I think I've spotted a bug. The capture quality looks fine when starting from a blank movie strip (the white section), but if you begin capturing with existing footage beyond the white area, even with QP set to 16, you can end up with high-bandwidth media that doesn't match in quality. Film grain disappears, and there's noticeable macroblocking in dark areas, almost like recording at 20 Mbit or less.

>> rdesros said:

I think I've spotted a bug. The capture quality looks fine when starting from a blank movie strip (the white section), but if you begin capturing with existing footage beyond the white area, even with QP set to 16, you can end up with high-bandwidth media that doesn't match in quality. Film grain disappears, and there's noticeable macroblocking in dark areas, almost like recording at 20 Mbit or less. Click to expand...

Share examples? I do this all the time, not seeing it.

>> ph4z said:

Maybe it is more of a support question rather than a hack, but how can I improve my capture? I am trying to digitize old Super8 reels and the capture is jumping around like crazy. The footage to me is useless this way. The result: What is happening during capture: Is my machine faulty? Or they all this bad? Can I do anything to improve? I tried this with three reels (two sizes/types) and the film seems fine. After reading and watching a ton, I started prodding the machine like a monkey, I tried: 1) creating slack in the take up reel, 2) no take up reel, 3) slack in the film reel, 4) different paths (this you see in the video), 5) toggled the selector switch to improve engagement with the film, 6) slide finger pressure on right side of the guide. Nothing has really improved my situation. Sometimes it seems like something is working until it doesn't. Thanks! Click to expand...

My experience is that the shaking is caused by dried or poorly cut film. The gripper on dried film does not fit exactly into the perforation. On poorly cut film, the gripper does not have the strength to advance the film. Both of these problems are indicated by a loud clicking sound.
Try using my modification that I write about here #573

I've noticed that the scanner sometimes stops mid roll , and just freezes up. has anyone else noticed this behavior ? is there a solve? thanks

>> P-car said:

I've noticed that the scanner sometimes stops mid roll , and just freezes up. has anyone else noticed this behavior ? is there a solve? thanks Click to expand...

This is most likely due to the encoder freezing up and can be mitigated in various ways. See the "Known Issues" section of the User Guide (link in my signature).

Also, it could be the file size limit being reached.

>> P-car said:

I've noticed that the scanner sometimes stops mid roll , and just freezes up. has anyone else noticed this behavior ? is there a solve? thanks Click to expand...

This is the risk you take when using a Qp below 22. Unit will randomly crash with the highest bitrates. This is way I added the Qp control, for max quality, you might have to rescan more, for a longer reels that you want to work reliability use a higher Qp.

>> P-car said:

I've noticed that the scanner sometimes stops mid roll , and just freezes up. has anyone else noticed this behavior ? is there a solve? thanks Click to expand...

I experienced this several times with Version 7.4. I guess that this was due to a falsly triggered automatic film stop. This version also in low quality (i.e. high Qp) showed jitter on the bottom of the film which was not due to missed transport of the film during scanning. As I needed the scans for a Bday present on 14th Dec, I did not wait for any new versions and resorted to reinstall one of the first versions with 20fps, 1920 x 1440 resolution and about 17 Mbit/s data rate. This worked fine for my 10 rolls normal 8 film. I may try the newer versions whether they show improved results....

I raised the Qp above 22 - as OdanO suggested - and it sopped locking up mid-roll. Unfortunately, quality is not very good now.

>> P-car said:

I raised the Qp above 22 - as OdanO suggested - and it sopped locking up mid-roll. Unfortunately, quality is not very good now. Click to expand...

It is not a hard number, as it also depends on the grain and detail in your footage, and the rate of change in the footage. The original firmware would have averaged a Qp around 35. This is not a firmware bug, we simply running the compression beyond the design spec. For the highest quality scans, I just pick-up where the scan stopped, and continue the scan.

>> MHreels said:

I experienced this several times with Version 7.4. I guess that this was due to a falsly triggered automatic film stop. Click to expand...

It is not falsing triggering the auto stop, unless you have about 40 frames of completely clear. This is just the limitations of the hardware running at higher bitrate.

After scanning varios Kodahchrome films, here are my white balance numbers: 321,176,145. No blue snow and no reddisch faces any more. Thank you OdanO!

By the way: I use Qp of 16 and it works fine. Sometimes it stops after an unpredictable number of frames. Can be as high as 17`000.

>> hasi said:

By the way: I use Qp of 16 and it works fine. Sometimes it stops after an unpredictable number of frames. Can be as high as 17`000. Click to expand...

What was your average bit-rate?

>> 0dan0 said:

What was your average bit-rate? Click to expand...

Average bitrate of the scan is 33000 kBit/sec.
The enclosed sample scan is stored in HD- Format with a bitrate of 19000kBit/sec. It has been created with Vegas pro 20 with "Neat Video" plug- in, using noise reduction amount of 15%. For my filmtransfers Neat Video is an essential tool. -> HD- Format because TV players often don`t support 1600 x 1200.

When I need to adjust the frame while it's recording, I stopped first the recording, select adjust from the menu and on the moment I push one of the buttons the frame automatically zoom out fully (three frames seen on the screen) and buttons/frame adjustment were freezed, I need to restart the unit.
Type B unit, v7.6.1, std lens, recording with zoom-in.

Furthermore I like the way how we can adjust the WB values now, I'm still testing to find the correct values (agfa chrome films, also a bit too blue).
Thanks Odano!

Hello @0dan0,

FYI I encountered this interesting glitch after I was zooming in and out of the frame, and it is persistent after power cycling. Notice how the top section has a hard line. It's like it's repeating a section or cutting out a section.

I haven't updated the FW in a while, so maybe this is just a side effect of the additional zoom/frame adjust options. However, just sharing in case it's helpful. In addition, when zooming in and out, the screen can glitch out for a fraction of a second, displaying horizontal bars for a moment.

FW model: 7.6.1
HW model: A

Thanks again for all your hard work!

>> Mac84 said:

Hello @0dan0 , FYI I encountered this interesting glitch after I was zooming in and out of the frame, and it is persistent after power cycling. Notice how the top section has a hard line. It's like it's repeating a section or cutting out a section. I haven't updated the FW in a while, so maybe this is just a side effect of the additional zoom/frame adjust options. However, just sharing in case it's helpful. In addition, when zooming in and out, the screen can glitch out for a fraction of a second, displaying horizontal bars for a moment. FW model: 7.6.1 HW model: A Thanks again for all your hard work! Click to expand...

I expect your new lens might be pointing to far to one side. When you are reframing to centering, might be using some out-of-range values. During preview share these numbers:

>> Mikm said:

When I need to adjust the frame while it's recording, I stopped first the recording, select adjust from the menu and on the moment I push one of the buttons the frame automatically zoom out fully (three frames seen on the screen) and buttons/frame adjustment were freezed, I need to restart the unit. Type B unit, v7.6.1, std lens, recording with zoom-in. Furthermore I like the way how we can adjust the WB values now, I'm still testing to find the correct values (agfa chrome films, also a bit too blue). Thanks Odano! Click to expand...

I don't understand this one. Can you video what is happening?

>> hasi said:

Average bitrate of the scan is 33000 kBit/sec. The enclosed sample scan is stored in HD- Format with a bitrate of 19000kBit/sec. It has been created with Vegas pro 20 with "Neat Video" plug- in, using noise reduction amount of 15%. For my filmtransfers Neat Video is an essential tool. Click to expand...

33K is a tad low for Qp 16. But for stock lens at 16 or 18fps it could be okay.

>> 0dan0 said:

I expect your new lens might be pointing to far to one side. When you are reframing to centering, might be using some out-of-range values. During preview share these numbers: View attachment 25499 Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll try a new 3D printed mount - thankfully the issue went away after zooming in and out a few times.