Some questions about film scanning

Last time I had a Super 16mm film scanned the post lab provided me with a file with these specs:

Format: YUV
Codec ID: v210
Codec ID/Hint: AJA Video Systems Xena
Colour space: YUV
Chroma subsampling: 4:2:2
Bit depth: 10 bits
Compression mode: Lossless

Now my problem with this is the 4:2:2 Chroma subsampling. Everything else is good. I used this large uncompressed file to convert to and edit in ProRes 422HQ.

How can I make sure next time that the Post Lab will scan in 4:4:4 Chroma Subsampling? Is this even possible? Do I need a Cintel Scanner to scan in a chroma subsample of 4:4:4? Can a Cintel Scanner produce files in ProRes 4444 XQ as this would be ideal?

As long as you don’t need chroma keying, 4:2:2 is fine.
In particular from S-16 you might be hard pressed to spot any difference.
Technically it’s possible to scan in 4:4:4:4, but IMHO it’s a waste of space. You’d need to ask the service about it.

Last time I had a Super 16mm film scanned the post lab provided me with a file with these specs...

Virtually all the stuff we work with in restoration is ProRes 444 or ProRes 444XQ, and sometimes it's 444 DPX files. I don't think it's a great idea to go less than that for film restoration. I would not accept something like an AJA format.

Last time I had a Super 16mm film scanned the post lab provided me with a file with these specs...

Virtually all the stuff we work with in restoration is ProRes 444 or ProRes 444XQ, and sometimes it's 444 DPX files. I don't think it's a great idea to go less than that for film restoration. I would not accept something like an AJA format.

Absolutely! Using high-quality formats like ProRes 444 or 444XQ in film restoration is critical for keeping the original content's integrity. Lower resolution formats, such as AJA, may reduce the richness and detail required in the restoration process. To achieve the greatest outcomes, stick to solid formats.

Great. Thanks for all your feedback.

Making sure the post lab scans in 444 is just as important. No point scanning in 422 and delivering in 444.

From your experience what format do film scanning labs scan the film in? I doubt they'd scan in Uncompressed RGB as a 4K RGB file would be HUGE.

From your experience what format do film scanning labs scan the film in? I doubt they'd scan in Uncompressed RGB as a 4K RGB file would be HUGE.

Quite a few will go direct to uncompressed Cineon, DPX, TIFF, or EXR files, but I think ProRes 444 (in the original resolution, like 4K) is pretty benign. The key to me is to work with at least 10-bit if not 12-bit files.

Given the densities Film can reach and a good scanner can detect, that is a very important parameter.
Initially I thought of archival material for a project, but for restauration it should be only the best.

Great. Thanks for all your feedback.

Making sure the post lab scans in 444 is just as important. No point scanning in 422 and delivering in 444.

From your experience what format do film scanning labs scan the film in? I doubt they'd scan in Uncompressed RGB as a 4K RGB file would be HUGE.

The Cintel only scans to .CRI and many other scanners only scan to DPX or other raw uncompressed formats and require post-conversion. If you're scanning on a Cintel just ask for the raw CRIs and debayer them yourself. You can use the CoronaSequence_x64mod Avisynth plugin as an example or drop them directly into Resolve, but it depends on if you have scanned neg or a pos. If you're scanning Pos you should use the plugin I mentioned as it does a better job in the conversion, there's a bug in the Resolve software that enhances the scanner noise in pos when it converts, and if you're scanning negs it will just depend on if you like Blackmagic's debayer algorithm.

If you're scanning on a different scanner then it depends on the raw format of the scanner.

Ah that's really interesting. Thanks for that technical information. I had a look through the Cintel manual and also found some good information there regarding .CRI files. I haven't done all this before but am planning a shoot on film so looking forward to the scanning process. Depending on which post house I use here in Melbourne, AUS, I will look further into DPX files as well.

[Gavin Lucas]

“debayer them yourself. You can use the CoronaSequence_x64mod Avisynth plugin as an example or drop them directly into Resolve, but it depends on if you have scanned Neg or a Pos.”


As detailed the Cintel scans to a .CRI format, however Resolve can transcode too, many formats as a deliverable, including DPX and ProRes subject to client workflow requirements.


Note: Usage of a 3rd party plugin’s for debayer is feasible; but will need to factor the film type, Log and Linear masking accordingly {detailed within metadata attributes}.