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DIY Telecine

The process of transferring your archival 8mm or Super 8 film stock to video tape is called "telecine." High-end transfers done at post-production houses employ telecine machines with "flying spot scanners." These scanners can color correct your film and adjust focus and exposure on-the-fly. These services are not for the hobbyist on a tight budget as they can cost upward of $600 an hour. A more cost-effective method is the do-it-yourself telecine. This method uses film and video equipment you may already have around the house.

Things You'll Need

  • Film projector
  • Projection screen
  • Film to be transferred
  • Video camera
  • Video camera tripod
  • Video tape
  • Lens cleaning kit
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Instructions

    • 1

      Set up your film projector and projection screen in a room that can be darkened.

    • 2

      Clean the lens of the film projector with the lens cleaning kit, removing any dust or debris from the film projector lens.

    • 3

      Load your film projector with the film you want transferred to video.

    • 4

      Set up your video camera tripod and video camera.

    • 5

      Load the video camera with the video tape.

    • 6

      Clean the lens of the video camera with the lens cleaning kit, removing any dust or debris from the video camera lens.

    • 7

      Position the video camera tripod and video camera as close as possible to the lens of the film projector.

    • 8

      Project the film on to the film projection screen.

    • 9

      Focus the film projector's lens until the image is in clear focus.

    • 10

      Adjust the projection screen's position so that the film image fills the projection screen.

    • 11

      Zoom your video camera in as tight as it will go and focus on the center of the image on the projection screen.

    • 12

      Zoom your camera out until the projected image fits perfectly in your viewfinder.

    • 13

      Choose tungsten light if your video camera has an option to set the white balance.

    • 14

      Stop and rewind your film projector.

    • 15

      Darken the room and start recording video.

    • 16

      Project the film.

Film Production

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