First WorkPrinter transfers

[johnnhud]

Having received my workprinter in the mail yesterday, I ran home and set it up. The set up process was fairly simple, the hardest part was arranging my camera so that the large lens assembly lined up perfectly. I transfered over several reels of film that I had in order to test the machine out. This is what I transfered.

1 50ft reel - Took about 8 minutes

1 200ft reel - Took about 30 minutes

1 400ft reel - Took about....got impatient, wanted to play with transfered film in FCP ;-)

Capturing the film on my mac was really simple. My colors were a little off, I'm sure that's my camera and not the Workprinter though. Once I had the captured film into Final Cut Pro, it was easy to manipulate. The capture playback was to fast so I had to slow it down by 50%. once I did, it looked great. I will post some of my first work on here this evening.

I plan on transfering over a Castle Film Abbott & Costello short "Have badge will travel" from their movie Meet the Keystone Kops. Probably most everyone on this forum has seen it at one time or another because it came free with a lot of projectors and you could buy it for like $2 at most stores.

More later.

[MovieStuff]

The capture playback was to fast so I had to slow it down by 50%.

15fps = 50% speed change

18fps = 60% speed change

24fps = 80% speed change

Roger

[johnnhud]

Is it wrong of me to offer to do a few free transfers for people on this forum? I know that there are people who make money doing this so I don't want to cause any conflicts. I'm just really excited about my new product and am also really impressed with how well it works. Just wanting to share is all.....


Any thoughts?

[Mitch Perkins]

Is it wrong of me to offer to do a few free transfers for people on this forum? I know that there are people who make money doing this so I don't want to cause any conflicts. I'm just really excited about my new product and am also really impressed with how well it works. Just wanting to share is all.....


Any thoughts?

Anything which increases the accessibility of Super 8 to folks is a good thing!
Pretty good way to build a customer base if you want to start charging for it in future also. Will you do the neg?

Go for it!
Mitch

[johnnhud]

I havn't ever done neg before but I will gladly give it a shot. I know I have the tools to tackle it but I'd like to try it aleast once before I tell someone that I can do it effectivly. Send me a reel!

[Evan Kubota]

If you want to transfer some I have a roll of Plus-X that should be ready in around 3-4 weeks ;) I could do a DIY transfer and see how it compares.

[RustyB]

Setting the camera up the first time is tricky, but once you figure it out, it's no big deal anymore. I really just got the WorkPrinterXP for fun stuff, but I like it so much, I really wish I would have got the Sniper instead, so I wouldn't have to break out all my video gear. Who knows, I may have to order a Sniper this year.

I also transferred one of the old Castle Films...mine was the "Japanese Surrender" newsreel. It came out really nice, despite the quality of the film and the original film it was printed from.

The enlarged gate is awesome...you lose NOTHING, and can shoot a little of the outside of the frame, to allow for overscan.

One of the other forum members sent me some old 8mm weddings from the 50's, which was really cool to watch, being that I'm a wedding videographer.


BTW, Roger, do you know if any of the camera shops here in Houston have some film cleaner/lube, to use before tranferring? All I have is an ancient little spray bottle that came with some camera gear I bought on eBay, and none of the online places will ship the cleaner (hazardous).

Thanks for a great product!

[Andreas Wideroe]

This should get you started:

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/hse/s ... 16.4&lc=en

We use Isopropanol - the purest form of it. In Norway you need to apply to be able to buy it.

[Mitch Perkins]

Setting the camera up the first time is tricky, but once you figure it out, it's no big deal anymore.

Please take this the right way, as in constructive criticism - you have serious aberration/softness on the right side of image.

Possible culprit -

- mirror not at 45 deg. angle
- field lens too small/off angle/ or too thick/convex
- projector/video cam too close/far away from field lens/mirror

There is the "blue vignette", and the "orange vignette". Blue is field lens, orange is projector lens. Moving vidcam in toward field lens eliminates orange, away from field lens eliminates blue - *after you've zoomed in to image*.

I try to incorporate large elements which are convex/flat, as opposed to double convex; the more flat surfaces the better, for obvious reasons. Also, having a diopter in front of vidcam helps a ton.

Having a projector lens w/flat rear element helps a lot, too.

Transferring old films is a blast, no doubt about it, especially if the shooter knew their stuff...

Mitch

[MovieStuff]

Please take this the right way, as in constructive criticism - you have serious aberration/softness on the right side of image.

Possible culprit -

- mirror not at 45 deg. angle
- field lens too small/off angle/ or too thick/convex
- projector/video cam too close/far away from field lens/mirror

It's all an alignment issue with the camera and projector lens position. I personally align and test every unit that goes out to make sure that, if aligned properly, the image is razor sharp from corner to corner. However, as you know, there is a knack to alignment of an aeriel image and some do it better than others. I can assure you the mirror is at the correct angle, the field lens is the right size and the projector is the right distance. The only wild card in this is the alignment of the camera, which is up to the end user. If the projection lens is in the appropriate position and the camera at the right distance, it should be perfect.

Roger

[MovieStuff]

BTW, Roger, do you know if any of the camera shops here in Houston have some film cleaner/lube, to use before tranferring? All I have is an ancient little spray bottle that came with some camera gear I bought on eBay, and none of the online places will ship the cleaner (hazardous).

Thanks for a great product!

You can buy Edwals AntiStat film cleaner anytime at Camera Co-op on Shepherd Drive. Ask for Carol. They also sometimes have it at Camera Exchange on Richmond.

Roger

[RustyB]

BTW, Roger, do you know if any of the camera shops here in Houston have some film cleaner/lube, to use before tranferring? All I have is an ancient little spray bottle that came with some camera gear I bought on eBay, and none of the online places will ship the cleaner (hazardous).

Thanks for a great product!

You can buy Edwals AntiStat film cleaner anytime at Camera Co-op on Shepherd Drive. Ask for Carol. They also sometimes have it at Camera Exchange on Richmond.

Roger

Thanks Roger...I just happened past there the other day...never knew it was even there, and was going to try them this week. That will save me some driving around. Thanks again!

[Mitch Perkins]

Please take this the right way, as in constructive criticism - you have serious aberration/softness on the right side of image.

Possible culprit -

- mirror not at 45 deg. angle
- field lens too small/off angle/ or too thick/convex
- projector/video cam too close/far away from field lens/mirror

It's all an alignment issue with the camera and projector lens position. I personally align and test every unit that goes out to make sure that, if aligned properly, the image is razor sharp from corner to corner. However, as you know, there is a knack to alignment of an aeriel image and some do it better than others. I can assure you the mirror is at the correct angle, the field lens is the right size and the projector is the right distance. The only wild card in this is the alignment of the camera, which is up to the end user. If the projection lens is in the appropriate position and the camera at the right distance, it should be perfect.

Roger

Ah, okay - I didn't realize the setup came so...set up, out of the box. That certainly narrows it down. Improper camera alignment would foul things up, fersure.

Mitch

[RustyB]

Please take this the right way, as in constructive criticism - you have serious aberration/softness on the right side of image.

Possible culprit -

- mirror not at 45 deg. angle
- field lens too small/off angle/ or too thick/convex
- projector/video cam too close/far away from field lens/mirror

There is the "blue vignette", and the "orange vignette". Blue is field lens, orange is projector lens. Moving vidcam in toward field lens eliminates orange, away from field lens eliminates blue - *after you've zoomed in to image*.

I try to incorporate large elements which are convex/flat, as opposed to double convex; the more flat surfaces the better, for obvious reasons. Also, having a diopter in front of vidcam helps a ton.

Having a projector lens w/flat rear element helps a lot, too.

Transferring old films is a blast, no doubt about it, especially if the shooter knew their stuff...

Mitch

Yeah, I've only done a few transfers so far, and am getting better at aligning the camera properly, to get it perfectly sharp. It's not anything flawed in the WorkPrinterXP. Practice makes perfect!

The client believes this film was also shot using a Kodak Brownie Turret camera, similar to one of mine....

[MovieStuff]

I didn't realize the setup came so...set up, out of the box. That certainly narrows it down. Improper camera alignment would foul things up, fersure.

The two things that can wreck an aeriel image is the pin cushion and barrel distortion, which is controlled by the projection lens, and the distance of the camera to the condenser lens. Generally speaking, the mistake first time users make is trying to control focus of the image by adjusting the projector lens. Focusing should always be achieved using the camera lens. The projector lens is only used to change the size/shape of the image slightly to make sure that you don't have bowed elements within the image, like curved frame lines, etc. The ability to focus edge to edge is inextricably linked to whether the frame lines are straight, so it is a good indicator. You adjust the lens on the projector until the image is square and, if doing so makes the image go out of focus, then reach over to the camera to reclaim focus. Look at the image and repeat the process until you have it sharp edge to edge. Having the camera too close or too far will make it impossible to achieve this correctly, so distance is important, as well.

Roger