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Editing system for watermarking and film to digital transfer
Hey fellow creative cow’s.
For my first post as a new user to the community, I have a interesting question for some of you out there that are familiar with cheap 35mm film to video transfer.
I am currently transfering 35mm film prints to video and capturing feature length movies from DVD with special feet and frame tine code. The company I work for does subtitling in particular we are doing subtitling for a major film festival, and this requires us to capture (cheaply since it is not our main stream of business) 35mm prints and DVD, passing them through a timecode generator and into a PC that captures it using a program called Broadway Pro (which I am finding to be very inadequite).
At home I edit with Final cut pro, but basically to cut to the chase, I need a suggestion of a “cheaper” (if possible) editing system (for PC) that can capture our footage coming from a camcorder (which is recording the film passing through the projector), display a watermark, (for security reasons my boss would prefer if we did this so as to ensure the saftey of our clients films when they go off to our translators), and that would be able to display timecode on the image in feet and frame (in sync with the running of the projector).
So to recape: Can anyone please help by suggestig a editing suite (Premiere, Avid liquid, pinnical….or even more basic) that would enable me to simply, place a simple watermark, capture using feet and frame (and flip image 180).
I really would appreciate any suggestions.
Cheers,
Danni Karanja
A/V Tech. -
3 Replies
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If I were doing subtitling, I would want an Avid DS, which has a wonderful subtitle generator in it that will use a text file to generate titles on the fly based on where you are in timecode. DS with an AJA card can also edit 24FPS. It can also produce a watermark or any other graphic element needed, as well as turn the image around.
But you’re looking cheap. My issue with “cheap” is that the subtitles will not be able to be regenerated come time to actually subtitle the real film for projection, presumably after the subtitles have been corrected and approved (which is probably the process you are involved with).
Danni, where are you? I can see if I can find a facility near you that can do the job and allow you to just concentrate on getting the subtitles correct (by editing a text file with timecode).
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
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Hey Mark thanks for your response.
Mayabe I should have been more clear, but I personally don’t have to worry about the subtitles thats done by someone else and they have their own system of doing it. All I really need is to be able to capture footage from a camcorder (on the fly, without tape) and generate timecode that is in sync with the running of our film projector (calculating feet and frame). The actual business of creting the subtitles is not my business I just wanted to let you know why im digitizing film for background knowledge.
The problem with our current system is we have three CPU’s doing what im sure one good computer with the right editing system could do.
Essentailly we have a projector, camcorder, timecode generator (really old 1994 pc, that has a mouse attached to the projector that counts the motion of the motor) a computer with a program called broadway Pro (records the footage from the camcorder, and another PC we will call it PC 2 where we create sync files from the timecode that has been overlayed on the image.
The set up is as follows:
– The camcorder records the image on the projector mirror
-This goes to the Timecode generator PC which places a Reel, feet and frame time code in the top and bottom right hand corners.
-This goes to the PC where it is captured with Broadway pro.The only thing missing in an ideal world for us is the ability to place our company water mark, and gettig rid of this huge ugly timecode generator box.
Thanks very much for your help!
Hey I need to get myself a Simpsons cartoon of me one of these days…lol.
Much appreciated,
Danni Karanja
A/V Tech -
OK, (and I’m probably hung up on the whole subtitle thing) but the timecode you generate will be a video timecode and not a film timecode. So, videotaping the result of a projection of 24FPS film (unless you are in Europe or PAL areas of Asia where film is played back at 25FPS) will cause an error in timecode — but not in time. And that will cause problems for anyone trying to do subtitles (for real) for the film because your timecode will not match the 24 FPS framerate of the film.
So if you use NTSC or an American form of television (or PAL-M in Brazil), any timecode you create for captioning will be the wrong frame rate.
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
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