View Full Version : 4K short to 35mm cost?
Tom Lowe
03-05-2007, 09:52 PM
There might have been another thread on this but I can't find it.
If I shoot a 3-minute timelapse short this summer (I know, very short) in 4k and finish post in 4k, how much will it cost me to transfer to a 35mm print so I can enter it in 35mm quality to festivals? I'm looking for discount prices here, people! And how does the sound work? Is that encoded to the 35mm print? Sorry I've never worked with video to film transfers before.
Ive recently enquired about this too.. Depending where you do it, Youd probably be looking at around $7000 minimum for a filmout @ 3 minutes (4320 frames)
Tom Lowe
03-05-2007, 10:15 PM
Ive recently enquired about this too.. Depending where you do it, Youd probably be looking at around $7000 minimum for a filmout @ 3 minutes (4320 frames)
Jesus Christ! I might be able to round up like 500 bucks... :waaa:
Jesus Christ! I might be able to round up like 500 bucks... :waaa:
Well yeah, thats based on $1.50 per frame. Expensive business!
When you think about it, its quite a bargain really.. When I used to shoot film (still) photography, the cost for a filmout from digital to slide film was $30 a slide. Your getting that for 1.50.
But someone might know somewhere cheaper.. These are prices that ive been quoted and I may have been getting an "outsiders" cost.
Stephen Williams
03-06-2007, 12:00 AM
There might have been another thread on this but I can't find it.
If I shoot a 3-minute timelapse short this summer (I know, very short) in 4k and finish post in 4k, how much will it cost me to transfer to a 35mm print so I can enter it in 35mm quality to festivals? I'm looking for discount prices here, people! And how does the sound work? Is that encoded to the 35mm print? Sorry I've never worked with video to film transfers before.
Hi Tom,
Would be much cheaper to shoot on film with a photochemical finish. That's why 35mm is still so popular, it's always the cheapest workflow when a 35mm print is required.
Stephen
Tom Lowe
03-06-2007, 12:03 AM
Hi Tom,
Would be much cheaper to shoot on film with a photochemical finish. That's why 35mm is still so popular, it's often the cheapest workflow when a 35mm print is required.
Stephen
Ah, but I shoot my timelapses on DLSRs. I am truly shocked that a print would cost over a dollar per frame. Aren't there any bargain places? :)
We can do them for you for about 600 USD but that's excluding the sound transfer though.
We can do them for you for about 600 USD but that's excluding the sound transfer though.
Is that a 4k print?
just realised he's asking for 4k. We do mostly 2k so it's for 2k print.
Ken Corben
03-06-2007, 07:03 AM
Would be much cheaper to shoot on film with a photochemical finish. That's why 35mm is still so popular, it's always the cheapest workflow when a 35mm print is required.
Steve may be right about it being cheaper to shoot a 3 min timelapse project in film if you own the camera but cheapest workflow though? Did I miss something?
If one own a Red and shoots a 100 min feature the cost difference is nearly 6:1! 35mm vs redraw...YIKES!(see pdf $600K vs $130K)
And finish in 4K? That's the beauty of red digital cinema...OPTIONS - if you can get a $600 print from 2K as an independent filmmaker you're winning, no?
http://www.dga.org/thedga/Digitalfilmseminarstuff/3524PHandout9-25-2sz.pdf
Thom Steinhoff
03-06-2007, 08:03 AM
Mike,
$600 for only 3 minutes or each 3 minutes :)? That's a great price. Can I get in line? Do you suppose I could get that deal 40 or so times in a row?
Tom Lowe
03-06-2007, 09:08 AM
We can do them for you for about 600 USD but that's excluding the sound transfer though.
$600 is definitely more in the price range I was hoping for! I guess I could live with a 2K transfer to 35mm, though I would prefer a 4k transfer. Mike, what kind of operation do you run and where are you located? Do you know anyone who will be doing 4k transfers? And how does the sound work? My sound will simply be a high-bitrate mp3 song.
Thomas Mathai
03-06-2007, 10:31 AM
Why is there surprise that a 4k film out costs so much?
This is a niche service, with high overhead, so don't expect costs to drop just because 4k aquisition is becoming affordable.
I agree with Thomas, 4k is more expensive as it takes more time to print the visual to film, and of course their equipment is more expensive.
Tom,
Not much 4k project is done in this region at the moment, so i'm not too sure about 4k transfer.
For a 3 minute stereo sound transfer, it's about USD180. You can also transfer the visual here and the sound in another lab if you can secure a cheaper source.
by the way, do bear in mind that after transferring your footage to film, there are development cost as well for the print, but it's quite low.
Thom, our lab here is charging USD200 per minute for film transfer, but that's excluding the sound transfer.
Feel free to PM me if you need any clarifications.
A 2K direct digital print will look loads better than most of the stuff you see in the cinemas, as mentioned before, cinema release prints tend to have the visual detail of 720p rather than 4k. So no sweat presenting a 2K print IMO.
Tom Lowe
03-06-2007, 08:28 PM
Well maybe 2k is an option for me, then. Mike what city are you in?
Michael Schrengohst
03-06-2007, 08:52 PM
And what format do you prefer the frames in?
Stephen Williams
03-07-2007, 04:48 AM
Steve may be right about it being cheaper to shoot a 3 min timelapse project in film if you own the camera but cheapest workflow though? Did I miss something?
If one own a Red and shoots a 100 min feature the cost difference is nearly 6:1! 35mm vs redraw...YIKES!(see pdf $600K vs $130K)
And finish in 4K? That's the beauty of red digital cinema...OPTIONS - if you can get a $600 print from 2K as an independent filmmaker you're winning, no?
http://www.dga.org/thedga/Digitalfilmseminarstuff/3524PHandout9-25-2sz.pdf
Hi,
Yes you did miss something, $50,000 HD telecine for what? Interpos for what? IIf you shoot in 4K you should budget for multiple negatives from the laser recorder, not dupe negatives if you are after quality.
Shoot on film, cut the neg, record the sound get an answer print! Post print to festival. Shooting timelapse on an old Mitchell is very cheap too!
Ask your lab for the cost of a 3 minute Answer print, you will be suprised how cheap it is.
Stephen
EDIT:- 2 x 35mm camera packages 10 weeks rental $210,000, I could buy 2 loaded packages for that! (I actually bought 2 x 35mm packages for 10% of that)
Well maybe 2k is an option for me, then. Mike what city are you in?
PMed you.
Tom Lowe
03-07-2007, 04:57 PM
And what format do you prefer the frames in?
What are my options? :greedy:
Because this will be a timelapse/sky short, I'll probably go with a taller aspect ratio, like 1.85:1.