Thanks for the feedback!
In short, my process for doing this is using a flatbed scanner. The reason why I was being secretive about it is because I have been told on numerous occasions that it could not be done this way, and I never accepted that answer and wanted to prove to myself and others that it could be done with acceptable quality before saying how I did it. It wasn't without it's challenges though.
There are many things I had to deal with such as:
- dealing with a roll of film instead of individual frames
- aligning each frame properly so that it doesn't jump around
- getting all of the information off the frame without crushing blacks or blowing out whites
- matching the color between each scan
- cropping each frame in the right spot
- getting enough resolution but not so much that it takes forever to scan
- aligning each physical frame on the film roll properly when scanning
- keeping the film and the scanner glass clean and free of dust
I had two scanners that were capable of scanning film. I started with my older scanner because it was like a dream come true for scanning roll film. That scanner is an Epson 1640su photo scanner. http://www.galerie-photo.com/epson_perfection_1640su.html It has a transparency unit that sits on top and has a film holder that lets you slide the film through it from side to side which is great for roll film. The problem is there is a little bit of space around the edges of the transparency adapter and the scanner glass, and also around the edges of the film holder and the transparency adapter. When scanning the film, the frames would not be aligned properly. 35mm film is very small and any slight movement misaligns the frames. Also the sprocket holes were hidden in the film adapter, so there was no point of reference for aligning the frames. Also, the scanner resolution was enough for 1920x1080p, but not enough for full WQHD resolution (it was still better than 1920x1080p though). Also, it crushed the blacks a bit.
Next up was my newer scanner - Epson V300 Photo. Much nicer, newer, higher resolution, etc. It has a built-in transparency adapter by removing a white plate out of the lid. http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow_viewer/0,3253,l%253D241661%2526a%253D241491%2526po%253D3,00.asp?p=n#fbid=8syvXc6_UbW There are several challenges with this scanner. The film holder that it comes with doesn't accept roll film. It expects you to put pre-cut negatives into the holder and you fasten them in with a small plastic door. Also, in order for it to work in transparency mode, the film holder needs to be in place or it will detect that it is missing and give you an error. I thought of running the roll film underneath the film holder, but that led to another issue. The film strip in the adapter runs lengthwise but there is a rectangular window at the end of it that can't be blocked or it won't work. So you have to do it horizontally one frame at a time. The problem is the top of the scanner hinges along the side instead of the top, so it gets in the way of being able to run the film that way.
So what I did for the first clip with the Death Star explosion was run it somewhat diagonally underneath the film holder and then used Photoshop to straighten everything out. Also, I used it to align the frames by overlaying them and using the Difference between the layers. Since the scene was stationary, I could use the stars as reference points. The huge challenge was each frame didn't line up exactly right so I had to stretch it in areas to get everything aligned. This was extremely time consuming, but the end result was pretty good.
During the process of this, I discovered this nifty device: http://www.amazon.com/OMNI-Stand-Alone-Image-Slide-Scanner/dp/B0046TBJEM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319082819&sr=8-1 This appeared to be a perfect solution to scanning roll film. In reality though, it produced crappy results. The film had to slide through a clear plastic holder inside and the plastic came scratched so the scratches would be in every frame and it was essentially a CMOS video camera and not a scanner, so the picture looked terrible (full of cruddy noise) compared to what I was getting with my scanner. So it was worth a try, but I returned that.
So finally, I came up with a really good solution and that is what I used on my latest clip. I figured out that by scanning in a different spot on the scanner glass, I could run the film roll perfectly horizontally on my newer scanner and not have to do it diagonally (wish I would have figured that out earlier). Then I built a wooden frame tightly around my scanner and I screwed in two film holders from my old scanner - one on the left of the scanner, and one on the right for passing the roll film through at each end. This allowed me to perfectly align the film without it moving around at all. I would just have to worry about aligning in the up and down direction essentially. Here is a pic of my rig: http://i52.tinypic.com/2elxhep.jpg
I use the same process as before with the Difference between the layers in photoshop, but now I can use the sprocket holes for reference because they get scanned when passing underneath and across the film holder. When scanning, I do one frame at a time because that is all that fits under the opening of the film holder. It makes it easier to do one frame at a time too because I can just move it over 4 sprocket holes at a time and scan. It's easier to count 4 than 32 for example. To get rid of the dust and to protect the film from getting scratched as it goes under the film holder, I rap the film with a microfiber cloth. This works perfectly and I don't have dust problems like I was having tons of before. Each frame gets scanned in under a minute and has enough resolution for full WQHD. So I basically surf the net as I scan frames and the time flies by.
After scanning the frames, I have to manually align them in Photoshop. This goes very easily now that it is straight and I can use the sprocket holes for reference. After that, I can automate the rest of the post processing in Photoshop - crop in the same spot on every frame, resize every frame, color correct the same way on every frame, etc. After all of the frames are done, I bring them into VirtualDub and make a lossless AVI. After that, I use Xvid4PSP to make the final video.
Monday evening after work, I scanned 116 frames. I have been busy after that, so I haven't aligned them yet, but to make a clip out of them should go pretty quickly. It would start at the point where the Star Wars Trilogy screen ends and the Millenium Falcon flies by the planet Yavin, then Luke shoots his photon torpedos, then the RotJ Death Star blows up which would be from my original work.
So in a nutshell, that's my process. A lot went into getting where I am today, but now it is working pretty good. It just takes time and dedication to scan and align the frames. The rest is pretty easy.
