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Telecine Tutorial

Telecine is the process of transferring movie film to video. Images on film have a special kind of character that's missing from a lot of video. With the advent of video, however, film equipment has become expensive and difficult to find and maintain. If you have a box of super-8 or 16mm films in the attic, transferring them to video will make it possible to edit your films on the computer, upload them to the internet or watch them on your television. Improvements in digital video have made it possible to perform a high quality telecine at home, without paying for expensive lab services.

Things You'll Need

  • Film projector
  • Table
  • White letter size paper or card, matte finish
  • double-sided tape
  • Video camera with manual focus and exposure
  • Tripod
  • Audio cable that matches the audio in and out jacks on your projector and camera
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Instructions

    • 1

      Set up your projector on the table so that it is facing a wall. If you have a matte white wall, use that to project onto. Otherwise, tape the white paper to the wall in front of the projector. Use double-sided tape, and make sure the paper is smooth and level.

    • 2

      Load a film into the projector and run it. If you are projecting onto the wall, line up the projector so that it is perfectly perpendicular to the wall. If it's not aligned properly, the image will be distorted. If you are projecting onto paper, make sure that the image fills the paper completely without spilling over, and that the projector is perpendicular to the paper. The closer to the wall or paper you set the projector, the brighter the image will be. If you set it too close, however, the projector will not be able to focus.

    • 3

      Set the video camera on a tripod as close as possible to the projector. Line up the shot so that the paper or area of wall you will project onto is even and centered, and fills as much of the frame as possible without being cut off.

    • 4

      Turn off the projector if it is still running, and set the white balance of the camera from the paper or wall.

    • 5

      Reload the film and run the projector again. Zoom the camera all the way in, and set the focus. Zoom out again so that the paper is framed properly, and set the exposure so that the bright parts of the image are not overexposed. Make sure both focus and exposure are set to manual so that they will not change while you are recording.

    • 6

      Minimize flicker by adjusting the shutter speed of the camera, if your camera has a variable shutter setting. After setting the shutter, you will have to readjust the exposure.

    • 7

      Connect the audio output from the projector to the microphone or audio in jack on your camera, using the cable. The connectors will vary depending on your equipment, so be sure your cable matches both the output on the projector and the input on the camera. If your film is silent, this step is unnecessary.

    • 8

      Turn off all the lights and lower the shades. This kind of "off-the-wall" telecine is easiest at night.

    • 9

      Reload the projector. Press record on the camera, and then start the projector. If you transfer more than one film, you may need to adjust the focus between reels.

Film Production

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