Removing flicker/strobing from captured super-8 film

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Level 1

131 points

Removing flicker/strobing from captured super-8 film

I've undertaken the project of converting old home movies to video. The vast majority are super-8mm (18fps). The camera I'm using is HDV (1080i), with a non-controllable shutter speed. I know this isn't the ideal setup for this type of conversion, but it's what I've got. I'd like to do the best I can, knowing someday I'll want to re-capture with better equipment.

Not surprisingly, there's a flicker (more like strobing) in the captured footage, due to the different frame rates involved. If I advance frame-by-frame I see a horizontal area of the frame that is brighter than the rest, and that area changes its vertical position each frame. (One could also say the darker area is moving, same difference.)

I'm looking for a method, if available, to remove this flicker/strobing as much as possible. I've tried the flicker filter, a directional blur trick I found, and two flicker-related plugins I found online (one freeware, one demo). None provide any real change; most or all of them seem related to removing deinterlacing flicker.

I'm in Final Cut Pro 6, with my version 7 upgrade due to arrive next week. I do also have the Adobe software (Premiere/After Effects) although I've never used it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Posted on Aug 8, 2009 10:33 PM

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Answer 1

Andy Mees

Level 6

12,610 points

Aug 8, 2009 11:37 PM in response to Mitch Cohen

wow, tricky ....

how about recording with the camera set at 60i in Cineframe 24 mode whilst recording the super 8 footage at 24fps, and then conforming the captured footage back to the correct frame rate?

... or perhaps better to sit tight until someone who knows what the heck they're talking about comes along.

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Answer 2

Aug 9, 2009 2:43 AM in response to Mitch Cohen

You can't fix that in post. Use a Super-8 projector with a three-bladed shutter fan and a variable speed motor.

-DH

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Answer 3

Tom T.

Level 4

1,760 points

Aug 9, 2009 5:16 AM in response to Mitch Cohen

Mitch, to agree with David, neither your camcorder nor your software has anything to do with the strobing. At a minimum, you need a projector that has a variable speed control.

About a half-dozen years ago I started out with the same grand plan of converting to DVD all the 8mm and Super8 film various family members have stored in the back of their closet shelves. That turned out to be an expensive project. But worth it.

I started out by buying a projector at a local yard sale. That's when I found out just any projector will not work for recording film to videotape. So, after a bit of research, I ended up buying a variable speed projector on eBay.

That gave a much better result, but still wasn't perfect. I had the video I was recording of the projected movie play thru the camcorder to the largest tv we had at the time. So, as the projector was projecting and the camcorder was recording, I kept my eyes on the tv and my fingers on the projector's variable speed knob.

The result was good, but not perfect. First, a bit of parallax is introduced because the camcorder is offset to one side or the other of the projector. Second, constant monitoring of the video you're recording is required because a slight speed adjustment is required as soon as some flicker appears. Third, the focus isn't always the best, and some amount of the image around the edge of the original film isn't recorded.

In the meantime, all these relatives who shipped me their film based on my promise of great results were anxiously awaiting delivery, but I still wasn't satisfied with what I had to deliver.

So, after more research, I purchased this projector. The CaptureMate software (sold seperately) syncs this projector with your camcorder and Mac, so each individual movie frame is being recorded full frame, in focus, and you end up with a no flicker, no parallax and a .mov file ready for FCP.

Of course, as long I had the equipment to do quality film transfer, I added a little side business that has long since recovered the cost of the projector.

Have fun,

Tom T

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Answer 4

Andy Mees

Level 6

12,610 points

Aug 9, 2009 5:03 AM in response to Tom T.

+... or perhaps better to sit tight until someone who knows what the heck they're talking about comes along.+

See! Nice post Tom.

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Answer 5

Mitch Cohen Author

Level 1

131 points

Aug 9, 2009 7:02 AM in response to Tom T.

Thanks for the replies... I'm familiar with the Workprinter and other products from moviestuff, and have considered purchasing one. Just not an option right now. For various reasons I'm very interested in converting these sooner rather than later (and redoing in the future when I have access to equipment).

I do have an adjustable-speed projector, and used the speed control to minimize flicker as much as possible. I do not know the number of blades on this projector. It's an Elmo FP8-C but I can't find the specs for it.

I managed parallax by placing the camera nearly parallel with the lens, and slightly angling the screen. This isn't a problem in the resultant video.

I'll do another setup and try once more, but I'm not expecting much better results with the equipment I have (again, no other viable options right now and I don't want to delay).

Thanks!

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