Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Transferring tapes,records&CD's to 35 millimeter

my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

»	Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE » Operations » Film Handlers' Forum » Transferring tapes,records&CD's to 35 millimeter

Author

Topic: Transferring tapes,records&CD's to 35 millimeter

Matthew Bailey
Master Film Handler

Posts: 461
From: Port Arthur,TX
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 05-02-2001 08:19 PM

I need to figure out how
to do this. I have some Native American
Indian & related tapes,records & CD's
I want to have transferred to 35 millimeter
in traditional non-Dolby 2 channel
analogue optical stereo form with a clear
or opaque picture area. This is so if
the original material gets lost or damaged,
I can run one reel per song along with
keeping both the sound film positives
and negatives,and record through the
processor on front left,front right-not
surround,center or sub-channels to tape
or recordable CD. I would also need the
reel marked along it's entire length along
the film edges to identify what I am running. Right now,I do not have any recordable MP3 or CD equipment.

| IP: Logged

John Walsh
Film God

Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 05-02-2001 09:18 PM

To transfer those recordings to 35mm seems like a waste. The cost would more than pay for a CD burner. Besides, a stereo 35mm analog non-Dolby optical soundtrack would sound inferior compaired to a good audio CD, a good cassette.

Are you concerned about the long term archival-qualities of digital media? If not, a CD seems like the best pick.

If you are worried about degradation, I can't think of any cheap option except to copy all your recording onto records. Several people (like small bands) have bought record cutting and pressing equipment cheap after CD's became the standard, and still use them to press demo's. Records (if stored reasonably) will probably out last magnetic media. Magnetic media could also last a long time, but the expense to maintain magnetic storage would most likely be higher than for records.

| IP: Logged

Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-02-2001 09:36 PM

I agree that there are better and cheaper ways of accomplishing the same thing. Red-oxide 1/4" tape recorded on a 2-track machine at 15ips with or without NR is also a good archival format.

Having said that, there are many companies that will make 35mm optical tracks, usually from 35mm mag fullcoat. 2-track stereo without matrix or NR would be an oddball format, though. Try calling Sound One or Magno Sound in NYC, both of which make good-quality optical tracks. There are probably many other sources for this sort of thing on the west coast as well.

| IP: Logged

John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 05-03-2001 07:06 AM

You might check out a directory like the Variety 411 directory for vendors of post-production services:
Variety Post-Production Directory

Here is a listing of members of the Association of Cinema and Video Laboratories (ACVL), some of whom offer optical sound recording services:
ACVL Member List

Although a polyester B&W optical sound negative or print might be the most archival media, it probably isn't the best choice for this application. In addition to carefully storing your analog original recordings, making multiple CD-R digital copies would be a good option:
Kodak CD-R Digital Audio Gold
Kodak CD-R Ultima

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

| IP: Logged

Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-03-2001 10:55 PM

John Walsh said in a orevious posting"The cost would more than pay for a CD burner".

The cost would be really prohibitive....realistically man, you could buy the company that makes the CD burners for less than it would cost to transfer it all to 35mm.
Mark @ GTS

| IP: Logged

John Walsh
Film God

Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 05-03-2001 10:59 PM

I should have added that the reason I suggested records was I thought it was the only thing would last the longest (I was thinking of hundreds of years.) Of course, you'll need to keep a record player,too!

There was an article about 10 years ago about the magnetic storage at NASA. In the late 1960's and early 70's, NASA sent up spacecraft with instruments to measure stuff like solar wind, sunspot activity, upper atmospheric contitions, etc. The data from the spacecrafts were recorded onto a variety of magnetic media, but mostly on 9-track reels, for as long as each particular project was active (or until the spacecraft died.)

Most of those tapes (only 25 years later) had started to deteriorate, and NASA was hoping someone would have a use for the data and recover it before they are unreadable. I can't exactly remember now, but I thought they had something like 20,000 reels.

Although, I'm sure modern magnetic tape is better made.

| IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

Printer-friendly view of this topic

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.