FX1 Film Transfer at DVinfo.net

Maheel Perera · January 8th, 2005, 09:19 AM

I have transferred several clips from FX1 to 35 mm film. Those clips were as follows.
From HDR-FX1 Sony HDV Info.com Forum
Kerr Cook’s
shottransove.4.m2t - a fast zoom out
car25side.4.m2t - shot from a moving vehicle

From DV info.net forum
Kaku Ito’s
bikepassngby.m2t - zoom out and a pan folloing a moving motorbike
day0dbf6.2.m2t - 2 children running towards the camera
eevgap.m2t - zoom out from a billboard to a wide shot of a street

horses.m2t - (I am not sure who shot this) merry-go-round with horses move up and down on the foreground while the background passes by

all of these shots contained lot of movement. On most of the shots the entire frame contained movement.

I de-interlaced the clips using our proprietary software, which works as a plug in for AE. I did not try any 24p conversion since my aim was to evaluate resolution on the film transfer. (I will be using a PAL camera anyway, since I am in the PAL region). Then I cropped the frame to get Cinemascope aspect ratio and stretched it vertically to fill the full 35 mm frame. Transfer was done using our proprietary film recorder on to FUJI 250D negative.

The print was viewed at the lab’s screening room, which has a 14’ screen. The screening room was designed to view the rushes at short throw, which would clearly show any defect on the print, that would not be noticeable on a long throw projection in a theater.

That was the best film transfer I have done. I have transferred quite a lot of advertisements, done using Sony DXC D35PL and D50P cameras with either Canon or Fujinon lenses, 2 feature films using Sony DSR 570 and D50P, footage from my own good old Sony VX 1000 (I still use that) and Panasonic DVX 100 (not the 100a) and Canon XL1s. But all these were no match for the resolution of FX1. Even after the cropping and stretching for the Cinemascope AR, the resolution was very much above these SD cameras. The technicians at the lab were simply shocked. I did not see any pixelization on these clips. Although little softening is noticed during the zooms, it is well hidden behind the crash zooms. I noticed it because I was looking for it.

I think I owe something to the people who shot these test footages. Please email me your addresses. I will send you sample frames from your footages. (If possible I will try to send you a copy of the entire 30-second film out.)

I am going to purchase the Cam.

Thanks every one.

Heath McKnight · January 8th, 2005, 09:38 AM

Sounds very cool!

heath

Gary McClurg · January 8th, 2005, 10:38 AM

Then can those people post the grabs so that the rest of us can see them.

Laszlo Bodo · January 8th, 2005, 11:00 AM

<<<--I de-interlaced the clips using our proprietary software, which works as a plug in for AE. -->>>

How does your software works? Does it takes only one field and interpolates the picture or does it combine fields into frames with motion estimate and gives motion blur to the movement ..... ?

Maheel Perera · January 8th, 2005, 10:15 PM

It combines fields into frames with motion estimate and gives motion blur to the movement. It wont do 60i to 24p since we did not need it. We are in a PAL country.

I have tried DV Film Maker with some of these clips, thought it was good. But I did not transfer those 24p clips. You could download the demo version of the software from DV film web site.

Laszlo Bodo · January 9th, 2005, 10:18 AM

Maheel Perera,

Do you have a demo v. of your software I can download and try? I'm in Pal-land as well.

Maheel Perera · January 9th, 2005, 08:32 PM

Laszlo Bodo,

Sorry, Lazlo, It was a software specially written for us and is not for sale.

Kyle Edwards · January 10th, 2005, 02:47 AM

Would you mind sending a frame to someone who did not shoot some of the footage? I would love to check it out and scan it with a Nikon 5000ED. Just very curious.

Laszlo Bodo · January 10th, 2005, 06:57 AM

... or just post some frames after deinterlacing.

Maheel Perera · January 10th, 2005, 09:57 AM

Kyle,

Of course I can send. But I doudt whether any evaluation could be done by scanning it. Those frames were stretched for Cinemascope. I remember someone at the DVInfo was a projectionist as well. Was that Heath.? Hoe about sending a copy to some one who has access to a film projector.?

Maheel Perera · January 10th, 2005, 10:01 AM

Lazlo,

I could do that also. How do I upload the frames?. They are quite large. Chris will be able to help.

Kyle Edwards · January 10th, 2005, 02:50 PM

You can use www.imageshack.us to host a picture or even http://s3.yousendit.com .

Eric Gorski · February 13th, 2005, 03:32 AM

i would like to see a scanned frame.

Douglas Spotted Eagle · February 13th, 2005, 10:11 AM

We'll host scanned images on our site, if you'd like to send them/it to us with the information of the shooter, and any information about your process.

Maheel Perera · February 14th, 2005, 09:53 AM

Douglas,

I do not really think that the scanned images will prove any thing. Remember the clips were cropped for Cinemascope aspect raio and stretched to achive the correct Cinemascope projection.

How about sending the film reel to you?. I hope you will be able to view it at a theatre and report your findings.

January 8th, 2005, 09:19 AM	#1
Maheel Perera Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Sri Lanka Posts: 128	FX1 Film Transfer I have transferred several clips from FX1 to 35 mm film. Those clips were as follows. From HDR-FX1 Sony HDV Info.com Forum Kerr Cook’s shottransove.4.m2t - a fast zoom out car25side.4.m2t - shot from a moving vehicle From DV info.net forum Kaku Ito’s bikepassngby.m2t - zoom out and a pan folloing a moving motorbike day0dbf6.2.m2t - 2 children running towards the camera eevgap.m2t - zoom out from a billboard to a wide shot of a street horses.m2t - (I am not sure who shot this) merry-go-round with horses move up and down on the foreground while the background passes by all of these shots contained lot of movement. On most of the shots the entire frame contained movement. I de-interlaced the clips using our proprietary software, which works as a plug in for AE. I did not try any 24p conversion since my aim was to evaluate resolution on the film transfer. (I will be using a PAL camera anyway, since I am in the PAL region). Then I cropped the frame to get Cinemascope aspect ratio and stretched it vertically to fill the full 35 mm frame. Transfer was done using our proprietary film recorder on to FUJI 250D negative. The print was viewed at the lab’s screening room, which has a 14’ screen. The screening room was designed to view the rushes at short throw, which would clearly show any defect on the print, that would not be noticeable on a long throw projection in a theater. That was the best film transfer I have done. I have transferred quite a lot of advertisements, done using Sony DXC D35PL and D50P cameras with either Canon or Fujinon lenses, 2 feature films using Sony DSR 570 and D50P, footage from my own good old Sony VX 1000 (I still use that) and Panasonic DVX 100 (not the 100a) and Canon XL1s. But all these were no match for the resolution of FX1. Even after the cropping and stretching for the Cinemascope AR, the resolution was very much above these SD cameras. The technicians at the lab were simply shocked. I did not see any pixelization on these clips. Although little softening is noticed during the zooms, it is well hidden behind the crash zooms. I noticed it because I was looking for it. I think I owe something to the people who shot these test footages. Please email me your addresses. I will send you sample frames from your footages. (If possible I will try to send you a copy of the entire 30-second film out.) I am going to purchase the Cam. Thanks every one.

January 8th, 2005, 09:38 AM	#2
Heath McKnight MPS Digital Studios Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Palm Beach County, Florida Posts: 8,531	Sounds very cool! heath __________________ My Final Cut Pro X blog

January 8th, 2005, 11:00 AM	#4
Laszlo Bodo New Boot Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Norway Posts: 20	Re: FX1 Film Transfer <<<--I de-interlaced the clips using our proprietary software, which works as a plug in for AE. -->>> How does your software works? Does it takes only one field and interpolates the picture or does it combine fields into frames with motion estimate and gives motion blur to the movement ..... ?

February 13th, 2005, 10:11 AM	#14
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	We'll host scanned images on our site, if you'd like to send them/it to us with the information of the shooter, and any information about your process. __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

January 8th, 2005, 10:38 AM	#3
Gary McClurg Major Player Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Springfield, MO, USA Posts: 389	Then can those people post the grabs so that the rest of us can see them.

January 8th, 2005, 10:15 PM	#5
Maheel Perera Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Sri Lanka Posts: 128	It combines fields into frames with motion estimate and gives motion blur to the movement. It wont do 60i to 24p since we did not need it. We are in a PAL country. I have tried DV Film Maker with some of these clips, thought it was good. But I did not transfer those 24p clips. You could download the demo version of the software from DV film web site.

January 9th, 2005, 10:18 AM	#6
Laszlo Bodo New Boot Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Norway Posts: 20	Maheel Perera, Do you have a demo v. of your software I can download and try? I'm in Pal-land as well.

January 9th, 2005, 08:32 PM	#7
Maheel Perera Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Sri Lanka Posts: 128	Laszlo Bodo, Sorry, Lazlo, It was a software specially written for us and is not for sale.

January 10th, 2005, 02:47 AM	#8
Kyle Edwards Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: LI, NY Posts: 274	Would you mind sending a frame to someone who did not shoot some of the footage? I would love to check it out and scan it with a Nikon 5000ED. Just very curious.

January 10th, 2005, 06:57 AM	#9
Laszlo Bodo New Boot Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Norway Posts: 20	... or just post some frames after deinterlacing.

January 10th, 2005, 09:57 AM	#10
Maheel Perera Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Sri Lanka Posts: 128	Kyle, Of course I can send. But I doudt whether any evaluation could be done by scanning it. Those frames were stretched for Cinemascope. I remember someone at the DVInfo was a projectionist as well. Was that Heath.? Hoe about sending a copy to some one who has access to a film projector.?

January 10th, 2005, 10:01 AM	#11
Maheel Perera Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Sri Lanka Posts: 128	Lazlo, I could do that also. How do I upload the frames?. They are quite large. Chris will be able to help.

January 10th, 2005, 02:50 PM	#12
Kyle Edwards Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: LI, NY Posts: 274	You can use www.imageshack.us to host a picture or even http://s3.yousendit.com .

February 13th, 2005, 03:32 AM	#13
Eric Gorski Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Western Oregon Posts: 138	i would like to see a scanned frame.

February 14th, 2005, 09:53 AM	#15
Maheel Perera Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Sri Lanka Posts: 128	Douglas, I do not really think that the scanned images will prove any thing. Remember the clips were cropped for Cinemascope aspect raio and stretched to achive the correct Cinemascope projection. How about sending the film reel to you?. I hope you will be able to view it at a theatre and report your findings.