Film to Digital 101

The recently finished Müller-Brockmann inspired “Der Film” Scanning room at Cinelicious. Positive Airflow (dust free). 24/7 Isolated Temperature Control. Pressurized air to scanners. 1/4 Petabyte of NetApp Data Storage. Quantum LTO-5 Robotic Tape Library.

The process of “Film Scanning” in post production terminology differs from “Telecine” in that each roll of film is scanned into a sequence of high-resolution, discreet image files, typically in the uncompressed DPX format, whereas Telecine converts film reels into a SMPTE standard video stream (SD 525i, HD 720p, HD 1080p/i) that can be recorded to tape or captured as Quicktime files on hard drive. After the scanning process is complete, each frame of film has a corresponding DPX image file which easily interacts with higher-end VFX, DI and Restoration imaging applications, but is quite “clunky” to work with if your goal is to start editing in Avid or Final Cut Pro. Telecine results in video files that work seamlessly with Final Cut and Avid… and won’t stop you from doing VFX work. What is right for your project depends on budget and desired workflow. At Cinelicious we currently offer SD/HD telecine from the Spirit Datacine which is great for Broadcast, Web and Indy feature work… and for the highest quality images available for a Feature, Commercial, or Remastering Project we are proud to offer the Scanity by DFT which resolves up to 4K image resolution with the highest dynamic range of any scanner in the world. For detailed information on what makes the Scanity unique and why we chose it over all film scanning technologies in the world click here.

Color Grading

All of the film we transfer is color graded. For HD telecine we use DaVinci 2K plus when grading from the Spirit, as well as the most fully loaded DVNR 2K in the country for real-time grain managment and on-the-fly dirt removal. When scanning to 2K or 4K DPX we typically scan “LOG” which is not a creative grade but requires scene-by-scene color balancing to capture all the information on the negative without clipping highlights or crushing blacks. As a secondary step we color grade the 2K or 4K data files in our non-linear DaVinci Resolve Suite or 4K DI Theater.