can someone advise me?
I want to scan some old photographs and then output them to video tape via my studio DV plus capture card.
But what i want to know is, what dpi should i scan the photos so a can play them back on my tv at full screen full resolution, and what is the best format to output them to tape, should i save them as jpeg's or bitmaps, or any other format?
please help me
Wayne....
If you've got a lot of photos to put to video tape Wayne, why not take a
different (and much faster) approach? I've done a lot of such work for
clients, making photo albums into video tapes, and because of the huge
variety of picture formats find the best approach is to use my digital
camcorder. This way there's no resizing to do and the photos look as good
as anything I've scanned and then resized. VHS is a very base-line storage
medium, but the Mini DV master can be kept for higher resolution replay
later.
I set up my camera on a tripod and have the even lighting arranged so that
I'm shooting at very sharp apertures such as f4. I avoid using close-up
lenses if at all possible, and I simply record to the capture programme
(Raptor in my case) using the Raptor's pause rec while I reposition the next
print. On the time line later I can add transitions between photos and add
music to the audio track. Titles complete the "album" and copies can be
made for all members of the family. It's also very easy to pull any
individual frame into Photoshop for a digital tweak, to remove tears,
blotches and stains. Photos arrive in terrible condition sometimes.
Of course if you want to print out the pictures then a flat bed scan is a
better solution, but it doesn't sound as if this is your intention.
However, 6" x 4" prints from any individual frame can look really good.
tom.
Tom's right, of course, but just so that you knpw, here's the numbers anyway.
DV has 720pixels by 576 lines, and they aren't square. Inches never enter into it. So, if you are scanning pictures or importing bitmap images from any other source, the only information you need is the niumber of pixels. As long as your image has at least 720x576, it'll do. More pixels will mean you can zoom into it and pan/scan a bit without losing resolution.
If you go this way, remember that your stills will cover the full dynamic range, black=0, white=255, but your video sequences accord with ITU Rec.601 in that black is at 16 and white at 235. This is to allow for processing errors, exposure errors, ringing filters etc. So you'll need to change the birgthness and contrast of you pictures to get them to match the video. Your NLE should be able to cope with that, as well as adjusting the aspect ratio of the stills.
There's been lots of this sort of discussion hereabouts.
thanks tom, thanks alan.....your advice has been very informative to me.
but when i scan my photographs the software i use only gives me the choice of scannig in dpi, and not resolution.
is there any sort of calculation i can do to convert dpi into resolution.....if that makes any sense......all a bit confuseing for me , i'm new to the game.
cheers
Wayne.....
The sums are about as easy as it could get.
You know the size of the image, in inches. That must be true because you're holding it, it's the picture you're putting in the scanner. You need a scan that's at least 720x576 pixels. The software offers you resolution in dpi (that's pixels/inch). Choose the resolution that gives you enough pixels for video.
E.g. for a 6"x4" picture, you need at least 720 pixels across the 6" side, and at least 576 up the 4" side. So you need 720/6=120dpi or 576/4=144dpi. Anything more than that will do.