Retro-8 Film Scanner Review

[MovieStuff]

Dear Roger!
I found this forum through search engine as I have the same setup and issue. I can export as image sequence but not as .mov.
I tried to an external drive formatted in NTFS as suggested with the same outcome: very rapid export bar and again empty folder.
I tried uninstalling RetroScan-HD (current beta) software and Quicktime 7 and reinstalling (making sure to install Quicktime first and complete) but no luck.

Welcome to the forum!

I'm not Roger nor do I have one of those machines but I've read a few of his posts. If you are able to export as an image sequence, congratulations, you're half way there! I don't believe that software can save as an all-in-one Quicktime file.

The trick is making sure you have Quicktime Pro which is a $29.95 upgrade (from Apple). The stand-alone Quicktime Pro program will open your image sequence and allow you to save it out as any Quicktime .mov codec you want.

You do not need to buy QuickTime Pro. The free version of QuickTime is all that's required. Also, RetroScan-HD will, indeed, produce a .MOV file directly. Once you scan the film, you can output .MOV files and also numbered image sequences. Both can be in SD or HD.

The problem a few people are experiencing with exporting .MOV files seems related to incomplete installs of QuickTime. This problem came up in about October of last year and with a handful of customers and, from what we can tell, it is because QT is not always installing the required codec. In fact, some customers have had to install QT 5-6 times before it loaded correctly and allowed exporting of .MOV files from RetroScan-HD. We know for a fact it is a codec problem because you can also install, say, a free trial version of Premier (which also has the missing codec) and .MOV exports are suddenly possible in RetroScan-HD. Likewise, you can install a free version of Panasonic P-Viewer and, again, RetroScan-HD will start exporting .MOV files.

We are working on a dependable solution but, unfortunately, none of our PCs seem to have this problem so it is hard to reproduce the issue. I had one customer with a laptop that was having the problem and was going to send his laptop to us to do a biopsy but he decided to try loading QT one last time and, of course, it started working perfectly.

As an aside, we put the .MOV option in there for convenience for people using iMovie and other simple editing tools but the highest quality is always derived from numbered image sequences, which can be compressed or uncompressed.

In the mean time, we are working on testing various versions of QT. One of the things we noticed is that older versions used to allow a choice of limited or full installs and, now, they just install one way only. I did trace QT back to 7.1.6 and that seems to work well without segregating what Apple considers to be legacy codecs, which is where I think the problem is with later versions. So I would try going to Apple and sorting back to 7.1.6 and see how that works out.

http://support.apple.com/downloads/#quicktime

If you need any other help, please contact me off list. Thanks.

Roger

[noelani72]

Greetings Board, first time poster.
For a good couple years now, I have been on the fence buying the Retro-8.
My family has around 12 400' reels of Super8/8mm and a handful of 50' reels.
I am the I.T. guy in the family, so naturally, they think I can just "do it".
They were content with me filming off a screen...umm eww.

My hardware end is probably good.
27" iMac i5 8Gb ram 250SSD (running macOS) and a 1TB SATA (bootcamped Windows 7 x64)

I've shared a couple emails with the company when I actually hoped to rent the machine at that $100 per day gig.

I'm almost there with funds - but now I see Retro-8 has been upgraded and the price went up a little.
My motivation is a bit stronger because I am hoping to not only do my family film, but I have a few folks interested and if they pay me for their transfer instead of an online shop, I can hopefully cover the majority of the machine's cost eventually.

I've read through these six pages, and I applaud Roger's replies.

If I may ask publicly, I have a couple questions for Roger (or Retro-8 Staff) and both questions just tie together:

I read from your website that the wait time to ship the unit is about 60 days from receipt of funds.
Is 60 days still the ballpark, or are current orders backing you up to 80+ days?
How do y'all handle PayPal?
Paypal only gives a 45 day window to file claim and seek money back. Judging from the six pages of this thread, I don't see Retro-8 running around and taking everyone's money, but it is $3161 plus shipping...and paying that upfront and waiting months is kind of a booger...and I can't lose that kinda of money (especially since I have been saving over a year).
Can something like a non-refundable deposit (say, up to $500?) be made to guarantee my place in line, start production of my machine, and pay in full when machine is within a couple weeks of shipping?

Thanks much!
Chad

[MovieStuff]

If I may ask publicly, I have a couple questions for Roger (or Retro-8 Staff) and both questions just tie together:

I read from your website that the wait time to ship the unit is about 60 days from receipt of funds.
Is 60 days still the ballpark, or are current orders backing you up to 80+ days?

Hi!

Thanks for the interest. I don't want to clog up Andreas' forum with sales stuff so I will be brief. Last year was madness. We had no idea the response we would get but we got caught up around Christmas. We've shipped around 400+ units so far and we are pretty dependably at about 60 days from receipt of funds until we ship. It can run a bit longer if we get slammed. We just shipped 20 units to a single customer in the UK but, usually, about 60 days is average.

How do y'all handle PayPal?

Well, we accept PayPal, if that's what you are asking. We also accept credit cards and checks.

Paypal only gives a 45 day window to file claim and seek money back. Judging from the six pages of this thread, I don't see Retro-8 running around and taking everyone's money, but it is $3161 plus shipping...and paying that upfront and waiting months is kind of a booger...and I can't lose that kinda of money (especially since I have been saving over a year).
Can something like a non-refundable deposit (say, up to $500?) be made to guarantee my place in line, start production of my machine, and pay in full when machine is within a couple weeks of shipping?

That's a question I get asked from time to time. Functionally, we don't make a lot of money on these units and we have to order components in bulk to see any reasonable margin. Therefore, we require full payment in advance including shipping. Accepting deposits would only increase the price of the unit and slows down production as we have to essentially build on spec and then store the units while we bird dog the balance. Never works like it should. The first year I was in business I tried taking deposits and, inevitably, customers had problems getting the remaining funds to me in a timely enough fashion to support a monthly overhead. It would be like someone owing you $1000 and paying you back at $20 a month. Some didn't pay the balance at all because they had an emergency come up or just were poor financial planners. Then you get into the issue of refunds even though they agreed the money was non-refundable, etc. Simply not worth the hassle.

If you need more information, please contact me off list. Andreas is gracious to let me post here and I don't want to take advantage of his hospitality.

Roger

[noelani72]

thanks for the info Roger. I'll certainly be in touch once I get closer to my goal.
Maybe I can catch a 4th of July or Christmas sale

[owenh10]

I've just bought a nice Retro 8 and am busy scanning in the films using in Intel i7 Mac Mini in Bootcamp. Many of my Super 8 films are sound, so I use my Elmo projector to record the sound into Audio Hijack which works quite well. Here's my workflow: Scan in Retro 8 - Export 1:1 each frame. Use Quicktime Image Sequence to import the images to a 15 fps movie file. Import that and the audio into Final Cut Pro X. Since the image movie is 15 fps, I manually increase the rate (by shortening the clip's time) so the length of the video is equal to the length of the sound file. I'm doing 50 feet sequences so it's reasonably close from front to back of clip. My question is: does this seem like a reasonable work flow or is there a better way? If Quicktime could create a movie at 18fps, that would be a lot more optimal, but that isn't one of the choices (or is there some other software that will do the right number?). I'm worried that my manual resizing is probably not 18fps, and that FCPX might be doing some nasty pull down stuff because I'm at 16.732 fps instead of the proper 18.

-Owen

[Grey_Dawn_Breaking]

Hello all, I've been having a bit of trouble with the scanner at my local film club, and I'm wondering if people could provide some advice.

Basically, my digitised movie has picked up some screen jittering. Here's a short sample of the file in which you can see the jitter right after the whip pan:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4KPs ... mUtSjFIQkk

If the clip is too short to adequately see what I'm talking about I can upload a longer one.

I suspect that this is happening because I used reversal Super8 film which was hand processed as a negative, so the sprockets are pretty clear in some places.

Can anybody confirm if this is the issue? Any ideas on how best to mitigate the jittering? I'm guessing that adjusting the exposure level on the Retro8 is the key to fixing this, but I wanted to know if anyone else was having this issue and if they found a solution. Hopefully I don't have to be constantly adjusting the exposure knob while the film is running through...

[natsoj2]

Grey-Dawn, I'm very very new to using the Retro 8 (like 1 day), but when I got shudder just like this, and thought OMG, it turned out that I hadn't moved the tensioner down onto the film. As simple as it is, maybe you forgot to do this for this clip or the tension needs to be adjusted.

Good Luck to you and me.

[oc6088]

I also am having the same exact problems as the gentleman listed way above on the first page. My unit was delivered in Dec, 2014. The frames jump all the time. My jumps even when scenes change. It also doesn't capture when the film is really light. I have installed the anti static part and it still doesn't work. So now I am back to using my old Sniper 8 which I have had since 2009. I did tell Roger all of this and it was sent back. I was told that the only problem was I didn't have the tension clip tight enough. Well the tension clip is tight. Basically after many emails I gave up on it and now have a $3,000 paperweight.
I am really disappointed because the Sniper 8 made by Movie Stuff is a great machine.
If anyone else wants to buy my $3,000 paperweight and think they can make it work, let me know.

[MovieStuff]

I also am having the same exact problems as the gentleman listed way above on the first page. My unit was delivered in Dec, 2014. The frames jump all the time. My jumps even when scenes change. It also doesn't capture when the film is really light. I have installed the anti static part and it still doesn't work. So now I am back to using my old Sniper 8 which I have had since 2009. I did tell Roger all of this and it was sent back. I was told that the only problem was I didn't have the tension clip tight enough. Well the tension clip is tight. Basically after many emails I gave up on it and now have a $3,000 paperweight.
I am really disappointed because the Sniper 8 made by Movie Stuff is a great machine.
If anyone else wants to buy my $3,000 paperweight and think they can make it work, let me know.

Linda,

Sorry for any issues you have with the unit. But, to be clear, you don't have a $3000 paperweight. You simply have a film scanner that you do not know how to use.

In my communications with you, it was obvious that you were not setting the tension clip correctly and there were other aspects of the instructions that you were also not following properly. When you sent the unit back to us, I went over the entire unit personally, resetting focus and alignment and tightened the tension clip. It worked perfectly and I sent it back to you in perfect working order. I was doing my best to assist you but, instead of working with me to solve the problems, you became threatening and stopped answering my emails. If you wish to contact me again, I will do my best to assist you but, unless you are willing to let me help you, there isn't much I can do. I stand behind the quality of my units and, even though your unit is well out of warranty, I will do whatever is required to make it work properly for you and assist you in you in correct operation of the unit. We have sold probably 1000 of that exact unit to satisfied customers the world over not the least of which are the Academy of Motion Picture Film Archives and the USC Film Archives. They had zero issues making their Retro-8's function as required. These units work just fine if you understand how to use them. You simply do not.

Also, FYI, you aren't having the same problem as the original poster of this thread. He had a totally different unit than you and a totally different issue that was successfully corrected and he is currently a happy customer. He contacted me privately and apologized because he was under duress due to a tragic family situation and the problems he had with the unit only added to his grief, hence his postings here. Once we started communicating, we were successful because he ultimately set his frustration aside and worked with me to solve the issue. If you bother to read this entire thread (and other similar threads on this forum) you will find there are other happy Retro-8 users that get great satisfaction from their units. If you are more interested in complaining than solving the problem, there is little I have to offer. Indeed, your threats to my character or my livelihood are silly as you've bought from me before and you know, as do other forum members here, I run an honest business. If you want to contact me about your unit and are willing to work with me, I am positive we can solve any issues that you are having with your Retro-8.

I look forward to working with you.

My best,
Roger Evans
830-966-4664

[oc6088]

Wow. I don't believe I threatened you in any way. You seem to be the one threatening, getting defensive and again blame the user. If the Retro 8 is so great, why is it totally redesigned?

To be clear..I love the Sniper system. That's why I bought from you again. I wrote that in the post.

If there are so many good reviews on here, you should not have to worry about one negative review. If you reply on here, I will not reply. I just wanted others to be aware that this system is not perfect...it's perfect about 70% of the time.

[milesandjules]

Hi oc6088.. sorry to hear you are having problems with your retro 8.

I reckon its your tensioner thats causing problems....if your tensioner is set to loosly or not at all... then the film will bounce around and the inner camera wont be able to focus of the sprockets and then that would cause problems with jitter . If the tensioner is pulled down to tight then it will jam the film and stop it from flowing smoothly through the gate and can snap the film. It's probably the trickiest thing on the unit to have to deal with. The retro8 is a different beast compared with a projector based transfer machine, but that is why we like it.

Do tests. Don't do a whole roll of film and then get angry. Do 10ft chunks on various parts of the film. Try lowering or tightening the tension manually with your finger on the tensioner to see what happens...see if that fixes or worsens the jitter problems. If the retro is done properly it should be far less jittery that a projector because of software stabilisation that is done automatically.

You may need to adjust software exposure and led brightness when the exposure changes greatly from scene to scene. It's not automatic like a video camera is. So vastly lighter exposed scenes will need to be adjusted differently than vastly darker scenes. See if you can get the picture looking correctly with the led control before you adjust the software.

Can you post a youtube video of the film going under the tensioner that way we can see if its not setup correctly?

Also if your film has completely clear sprockets ,then the camera wont be able see them ....this usually doesn't happen on reversal film cause the camera gate always covers the sprocket so it should be completely black even if the film is over exposed. Only time i had this problem was when i tried to transfer a commercial standard 8 film that had completely clear sprockets .

Our machine always worked great and we transferred hundreds of client rolls of reversal and thousands of feet of neg that we shot ourselves. But like i said the retro8 is not like projector based transfer machine...it wont jam and should be more gentle on the film than a projector is.

Hope this helps.
Good luck. let us know how further testing goes.
M&J

[oc6088]

Thanks for the suggestions. Here is a video of my issues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqWwqGNV-MI

I do have the anti static add on installed.

[MovieStuff]

The tension clip isn't being set properly. As noted in the instructions, the tension cannot be adjusted with film on the unit. You do not increase or decrease tension by tightening the screw. The screw is there to hold the clip in the proper place for correct tension. Also, the screen inset is blocking a critical view of what's happening at the gate and there is no way to see what level the sensor knob is set. So there are a lot of variables that can't be judged that will affect the performance of the unit. But the main thing I see is that the tension clip is being adjusted improperly. Again, feel free to call me if you would like assistance in sorting out these issues.

Roger Evans
owner, MovieStuff, LLC
830-966-4664

[MovieStuff]

Wow. I don't believe I threatened you in any way. You seem to be the one threatening, getting defensive and again blame the user.

Simply not true. I'm not defensive; you are simply using the unit incorrectly. I can't pretend that you are using the scanner correctly and also help you solve your problems.

If the Retro 8 is so great, why is it totally redesigned?

We are always making improvements to our product line. The Universal captures in higher resolution than the Retro 8 Pro. The Universal works the same as your unit but all the components have been externalized to make servicing easier and to accommodate future improvements, such as changing the camera to 2k or possibly 4k. The Retro 8 Pro works great but it can't be changed. Customers that used the Retro 8 Pro made suggestions and we listened and the Universal is the end result. For instance, on the Universal, there is no pesky tension clip. ;)

To be clear..I love the Sniper system. That's why I bought from you again. I wrote that in the post.

The same craftsmanship went into the Retro 8 Pro that you now have. If you use the Sniper correctly, it provides excellent results. If the Retro 8 Pro is used correctly, it should also provide you with excellent results. But it does not work the same as the Sniper that you are used to and neither will provide excellent results if you don't use them correctly.

If there are so many good reviews on here, you should not have to worry about one negative review.

I take my responsibility to my customers very seriously so any negative review is worrisome to me. But what is the purpose of your negative review? Just to leave it here with no desire to solve the problem? Again, you are always welcome to call me and I am happy to help you sort out any issues.

If you reply on here, I will not reply.

Then that is going to make helping you impossible since you won't call me and you won't respond to any input here. And, frankly, there is better use of Andreas' forum bandwidth than addressing issues that you want to complain about but don't want me to help you solve.

I just wanted others to be aware that this system is not perfect...it's perfect about 70% of the time.

No system is perfect but this system works much better than just 70% of the time if it is used correctly. From the video you posted, you are not using it correctly. I am happy to explain how to use it correctly if you wish to call me.

My best,
Roger Evans

[oc6088]

Please send me a link on how to adjust the tension clip without adjusting the screw. I can't find one on your website.

Here is an updated video with the windows adjusted a bit. I also ran the machine by itself (without the window of the software) after the video. It starts at apprx 4 min 30 seconds.
I explained in the video that the settings of exposure and sensor were set at 11:00
Please explain to me why the machine just skips a bunch of frames at 3 min 45 seconds and how to adjust the tension clip without adjusting the screw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTqHyvxNPTQ