Super 8 to digital

Jeff_Smith wrote on 8/8/2015, 12:25 PM
What format should I have them save the files to edit in Sony Vegas, uncompressed avi, mp4?. Should we save them to a data dvd or flash drive?

A friend is taking his 40 year old super 8 film film to a place called Feathers in Canyon Country near LA. I do not know their method other than they project into a special camera of some sort. We have about 600 feet of film. The film is probably in horrible shape and was just home movie stuff. I have read some of the johnmeyer posts. It is unlikely I will get into to any avisynth editing. It would be nice to correct the flicker and judder but will probably live with it. I will probably just do simple cuts and titles. Thanks

Comments

john_dennis wrote on 8/8/2015, 1:20 PM
If the transfer company would (could) deliver an uncompressed still image sequence it would give you the most flexibility for later work. A still image sequence has no frame rate and you will be doing frame rate conversions to display the product on video devices. You will need two hard drives to store the data. One to use and one to back up your treasures.

What pixel dimensions can the transfer company deliver? That will affect the delivery method. I play 4K files from flash drives and hard drives where I have a source that is 3840x2160 or above.

All my recommendations come with a money back guarantee. If you find I'm all wet, you can have your money back.
musicvid10 wrote on 8/8/2015, 2:38 PM
Tbh, SD transfers from super 8 film should work just fine. DV- AVI is a fairly common format for this.
The native film resolving power doesn't demand ( or benefit from) anything higher than that.

I would estimate the ideal resolving power for Ektachrome with an average consumer lens to be 200-300 lines per 8mm frame tops, but usually less than that.
DGates wrote on 8/8/2015, 3:10 PM
My uncle had a lot of 8mm film transferred to DVD through Costco. I was able to pull those video and audio files off the disc to edit together a video for him. The quality of the transfer was really good. It's interesting that 8mm from the 50's and 60's looks better than the horrible VHS of the 80's and 90's.
TimPhilippines wrote on 8/8/2015, 9:36 PM
Please take a look at:

http://mymovietransfer.com/

I had over six hours of movies from the 50s, 60s & 70s done by them in 2008. They use equipment costing millions. Older film becomes brittle and breaks easily, so do NOT use some cheap service using mechanical projectors. Yes, it was a little expensive, but the movies were priceless. Here's a piece of their home page:

"These scanners will not damage your film like a projector can. Projectors can burn or scratch your film over time. Our machines do not use a hot bulb, nor do they stop and start your film on each frame. Our scanners don't even claw at your film's sprocket holes. Instead, they run your film with smooth, continuous motion while the scanner transfers each picture pixel by pixel."

"While we prep your film, we also repair any deteriorating or incorrect splices, and we clean your film using our Kodak particle transfer rollers - all at no additional cost to you. The rollers lift dirt and dust off of your film without the possibility of scratching or damaging your films in the process."