“Contingency” Video Conversion Challenges

My conversion of Contingency to video moved ahead this week. I have about half of the images converted to video now. I had to overcome a few snags.

The whole film runs a bit over 3,800 frames, but since I already have video of some of the shots, I didn’t need to transfer all of them. It still left me with 2,300 frames to convert. This week I got 1,100 done, or about 48 per cent.

The week before I shot all the frames I wanted on the optical printer. It isn’t too difficult to import them into Premiere Pro and create a video. Unfortunately, I ran into a few problems.

The first was that the images were in RAW format, which I couldn’t import into Premiere Pro. I converted them to jpg’s with Picasa. I started with the same resolution as the raw files (3522 by 2348), but that really slowed down Premiere Pro to the point I couldn’t use it. I changed to 800 by 534, which is still larger than the 720 by 480 video I want to produce. That worked better.

The next snag was image jitter. Apparently the optical printer didn’t align each frame in exactly the same spot. I don’t know if it was a problem with the machine, or with how I loaded it.

Premiere Pro allows you to move the images around in the frame, so it was possible to adjust each frame to remove the jitter. That was easier said than done.

The first show wasn’t too bad because it was a title. I over lay a horizontal line and moved each frame so that the title aligned with the line. It was very finicky work though.

For the next shot, also a title, I overlay one of the frames on top of the other frames, switched it to a negative, which is called invert for some reason I don’t understand, then made it 50 per cent transparent. When I aligned the frame properly, I would get a grey screen. It never fit exactly, but it was easier and faster.

The rest of the shots were not tittles, which was a little harder. I used the same technique, but it turned out that since the camera moved during the shot, the edge of frame would move in and out of view. I had to go back and move every frame up a little so the edge wouldn’t show. I also had to zoom in, which took more time.

After a couple more shots I did a little research and found I could use the paste attributes feature of Premiere pro to save a bit of time.

Eventually I came up with another trick that made a big difference. I put the frame images into a sequence that set up as high definition. When I was done with the HD version, I would set up a standard definition sequence and put the HD version in the time line. Then I could move and zoom the whole shot to give the image I wanted.

That also allowed me to use the frame borders to align the frames. There were always imperfections in the border I could use for alignment.

I had a lot of trouble with Premiere Pro crashes. The process seems to have pushed the system to the limits. It got better as I got more practice.

I know that some video cameras have an image stabilizer function, which should mean that there is a software method to do all the realignment automatically. I wasn’t able to find one. I didn’t look too hard though.

The rest should take a couple of days to do. Then I need to incorporate all the shots into a final video. Some of the shots could use some colour correction. I hope to post the final video by the end of next week.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Contingency Update - 2012 September 16

I took another step forward on Contingency this week. I used an optical printer to digitize the images from the film so I could create a video of the film. I will reconstruct a video from the images next.

It took me a couple of days down at the CSIF to get the images digitized. I used a piece of equipment called an optical printer. Filmmakers originally developed optical printers for special effects in movies. Orson Welles used an optical printer for several scenes in Citizen Kane.

The CSIF got a modification done to their JK Optical Printer so that they could use it to convert film to video. In place of the film camera, they use a digital still camera. It is all supposed to be automatic; press a button and watch it go.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the automatic mode to work properly. I had to press a button to move the film forward one frame, and then press the button on the camera to take the picture. That was rather slow and tedious. I also got some repetitive strain pain in my arm and shoulder.

I already had video for some shots. Because it took so long to convert, I skipped those scenes. At least I hope I have video for those other shots.

A few months ago, I tried to do the conversion, but ran into image problems. This time I did some tests at the start of each shot to ensure I got the light level and focus right. That was finicky work, but it does pay off.

I borrowed a memory disk for the still camera from my wife and another from my brother. I didn’t think my wife’s disk had enough memory. In the end, I used both disks.

The next stage is to import the images into a video editor and convert them into a video. That may also be tedious, but less physically demanding. I have to remind myself that patience is a virtue. I’ll try to get that done this week.

I wonder if there is an easier way to do this. I suppose I could send it to a commercial outfit for transfer, but that costs more money. I thought I could rig up an old projector and camera to do the same thing. It is easy to imagine what to do, but I’m afraid my mechanical skills may not be up to that.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Contingency Update 2012 August 26

I want to complete the video conversion for Contingency soon. This week I did some preparation to try again.

I had worried that I had damaged the film the last time I tried to do the transfer. This week I did an inspection of the films I found some damage. Fortunately, it was only minor damage; about 24 to 30 frames. I could cut that out and still have a film I can project.

I will use an optical printer to do the transfer. I messed it up the last time, which is why I have to redo it. The process is quiet slow and finicky. I have to advance the film frame by frame and then photograph each frame with a digital camera. Some of the shots were from earlier projects and were already available on video. When I checked the print, I identified those shots. That will cut the number of frames I have to transfer in half.

The main problem in my first attempt was that I did a poor job with the focus. When I set it up, the focus looked fine to me. When I got home and looked at the image files, they were all out of focus. I want to run some experiments with the equipment before I try the transfer again. I learned quite a bit from my first attempt. I expect that I’d learn more from a test.

I do wonder if it would have been better to get the film transferred professionally.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Films Submitted to the 20th $100 Film Festival

This week was the dead line for entries into next year’s $100 Film Festival. I submitted my two films just in time. Somedays . . . is a short one-gag film. Contingency runs longer and is an experimental film about the history of the $100 Film Festival. I hope they are accepted.

I still have some work to do before they are ready to screen. I have until March to get that done. Some of the shots I did turned out poorly and I want to reshoot them.

My plan was to do the 16mm films in the same way that I would have done a Super 8 film, but use the work print. I could still go back to a negative cut or transfer if I wanted to later. Now I’m starting the think it might be better to use the CSIF’s optical printer. That would give me a complete negative of the film, so I could do multiple copies.

I’ve never used the optical printer myself, but I went to a workshop on it. I think I can figure it out, although maybe I need to find someone who has to give me some guidance.

The CSIF is closed until January, so I have some time to plan where I go from here


This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog