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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Filmprint "Backup" ?

There are some studios that automatically archive their films onto three color separations.
The negative is CONTACT printed with a fixed pin registration movement onto ESTAR based film: One each of Y, C, and M.
Yes. That is one separation for each of the primary colors.

Why black and white separations? No color dyes to fade. The emulsion is silver grains. Once fixed in processing, it is stable for centuries.
A registration movement can be used to re-combine the separations into perfect registration.

Why contact printing? No optical path to corrupt the image.

Why Estar based film? Very stable, no shrinkage, and very strong.
How strong is it? We actually towed a car with it.
Re-combining estar based separations in a registration movement leaves no color fringing.

If you want to store digital data onto film, and it has been done, you would want to use 2269 Hi-Contrast B&W, which has 1,000 line pairs per millimeter resolution.
However, as Jeff pointed out, you can only pack so much data onto the film real estate.
The good news is it rolls up nicely into big, dense, heavy reels.

In the image of the edge of a color print a few posts back, it is interesting to note that the majority of wear and tear on the print actually is on the outer edge of the film, outside of the sprocket holes.
Dolby found that to be a pleasant surprise when they went to put their data blocks between perforations.

What you have to watch out for is something that happened to MGM quite a few years back.
CPAs came in, and did an audit.
While checking inventories, one accountant noticed that there were three negatives for one film.
Well, if there are three negatives, then they could get rid of two of the negatives, and they did.
You're now ahead of me on this story. Yes, two of the separations were destroyed, leaving only one.
 
All the 4K projects I've worked on so far (seven) have required a film-out to Arrilaser recorders on Kodak negative. In some cases, the studio also asks for a backup IP.

Landis is correct in that long-term digital storage is still a big concern for all the studios and the Academy.
 
It is an irony that colour restoration of some old BBC popular TV shows which had been erased from the original electronic media was possible from B and W filmouts which had been done for export purposes. The film image resolution was sufficent that the colour information unique to PAL TV was recoverable with a lot of computer assistance.
 
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