Motion Picture Film Scanner

Information about Motion Picture Film Scanner

A motion picture film scanner is a device used in digital filmmaking to scan original film for storage as high-resolution digital intermediate files.

A film scanner scans original film stock: negative or positive print or reversal/IP. Units may scan gauges from 8mm to 70mm. (8mm, Super 8mm, 9.5mm, 16mm, Super 16mm, 35mm, super 35mm, 65mm and 70mm) with a very high resolution scanning of 2K or 4K film resolutions. (approx. 2K is 2048Ã—1536 pixels and 4K is 4096Ã—3072 pixels).

Some makes of film scanner are intermittent pull-down film scanners which scan each frame individually, locked down in a pin-registered film gate, taking roughly a second per frame. Continuous-scan film scanners, where the film frames are scanned as the film is continuously moved past the imaging pick up device, are typically evolved from earlier telecine mechanisms, and can act as such at lower resolutions.

The scanner scans the film frames into a series of data image files normally DPX (or TIFF), using high-end data storage devices. These systems takes a lot of storage area network (SAN) disk space. The files can be played back one after each other on high-end workstation non-linear editing system (NLE) or a virtual telecine systems. The playback is at the normal rate of 24 frames per second (or original projection frame rate of: 25, 30 or other speeds). Each year hard disks get larger and are able to hold more hours of movies on SAN systems. The challenge is to archive this massive amount of data on to data storage devices.

The scanned footage is edited and composited on work stations then mastered back on film, see film out and digital intermediate. The Scanned film frames may also be used in digital film restoration. The film may also be projected directly on high definition Digital Projector in the theatre. The film may be converted to SDTV (NTSC or PAL) video TV systems.

Imaging device

The front end of a motion picture film scanner is similar to a telecine. The imaging system may be either a Charge-coupled device (CCD) or Cathode ray tube (CRT) imaging pick up.
A lamp is used as the light source in a CCD imaging front end. The CCDs convert the light to the video signals.
In a CRT imaging system the CRT (also called a Flying spot tube) is used as the light source and part of the scanning system. Photomultipliers or avalanche photodiodes are used to convert the light to electrical video signals.
A prisms and/or dichroic mirrors or color filters are used to separate the light into the three: red, green and blue, imaging pick up devices.

Image processing

The three color signals are electronically processed and color graded. A 3D look up table (3D LUT) is usually applied to the RGB values before it is coded into the DPX output files.
The DPX files are usually outputted though a network port cable or an optical fiber port: HIPPI, fiber channel or newer systems like gigabit Ethernet. A computer then stores the files on to hard drives of a storage area network for later processing and use.

Models

Single frame intermittent pull-down (about one frame per Second):
Kodak's Cineon the first system designed for DI work, it included a scanner, tapes drives, workstations and a film recorder.
Lasergraphics - The Director 9 fps for HD, 1.85 and 3-perf; 6 fps for 2K full aperture.
ARRI scanner, Arriscan
Filmlight - Northlight Film scanning,single frame intermittent scanner.
IMAGICA Corp. -IMAGER XE single frame intermittent scanner
Cintel's diTTo
Continuous motion scanning:
Spirit DataCine - SDC2000 with data option, Grass Valley a Thomson Brand. (2k realtime at 24fps or 4k Scans at 6fps) (Can be switched to Telecine mode)
Spirit DataCine 4k/2k with the data option, Grass Valley a Thomson Brand. (2k realtime at 24fps or 4k Scans at 6fps)(Can be switched to Telecine mode, only if it has this option)
Cintel's C-Reality/DSX and ITK-Millennium/dataMill.

External links

A digital system is one that uses discrete values (often electrical voltages), representing numbers or non-numeric symbols such as letters or icons, for input, processing, transmission, storage, or display, rather than a continuous range of values (ie, as in an analog system).
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Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story idea or commission through scriptwriting, shooting, editing and finally distribution to an audience. Typically it involves a large number of people and can take anywhere between a few months and several years to
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Photographic film is a sheet of plastic (polyester, nitrocellulose or cellulose acetate) coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive silver halide salts (bonded by gelatin) with variable crystal sizes that determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film.
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Digital intermediate (often abbreviated as DI) describes the process of digitizing a motion picture and manipulating color and other image characteristics to change the look, and is usually the final creative adjustment to a movie before distribution in theaters.
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Film stock is the term for photographic film on which motion pictures are shot and reproduced.

History

1889-1899

Modern motion picture film stock was first created thanks to the introduction of a transparent flexible film base material, celluloid, which was
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This list of film formats catalogues formats developed for shooting or viewing motion pictures, ranging from the Chronophotographe format from 1888, to mid-20th century formats such as the 1953 CinemaScope format, to more recent formats such as the 1992 IMAX HD format.
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The display resolution of a digital television or computer display typically refers to the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by different factors in cathode ray
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intermittent mechanism or intermittent movement is the device by which film is regularly advanced and then held in place for a brief duration of time in a movie camera or movie projector.
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Film perforations, also known as perfs, are the holes placed in the film stock during manufacturing and used for transporting (via sprockets and claws) and steadying (via pin registration) the film.
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The film gate is the rectangular opening in the front of a motion picture camera where the film is exposed to light. The film gate can be seen by removing the lens and rotating the shutter out of the way.
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Capstans are rotating spindles used to move recording tape through the mechanism of a tape recorder. The tape is threaded between the capstan and one or more rubber-covered wheel, called a "pinch roller", which presses against the capstan, thus providing friction necessary for the
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Telecine (IPA pronunciation: [ˈtɛləˌsɪni] or [ˌtɛləˈsɪni]; [ˌtɛləˈsɪnə]; also [ˌtɛləˈsiːn].
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Tagged Image File Format

File extension: .tiff, .tif
MIME type: image/tiff, image/tiff-fx
Type code: TIFF
Uniform Type Identifier: public.
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Edison cylinder phonograph ca. 1899. The Phonograph cylinder is a storage medium. The phonograph may or may not be considered a storage device.]] A data storage device is a device for recording (storing) information (data).
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In computing, a storage area network (SAN) is an architecture to attach remote computer storage devices (such as disk arrays, tape libraries and optical jukeboxes) to servers in such a way that, to the operating system, the devices appear as locally attached.
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non-linear editing system (NLE) is a video editing (NLVE) or audio editing (NLAE) system which can perform random access on the source material.

Non-linear editing

Non-linear editing
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A virtual telecine is a piece of video equipment that can play back data files in real time. The colorist-video operator controls the virtual telecine like a normal telecine would be controlled (without controls like focus and framing).
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Hard disk drive

An IBM hard disk drive with the metal cover removed. The platters are highly reflective.
Date Invented: September 13 1956
Invented By: An IBM team led by Reynold Johnson
Connects to:
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archive refers to a collection of historical records, and also refers to the location in which these records are kept.^[1]

Archives are made up of records (AKA primary source documents) which have been accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's
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Film-out is the process in the computer graphics, video and filmmaking disciplines of transferring images or animation from videotape or digital files to a traditional celluloid film print.
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The film preservation, or film restoration, movement is an ongoing project among film historians, archivists, museums, and non-profit organizations to rescue decaying film stock and preserve the images which they contain.
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Digital film refers to cinema production and performance systems which work by using a digital representation of the brightness and colour of each pixel of the image.
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This article needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.
You can assist by [ editing it] now. A how-to guide is available, as is general .
This article has been tagged since October 2007.
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PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is a colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in large parts of the world. Other common analogue television systems are SECAM and NTSC.
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Video (Latin for "I see", first person singular present, indicative of videre, "to see") is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.
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Television (often abbreviated to TV, T.V., or more recently, tv; sometimes called telly, the tube, boob tube, or idiot box in British English) is a widely used telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures
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charge-coupled device (CCD) is an analog shift register, enabling analog signals (electric charges) to be transported through successive stages (capacitors) controlled by a clock signal.
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1. Electron guns 2. Electron beams 3. Focusing coils 4. Deflection coils 5. Anode connection 6. Mask for separating beams for red, green, and blue part of displayed image 7.
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