march 9, 2000march 9, 2000

transferring from dv to film

by james monohan
the first thing the digital filmmaker must consider when deciding whether or not
to transfer video footage to actual film is the potentially painful price tag.
at the
well-known swiss effects tape-to-film transfer house, located in switzerland, a
10 minute transfer of pal video to 35mm will cost $5,216. at filmteam, a similar
establishment located in austin, texas, ten minutes to 35mm goes for $3,750. at
efilm located in los angeles, ten minutes with sound will cost $17,500 (the high
cost being attributed to efilm's deserved reputation for excellence in quality).
thus, for a 90-minute feature, one is looking at over $30,000 dollars for a
transfer to 35mm.
if these costs are not enough to dissuade the filmmaker from going ahead with a
transfer, then the next issues to consider are technical in nature and center
around one question: how does one plan and execute video production for an
optimal transfer to film? here are some tips:
choosing a format
one of the most frequently heard tips related to shooting for film is to shoot
on
pal video, which has 25 fps, closer to film's typical 24fps than ntsc's 30fps. a
better quality will result with pal.
the choice of video format on which to shoot has a huge impact on the final
product as well. on swiss effects' "good, better, best" list, formats like dv
and
betasp are on the "better" list, while d1, digi beta and dvc-pro 50 are on the
"best" list.
shooting the footage
digital cameras offer many options that affect the captured video image during
production. swiss effects give specific recommendations for video camera
alignment.
1. lower the detail setting.
2. switch on the dcc (dynamic contrast control).
3. the shutter speed should not be faster than 1/60.
4. switch off the digital zoom.
5. don't use the electronic picture stabilizer.
another tip related to camera technique is to avoid fast camera movement when
the subject is stationary or moving in the opposite direction. according to
david
hays at efilm, "when the frame is moved quickly or someone moves quickly within
the frame, movement is picked up between the video's interlaced fields. when
video is transferred back to 24fps, some field information is taken out,
resulting
in a strobing effect rather than a smooth motion."
additionally, when the speed of a shot is intended to be manipulated, either
slowed down or sped up, these changes optimally should be accomplished
in-camera during production or during the actual film-to-tape transfer.
otherwise,
speed changes as typically accomplished in video will create field-based
artifacts
which will be apparent in the transfer to film.

editing your project

according to efilm, "telecine transfer, all edits, as well as dissolves and
composites should be complete at first-field dominance." this advice helps one
to
avoid flicker and is especially important for people who originally shoot on
film
and are completing effects work digitally; however, it also applies to those who
shoot on video. first-field dominance is also known as odd- or upper-field
dominance. in ntsc video, for example, the frame is composed of 60 interlaced
fields that result in 30fps. the first field is the first upper/odd field, and
the next
field is the first lower/even field.
in addition, transfer houses advise that, when creating an ntsc spot exclusively
for cinema release, the piece should be edited on whole frames to avoid adding a
3:2 pull down. however, it is important to realize that the material will appear
sped up when viewed at 30fps. (pal doesn't have this problem, since it is
25fps.)
creating titles
a spokesperson for swiss effects said, "moving titles, especially rolling
titles, are
in most cases not suitable for transfer to film and should be made on film."
david
hays at efilm agreed that, "rolling titles created in the video realm are
updated
on a field-by-field basis. in effect, a full image is not available at all
times. hence,
if rolling credits have to be created in video, it is more labor intensive, and
the
credits must be created on a frame-by-frame basis." efilm also cautioned that
titles created on video should avoid saturated colors with fine edges, since
video
does not support the resolution of film in the color area.
knowing your aspect ratio
a digital filmmaker must decide whether to shoot video with a standard 4:3
aspect ratio or an hd 16:9 ratio. then the film aspect ratio must be determined,
the common options being either 1:1.66 (european standard) or 1:1.85
(american standard).
if the video were shot at a 4:3 ratio, then transferring to a 1:1.66 film format
would require either cutting out a portion of the top and bottom of the frame or
curtaining off the right and left of the screen without losing any of the image.
if the movie were shot at a 16:9 ratio, then a transfer to 1:1.66 would entail
that
the right and left portions of the frame would be cut out. if a 16:9 video is
transferred to 1:1.85, then either the top and bottom portions of the frame will
be cut off, or the right and left portions will have to be curtained off without
losing any of the image.
the future
as time goes on, the cost of video to film transfers will decrease, and the
technology will become cheaper and more advanced. according david hays at
efilm, "the programs that do interpolation from 30 to 24fps are getting more
sophisticated, such as efilm's proprietary technology." shooting video for film
will
become increasingly common.
presently, two high-profile filmmakers are finishing up digital projects. spike
lee
shot "bamboozled" with multiple sony vx 1000s and mike figgis shot "time
code 2000" with four minidv cameras.
the following is a list of prominent tape to film transfer facilities:
cineric
contact: bob freeman
212-586-4822
colour film services
contact: john ward
duart film and video
contact: domenic rom
212-757-4580 x690
efilm: electron filmworks
contact: carrie holececk
323-efilm.com
film craft lab
contact: dominic troia
248-474-3900
filmteam
contact: drew meyer-oakes
310-362-8616
four media company
contact: beverly brooks
818-840-7144
soho digital films
contact: russ robertson
888-764-6344
sony high definition
contact: alexandra anderson
310-244-7434
ringer video services
contact: gail ringer
818-954-8621
lukkien digital studios
contact: marco fredriksen
telephone +31-318-698000
fax +31-318-698099
swiss effects
contact: jerry poynton
212-727-3695 (new york)
+41 1 307 10 10 (zurich)
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