Digitising 16mm Film
Submitted by Bill K, Indiana, USA
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We are a media production firm that has evolved
over the years. Several years ago our core business was 35mm slide
duplication. Recently, when a client asked if we could digitize several
rolls of 16mm film, I said, “Yes.” I knew our digital camera attached to a
bellows unit could be mounted on top of the old 35mm
It was obviously important to move each
frame into exactly the same position relative to the camera lens as the
previous one. This required accurate control over the absolute position of
the film as it is moved under the camera. A stepper motor with fine step
control was the obvious choice. The solution for this part of the project
was to use a Stepper Pack from PC Control Ltd. It had the control board
(stepper bee) and a 200 step per rev stepper motor with enough torque to
move the film. A transport device was designed and built by myself and a
friend. The film is sent through two film guides (taken off an old 35mm
film trimmer) and then fed through two wheels mounted on top of each
other.
The lowe
Pauses were added to to allow enough time for the image to save to the computer, while the film was advancing. A 16mm film projector was added as a take-up reel. Constant tension from the take-up motor allowed the film to advance a constant distance when the two tensioned wheels turned. The set-up worked great. So well, that once going, an operator was not needed to tend to the process.. |
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