Explanation of the 35mm film restoration process
For much of the 20th century motion pictures were distributed on nitrate film. Although cheaper for studios, this film was highly flammable and prone to decay. On top of that, most movie prints were just thrown away once they had gone through their cinema run, so a lot of movie history was lost.
Sometimes the film rolls shown were kept by the projectionist and eventually found by a collector. If the film was too damaged to be shown again, it could still be shaken. Pushing against this tide of decay and destruction, small groups of experts are digitizing and restoring these films for the digital age.
The difference in quality between a smaller format print and the original restored negatives can be surprisingThe process is quite complicated - starting with checking each frame of film by hand and repairing any punctures or damaged splices that might come loose in the scanner. Each image is then automatically digitized at up to 10K resolution to future-proof the process before being thoroughly digitally cleaned.
The real expertise lies in knowing what is damaged or dirty, and what the character of the original film is. Especially in stop-motion films, the subtle changes between frames are very much part of the original, so the automatic cleanup tools should be selectively limited so as not to lose the charm and artistry of the filmmakers. .
The results are quite amazing and we all have teams like this to thank for protecting our cultural heritage.
If you want to follow the process, watch the video after the break. If you fancy getting into automatic film digitizing (preferably not on single historical prints!), we've shown plans to do just that in the past.
Thanks to [Cliff Claven] for the tip.
For much of the 20th century motion pictures were distributed on nitrate film. Although cheaper for studios, this film was highly flammable and prone to decay. On top of that, most movie prints were just thrown away once they had gone through their cinema run, so a lot of movie history was lost.
Sometimes the film rolls shown were kept by the projectionist and eventually found by a collector. If the film was too damaged to be shown again, it could still be shaken. Pushing against this tide of decay and destruction, small groups of experts are digitizing and restoring these films for the digital age.
The difference in quality between a smaller format print and the original restored negatives can be surprisingThe process is quite complicated - starting with checking each frame of film by hand and repairing any punctures or damaged splices that might come loose in the scanner. Each image is then automatically digitized at up to 10K resolution to future-proof the process before being thoroughly digitally cleaned.
The real expertise lies in knowing what is damaged or dirty, and what the character of the original film is. Especially in stop-motion films, the subtle changes between frames are very much part of the original, so the automatic cleanup tools should be selectively limited so as not to lose the charm and artistry of the filmmakers. .
The results are quite amazing and we all have teams like this to thank for protecting our cultural heritage.
If you want to follow the process, watch the video after the break. If you fancy getting into automatic film digitizing (preferably not on single historical prints!), we've shown plans to do just that in the past.
Thanks to [Cliff Claven] for the tip.
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