TRANSFER METHOD

All film that we transfer is scanned on highly modified Ultra-High Definition Rank Cintel scanners. These scanners are running the latest version of DaVinci software, have new German optical components, and a state of the art imaging block operating a resolution that greatly exceeds your film's original resolution.

These are the same machines that Hollywood has trusted with their features, and we use them on your priceless films. All film is monitored by our highly skilled and well experienced colorists. Where some companies charge a premium for a colorist-monitored scan, we know this should be included. The colorist will adjust for color and brightness to ensure that we are getting the most out of your film.

HIGH DEFINITION OPTICS

Developed in-house, our High Definition optics are what define us as a transfer site.

Our optics exceed the resolution of even the best 8mm and 16mm films. This is important because the 8mm film frame is so small. For example, a 64-inch television screen is 68,000 times larger than an individual 8mm film frame. Any optical errors produced through inferior scanning methods will be multiplied exponentially. These errors will take away from the quality of your transfer. With our method, you can be confident that the films we transfer for you will look as good as possible.

When we transfer the film, we scan the entire frame. We then center the image to ensure that sprocket holes and frame lines will not be seen in the finished project. We are able to do this with our High Definition optics and our custom designed film gates. This allows us to see problems with your film outside the active image area so that we can take corrective action. For example, we can see the condition of damaged sprocket holes as we scan. Or if a hair appears in your picture, we can determine if it was stuck in the camera's gate when it was shot or if it is on the film itself during scanning.

By scanning the entire frame, we can deliver the maximum amount of the picture based on the image size of your film. This means that you can see more of your movies, and that more of the picture will be brought to life during scanning.

FILM SAFETY

The film's speed is monitored by the MetaSpeed Digital Servo System. The system is simply the best in the world. It maintains film speed with the accuracy of .001 second. Any film speed is possible. There is no hot projector bulb in the machine, and there is no starting and stopping of the film on each frame (like you would find using a projector). Your film will scan with perfect continuous movement. Even bad splices will run through without damage. There is no pressure plate that can scratch your film (a constant risk with inferior scanning methods using film projectors or frame-by-frame machines).

The constant motion of the film scanning, combined with the lack of pressure plates and hot bulbs has also led us to become an industry leader in preserving and salvaging deteriorated film. If you have film that has become slightly brittle, warped, or otherwise deteriorated, we'll be sure to handle it safely and try to restore as much of the film as possible.

OVERSAMPLING

Depending on your film format, we scan anywhere from 2-6 times higher resolution than 1080p - and down-convert within the scanner to your desired resolution. This creates a better image that looks truer to the original film. While the film is at this much higher resolution, initial color correction is performed by one of our experienced colorists. This color correction also benefits from the initial higher resolution and uncompressed data at this point. Shrinking the larger original will have more inherent quality than simply duplicating a picture of the same size. This is the same principle that occurs when a larger image is reduced to a smaller one on a computer screen. Often times, the smaller image looks simply better. So where other companies might scan in 1080 High Definition - or worse, they might up-convert from a lower resolution - we scan at a much higher resolution and pass those benefits on to you.

DYNAMIC RANGE

Any given frame will contain a multitude of colors, from the deepest blacks to the brightest whites. We refer to this spectrum of color and brightness as dynamic range. Scanning film usually means sacrificing one end of the spectrum for the other. For example, if a colorist is scanning a 16mm scene involving two people - one in the bright sun and the other under the shade of a tree - the colorist will have to choose which person to transfer with full detail. By scanning with our extremely high dynamic imaging sensor, we eliminate that choice. Both people in the scene will be transferred as they are in the film.

The details that are captured on the film - the nuances of a person's face, their hair, their clothes - will be transferred. This is the same for color. Our imaging sensor allows us to recreate the colors to remain true to how they were originally shot. It is important to understand that original photography and film condition will play an important role in your film transfer. Simply stated, better film in, better film out. All scenes go through brightness and gamma correction. Color correction is not scene by scene at this price point.

SMARTER COMPRESSION

High Definition video in its raw form produces extremely large files that are difficult to work with. Massive amounts of storage are necessary to hold raw HD video files, and even a very expensive computer with high processing speeds would struggle to play it back. HD video must therefore undergo a process called compression. Compressing video essentially means shrinking data without removing the image content of a file. This is why you can take a video that take up 40GB on a hard drive and record it to a DVD that can only hold 4GB. Not all compression is of equal quality.

A video can be compressed in several ways. One of the ways is by reducing the quality of the image. This type of compression is referred to as "lossy." When put to a split screen, the lossy compressed file is easily distinguished from the uncompressed file. The compressed file is peppered with visual defects. We avoid these methods by converting your films to a Master H.264 file .mov file. Our compression is visually lossless, meaning the difference between the raw file and the compressed file is imperceptible. Master H.264 is simply a smarter format for video transfer, with a wide compatibility over a large number of viewing and editing programs on both PC and Mac.

ZERO PULLDOWN

Film and video playback in different ways. Back when your film was shot, the camera operator had the option of recording at 16, 18, or 24 frames per second. All video, however, must play back at 30 or 60 fps. In order to accommodate video playback, additional film frames are created to playback in 30 or 60 fps. Since 18 frames don't convert evenly into 30 frames, the added frames are interspersed sporadically. These added frames should only be added in the last step of playback or DVD/Blu-ray creation. The extra frames should not be added in the film transfer. If you go to alter the film's playback at all by speeding it up or slowing it down, the film will not play evenly. Our files have no pulldown added. This means that you can adjust the speed without altering playback. It also means that your files won't contain unnecessary data from artificially created redundant frames, so your files will be smaller and easier to work with without any loss of visual quality. Zero pulldown means that there is a perfect ratio of one film frame to one electronic frame relationship on the recorded digital file.

FILM CLEANING

We use Kodak Particle Transfer Rollers (informally referred to as "sticky rollers") to clean all film projects after prep. This process typically removes 50-70% of the dirt and dust on the emulsion after a single pass. We also offer an additional Second Pass Film Cleaning for a flat-rate $19.95 for any sized project. In the second pass, an additional 10-15% of the dirt and dust on the emulsion is cleaned.

Each new pass receives a fresh set of four rollers that gently clean your film by pulling dust and small debris directly from the film, without risk of damage. Some dirt and dust may remain embedded in the emulsion. We cannot remove this dirt or dust physically (because it would take away portions of the images), but we can remove this embedded debris digitally, through our Ultra 1080p HD Film Transfer. This process will also help eliminate or greatly reduce scratches as well.

We use a dry gate process. We don't use any fluid (known as a wet-gate process) because a wet system utilizes chemicals that can damage your splices and weaken the emulsion of the film. This can also add additional scratches to the film immediately after it has been scanned. Fluid based cleaners leech plasticizer from the film each time they are used.

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN TO ME?

It means that you can be confident that we are getting the most out of your film. Our goal in integrating these elements into our transfer method is to make the highest quality images possible. With our transfer service, your images will have improved sharpness without distortion, and with grain and noise reduction. Your pictures will have no or very minimal crushed blacks or clipped whites, and they have vibrant color saturation when possible. We aim to create transfers that are archive-quality that will stand the test of time and that will hold up when viewed on large High Definition TVs and monitors. For more information regarding signal path to hard drive, DVD and Blu-ray, click here.