Thanks for the answer, I have to use version C. And I have a problem with the white balance on this one. It goes a lot towards the blue shade.
Modding the Kodak Reels 8mm Film Digitizer (Firmware Hack)
- Thread starter Mac84
- Start date
White balance is now adjustable in the 6.6 version. Just go to the where you adjust sharpness and there is a white balance control now.
If there is a relationship between compression and the jitter, it would only be compression size of the first few frames. As I've noticed that once the jitter starts is it always there, which which why I found setting the short shutter helpful (like it moves the jitter out of frame.) You can test the compression theory by starting the encoding on blank leader. The compression is adjustable. I set a start QP factory and a maximum QP. I think is starts around 24 and slowly increases to 18 or 19. If there is a buffer overflow warning, I drop the QP back to 24, it does this continuously for a crude rate control. I'm not trying for 35Mb/s, but rather the high quality while keep the capture reliable. For the high grain source these might both be too high. So rather than changing the sharpness, change the QP limits. There is some documentation in the binaries.
I know, but even at 2 it's not enough for some films.
Otherwise the picture is nice and would probably be even better if I could check the sharpness. But I can't get the lens cap off and I don't want to take the whole device apart just yet.
I can't say I've tried to be honest as I do not have one. From my comparisons on the other similar scanner firmwares it seems to be a common file.
I'm finally starting some test scans utilizing the v6.6 Manual User Controlled White Balance setting to determine the best setting for my old films (8mm from 1950s & 1960s. I have a couple of observations that relate to @omega's statement above about +2 not being enough:
With 3 brief tests (WB: 1.0, 1.5, 2.0) this footage requires varying amounts of post color corrections. For the purposes of evaluation, the color correction was applied using an Auto-Color feature in Adobe Camera Raw that adjusts Temperature and Tint, and provided the following read-outs:
WB 1.0 required increasing the Blue/Orange Temperature slider to +50 (out of -100 to +100)
WB 1.5 required increasing the Blue/Orange Temperature slider to +29 (out of -100 to +100)
WB 2.0 required increasing the Blue/Orange Temperature slider to +12 (out of -100 to +100)
All 3 (WB 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0) required increasing the (Green/Magenta Tint slider to +25 (out of -100 to +100)
For visual comparison, here are the 3 test scans (with no post color adjustments), and I also included a previous scan using Mac84's firmware (with the stock firmware's Auto White Balance).
I know almost nothing about color science, except that it's not straightforward. And I imagine that old and faded (and amatuer!) film will have a wide range of color issues. That being said @0dan0 I'm wondering if your RGB gains could use further adjustments. 2 specific suggestions based on my very unsofisticated test:
- Proportionally increased Red gains
- Decreased Green gains
Thankful for all the work you've done!
I never encountered film that blue, and I was guessing what WB values might be useful. I'm away from any scanners at the moment. And the table of histogram values are compiled C code, making remote debugging more tricky, but I think I found the RGB gain for WB 2.0.
0x1c0 - 1.75
0x140 - 1.25
0x100 - 1.00
As these gains results in too much green, try changing the "40 01" to "00 01". If that is too little green, try "10 01". This is hard to get perfect with a single axis WB control, would be improved if it was separate kelvin and tint controls. I could hijack the the "tint"/saturation control. I will think on that.
0x1c0 - 1.75
0x140 - 1.25
0x100 - 1.00
As these gains results in too much green, try changing the "40 01" to "00 01". If that is too little green, try "10 01". This is hard to get perfect with a single axis WB control, would be improved if it was separate kelvin and tint controls. I could hijack the the "tint"/saturation control. I will think on that.
Hi, I'm new here.
I bought a used Kodak Reels Film Digitizer, and the sensor is defective. Do you know a possibility to purchase a new sensor?
I bought a used Kodak Reels Film Digitizer, and the sensor is defective. Do you know a possibility to purchase a new sensor?
The camera sensor? I haven't seen a source, it may be a custom part, but it also may be similar enough to find a replacement. The pinout of the ribbon cable to the camera isn't known however.
The cover is held in place by 6 tabs that click into slots in the face of the scanner. To get it off from the front, push up on the bottom of the cover to bend it and release the two bottom tabs. Rotate up carefully to release the side tabs, then fully remove it from the scanner. See pictures.
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@rdesros Topaz does a good job for noise reduction and grain removal while preserving sharpness and details. This is the approach I initially thought I would go, but I like the grain, which lead to all the lens and firmware hacks to preserve as much as possible. Seems you might have some dirt on the backlight, or the lens, as the are static spots in the capture.
The best would be able to generate 8 bits uncompressed tiff files with the Kodak Reels. This and using the full frame of the sensor with a macro lens (Full frame of the sensor fiting with the super8 frame 1:1). This image sequence would be imported in Topaz to reduce the grain just a bit. That would be perfect. We are getting close to have all of the original grain (Mainly bright areas) with the lastest firmware hack but to reduce it with the nyx filter in topz it has to be an uncompressed image.
6.0 just has the longer exposure, which caused more jitter for me, so there some hardware dependency. I will try to make the exposure delay controllable.
You are getting decent color from your negative stock, whereas I've not liked my vision3 scans so far. I've yet to find the color matrix and black level offsets the scanner is using, as it should be able to do negative to positive scans in unit. This color bias for color negatives is using lot of the limited 8-bit signal, limiting the dynamic range and color manipulation. The sensor data is 10-bit (not great, but better than 8-bit), so color processing would typically be at 10 or 12-bit before outputing 8-bit YUV for compression. This is what I want to find. If only someone would share the source code.
Hi 0dan0,
here some shots of the scans I did with V. 6.0, negative and positive.
I graded them in Davinci Resolve. I moved away definetly from Premiere Pro three years ago, I've been "studying" Davinci for more than 15 years now, and I'm a big fan of it. This premise is to say that for me the important thing is the resolution and stability of the frames, because then I can correct the chromatic dominants if necessary.
All these shots are natively taken with firmware 6.0, WB (Exposure) 0 Sharpness -1 Tint 0. I enlarged them a thad to fill the frame of 3200x2340 (dimension of a super 8 mm frame 5,79mmx4,01mm ratio 1,36...).
Negative - Positive Color - Kodak Vision 3 200T
Negative - Positive BW - Kodak Tri X
OFF TOPIC
Finally I took the picture posted by ThePhage and I tried to match the Mac84 Scan.
They are quite close, I'm not a pro colorist. The original image is 214Kb. To me removing dominants color is always a challenge.
I followed the steps from Vladislav Novickij, that has a different approach in color correction.
Other references:
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
and many more.
Thank you 0dan0 for the great job you are doing.
here some shots of the scans I did with V. 6.0, negative and positive.
I graded them in Davinci Resolve. I moved away definetly from Premiere Pro three years ago, I've been "studying" Davinci for more than 15 years now, and I'm a big fan of it. This premise is to say that for me the important thing is the resolution and stability of the frames, because then I can correct the chromatic dominants if necessary.
All these shots are natively taken with firmware 6.0, WB (Exposure) 0 Sharpness -1 Tint 0. I enlarged them a thad to fill the frame of 3200x2340 (dimension of a super 8 mm frame 5,79mmx4,01mm ratio 1,36...).
Negative - Positive Color - Kodak Vision 3 200T
Negative - Positive BW - Kodak Tri X
OFF TOPIC
Finally I took the picture posted by ThePhage and I tried to match the Mac84 Scan.
They are quite close, I'm not a pro colorist. The original image is 214Kb. To me removing dominants color is always a challenge.
I followed the steps from Vladislav Novickij, that has a different approach in color correction.
Team 2 Films
We make corporate, commercial and documentary videos. We also make training videos for DaVinci Resolve and talk about cameras! Thanks for watching our channel. Team 2 Films Ltd Video Production Services based in London, UK Training | Commercial | Documentary | Corporate team2films.com
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Casey Faris
I help Davinci Resolve editors make awesome videos. If you like the way I teach, I have in-depth DaVinci Resolve and Fusion courses at http://www.groundcontrol.film My company also presents RESOLVECON - Which brings a TON of Resolve Youtube Teachers together in one jam-packed nerd weekend...
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Darren Mostyn
I’m Darren Mostyn, Senior Colourist and founder of a boutique colour grading studio in Brighton, UK, established in 1999. I’ve worked with the UK's biggest broadcasters including BBC, Amazon, Netflix, Channel 4, ITV, Channel 5, and internationally ABC, ESPN & Turner (USA), Ch 7 (Australia), HBS...
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Cullen Kelly
Professional colorist, image scientist, and educator obsessed with the power of a well-crafted image. My work has spanned narrative, commercial, and music video work showcasing the world's biggest brands and talent, and has included critically acclaimed series and Academy Award nominations...
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MrAlexTech
Want to learn Davinci Resolve?! MrAlexTech is the place! Plus Photography, Videography and some General Tech too!
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Thank you 0dan0 for the great job you are doing.
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I'll add my experience. I've tried almost all the firmware versions that are out there. And in the end I ended up with the version that #511 CDenhart gave me.
Veze 6.0 gave me a very dark image on black and white film. Color films also work quite well with its firmware.
And I'll add one more experience. My black and white films are very dry and jump a lot. I tried wrapping them in a paper towel and putting them in the fridge for 2-3 days among vegetables. After taking them out, I let them stand for about an hour and they didn't jump or only very little when scanning.
Color films don't need it, the problem is that they were cut inaccurately and there's probably nothing you can do about that.
Veze 6.0 gave me a very dark image on black and white film. Color films also work quite well with its firmware.
And I'll add one more experience. My black and white films are very dry and jump a lot. I tried wrapping them in a paper towel and putting them in the fridge for 2-3 days among vegetables. After taking them out, I let them stand for about an hour and they didn't jump or only very little when scanning.
Color films don't need it, the problem is that they were cut inaccurately and there's probably nothing you can do about that.