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  1. Member
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    Jan 2006
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    Is there an inexpensive method to transfer Super 8 sound film to digital video?

    I know that you can project onto a white surface & record the image with a camcorder or digital camera. And of course the audio has to somehow be recorded. I’m not expecting professional results but can anything be made to work with what I have?

    I’ve read that for 18fps Super 8 silent film that the projector’s speed has to be changed to 15 or 20fps, I’ve seen both figures. What projector speed is needed for 24fps film? My sound projector does not have an adjustable speed control. I guess if it did I might be able to re-adjust the video speed using software.

    But right now I’m stuck with either 18fps or 24fps. Or I can change a pulley from 60Hz to 50Hz operation.

    Would any combination of projector settings of 18fps or 24fps, along with 60Hz or 50Hz pulley speeds work with either 24fps or 30fps digital camera recording speeds?
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  2. Member
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    You have stumbled upon the reason that telecine systems were created. Frame rate mismatch creates flicker, and the only way to eradicate flicker is to either 1) modify your film speed to sync with the timing of the video camera's shutter; 2) replace the projector's shutter with a 5-blade shutter--which will create an optical 3:2 pulldown effect; or 3) remove the projector shutter and REALLY slow down the projector speed, thereafter using software like Film Extractor to capture and assemble film frames individually.

    You can do a search on this site, using the words "DIY telecine" to get an idea of what others have done. You will find that there is no cheap solution that won't require lots of man-hours in performing projector and lens modifications.

    Depending on the amount of Super8 film you have, you may want to consider having a professional transfer house handle the task.
    Last edited by filmboss80; 25th Feb 2012 at 11:31.
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  3. Member
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    filmboss80,

    Thank you for the reply.

    I’ve searched & read through quite a bit of material & it did not look like an easy task in order to do it right. A lot of the low-end DIY articles dealt with silent film & slowing down the projector & projecting the film onto a white surface & then capturing the image with a camcorder. I have seen the results of this method & while not perfect they were watchable. Moving up in quality & complexity took more knowledge & skills than I have about the subject.

    I came across several Super 8 sound cartoons & thought why not transfer these to video. It’s not worth paying a professional to do this because I could just buy new DVD versions for less money.

    I have a projector & camera & figured why not see what I could do. Maybe by selecting the right combination of projector settings (film speed & 50/60 Hz pulleys) and digital camera 24/30fps recording speeds I might be able to get some reasonable results. And then use software to correct the speed for proper audio.

    I have not tried anything yet because I had to order a new drive belt for my projector. I thought I might see what are my options while I’m waiting for the part. It may not be worth my time to do this either, but it might be a fun project.
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  4. Member
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    I received & installed the new projector drive belt & everything works.

    I watched several cartoons & they all had some color fade & quite a bit of color shift to red. IOW they are not worth digitizing. I was hoping maybe do a few, but it's not worth it.
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