A telecine is a machine which converts motion picture film into video. The process is a bit more advanced than just pointing a video camera at a running projection of film. Each film frame is captured individually and some advanced math goes into converting the frame rate to video, if necessary. They’re extremely complex and very expensive machines.
That’s why I’m so impressed with Paul, who posted this awesome DIY 8mm telecine to the MAKE Flickr pool. He replaced the motor of an old 8mm projector so that it would run slower. Then he added a metal tab to the shaft of the projector’s shutter, which actuated a digital camera’s shutter at just the right moment, capturing each frame. After the frames were captured, Paul processed them with PhotoLapse and the results are quite astounding:
In the Maker Shed:
This mini Super 8 kit will project Super 8, Single-8, and Regular 8mm film. It’s hand cranked with a white LED light source and comes with an empty take-up reel and bonus splicing tape. It’s a fun, retro kit, just begging to be hacked! Easy to build — instructions are in Japanese but feature highly detailed assembly pictures (sorry no English translation at this time). MAKE is proud to be the exclusive distributor in North America for these brilliant kits from Gakken.
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