Motion Picture Film
If you want to convert your 16mm film (either standard size or Super 16) into digital and maintain the quality of the film format, you have only one option: telecine. This process converts the 16mm film into a digital format and minimizes the amount of quality you lose during the process. You keep your original audio quality, and the video quality determines on what recording format you want to use. If you want to record onto a DVD, you lose video quality; however, recording onto an HD digibeta tape maintains the higher quality image of 16mm film.
Instructions
1. Take your 16mm film into a telecine center near you. If you live in a larger city (such as New York, Chicago, Miami or Atlanta) there is at least one facility nearby. If not, you need to call such a facility and make arrangements for you to send your 16mm film to the company.
2. Select the digital output format you want to have the 16mm film on. This is going to depend on how you want to view your footage, and what you plan on doing with it. You can receive the recorded content on anything ranging from a DVD, miniDV tape, Blu-ray disk and HDdigibeta (just to name a few).
3. Pay the processing fee. You are usually either charged by the reel or by the hour. All in all you can expect to pay a few hundred dollars to have your product transferred over.
4. Sit in on the film transfer if you are in the same city as the telecine center. Doing so allows you to actually make color corrections (by instructing the engineer) to your 16mm film. Do note that any color correction is applied permanently to the film and the digital format.
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