DIY film scanning

I'm editing my documentary in FCPX using an SD 16mm transfer which was fine for editing, but now I want to re-transfer the footage in HD, 1080p, I have more time than money and I've been looking into the DIY solution of scanning sections of the 16mm film on a flatbed scanner and then extracting the individual frames to produce an image sequence file that I would assemble in Compressor 4. The only extracting program I could find is CinetoVidPro, for PC only. Unfortunately it's written by and for "Windows tekkie folk", with horribly complex jargon, and aggravated by a poor German-to-English translation in the user manual. Does anyone know of an equivalent program for Mac that doesn't require a rocket science degree.

BobGitzen wrote:
… I have more time than money …
welcome to my world
never heard of such a method, so I read the site… indeed, very open-sourced, so lots of tech-lingo.
The demo file (elephants on some safari from the 60ies) shows the trouble with such a procedure: the 'standing' of each frame is far from perfect, which - imho! - adds way too much jitter… esp. for HD-screening.
=> I would bite the sour apple, and use some commercial transfer service.
plus: if it is old movies - I would call the SD-quality as 'intended'… old looks old, why not?
btw: a scanner is about 30cm… for a few seconds of movie your would need dozens, if not hundreds of scans… painstaking? …
… reminds me of some guy years ago, who used a flatbed-scanner to 'digitize' 78rpm-records He was able to 'translate' the micro-mechanics of the track-path of the disk to 'audio'.-

Similar Messages

Editing 8 MM film scanned to .AVI file

I've had a bunch of 8mm film scanned to .AVI format. I want to edit it into a nice movie or two. In the event viewer and project viewer, the clips seem fine, but when I play the clip, it gets cropped -- no matter which of the three aspect ratios I choose. Is there a way to make a custom crop for 8 mm film?
Thanks.

When film is transferred to video there is a choice -- capture the full film frame which because of film judder may cause film's "frame-line" to become visible. Or, zoom in slightly, and eliminate this possibility. This would mean the top and bottom will be cut-off when viewed on a TV because it is assumed you'll watch your videos on a TV which as "over-scan."
It sounds like when you put a clip in a project it is cropping as would a TV. This it would do so you can play video on a computer which does not have "over-scan."
You could try creating a 16:9 project and put each clip into the project as a PIP over black or even colored mattes. Then export at 720p. You could make this interesting by varying the placement of the PIP and even putting title captions around the video.

Who wants to help me with 35 MM film scans.

Hey y'all,
So, I own many old school film cameras,and I love using em, But with some I take some pretty out there pics, (anyone who owns a Diana knows what I am talking about)
any way, the only development and printing shop around is in the supermarket, and lets just say there scanners cant really Handel my film.
but sadly, like most employed students, I am rather poor, so I can afford to buy a proper scanner, nor can I afford to pay to have it sent off to be printed.
so, I figure, why not use Photoshop?
So here is where I need your help.
I have scanned in my colour negative film and I need a way to adjust the colour to have it work, but have yet to figure out a way to do it.
and help? I am working in CS3
here is a sample of what I mean.
[IMG]http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h345/Honestjohnny/scan0002.jpg[/IMG]

Read the entire web site linked below:
http://www.scantips.com/

Elements 11 Editing EXIF for film scans

I have started shooting analog (film) photos and importing the results to my IMAC as scanned images.
This populates the EXIF with all the scanner details. I would like to edit the EXIF to show my analog camera and film details instead.
Is there an Elements-compatible tool for this or a stand-alone editor?

Since there is no data to read from films photos, you have to enter manually all the information you may wish to save. With digital you can automatically get
- exposure and camera settings
- date taken
and many more.
If you know important data like film type, exposure and camera settings as well as date taken with scans, you'll have to enter that data manually.
In both cases, you'll enter manually other personal information like places, events and persons.
Once all that information is entered in the catalog, you can save it either to the files themselves (in the metadata section) or to an xmp sidecar file for raw files. With scans (jpegs or tiffs), that data must be saved to the files via the 'write metadata to files' command in the organizer.
Does this help ?

Photoshop CS6: Question about Resolution when Post-Cropping Film Scans

Hopefully, somebody with more understanding than I on this topic, can help me with this.
I am about to get a film scanner I have on order, to scan in 35mm negatives. I've had one before but I had problems with the model and had to return it.
When scanning film frames, I like the idea of setting the scan area marquee, at the scanning stage, so that it scans slightly beyond the film frame edges, so that I can carefully crop to the edge of the film frame later, in Photoshop CS6, rather than setting it, at the scanning stage, and then later, when examining the film frame in CS6, maybe discovering that I have not scanned to the edge of the film frame quite enough, as I can easily zoom right into the image when in CS6, to carefully examine where the film frame edges are.
My concern about doing it like this, though, is that I may be reducing the resolution of the image. For example, say I scan a film frame in at 3600ppi, and later crop the image slightly in CS6 in order to precisely trim off any slight amount of black around the film frame edges. By cropping the film frame like this in CS6, am I reducing the image resolution of the film frame to lower than 3600ppi? As I best understand it, I do not think post-cropping like this results in any reduction in image resolution, but am I correct in thinking this?

Hi.
The scanner is a Reflecta ProScan 7200. As I said to station_two, I am in London. I understand the brand is known as 'Pacific Image' over in the US.
The scanning software I will be using it with will be 'SilverFast Ai Studio 8'.
Do take a look at this excellent review of the scanner:
http://www.filmscanner.info/en/ReflectaProScan7200.html
(I may be incorrectly assuming too much when on these forums that I am speaking exclusively with folk from the US - the way you spell 'labour' makes me think you are not from the US?)

Can 35mm Film Scans create a profile or must it be digital with EXIF data?

I have a lot of old minolta lenses to go with old manual minolta 35mm film cameras. There is no Meta data in the scans of the film comming off the scanner as I create the DNG file, at least none I'm aware of. However looking at the images in Lightroom it seems as if lightroom attaches such information to every image once it's imported.
Can this applicaiton be used to create profiels for scanned film images? Can I take the 9 shots of a chart, load them up, and create a profile using scans from 35mm film?
I realise that the instrutctions say the EXIF data allows you to have profiles automtaicaly apply. But I'm not worried about that feature.
My plan was to profile my old lenses and label the profiles so I can manually attach them to images in lightroom.
A fried of mine says he doesn't see where the lens profile creator can work without EXIF data but I don't see why not.

download exiftool.exe, drop it in the directory with your dngs, and then create a .bat file with the following command:
exiftool.exe -exif:FocalLength=35 -exif:FocalLengthIn35mmFormat=35 -exif:FNumber=2.8 -exif:SubjectDistance=10.5 *.dng
(adjust your numbers accordingly- subject distance is in meters)
run the .bat and it should tag your images with all the exif info that the profile creator needs. make sure you don't crop your images smaller than the original shot size too, otherwise your FocalLengthIn35mmFormat will be wrong

Does aperture invert B&W negative film scan files (raw format)?

hi, I'm new to aperture.
I need it mainly to fix the luminance levels to my raw files that I get scanning my negative B&W films.
obviously I need to invert them befor fixing the levels, can apeture do that or I need to use an external application or my scanning software (vuescan).
would be great to use aperture because doing so would speed-up my scanning workflow.
regards G.
Imac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

I second that. Vuescan will give you much better control over the final product than almost any other scanner software. You can find it here:
http://www.hamrick.com/
Which reminds me, that I probably need to get the latest version! It has been a while since I upgraded.
You can install it and try it for free - it will watermark your images until you pay.

C7180 film scanning?

Every time I try and scan 35mm film I get a whole page scan?
I think I should just be getting the fill area behind the white screen in the scanner lid.

Hi @RJBreen,
Welcome to the HP Forums!
I understand that you are wondering how to scan 35 mm film on your HP Photosmart c7180 on Windows 8.1. I am happy to help!
Please, see this how to scan guide, How to Scan: Windows 8, and try some of the alternate methods of scanning without HP software.
I would also recommend our HP Print and Scan Doctor, for any scanning and printing issues.
For future reference, here is your printer's user guide, HP Photosmart C7180 All-in-One Printer User guides.
Hope this helps, and have a wonderful day!
RnRMusicMan
I work on behalf of HP
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click the “Kudos Thumbs Up" to say “Thanks” for helping!

8mm film scanned - DV or HDV format - which is better?

I have about 8000 feet of very old home movies I am going to get scanned by one of the many companies out there that provide this service. Some will scan and dump DV format, other will dump HDV format.
Since I'm not doing the capture and I want to use FCP to edit and do the final composing what are the advantages/pitfalls of the different formats? I am a nuibe when it comes to FCP and video editing for that matter but it appears, at least to me from what I've read, that DV works with FCP better for editing as it is true frame by frame reproduction. HDV on the other hand I can only edit the i-Frames and I believe I need to do a transcode or something on that order to work with it FCP. Is this true?
MacMini, MacPro Mac OS X (10.4.9) Linux FC5, FC6 servers

I have about 8000 feet of very old home movies I am
going to get scanned by one of the many companies out
there that provide this service. Some will scan and
dump DV format, other will dump HDV format.
Since I'm not doing the capture and I want to use FCP
to edit and do the final composing what are the
advantages/pitfalls of the different formats? I am a
nuibe when it comes to FCP and video editing for that
matter but it appears, at least to me from what I've
read, that DV works with FCP better for editing as it
is true frame by frame reproduction. HDV on the
other hand I can only edit the i-Frames and I believe
I need to do a transcode or something on that order
to work with it FCP. Is this true?
MacMini, MacPro Mac OS X
(10.4.9) Linux FC5, FC6 servers
I think you should make the most of this situation and go with Studio X's suggestion to DVCPRO HD and find a way to archive to tape or Blueray for backup. You will like the all I frame editing. If you can only find HDV 1080i you will be able to down convert with a rental Sony HDV camera to DV. Edit now in DV and have HDV on mini-dv tape for your family’s future needs. This is a no brainier. HDV is only the beginning of highly compressed formats to come and it really looks beautiful. HDV is a great acquisition method. Plus you can have HDV captured to DVCPRO HD. Have one reel done at the local place and see for yourself.
Good Luck
Z1&V1user

35mm slide film scanning and editing

I've begun scanning old family slides on a Canon flatbed which seems to be doing a fine job. I can make quite a few adjustments before I scan, and I'm confused about which to choose. Some of the adjustments seem to make the resulting digital image worse rather than better. I've been trying to test things out but there are so many combinations.
Can anyone give me a rule of thumb for when to use features such as:
AutoTone
Unsharp Mask
Remove Dust & Scratches
Fading Correction
Grain Correction
Backlighting Correction
It seems that the more corrections I can make before I scan the better. Is that correct or should I be making them after in a program like PhotoShop Elements (which I have not used yet).
Thank you very much for any advice.

As Barbara mentioned if you're scanning thru Photoshop Elements you can select any number of formats to save as (you don't need to edit at that time, just save). Photoshop's format is lossless and is iPhoto compatible. If you edit a jpg with iPhoto you go thru only one additional jpeg compression as subsequent edits are written to the library's database file and applied when viewed, printed or exported. With PSE, I've only seen one drop in file size take place after multiple edits of a jpg format file.
Scanning a 4x6 photo at 300 dpi will give the following sized in these formats:
jpg - 1.4 MB
psd - 3.8 MB
tiff uncompressed - 4.5 MB
If you save the scan as a .psd, i.e. a Photoshop Elements format, import into iPhoto and edit with PSE you can do advanced editing that requires layers without having to save the file to the desktop and import as a new file. iPhoto will also edit .psd files and keep the format for further editing by PSE but loses the individual layers. So if you want to keep the multiple layers in a psd file, i.e. text layers, duplicated edited layers, don't edit with iPhoto.
If you import into iPhoto first, you can organize them as you desire, i.e. keywords, albums, etc. and edit when you need to use one of the files. As you go along you'll become more proficient with PSE and can do better job.
Here are some tips on using PSE with iPhoto that may be of some help:
Using Photoshop (or Photoshop Elements) as Your Editor of Choice in iPhoto.
1 - select Photoshop as your editor of choice in iPhoto's General Preference Section's under the "Edit photo:" menu.
2 - double click on the thumbnail in iPhoto to open it in Photoshop. When you're finished editing click on the Save button. If you immediately get the JPEG Options window make your selection (Baseline standard seems to be the most compatible jpeg format) and click on the OK button. Your done.
3 - however, if you get the navigation window that indicates that PS wants to save it as a PS formatted file. You'll need to either select JPEG from the menu and save (top image) or click on the desktop in the Navigation window (bottom image) and save it to the desktop for importing as a new photo.
This method will let iPhoto know that the photo has been editied and will update the thumbnail file to reflect the edit..
NOTE: With Photoshop Elements 6 the Saving File preferences should be configured: "On First Save: Save Over Current File". Also I suggest the Maximize PSD File Compatabilty be set to Always.
If you want to use both iPhoto's editing mode and PS without having to go back and forth to the Preference pane, once you've selected PS as your editor of choice, reset the Preferences back to "Open in main window". That will let you either edit in iPhoto (double click on the thumbnail) or in PS (Control-click on the thumbnail and seledt "Edit in external editor" in the Contextual menu). This way you get the best of both worlds
2 - double click on the thumbnail in iPhoto to open it in Photoshop. When you're finished editing click on the Save button. If you immediately get the JPEG Options window make your selection (Baseline standard seems to be the most compatible jpeg format) and click on the OK button. Your done.
3 - however, if you get the navigation window that indicates that PS wants to save it as a PS formatted file. You'll need to either select JPEG from the menu and save (top image) or click on the desktop in the Navigation window (bottom image) and save it to the desktop for importing as a new photo.
This method will let iPhoto know that the photo has been editied and will update the thumbnail file to reflect the edit..
OT

The whole "convert film scanned in Log to Linear" thing in Apple Color

Hi Everyone,
I scanned my 100 min, 35mm feature (from a low contrast print), to DPX log files.
Can someone recommend a white paper / website on how to do the whole conversion to linear thing in Apple Color?
Thanks!

Apple COLOR automatically linearizes ingested log material to work around the notion that most people don't know how else to deal with it. You can override the conversion in the "Override Header Settings" tab in the Primary In, Settings 2 tab. If you do this, you will require a display/LUT system which will show you a calibrated, linearized rendition anyway as log transfers do not make contrast-wise sense to the human visual system. There is a discussion of this in the Apple COLOR "Manual".
jPo

Questions on scanning negatives?

I thought I'd post a new thread, as had some remaining questions and didn't want to hijack someone else's thread.
I'm embarking on scanning in all my previous 35mm colour negatives, and have so far learnt quite a lot both from experimentation and from reading threads on this forum.
Whilst I know there is no black and white answer to these questions I'd love to hear other peoples views based on their experiences and expertise:
1. What colour depth are people using . 48-bit or 24-bit ?
2. I have Epson V500 which has digital ICE technology for dust removal. It increases the scan time a fair amount and even the manufactures instructions recommend using only on frames that you want to improve due to this increased time. The problem is I want to set up a bit of a 'production line' so I can just get downs to scanning rather than inspecting each image as I scan. The question is : Is it better to do the dust removal at the physical scan stage or is it possible to achieve the same result with Photoshop? I've just had a quick play with Photoshop (never used it before) and the Reduce Dust and Scratches filter didn't seem particularly good doing this for a whole image?
3. As I'm no David Bailey, am I wasting my time (or rather Hard Drive) with TIFF files rather than Jpegs? As a point of reference, all my recent photography has been done on a Canon EOS350D which takes beautiful images that I'm proud of, but I store these as Jpegs (approx 3200x2200 3MB) so it's probably overkill to store my less quality film scans as TIFFs?
That said, I have plenty of external HDD's so as long as iPhoto is just as happy with external drives of TIFF's it's not a problem for me.
Anyway, many thanks for any hints & suggestions.
Dan.

Dan:
I would go without the dust removal (use a can of compressed air to clean the negative strip first) and use Photoshop for the touchup work. I use the clone tool and the Spot Healing Brush to fix blemishes. Granted it's more labor intensive but it would depend on how many of the negatives are needing touchup and how much time you have. If only a few then scan without.
If the ICE feature also fixes scratches and other blemished and you find you need it then you can switch to it. Unless your work is for professional use I'd go for 24 bit color and JPG format. Once you get the jpg file onto the HD and into iPhoto it will be preserved as it was scanned as a "digital negative". If you plan of doing a lot of editing of one file then create a psd file of it and use photoshop on duplicate layers. That way you can have multiple versions in one file.
When I retired I went on a binge of scanning over 5000 photos and 5000 slides. It took me 5 years to complete. I've learned a lot since then. My slide scanner was a one trick pony and when I was done I had a nice door stop. The new flat bed scanners do slides and negatives very nicely and can scan multiples of each and create separate files for each (my Canon does that).
However, as I'm sure you already know or have been told, put into place an efficient backup strategy. It's very important.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.≤br>
Note: There now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

How to best open a 35 mm slide RAW scan with 4000 dpi in Camera RAW CS5?

I have, at present, set Camera Raw to open files as ProPhoto RGB and as 360 dpi. I want to keep all options open for later use of the files (for albums or enlargements). How do I get the best results so that I do not diminish the quality obtained in the scanning process (where I try to use only ICE and to leave all other editing to PS later - I know that the changes made by ICE are permanent so that I already here do not have a real RAW - but it is my impression that the choice of RAW over TIFF in the scanning is still worth it).
I have also some older scans but these are TIFF's, also 4000 dpi but only 8 bit. I want to get the best result from both types of files.
I plan to perform all edits before I finally save files in various print sizes. I am still quite scared as to make mistakes when resizing so that I get an inferior quality in the new size. I, of course, keep a copy of the original scans safe and unedited.
I am also in doubt as to wether I should go directly into PS or via Camera Raw with the scans.
Excuse these foolish questions from a grandmother who is a complete newbie as to film scanning and still quite "green" as to PS.

Thank you. So far I have not scanned as RAW files but felt persuaded that I should choose that format. Especially after having read the arguments in Sascha Steihoffs "Scanning Negatives and slides".
I went back and found a new edition of the book where it has been added that in PS (the book is from 2009 and refers to CS3) ACR cannot open the scanned nef's, only nef files from a camera. It seems that you have to use Nikons own editing software for opening these files. I tried to ask Nikon if the scanned nef's could be opened in the latest editions of PS but got the answer that they "did not know".
So I have probably to stick to the tif's. Pity! Unless CS5 or 6 can open them of course. I wish I could get an answer from Adobe concerning that. They should be interested in encouraging people to use their software instead of Nikon software.
I probably should still give it try but that would probably mean that I should do it without the ICE in the hardware to get a real nef RAW (or maybe it still is not a real RAW).

Mass Change of EXIF Date from Neg Scans?

I recently send some negs in to an outside company to get a scan done of them. The default EXIF date is now the date of the scan from the scanning equipment. This is going to mess up my searches. Is there someway to replace en-mass this default date either on import or after import?

There is a field Aperture calls "Image Date" which seems functionally the same as the exif capture date. You find "Image Date" in the popup menu for sorting the browser window. If you can use "Image Date" for your purposes, then an easy way to adjust your scans "Image Date" is to use the shareware program Timeature. I have a mix of digital camera files and film scans, and Timeature lets me determine where the film scans appear when I'm sorting by "Image Date."
http://www.tow.com/timeature/

Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 will not recognize Epson V600 Photo scanner for film ?

For some reason the WIA support in PE9 will only recognize the scanner for reflective prints not film, why ?
But, in the PE 6 the Epson V600 scanner is recognized for film scanning,, in professional mode and automatic.
Any clues ?
Message was edited by:Photographer & Dell Technical Service solved this issue to-day 11/02/2015
Message was edited by: Bob Dix

See this Tech doc:
http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/kb/twain-installed-photoshop-elements-11.html

DIY film scanning

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