Cine Film Scanning
Our Muller HDS+ scanner offers exceptional quality transfers and is equipped to scan Standard 8, Super 8 and 16mm film up to 4K. We offer 2K, 3K and 4K scanning services.
Our scanner detects the films sprocket holes with a laser for optimal flash and scan timing, creating a digital image for every frame of film with amazing accuracy and stability. It is designed without claws or grabbers so it's incredibly gentle on film and wont damage your precious emulsion. Furthermore each and every film is cleaned twice before scanning. We clean all film on our re-wind bench with Solvon film cleaner and conditioner. Solvon cleans and lubricates your film effectively and has anti-static qualities making it ideal for repelling troublesome dust particles during and after digital transfers. Our scanner also has sticky PTR rollers which removes any dust right before the capture is made. We have not encountered many films with audio strips over the last decade so for now we can only capture images and not sound. |
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Log Scans
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Colour grading is a very subjective area and we like to give our customer the option to have total creative control over their images. The log scan allows you to take full advantage of the extra vertical resolution offered at 2K, 3K and 4K. This extra vertical resolution lets you cram more pixels into your edit. You quite literally have to shrink the 2K and 4K image down into a HD or UHD timeline. The 3K scan scales up nicely into a UHD timeline. The files have plenty of leeway to push/ pull the luma and RGB channels for flexible colour correction. If you don't send the log scan spec sheet with your film we'll just provide you with a 25fps, overscan, ProRes HQ file as this is the most popular option.
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The log overscan gives you the whole film frame and more. This gives you maximum flexibility when it comes to being creative in post with your film. You get to decide what happens with the framing, aspect ratio and the sprocket.
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We can supply any format required. The most common formats are either the original uncompressed AVI files straight from the scanner or a compressed ProRes HQ file. The AVI files are very bulky and difficult for most computer systems to play. We'd recommend selecting a compressed format like ProRes if you haven't got a purpose built editing system. If you do want the original AVI files you must send us a fast SSD drive for transfer.
Corrected Scans
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The corrected scans are perfect for customers with limited editing experience. We do all that we can to give you the best image possible. This includes necessary scaling, cropping, speed adjustments and scene by scene colour correction. We get a lot of film with extreme over/under exposure issues and we always do our best to save the film digitally. We're very flexible so if you have any special requirements in regards to framing or aspect ratio just let us know on the corrected scan spec sheet. If you don't send the spec sheet with your film we'll supply a 16:9, cropped, ProRes HQ file at 25fps.
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The corrected cropped scan provides you with a polished viewing experience. Just the way your film was meant to be viewed originally on a projector.
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We supply the corrected files in the ProRes HQ format unless you specify otherwise. This gives you flexibility to further experiment with colour after we've done the correction. This is useful if you want to use filters or create your own stylized look.
Codecs & File Sizes
ProRes HQ Sizes
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AVI Sizes
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Storage
When you send us your films we kindly ask you to send us a blank hard drive formatted to exFAT. Make sure the drive is large enough to support the files you require. If you want the original AVI files for your log scan you must send a SSD drive due to transfer speed.
Sometimes it is necessary to format customers drives so please make sure no important information is on the drive you send. Please attach the drive to your order confirmation (or note). Do not put your drive inside film boxes or hide it inside wrapping. It increases the likelihood of it being discarded upon arrival.
We can supply drives at extra cost for the uncompressed files. We can also supply compressed files via Google Drive. During busy periods this can take quite some time because the upload sync queue gets very large.
Sometimes it is necessary to format customers drives so please make sure no important information is on the drive you send. Please attach the drive to your order confirmation (or note). Do not put your drive inside film boxes or hide it inside wrapping. It increases the likelihood of it being discarded upon arrival.
We can supply drives at extra cost for the uncompressed files. We can also supply compressed files via Google Drive. During busy periods this can take quite some time because the upload sync queue gets very large.
