SWISS EFFECTS guarantees that its printing system will transfer all relevant material with high quality 2K and 4K resolution. Considering these guidelines during all production stages will substantially improve the quality of the transfer.
Production
  • Choosing the correct picture format i.e framing. The following formats are possible for the cinema:
    1:1.66 and
    1:1.85 (see     Info Sheet).
  • The video-format 16:9 (1.77 anamorphic) enables a much better picture quality.
  • Choosing the right videotape formats: We differentiate between 3 levels of quality. Within these respective levels, the differences are minimal and are therefore also subjectively assessed.
  • What you see in the viewfinder of you camera can be quite different from the whole video picture. We strongly recommend to check your camera viewfinder with a professional Monitor (Underscan-Monitor).
  • Keep in mind that the image will be cut by about 2.5% on all sides by the film projector (the so-called "projection cache”). This is especially important for the positioning of titles and subtitles.
1. Good 2. Better 3. Best   HD
SVHS Beta SP D1, D5, DCT   HD Cam
HI-8 M II Digi Beta   DVC Pro HD
DVC-Pro 25 DVC-Pro 50    
DV-Cam Digital S    
DV Beta SX    
Digital 8 IMX
Not taken into consideration are the respective camera-heads, all of which can substantially affect the picture quality. The older Beta-SP cameras, in particular, deliver a less-acceptable result than today´s new DV cameras.
Aligning the video-camera:
  • Lower the detail setting
  • Switch on the DCC (dynamic contrast control)
  • The shutterspeed should not be faster than 1/60
  • Switch off the digital zoom
  • Don’t use the electronic picture stabilizer (the optical stabilizer is okay).
  • See the Info Sheet for specific information about the different camera types
Making a pre-production consultation with Swiss Effects technicians and/or test transfers using the desired setup helps find a good camera exposure and avoids unpleasant surprises.
  • For still wide-angle shots: using the EVR (enhanced vertical resolution) is an option with certain cameras.
  • The camera movement should not be too fast in places where the object is stationary or moving in the opposite direction. Otherwise, as with film-cameras, this will give a shutter or smearing effect visible only after the transfer to film.
  • Using the 50Hz PAL format provides a noticeably better quality.
Postproduction
  • The entire post-production should take place on an uncompressed digital component system. A single compression up to a maximum of 1:2 can not be visually perceived. D2 is not suitable for post-production.
  • Every successive analogue copying-process entails a loss of quality.
  • Old analogue and amateur formats (VHS, HI-8, Beta-Max, Umatic) should be transferred in Y-C format with TBC’s and Noise Reduction onto a digital component format. The "Prisma" from Snell & Wilcox is particularly good at converting this signal.
  • Changes to speed (speed up/speed down) could lead to undesired jerky movements on the transfer.
  • During colour grading watch out that you don’t crush the levels (in black and white). For changes in contrast, we recommend working with the gamma value.
  • Please note that because of the larger size of the picture in the cinema, almost all the effects increase in their intensity.
  • The maximum length of each film reel is 20 minutes and 30 seconds. Cut points should be chosen where there is a clear change, it´s dramatically logical and should not have any ongoing ambient sound or music.
  • To achieve a saturated and "film-like" black we recommend to NOT crush the blacks in production or post but to keep the contrast in the shadow areas soft in order to adjust the blacks during color correcting at the negative to print stage. In general this gives better results while keeping the most information possible on your video material.
Transfer
  • To guarantee synch-sound, the sound will be transferred by us onto a coded DAT even if we are not producing the sound release negative.
  • Moving titles, especially roll titles, are in most cases not suitable for transfer and should be made separately on film. We can provide this service.
  • With special wishes for contrast, color saturation etc, it pays to make a test tape of the most important sequences in advance so that different variations can be transferred.
  • Even with a high quality color-graded Video Master, it is often necessary to do color grading in the film-lab. A second print may be necessary.
  • Please note that as film is projected at 24fps and NTSC video is shot at 30fps, there is a 4% increase in film length over video length. This does not affect the pitch of tone.