Film-out

Film-out is the process in the computer graphics, video production and filmmaking disciplines of transferring images or animation from videotape or digital files to a traditional film print.

Film-out is a broad term that encompasses the conversion of frame rates, color correction, as well as the actual printing, also called scannior recording.

The film-out process is different depending on the regional standard of the master videotape in question – NTSC, PAL, or SECAM – or likewise on the several emerging region-independent formats of high definition video (HD video); thus each type is covered separately, taking into account regional film-out industries, methods and technical considerations.

Until recently,[citation needed] the relatively low cost of video ended when the issue of a theatrical presentation was raised, which required a print for film projection.

Since visual movement in video is infused in this continuous cascade of scan lines, there is no discrete image or real frame that can be identified at any one time.

Moreover, the conversion process usually requires human intervention at every edit point of a video program, so that each type of scene can be calibrated for maximum visual quality.

This is the mechanical step where lasers print each of the newly created frames of the 24p video, stored on computer files or HD videotape, onto rolls of film.

Other issues remain though, based on the different resolutions, color spaces, and compression schemes that exist in the high-definition video world.

Movies fully rendered and animated in CGI such as Toy Story, and Antz utilize the film-out method to produce 35mm copies for archival and release prints.

Most CGI work is done in 2K Display resolution files (about the size of QXGA) and then output to the Film-out device for creation of 35 mm elements.

DPX files that were scanned on a motion picture film scanner are stored on a storage area network (often abbreviated as SAN).

Digital cameras can now shoot all the images needed, storing them as files (e.g. JPEG, DPX or another format) that are readily edited prior to use.

[4] Fernando Arrabal was the first to use the technique of video-to-film for aesthetic purposes, for the 1971 film Viva la muerte, which used heavily color-adjusted video footage only for the fantasy sequences.

Some examples of independent movies being shot on videotape are Lone Scherfig's Italian For Beginners (a Dogme film), Steven Soderbergh's Full Frontal (which was shot on PAL-standard MiniDV gear in the normally NTSC-prevalent US, due to its higher resolution of 625 lines and frame rate of 25 frame/s (as opposed to NTSC's 525 line resolution and 30 frame/s frame rate), more closely matching film's 24 frame/s), and Mike Figgis' Timecode.

The video hardware & taped footage took the place of the traditional cinema camera and its negatives, which were edited in post-production and transferred to 35mm film for theatrical release & exhibition.