[Frameworks] Tips on projecting S-8 for digital recording?

[graemehogg at irational.org]

If you project on 18% grey card or paper you get more range in your 
digital files to play with colour balance and light levels etc. ie it 
produces a better gamma curve than a white screen. You can get this card 
from photographic suppliers. Its the same stuff used to make accurate 
exposure readings.


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NACHLEBEN FILM LAB AND ARCHIVE
http://www.nachleben.org.uk
CUBE CINEMA. BRISTOL
http://www.cubecinema.com/
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On Wed, 27 Feb 2019, Christopher Ball wrote:

> I had no problem with light bleed from the projector, and the further
> distance meant I could be more in line with the projected image, which
> helped with key stoning but more importantly made the light image more even,
> and I didn't have a centre hot sport with darker edges.  
> Yes, I remember now, I did not use the screen (I was shooting this in my
> theatre) I used a new piece of ROSCO 216 diffusion gel, which is even white
> and no texture.  I had that mounted flat on my screen.  
> 
> I was not adjusting the camera speed, I was adjusting the shutter speed. 
> There are probably very few projectors that run at 24fps or 18fps even, so
> matching the fps will be nearly impossible, however if you can adjust the
> shutter speed you can eliminated the flicker (but you need extremely fine
> shutter speed) adjustment to make it perfect).  I would run my film for
> about 30 seconds to fine tune the shutter speed, then reverse the image,
> then run it forward over the leader for one final check of the shutter speed
> before the first image came up.  I was able to eliminate the flicker that
> way.
> 
> C
> 
> On Wed, Feb 27, 2019 at 12:56 AM Dave Tetzlaff <djtet53 at gmail.com> wrote:
>       I agree that off-the-wall DIY transfers can be quite good,
>       though I’ve mainly done 16mm, not S8.
>
>       The two main things are:
>
>       1. The camera has to be capable of running at the same frame
>       rate as the projector. (e.g. 24fps, for 16mm). You may or may
>       not need the frame sync feature in the camera that can fine tune
>       the speed down to a fraction.
>
>       2. The projector must be capable of hoilding its speed steady.
>       This is often an issue with S* projectors, especially those with
>       a mechanical variable speed nob.
>
>       NOTE: for S8 especially, you aare unlikely to get the camera and
>       projector to sync up at the speed the film was shiot at (e.g. if
>       its 18fps as most are, not 24fps). As long as you can get sync
>       at any speed (e.g. 24fps), you transfer at that speed – in
>       effect undercranking the video copy – and then shift it back to
>       the proper speed in FCP, AE, or whatever. The frame blending
>       usually isn’t noticable to most viewers, and no more a detrement
>       than the old school 24-into-30 of 5 blade telecines.
>
>       As far as physical setup:
>
>       > I then shot it onto a movie screen which has high
>       reflectivity, and projected it so the image size was about 1
>       foot x 1 foot, to make a nice bright image. 
>
>       You do want a small bright image, but screem material designed
>       for a larger image isn’t necessarily the best projection
>       surface. You want a matte white surface with no visible texture.
>       I just got a nice big white paper sheet at an art store.
>
>       You should set things up in as close to complete darkness as
>       possible. I used to do it in my basement after blocking the
>       little windows.
>
>       > I had the camera back away from the screen on a longer lens so
>       it was as close to the projector angle as possible.
>
>       The problem with that is light bleed from the projector bouncing
>       into the camera lens. You want the fromt of the camera lens
>       barrel in front of the projector lens barrel. Putting the camera
>       as close as possible to the right side of the projector
>       generally eliminates any objectionable keystoning. Mounting the
>       camera on a three-way still-photo head makes for easiest
>       adjustment of squaring things up. It’s hard to get viideo heads
>       into the right horizen plane.
> 
>
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>