Here is my background in the making of film scanners.
I first started by modifying old projectors to be able to make film scans. The captures were made with an industrial camera, frame by frame, the projector working continuously and an optical fork ensured the synchronization of the capture.
On the whole the result was good, but it was a little painful to have to change the projector to digitize another projector to digitize another format. The installation of the camera and its lens could be complicated depending on the available space. The vibrations required weighting and stiffening the fixation of the elements.
In short, this formula was not very practical.
I started to build my own scanner, about three to four years ago.
The specification was to be able to scan all film formats on one machine, with a minimum of time spent between format changes.
It had to be possible to scan all roll diameters.
It also had to be possible to build the machine without using a drill press or a metal lathe, which I don’t have.
Simple technical solutions had to have top priority.
By analogy with 3D printers, I chose a 40x40 aluminum profile for the chassis.
This type of construction is very rigid and modular. That is to say that you can make modifications on an element (motor, tensioner, film guide, lighting, etc…)
without having to rebuild your entire machine.
The arms of the reels are foldable to make the machine more compact.
Moreover, these elements can be assembled without any problem and everything is easily available on the market, for a reasonable price.
Great build, thanks for sharing!! I (and I’m sure others) would be interested in more details of your scanner. I assume that your setup is still frame by frame. How do you manage scanning different format film reels on your scanner? Do you have to make any changes or adjustments when switching between an 8mm to a 16mm or 35mm? I would like to see more pictures of the gate and the film path. If you could share any details about the light source and control that would also be mich appreciated.
thank you for sharing this amazing build, I’m getting back to this picture over and over and really want to build exactly the same machine. It’s quite easy to understand the tension profile and mechanics for most parts, but I can’t decompose the structure of film gate and how it’s conformed between 8/16mm formats. Can you please add some extra photos or descriptions on how it’s made? I’d appreciate a lot if it’s possible. Thanks.
Actually, I hesitated before giving any more details.
The development of this machine took me more than 4 years and hundreds of hours of work.
In fact, I’ve never been able to stop improving it, which doesn’t mean it’s perfect :-).
Let’s be crazy, with a more qualitative manufacturing of parts and a few modifications, this machine is marketable and would offer, I think, a replacement to MovieStuff.
But, if a hobbyist shares or reproduces this machine for his own use, I’d be very happy.
Great build. I like Andriy have been drooling over the photos of your machine for a while. Can you provide more details on things like Tension control ,Software ,Capture times etc. Im a few months into my journey and the Kinograph community has been so helpful. Any information is greatly appreciated.
Wow, thank you so much for clarifying those details and sharing the video. I totally get your concern, I’d be that nervous also. The funny part here that I imagined sort of the same idea on multiformat film gate structure, simple yet effective. Have you ever encountered abrasive scratches on film rebates with such design?
I’m not too tech-savvy so my idea is probably frame by frame machine with mirrorless camera, but the prettiest part of your design is
modular structure, so it’s possible to upgrade over time. In any case I’ll need laser registration pin, need to learn coding at some degree.
After all, it would be slightly different machine, and now I have everything to start engineering process. Will update on my progress and issues that will arise for sure))))
I didn’t need to check the film tension. When the film is scanned, the spool is disengaged from the rewind motor. There is therefore no stress on the film at this point.
The film is held laterally by pressure in the door over a fairly long distance, which is enough to stabilize the translation. The traction motor is a stepper motor that runs continuously, so here too, we achieve a smooth feed.
The motor speed is regulated by the laser pulse detection frequency.
I use the capture software supplied by the Basler camera manufacturer, which works well and allows a wide range of adjustments.
Capture is continuous, based on the flash-scan principle, making it easy to work at 18i/s.
My door system has its limits.
If your film is badly damaged, it will come out of its guides, and this design makes it difficult to put back in place.
I have over a hundred kilometers of film experience with this machine, and I’ve only had to give up scanning one 16mm film, which was too damaged for my machine.
The 9.5mm films are often twisted, but they go through without a hitch.
Collages also go through without a hitch, provided they’re not made with a piece of tape that goes around the film three times…
I’ve never torn a film, and damaged perforations are no problem.
The film passes through a polished rail, and you can feel it sliding along without catching.
I always clean my films with iso alcohol and never dry, even on the scanner, never dry.
Following a very good remark from cpixip who mentioned that to improve image stabilization during scanning, it would be more effective to trigger the shot using the perforation that received the camera claw as a reference.
So, I redesigned the laser pointer mount to bring it closer to the camera lens, leaving only two frames between the pointer and the lens. For larger film formats, this won’t be a problem; it will simply be a matter of shifting the pointer to the left.
I don’t really like the appearance of the part; there are too many visible screws. I’ll change that in the next version.
Another modification was made by replacing the laser focus lens that produced a 0.4mm beam with one that produces a 0.1mm beam. In practice, I have no idea if this will actually improve precision, but I think that since the beam is narrower, the trigger decision will be shorter and perhaps more accurate. We’ll see as we conduct more tests.
These modifications aren’t really essential, as the image stability is already more than sufficient for me, since it can easily be corrected with software stabilization. But we all tend to always look for better results… and sometimes end up with worse.
I’ll digitize a few reels and keep you updated if you’d like.
