You asked for it - You got it! A detailed look at the process I have set up in the lab for transferring my 16mm film archive to the YouTube channel. We look at the EIKI model NT-0T 30fps Telecine projector, and compare it to my Bell and Howell model 2585 24fps projector. I also take the curtain aside and reveal the hidden magic of the analog set up on The Big Table that I use to transfer film to video. Enjoy!
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13 thoughts on “My eiki telecine 16mm transfer setup”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Dutch Canuck says:

    Thanks so much for that explanation. A direct telecine projector makes it so much easier. No need for frame-by-frame capture or post-transfer conversion to 30 fps (well, 29.97).

    And frame-by-frame would be a nuisance for sound-on-film, since you'd have to capture the sound in a separate pass, then re-synch the soundtrack in post. Yuck. This EIKI does it all in one pass. Super cool!

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars CARL iCON says:

    Amazing, fascinating, & totally cool Frannie! When I was a kid we had 3 stooges flicks (16mm) in the auditorium, & it was awesome. I always wondered if they were shot in 35mm then reduced to 16mm for schools/smaller venues. They wouldn't have used 16mm films for the big theaters right?

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars John Flanagan says:

    Very impressive Fran! Your attention to detail yields perfect results! I love the vellum use for the screen. I was thinking of using the light diffuser sheet(s) from a trashed LCD flat panel TV when I do my setup, it's only for my old 8 and super 8 films though.

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Innerspace100 says:

    Historical documents, these. It's more than cool that you take the time and effort to digitize them and post them on here. It's important, even. I'm constantly rather skint, but if I weren't, I'd support this financially.

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Jan Simonsen says:

    Thanks for this Fran. I'm a newbie to 16mm having bought and restored an old B&H TQ1 earlier this year. I've wanted one since 1973 when I first saw one in my secondary school. Your projectors look in pristine condition.

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars jeffhalebopp says:

    Using your 30fps capture method, this either means that you will be playing the video faster or get video frame artifacts slowing it back down to 24fps on a 30fps timeline. I've done so many IVTC's and proper deinterlacing with QTGMC, that I can really spot frames that aren't uniquely frame per frame progressive. I stepped through 1 frame at a time where the lady was adjusting the timer since there is fast movement when she pulls her hand away. I see ghost frames (2 frames at the same time) artifacts. Is it possible to capture true 1 to 1 unique progressive frames using your method or are you adding these duplicate frames in post to slow down the video back to 23.976 fps for your 60fps youtube video? I hope this makes sense. Thanks.

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars sguttag says:

    Fran…a couple of points…normal 16mm portable projectors often use 3-wing shutters, not 4 (never seen one with 4)…larger "pedestal" type projectors would go to a 2-wing shutter to get the light.

    As to 2-perf claw versus 3-perf claw. 2-perf has the advantage that is more accommodating for shrunken film. 3-perf has the advantage that less stress is put on each perforation as the force is distributed over 50% more perforations. I have seen both work very well. High end projectors like Kinoton, Eastman 25 will have intermittent type movements. Eiki tried to use an intermittent but it was never as good as their claw movement.

    As for lensing, the Eiki's lens size is not an issue for either quality or light throughput. Most professional 16mm projectors use the 42.7mm diameter lens barrel that Eiki also used. The exact same lenses used in professional 35mm could be used in an Eiki (Schneider Optics, one of the preeminent cinema lens manufacturers made an adapter to be able to use their Cinelux line of lenses in Eiki mounts and one would have to use a collar if they wanted to put that into an Bell and Howell. ISCO, the other preeminent professional projection lens manufacturer also made lenses for the Eiki mount, including their incredible Vario-Kiptaron 20-60mm (by far, the best projection lens ever made for 16mm…even better than fixed EF lenses). If you ever get the chance to get your hands on the ISCO Vario-Kiptaron 20-60 (and it has to be that model and EF or you'll get the "coke-bottle" A/V type), it will be worth it. And, it can be adapted to your B&H with a collar.

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Joe Meyer says:

    I made one of these in art school when i was 19, 16mm to 1 inch Sony B&W video, however I used a mirror set at 45 degrees in the projected image path so the image was not flipped in the video. Lots of Buster Keaton got transferred.

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars R Reese says:

    This has been a FranLab Production
    Narration: Fran Blanche
    Hands: Fran Blanche
    Director: Fran Blanche
    Script: Fran Blanche
    Director of Photography: Fran Blanche
    Lighting: Fran Blanche
    Sound: Fran Blanche
    Editor: Fran Blanche
    Sets: Fran Blanche
    Props & Equipment: Fran Blanche
    Technical Advisor: Fran Blanche

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Brian Boni says:

    Thanks! Brought me back to my days of running the AV department at my college. The AV room was also the projection room for the main theatre. I was responsible for putting in the order for the films used in classes and I would order things I wanted to see and project them on to the main screen and watch them from the projection room with the theatre empty. Such fun!

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Jess Hull says:

    Thats pretty cool Not saying it was easy. But the whole process is a lot simpler than I was expecting. Had no idea it was just "point camera at projection, hit record". Assuming one has the right type of flicker less projector it seems like a fairly accessible DIY process.

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Lethgar Smith says:

    I was one of the one's who asked for this but you left out how you capture the sound.
    Obviously it's not a mic set up to capture the sound coming from the projector speaker and you have it fed directly to the camera somehow or is it a completely separate process?

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Dan Beach says:

    Remarkable quality, Fran. I, too, was that 10-year old who knew how to run the projector at school (early 1950s), and ended up running the film department at WGBH for a while. This brings back so many memories. Most programming was on film. The highlight of my life there was when management finally allowed me to buy electric rewinds which, I note, you wisely have.

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