Digital Intermediate is a “chain of service” for Film, Broadcast and Audio Material.

From PRODUCTION to FINAL DELIVERY , all the stages involved form the “D.I. Pipeline of Operations”.

Who is Restoration Service for?

Film Libraries – National Film Archives of Different Countries around the world store , maintain and preserve their filming heritage. Most of their film collection often dates back to pre World War 1 era. Hence the need for restoration and preservation is imperative for saving their Film Legacy.

Archives – Various Media companies like News Channel Corporations , Broadcast Channels & Companies from Different Industries that would keep Videos for their own Internal Circulation or External.

Films – Many films are made on 16mm or 35mm negatives. And in many cases the master does get damaged or corrupted – which leads to production surplus costs. To avoid this most film ventures are insured and a part of this insurance involves trying to repair damaged or spoilt frames or shots in films which are in production.

De-Spotting – A service incorporated into the Film Production cycle for features which are still in production.

Video Restoration

There are different levels of restoration.

It entirely depends on the state of the films and the way they have been stored.

 

• Vinegar effect – storage of films in low temperatures triggers a chemical reaction in the celluloid film negative which starts corroding the film. This results in a corrosion which appears a bit like vinegar corrosion of the film.

 

• Colour Bleach – storage of film in high temperatures

 

• Grain compensation – Many formats of video content end up loosing Grain information which is a result of some video conversion procedures and format conversions. This is a vital ingredient to picture quality and needs revision and hence addition of Grain information is also a service within Video Restoration.

 

• Dirt (white / black ) – Dust particles which fall on film surfaces appear in play back as white and black dirt. The removal of this dirt can be achieved by various processes software based systems for restoration.

 

• Hair in Gate – Many a times in old films , the copies often have trapped elongated fibre strands trapped in lens gates. These strands find their way on the final master copy and distributor copies as well. This is very distracting to view and are removed for improving viewing quality.

 

• Stabilization – Old films are often victim to modern criticism resulting from old film technology. Instability of the film refers to the wobbling effect of the frames in view. This is also addressed in the Restoration.

 

• Scratches – Old films often fall victim to faulty video heads on different machines which have a microscopic piece of dirt that leaves a thin straight line on the film surface when it rolls over it. Resulting in a elongated scratch mark along the entire length of the frame. These are as the others , a disturbing affect of old technology which is set right by Film Restoration.

 

• Flickering – Film luminance in old films ; just like instability; is a property of old films that alternates in intensity. Flickering can be set right by the restoration process as well.

 

• Drop Out – Video Drop Out often found in Standard Definition Video can also be fixed by Automatic Video Restoration programs.

 

• De-Noise – Corrupt video information resulting from faults during broadcast or production can also be addressed by Video Restoration.

 

• Barrel Distortion – Concave boiling of the image can lead to an appearance which contorts the image.

 

• Film Tear – Old films often get torn and damaged while handling. Manual restoration on film benches fixes these problems.

Catering to different Format Types

Standard Definition.

High Definition – 1080psf ,1080i and below.

2K material

4k material – executed by rescanning onto 2k. resolution and then up scanning to 4k on delivery.

Systems

ARCH ANGLE by Snell & Wilcox
TERANEX by Lockheed Martin
D.V.N.R by Digital Vision
REVIVAL by Black Magic
RELATIVITY by ARRI
Correct V.8 by M.T.I Mathematical Technology Instruments.
P.F.Clean by Pixel Farm.
Diamant by H.S.ART.

Ultra Sonic Film Treatment is a physical method of treatment where any microscopic dust is shaken off from the film by passing it through a machine which produces ultra-sonic waves. The film passes through the ultra-sonic waves resulting in the shedding of the dust or dirt particles that might be on the film.

Chemical Treatment do exist that involve the film having to be bathed through a chemical bath.

Joining – Bad joins in the film over time end up giving way. To repair it the joins are manually fixed on a film bench.

Project scheduling

There is a common misconception that every old film can be restored to its full pristine quality.

The time duration needed for a restoration project is based on what is desired as delivery.

There might be films which need to be restored to their best possible state – these are often time consuming and projects do end up running for weeks.

Casual restoration , where only the major faults need to be addressed. Here the client would want to keep the look to show off the age of the film.

Prospective Clients

• Archives – National Archives of Nations across the world keep their historic video records and often invest in their archiving , which usually involves Restoration. For Example : British National Archives

• Film Libraries – Different Film Libraries across the world invest yearly on periodic restoration contracts for their Film / Video Repository. For Example : British Film Institute B.F.I

• Institutions – Many Museums , Societies and Government bodies across the world appraise their content. For Example : R.S.P.B. (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), Imperial War Museum.

• Corporate Archives – Companies of different industries such as Vauxhall or Glaxo Smith Kline have been functioning for a very long time. They keep many stock piles and hours of video content which have been part of internal circulation or old marketing initiatives. They often set aside a portion of their budget to protect and preserve their video heritage.

• Film D.I. – Part of feature film D.I. Pipeline , dust busting of the film master copy is also an application for Restoration.

Sound Restoration

Sound Restoration – is the removal of Audio Glitches from an audio track. The audio track from old Vinyl Records or Data tracks are often peppered with White Noise , Thumps , Hiss & Crackle.

Removing these aspects of old damaged audio encompasses Sound Restoration.

Seeking Sound Restoration

Music Libraries.

Film Archives with individual source audio tracks.

Sound Restoration for any Video Restoration project as an additional tool.

Sync Repair – many a times because of technical errors , the sound tracks often drift away leaving frames being out of sync. Fixing this is also a part of the Sound Restoration project.

Systems

Sound Restoration – SADiE from Prism Film Technologies with CEDAR filters.

Sound Sync – either AVID (time code based) or INDAW ( key code based).

Pro Tools – with added Cedar + Pro Tools Sound restoration Filters.

Present Capacity

Software and hardware available for operations at the moment.

• - 10 Diamant 'Dust Buster' workstations, 2 DaVinci 'Revival' workstations, 1 MTI 'Correct' workstations, Teranex Image Restore and Snell & Wilcox 'Archangel.

• - Complementing the visual restoration facilities we have extensive audio restoration facilities including CEDAR and SADiE systems.

Limitations

In Sound or Film Restoration it usually is impossible to guarantee pristine quality after the Restoration process. The state of the original material , the time given and the budget constrains dictate the scope and quality of work.

Rates for Charge

Restoration rates differ widely depending on the kind of restoration necessary.

Automatic restoration is real time and easy to carry out. The charges for that are on an average 80 G.B.P / hour for Standard Definition material or 120 G.B.P / hour for High Definition material.

Manual Rates are usually steep. The charges for this rate are on an average 240 G.B.P. / hour. Which is a sum of Equipment and Artist.

Please contact Mr.Aslam Parvez on
Phone number : +447825706997