I just graduated with my master’s degree and now have a little more time to work on the telecine project. This update is going to be a little different as it is using a different telecine/projector than before. I was browsing eBay to look for a good deal on a MovieStuff Retro-8 and ran across an old Workprinter XP – I believe one of the first made by Roger as this one is hand modified and still uses the halogen bulb with a transformer. It arrived without the “sync-mouse,” which is just a mouse that has the left mouse button wired to an RCA plug so that each time a frame advances in the telecine, it “clicks” the mouse the button, but was otherwise complete. I’ve noticed a few things already – I’m on the right track with the other projector, mechanical switches are not a reliability concern, and the Workprinter is surprisingly “DIY” quality. With the addition of my 5D3, I can now use that camera to output clean 1080P images to a capture card. This is how the Workprinter XP was intended to be used, albeit with a “normal” video camera and an older capture card. As a test, I decided to film some test 8mm film with the telecine running at 6 fps & the 5D3 running at 24 fps. I sped the film speed up by 300% in post. You will notice frame smearing and other artifacts in this video because it is not a proper frame-by-frame transfer. However, it does demonstrate a decent transfer can be accomplished with the Workprinter, 5D3, and a capture card. I am now debating the continuation of my telecine project or if I should just use the Workprinter – I may remove the optics to increase the transfer quality.
MovieStuff Workprinter XP 8mm Telecine Test Run
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