Tony.T Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 If you do this in house what equipment do you use? I'm currently using a projector, mirror and screen thing and a mini DV camcorder. Think I can do better. Looking at a Chinon DS300 telecine and an Eumig R2000 instaprojector- any comments> atb Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony.T Posted March 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 So, no-one does it in house then ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cecilh Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 With what you describe Tony the quality will be rubbish. That is how they make copies of recent movies you buy in markets. Hope you don't get people walking past during the film! Forget it and send them to I.Q. Video who make a copy with no loss in quality at all. We have been using them as long as I remember and done hundreds and not a single complaint in that time. We make our own DVD from the video when it comes back as we can do that in as good quality for a few pennies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colopt Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 No, but what's the quality like using the projector, mirror and screen? I have a collection of old super-8 movie equipment, I'm thinking I might be able to rig something up, but always thought the quality wouldn't be very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony.T Posted March 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2009 Cecil, the quality is good, at least as good as I have paid others to do. How do you think they do it?? . With care in set up you can achieve very good results. I've done a lot of research into this and basically you HAVE to start with a cine projector, these are all old now so you need to be able to maintain and refurbish as you go. After this there are a few options in video capture. But all seems to depend on a camcorder/ web cam (yes- really) or a custom made ccd device, but which ever way you go it always has to start with an 8mm projector. And that is the weakest link. Quality is obtainable this way, but what worries me is the time it takes. To set everything up and run a few tests (which I do, to check alignment, focus etc) takes a little time (for our non uk members that means LOTS of time) then to download the movie into a pc for editing takes more time ( I use mini DV for many reasons so everything is done in real time) What I really really want is for someone more experienced than myself to post a tutorial on this. I know it can be done (as I do it myself) But I feel that there must be a simpler, less labour intensive way of doing it. ( and please don't say send it out because if you do you have missed the whole point of this thread) In these 'credit crunch' times I want to keep every penny earned in house as I am sure we all do, so DIY solutions are always top of my agenda, video to DVD is a prime example. For very little outlay all the profit can be yours colopt- if you have all that super 8 stuff you are more than halfway there (although the overwhelming market leader is standard eight). Do a search on e-bay, search for 'telecine'. Lots of stuff available. I can only repeat that the results are good, but only as good as the effort you put in, I have had repeat orders already and I've only been doing this for a few weeks (4 at most). Perhaps I've been made lazy by the so called 'instant' digital era, because with cine transfer you do have to work hard at it, hence my quest to find a simpler technique. Having said that, it is very interesting and I have to say I'm on the look out for a decent super 8 camera..... anyone want to donate ;D I hope I've inspired a bit of interest- there is a lot of work (and profit) to be had- especially if you can keep it in house. Let's have some more input please!! Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cecilh Posted March 11, 2009 Report Share Posted March 11, 2009 Tony I think you'ii find I.Q. Video's set up is not simply an old projector a mirror and a video camera although the basic principal has to be just that, the same way as a car is simply four wheels, an engine and a steering wheel! Many years ago I thought of buying a 'good' set up and do it myself but discovered that the equipment to make a perfect copy as I.Q. have, cost more than a D&P processing machine cost at the time and if I remember they were made in America. The problem with doing copies in real time is you can never pay yourself what you would really need to charge. A lot of people are spending hours doing restoration when they could send it to India and have a perfect job done for £10 and back next day. Good luck, Cecil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony.T Posted March 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2009 I understand what you are saying Cecil, and in some respects you are right, but I still want to be able to do this in house and retain profit, as I think a lot of us want to do. Although a lot of the work is in 'real' time it does not mean you have to be sitting there watching it. Whilst I type I have a video being transferred to DVD, I don't need to be watching it, let the equipment do it's thing. In fact this is late on Saturday, I'm enjoying a beer and typing this and yet I am earning some money !! I have just bought some better equipment to transfer Cine (secondhand) so I'll be able to to evaluate it and pass on some more info. The market is there to be had so I shall pursue it. The other difference between our operations is that I am purely a photolab, never stocked or sold cameras and never will, so I'm quite happy and prepared to take any aspect of imaging/ printing or transfer work in any direction that the market wants. To be quite honest if the business changed to the extent that we make more money out of pure digital work than printing then the minilab will go to the dump ! It would save me a fortune in overheads ! We are in changing times and I think we all need to assess and change our direction as we need to in order to stay in business. I fully intend to be in business when this recession is over, but if it means I have to change the nature of the business then so be it. I suspect that most of us chose to get into the photographic industry through a love of photography and/ or printing. In my case it was both of those plus a VERY long term family interest in the subject, which I only recently discovered- seems it was in the Genes, but whose I don't know as I was adopted into my family . It's getting late so I shall be off to beddy-byes soon. The bottom line is that we all have have businesses to run, money to earn and personal expenditure to maintain. If that means that I or You have to change direction away from this industry then we shall won't we? As always please feel free to call me for a chat atb Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photographis Posted March 15, 2009 Report Share Posted March 15, 2009 Hi Tony, I use a local film studio for my transfers, and when they are quiet they are very glad of the work just to keep their machinery running and staff bussy, but when they are 'on' a project, we have to wait. So I would be very interested to hear how you get on, but having seen this machinery in action, I must say that I agree with Cecilh in that you may struggle with quality, or repeatable quality. That is no reason not to try, like you, I don't like making a small percentage from a large sale and would love to do this work 'in house'. It can be unsettling to see 'pro' equipment in use, in that you reaslise that without it, to achieve similar results, will be very difficult. If you need 'canon foder' I may have one or two small reels you can practice with (non-commercial). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony.T Posted March 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2009 cheers buddy- by all means send me a couple of reels- your feedback would be great. I actually have done and sold a lot of work now, and have had repeat business so it can't be that bad! The trick seems to be very careful set up. With care and attention you can achieve good quality. I would love to know where I can buy this 'pro' equipment, because looking long term I really think this is a field that will continue to expand and provide a lot of profit. In which case I don't mind investing some money. I know I keep banging on about this but I believe we have to diversify to survive. If we are all honest we have to accept that D&P (film and digital) is to all intents and purposes finished. We will never have the volumes we used to have. And no, I'm not being negative, just truthful. We need to be looking at other avenues with a vengeance. Anyway, it's sunday afternoon. I've had a great morning shooting with friends, sat in the garden and enjoyed a couple of beers, and gues what- now I'm off into my little 'studio' to copy some more cine to DVD. Have fun Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cecilh Posted March 15, 2009 Report Share Posted March 15, 2009 Tony - the big advantage in doing in-house, if you can get quality, is not loosing peoples films in the post. Thank God we have always sent Special Delivery and never lost anything, but it is always a danger tha I point out to the customers. When we get photos to restore, we scan them and the customer gets them back before leaving the shop. Cecil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony.T Posted March 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2009 And that is a really good point my friend. I find a lot of customers ( actually most) are much happier when they realise that their work is being done in-house rather than sent away. 2 reasons:- 1) safety- it is unlikely their originals art going to be lost 2) they can talk to the person who is going to do their job, so any special, personal, requirements can be catered for. I always acommodate any special requirements a customer has. Another week tomorrow- great weather today ( in fact all weekend) so here's hoping.... Best wishes to you all, wherever you are Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philspectrum Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 The best kit for cine-video transfere is by ELMO - hasn't been made for many years, - but if you can pic up a set .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony.T Posted April 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 Just a quick update- I'm now using 2 telecine machines, a Chinon super 8 with sound (a really nice piece of kit) and a Eumig std8 and silent super8 R2000. Both produce excellent results and much quicker than before. I've run a promotion for the last 3 weeks and the amount of film coming in is awesome! 124 reels in the last 7 days alone 8) Lots of repeat business and loads of enquiries. I'm really really glad I went down this road ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony.T Posted April 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 Now make that 129 reels !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilT Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 Nice one Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony.T Posted April 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 Cheers Neil- Just taking a short break and then back to the 'studio' to work on some more std 8! meanwhile I am downloading some mini DV's to the PC to put onto DVD for a customer. remind me to go to bed please ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilT Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 remind me to go to bed please Go to bed!!! do the same as me, and dont do it ??) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photographis Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Hi Tony, would be interested to know what software you are using to put the mini dv's through the pc to dvd. I have allways said I didn't want to get into video editing but....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony.T Posted April 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Another bite ;D microsoft moviemaker works well for me. If you run Vista you've got it, if not download it FOC from the microsoft website. Connect the camera to the pc with a firewire cable, switch on the camera and windows will ask you if you want to download all the video for editing, or download and burn straight to DVD or select scenes to download. Once it's downloaded into a folder you have previously created, open it in moviemaker and off you go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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