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Usually film is scanned with additional area for further processing. In this case, the scanning area may contain the interframe space, perforations, portions of the previous and next frame.
Normally, scans are cropped using the exposed area, but sometimes information outside the film gate is intentionally included. This technique is called Overscan.
1. Gate Type
The type of film gate sets the film format and the type of camera. The following options are available:
Super 8mm 1.33:1
Super 8 motion picture film with aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (4:3)
Standart 16mm 1.37:1
16 mm motion picture film shot in standard aspect ratio of 1.37:1
Super 16mm 1.66:1
Super 16 mm motion picture film with a 1.66:1 aspect ratio
Ultra 16mm 1.85:1
16 mm motion picture film shot in aspect ratio of 1.85:1
Super 35mm 1.37:1
35 mm motion picture film shot in standard aspect ratio of 1.37:1
Widescreen 35mm 1.85:1
35 mm motion picture film shot in widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1
Ultra Panavision 65mm 2.76:1
65 mm motion picture film shot in Ultra Panavision aspect ratio of 2.76:1
💡 The 16:9 aspect ratio is not here, since it does not exist on film. The closest film format is Widescreen 35mm 1.85:1 with a frame pitch of 3 perforation holes (3 perf), and it is cropped to 16:9 with minimal loss.
2. Gate Shape
The shape of the film gate is determined by the specifics of a particular camera. The most common options are available:
Neat Normal - standard frame with slightly rounded corners
Neat Sharp - a frame with sharper corners with almost no rounding
Neat Rounded - a frame with the corners rounded to a large radius
OFF - Film Gate is disabled
3. Perforation Mode
The perforation type of the scanned film is represented by 3 options:
Negative, Positive, OFF
The negative scan is inverted and the backlit perforations become black. Positive films, on the other hand, do not need to be inverted and retain their original white perforations. At the postproduction stage, they can be filled with the film base color. This action is simulated by the OFF mode.
4. Film Orientation
In cinema cameras film is pulled down through the film gate vertically, while in most 35 mm photo cameras film travels horizontally.
However, in both cases, you can rotate the camera 90 degrees while shooting. The film scan can also be rotated on postproduction so that the scene will have the correct orientation when viewed.
The Landscape/Portrait option allows you to simulate both horizontal and vertical film movement retaining the normal orientation of the subject.
5. Scale
Image scaling (crop) after scanning. Varies from 0 to 100. When Scale = 100, the film gate is completely outside the frame.
6. Gate Defocus
The frame focus depends on the tightness of the film against the film gate, the type of camera and its technical condition. In Dehancer you can control the degree of defocusing in the range from 0 to 100 conventional units.
7. Exposure
Depending on the backlight intensity and exposure during scanning, the Halation effect on the edges of the perforation may be visible to a greater or lesser extent. The Exposure parameter sets the exposure of the ‘scan’ in the range from -2 Ev to +2 Ev, which allows you to make the perforation more or less pronounced.
8. Static Gate
This option allows you to enable or disable dynamic variation of the film gate from frame to frame. By default, the film gate is static and does not change throughout the clip, which corresponds to Static Gate = ON. If Static Gate is disabled, film gates with slight variations in shape will be used for each frame.
9. Flip
Normally, the layout of the perforations and the gate is determined by the film format and the technical standard of the camera and scanner. However, for creative tasks, we have added a Flip option that mirrors the perforations and frame horizontally while keeping the image unchanged.
10. Enabled
This option allows you to completely enable or disable the Overscan tool.
11. Film Orientation
In cinema cameras film is pulled down through the film gate vertically, while in most 35 mm photo cameras film travels horizontally. However, in both cases, you can rotate the camera 90 degrees while shooting. The film scan can also be rotated on postproduction so that the scene will have the correct orientation when viewed.
The Landscape/Portrait option allows you to simulate both horizontal and vertical film movement retaining the normal orientation of the subject.
12. Lens Zoom
Compared to the Scale parameter, Lens Zoom allows to zoom the scene within the film gate, as if you were zooming the lens in/out at the shooting stage.
When Lens Zoom = 100 (default), the image is zoomed in to cover the entire film width, including the overscan area.
With Lens Zoom set to 0, the image fits the Film Gate area.
13. Offset X, Offset Y
Sometimes after applying Overscan effects, you may want to move the image to better fit the gate. Values of +100 and -100 correspond to shifting the image by half of its width or height in the forward or opposite direction, respectively.
Notice:
Since Overscan Tool contains a number of practical simplifications, it is appropriate to call it stylization rather than imitation. We have implemented the basic components for the most common formats. In the future, the tool will be improved by expanding the set of gates, formats and additional elements.
Related Article: Dehancer Overscan Tool