Transfer 35 mm films to video format for easier playback and archiving.
Widely used for mainstream movies, 35 mm films represent the standard format found in many theaters. Although significantly more expensive than 16 mm and 8 mm films, 35 mm film collections can be found in some households. These may be classic Hollywood, independent or home movies, most of which were made decades ago.
If you have an adequate budget, you can hire a professional post-production company to transfer the footage to DVDs. But there is another practical way to transfer the footage without spending much.
Instructions
1. Buy, borrow or rent a 35 mm film projector so you can load and play your 35 mm movie.
2. Choose a room where you can control the lighting. You'll also need space where you can place your projector, your video camera and the white wall or cloth to serve as your projection screen. You may use thick cloths and boards to cover windows, if needed.
3. Set up the white wall or cloth, which will serve as your projection screen.
4. Set up the film projector on a secured surface fronting the white screen. Make a test playback to check the distance and focus of the projector to the screen and make any necessary adjustments.
5. Set up the digital video camera to record the footage projected on the screen. Secure the camera on a tripod and place it near the projector so it can capture the best frontal angle of the footage on the screen. Using an audio cable, connect the audio output of the projector to the audio input of the camera to get quality sound for your recording.
If your projector or camera doesn't have the required ports, you need to make a separate recording of the audio by placing the camera farther from the projector. This allows you to record better sound without the noise made by the projector during playback.
6. Make a test playback to check the distance and focus of the camera to the screen and perform any necessary adjustments.
7. Cue the film and the camera tape or memory card for playback and recording. Secure the room by turning off all light sources and covering the windows (if necessary) prior to pressing the playback button on the projector and the record button on the camera for actual recording.
Complete the recording of the footage from film to video.
8. Cue the camera tape or memory card and connect the camera to the computer using the appropriate audio-video cable. This is typically a USB or FireWire cable.
9. Open the editing program in your computer and transfer the video from the camera to the computer. Set the destination folder where you want the video files to be transferred to.
10. Open the video files from your destination folder to your DVD-burning program.
11. Set your program's DVD configurations, including the DVD name, the number of discs for burning and the writing speed you want to use for the process. Each DVD disc can accommodate up to two hours of footage. You need more discs if you have more than two hours of footage.
12. Confirm the DVD-writing process by pressing "Record," "Burn" or "Save." The button name depends on the specific DVD-burning program.
Tags: video camera, camera computer, camera tape, camera tape memory, check distance, check distance focus, destination folder