Dwayne's R8 Transfer

[Will2]

Just wanted to drop some props to Dwayne's photo for some really good R8 transfers. They've been steadily improving as they've gotten more comfortable with Roger's equipment.

Also, they have a handy option of just sending a DATA-DVD with the Quicktime file instead of a DV tape. They tape the DVD to the film box which is a great way to keep that together for future use and archiving (at least in the near to middle term). $10 for the first reel and $5 for each additional one. Good color, very steady transfer. Looks "home movieish" but that's what I use R8 for anyway.

Nice to have an inexpensive film option. Just hope John keeps making that Regular 8! I'm placing another order next week.

I will try to post something next week.

[adamgarner]

I'm anxious to see! Is it an SD transfer? What file type did you get? AVI?

[Juno]

What frame rate did you use?

[Will2]

The file came on a data DVD as a 640x480 MPEG-4 Codec .mov (quicktime) file.

My frame rate was 16fps and it looks like they transfered at 18fps.

I'm trying some edits now in Final Cut Pro.

[Uppsala BildTeknik]

Oh my god... not even DV standard resolution! And add the mpeg4 compression to that... sure sounds like a totally worthless file to receive as a replacement for the DV tape. :roll:

You can adjust the speed in Final Cut, but if the transfer is not frameaccurate you will probably get some weird interlace defects with mixed frames being duplicated.

[MovieStuff]

Oh my god... not even DV standard resolution! And add the mpeg4 compression to that... sure sounds like a totally worthless file to receive as a replacement for the DV tape. :roll:

You can adjust the speed in Final Cut, but if the transfer is not frameaccurate you will probably get some weird interlace defects with mixed frames being duplicated.

I can certify that the Sniper transfers are frame accurate. But whether they used an interlaced pulldown pattern or a progressive pulldown is up to how they process. Also, none of our units output mpeg4, so they must have converted it after the transfer. Dunno why. All they had to do was copy the AVI file to disk or DV tape which would save time and produce better results. But, like so many things, how people use my equipment is out of my control.

Roger

[Uppsala BildTeknik]

I didn´t mean to "bash your equipment", and as we have seen so many times before we can put a incompetent person behind the controllers of the best transferring equipment available and the results will still be poor. Because the operator had no idea what he was doing.

My guess is that they compress to Mpeg4 and downconvert so they can squeeze more footage on each DVD, thinking "there is no difference anyway", or something like that...

[Will2]

I'm actually fine with the transfer resolution and codec; this stuff is not for broadcast and its fine for straight cuts.

I'm used to HD uncompressed and ProRes transfers so I'm aware of the difference. For this use it's fine. Super inexpensive and convenient. If I need a better transfer I can always send out again, but I'm happy with what they're doing.

[adamgarner]

When do we get to see???

[Will2]

Been so busy with "real" work I'm too tired when I get home at 10:00 at night to edit something up. I'll try this week. Maybe I'll do some comparisons between the Dwayne's R8 transfer and the Cinelicious Super 8 negative I just got back.

Apples and oranges but why not?

[einzelhaft83]

Any updates on this or their transfer service? I have to 400 ft. super 8 from early to mid 70's that I would like to preserve. Would this be adequate? Of course I would like the quality to be as good as possible, but these were shot with a Kodak instamatic, and a Sears catalog special.

[woods01]

If you've some precious home movies you'd like to preserve you're better off paying a bit more and getting a good transfer to HD quality video. I think for vintage home movies you really need to have someone paying attention and adjusting exposures as it goes along. Home movies can have quite a wide range of exposure situations in a single reel.

[Will2]

Here's a very short clip from some of the Dwayne's transferred footage.

http://www.vimeo.com/11153293

Keep in mind that this shot with a really basic (but fun to use) R8 camera. In this case I'm looking for a less than perfect transfer for a "home movie" look, but I think it's actually fairly decent for the price.

If you have money to spend there are some great transfer houses with colorists that take the time to get it looking amazing. But keep in mind that if it is hand held old Super 8 footage, it may not be very sharp. Focus is almost always the problem on those older family films. Not amount of HD will get them looking as sharp as something shot properly with modern films.