Advice needed from current Retro-8 users

[MovieStuff]

We did a large batch upgrades for all 2fps Retro customers near the end of last year. With the exception of customers that have already paid for an upgrade (and we're just waiting for them to send us their unit) we are no longer upgrading older Retro units due to cost.

Roger

[Tscan]

I've had mine for almost 2 years now and it's run great the whole time. The machine is a real godsend to shooting S8. if anyone really misses reversal, just get this and shoot the Vision3 color negatives.. you'll be even happier than you were before. Just think of it as a fancy new high end projector that allows you to do things with film in ways you could never believe 15 years ago.

Mine is the original model and the 2fps has always been fine with me for various reasons. When the upgrade came out, I assumed it was just an increase in frame rate so wasn't interested in the hassle. I didn't realize a sensor was added that allowed you to increase the exposure. That would be the only complaint I have because I can't bump up the exposure on negatives when i really want to or need to without loosing my registration. Is it possible to get just a sensor added and upgrade the software tools without the entire package?

[Tscan]

We did a large batch upgrades for all 2fps Retro customers near the end of last year. With the exception of customers that have already paid for an upgrade (and we're just waiting for them to send us their unit) we are no longer upgrading older Retro units due to cost.

Roger

This slipped in before i posted so I guess that answers it. Are there any advantages with exposure control on the latest duel version of the software on the 2fps units?

[BGNSE]

Is it possible to get just a sensor added and upgrade the software tools without the entire package?

That would be great if that could be possible. I didn't need the speed increase so I wasn't interested in the previous upgrade but I sure can do with better registration and exposure control.

[sigr]

TScan wrote:
Are there any advantages with exposure control on the latest duel version of the software on the 2fps units?

To the best of my knowledge, the answer is no. I'm running the latest dual version of the software (3.0.14). In this version you have to enable "Retro-Pro" in the settings window for any of the additional features to be active. That in turn requires that you have a Retro-Pro unit.

[jrcasey1960]

Tim:

I continue to experiment. Please note that I have the old 2fps version, so I end up doing a lot more post due to registration related exposure issues.

These days, I composite in After Effects, cropping the pillarboxes off and use levels to make initial exposure adjustments. I then noise reduce with Neat Video and stabilize slightly (to remove inherent Super 8mm jitter) with New Blue Stabilizer. I then conform to 24p using a combination of techniques (Twixtor, plain pulldown, etc, using blending very rarely for troublesome shots) and finally do color correction in SpeedGrade then export with the pillarboxes replaced.

With respect to Neat Video noise reduction, I could never achieve what I wanted with their sharpen settings. I then discovered the unsharpen mask tool in After Effects (largely thanks to a tip from Roger regarding his use of a similar Photoshop plugin), which restores image crispness lost due to the noise reduction.

The reason I remove the pillarboxes is that stabilizers won't work properly with borders attached. You also need to remove the pillarboxes if working with anamorphic footage because they throw your ratios off, not to mention the fact that the Retro-8 captured frame is more like 1.39:1 than 1.33:1, which requires further correction.

You can also do a lot of this work using AVISynth scripts and/or VirtualDub. I know that some people have a lot of luck with such open code options, but the downside is a steep learning curve and certain limitations.

I capture and work uncompressed/lossless due to the heavy amount of processing/passes required.

Depending on how many shots are involved in a reel, it takes me about 2 weeks to restore 50ft! Of course, it's all done in my spare time owing to the fact that I have a "day job." Good thing I don't do this for a living--my turnaround is awful!

Do you have any specific question?

[JarkkoK]

Anyone using the Retro8 with a Mac?

I just received my Retro8 and decided to give it a try with my Macbook, since it would be so much more convenient than buying a new PC. I’ve installed the Retroscan HD software according to the instructions but I can’t see the image in the software. I do get ”glimpses” of the film occasionally when switching the transfer on and off from the Retro8. Scan also starts but it runs only for a couple of frames.

Any clues?

Setup:
MacBook Pro (mid-2014)
2,6 GHz Intel Core i5
16 Gb, 1600 MHz DDR3
256 Gb SSD
Intel Iris, 1536 Mt
Windows 8.1 via Bootcamp
Latest Quicktime is installed
(also tried with another USB-cable just in case)

[MovieStuff]

Anyone using the Retro8 with a Mac?

I just received my Retro8 and decided to give it a try with my Macbook, since it would be so much more convenient than buying a new PC. I’ve installed the Retroscan HD software according to the instructions but I can’t see the image in the software. I do get ”glimpses” of the film occasionally when switching the transfer on and off from the Retro8. Scan also starts but it runs only for a couple of frames.

Any clues?

There are a variety of things that could cause this. Contact me off list and I will help sort out the problem with you directly. I am sure it is something quite simple.

Roger

[JarkkoK]

Anyone using the Retro8 with a Mac?

I just received my Retro8 and decided to give it a try with my Macbook, since it would be so much more convenient than buying a new PC. I’ve installed the Retroscan HD software according to the instructions but I can’t see the image in the software. I do get ”glimpses” of the film occasionally when switching the transfer on and off from the Retro8. Scan also starts but it runs only for a couple of frames.

Any clues?

There are a variety of things that could cause this. Contact me off list and I will help sort out the problem with you directly. I am sure it is something quite simple.

Roger

Macbook seems to work fine now, the problem was between my ears after all (the sensor adjustment was in a wrong position). Thank you Roger for the fast help with the other issue!