Conforming Original Camera Negative to Video Edit
It’s much more economical and faster to shoot your project on 35mm (beyond HDTV quality) and edit on tape using a non-linear edit system such as Avid. Essentially here are the steps that are involved in this process:
- Shoot on film
- Edit on tape
- Conform the original film to the tape edit
If you choose the “traditional” way of editing on film, you’re looking at the cost of an expensive work print (copy of the original). You would then edit on a flatbed edit machine such as a Moviola. Edits and changes on a flatbed system take much longer than those on a non-linear system such as Avid. Also, you’ll spend more time organizing outtakes and loose ends in large edit bends. In contrast, this process takes seconds on Avid. Finally, you have to conform the original 16mm or 35mm to the original camera negative using the edge numbers that match on both the work print and original. Again, this is a manual and time-consuming job.
Keykode Numbers for Autoedit
How does Eastman’s Keykode work? After you shoot on film, the negative to edit is transferred to tape. Eastman Keykode numbers are machine readable bar-code on all Eastman camera films. These numbers are burned in with the time code when film is transferred to video. This enables the negative editor to match the camera original precisely to the final video edit. This process provides a direct link back to the film for every frame. The Avid system allows tremendous editing freedom, and with Keykode numbers, if the editor removes 2 frames (1/12th a second), there’s no worry about where the heck they came from when it’s time to go back to the camera negative. This could never be done with time code numbers alone.
Keykode numbers get the lab, the editor, the colorist and the negative cutter talking the same language. For the telecine operator, Keykode numbers not only specify shot position on the film roll but also the film emulsion number and film type. This helps the telecine operator to be alert to subtle differences during color correction. You can use Keykode numbers with the same camera you shot many years ago. Only the transfer facility needs a bar-code reader and software, and these are economical. Every colorist should have a reader because Keykode numbers don’t change.
It’s the best marriage between tape and film.
--Mickey Grant