Film Transfer" playlist:

Film Transfer Playlist

I did all of these transfer using my own frame-accurate equipment. Please note the upload date before playing because only those uploaded in the past 3-4 years have had digital restoration applied.


P.S. If anyone has transferred movies by just pointing the video camera at the screen, I have several ways to remove the flicker. This is in addition to the technology described above which attempts to extract a frame-accurate transfer from the frame-blended transfer that results from simply photographing the projector screen.

See, I said he was y'man!

John, stunning . . totally stunning. Those railings make me spin in awe......

Grazie