Cine to Video

Due to the different structure of type1 AVI files produced by MediaStudioPro 6.0's capture utility, VirtualDub cannot be used. However it is possible to capture and process video as type 2 AVI files using the video utility AVI_IO and the Mainconcept DV codec. With these, all the great features of VirtualDub become useable once again. One such project, which would have been impossible for me to do without this combination, was transferring ageing standard and super8 home movies to video. Thanks to Tom Hardwick for some corrections to this page. With around 5 hours worth to transfer it was a fairly large job using only a consumer grade camcorder (Sony DCR TRV120) and a home PC (Athlon 700). The main problem in such a project is the different frame rates. The Super8 films were shot at 18 frames per second (Standard8 at 16), whereas PAL video is 25 frames per second (50 fields per second). The result of this is an unpleasant strobing effect as the two systems drift in and out of sync. if the cine film is just video'd off the screen. If the projector can be slowed down to 16 and 2/3rds frames per second the then this effect can be removed completely (16 and 2/3rds x 3=50). If this is not possible however, or if some strobing remains then the method below can be employed.

Professional solutions are available (at professional prices!) but considering the age and quality of the footage I was working with, the solution outlined below provides a very reasonable result.

1. Capture the footage.

In order to get the original footage onto video I set up the old 8mm cine projector in a completely blacked out room (I found it must be completely black to retain what contrast remains on the footage. However with good quality cine film a small amount of ambient light can actually improve the transfer by reducing the overall contrast), the screen 6 feet from the projector. The screen I used was a good quality, highly reflective one, not just any old bit of white card! Again for good quality, high contrast cine film a white card can actually give better results as it prevents excessive contrast build up and hotspots, the best thing is to try some tests and see what works for your footage, cheap home cine projector lenses tend to have a low perceived contrast. The Sony camcorder was positioned on a tripod immediately below the projector, focused manually but left on automatic exposure, since testing proved this to give the best quality result. The cine film was then projected and recorded onto tape. Once all the footage was on tape it was then transferred one tape at a time into the PC using AVI_IO. This gives a set of sequential type 2 AVIs that can then be processed in VirtualDub.

2. Prepare and process footage.

VirtualDub has the ability to use many different filters, including those written by Donald Graft available from his website. One of these is a deflicker filter, which is specifically designed to deal with film to video transfer. The text file included with the filter provides details of how to adjust it for optimum results but I got excellent results using the default settings. This is a 2 pass filter so it is necessary to first prepare the footage by playing the video using the >0 button. When the file finishes, reconfigure the filter to process video, then rewind to the beginning of the clip. The video can then be played and saved, and all the flickering has gone!

3. Print back to tape.

4. Create final copies for distribution

For this project I elected to put it on VHS tape since this is still the most common playback medium for video and is most suitable for long runs of several hours. In addition the SuperVideoCD process I have outlined on the other pages works best with high quality, clean sources. SuperVideoCDs produces two thirds the resolution of a DVD on one quarter of the data rate, which means the bits are spread pretty thinly. The grainy nature of cine film means that it does not compress well without a high data rate. However I still have all the deflickered footage on the DV master tapes, and now that DVD burners are within reach of the home video editor I intend to transfer it to DVD-R using a suitably high data rate. Whilst the process I have outlined above is quite time consuming (each 9 minute avi segment of video takes around 2 hours to capture, prepare and process) the end result is worth it, giving new life to old cine films that had not been seen for many years, as well as illustrating how tools such as VirtualDub can still be used with Digital Video and cheap OHCI firewire cards.