History 16mm began as a medium for home movies in 1923 after Eastman Kodak spent many years working on a system of movie equipment and film that would be easy enough for the advanced amateur photographer to use, yet reasonably affordable. This effort resulted in the advent of the Sixteen Millimeter "Cine Kodak" Camera and the "Kodascope Projector". In later years a sound track was added on one side of the film, sacrificing one row of perforations. 16 mm film was the format of choice for amateurs with means until the advent of the "Kodak Cine 8" in 1932.
The Film Transfer 16mm film is transferred to a variety of mediums at Integrated Imaging. We use RCA TP-66 projectors set to run at 24 frames per second. This puts each movie frame on 2 then 3 video fields (3-2 pull down). For speeds of 12, 16, and 18 frames per second, we use frame interpolation to correct the frame rate, this technique adds full frames so does not reduce the video quality. These projectors weigh about 500 pounds and have a rock solid picture for an excellent video transfer. The film is projected into a multiplexer which provides an aerial transfer, meaning the image is projected to a plane in mid air so there is no screen to rob light and color saturation. Our 3 chip digital transfer cameras are then setup to record the aerial image by focusing the lens on the same aerial plane as the projector. This is a tricky optical setup that is well worth the effort as a bright, colorful, and sharp image is the result. The resulting video signal is sent via "firewire" (at 525 lines of horizontal resolution) to either the transfer computer for DVD or when editing is required, or to a MiniDV recorder. At the same time s-video signals (400 lines of horizontal resolution) are sent to professional SVHS editing decks for SVHS and VHS transfers, and to Hi8 Decks for Hi8 and Video8 transfers. The video signals are monitored at all times to insure the highest quality video that each device and format is capable of recording. Any audio on the 16mm film either optical or magnetic is transferred at the same time and monitored for proper signal strength.
Unsolicited Customer Testimonial:
Carli:
WOW! I received my four Digital8 tapes of 3500 feet of film transfer job. The focus is great and color is just fantastic even on those old 8mm films from the 1940s. This was my third job-set you have done for me and the work has really been nice. I previously tried submitting samples for film transfer to two different local Professional companies here in Cincinnati who have been in the business for twenty years and the results were disappointing, i.e., poor focus and clarity, uneven lighting of frames, washed out color, and significantly more jitter in the motion. I will be submitting another set of work sometime soon. What is it that sets your process apart? Also, I'm curious, was the Super 8 format inferior to regular 8.....it just seems like regular 8 mm has fewer bouts of jitter and better color saturation. From the last set of video transfers I was able to produce two hour-long DVDs of memories from the 50s-70s adding background tracks of my families' favorite tunes from those time periods. We watched these at a recent family reunion. It really was special, and I want to thanks you guys again for your creative work.
