HOW TO CHANGE VIDEO to movie theater?

Question

IS there a program you can use that converts video to movie theater quality or make it look it a movie from the theater....thanks

Answer 1

That is an excellent question, and I apologize in advance if I ramble on too much. I will break this response up into 2 parts:  1) how to make a digital video good enough for the big screen

2) how to make your digital video footage look like film

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For the first part: I'm sorry to have to say this, but there is a reason movies cost so much in order to get that, "movie quality" on the big screen. Typically, large big budget films use cameras valued at an average of $500,000, shooting on 35mm film and 65mm film. And unfortunately, digital handycams you pick up at Best Buy or something cannot record as good quality.

      Currently, a majority of theaters still project in analog film: few have digital projectors. It is possible to blow up a digital video to 35mm film, which then can be projected in theaters, but its very costly; at costs greater than $100,000. In recent years, however, there have been many indie films and docomentaries that have benn sucessfully blown up to 35mm and released in theaters. Most commonly, these smaller budget productions use HD pro camcorders such as the Panasonic AJ-HDC27 of the Panasonic Varicam DVCPro HD series or the Sony F900, however, these cameras are still $40,000-$60,000. However, I have heard of one indie film production that used the JVC GY-HD110U prosumer camcorder (which costs only $4,000). The film was blown up to 35mm and released internationally-probably not as good as more expensive cameras though.

       Even if you have an HD camera, it wont blow up nearly as well, because theaters project in higher definitions. Typically, HD on a consumer or professional camcorder has resolution of 1920 x 1080, if that. Movie theaters on the other hand, project in 2K (2048 x 1024) and 3K (3072 x 1536) resolutions, then are downconverted to 1920 x 1080 HD on blue ray and standard def for DVD.

       So, in short, it is possible, but very expensive to shoot in digital and convert to 35mm in high quality for big screen projections, and that's expected.

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However, it is much more possible, and much cheaper to match the style of big-production films on an inexpensive digital camcorder. The reason why digital video does not look like film is for a few reasons:

   (1) The "Film Look" and 24fps vs 30fps. Film is shot in 24 frames per second while digital video is filmed in 30fps. Also, digital video is much harder less natural looking, while film is softer and smoother. In order to simulate these characteristic features of film, a feature known as 24p was developed. 24p simulates 24fps of film on a digital camera. It also mimicks characteristics of film such as film grain and strobing. Here are some cameras with 24p:

   -Sony PMW-EX1

   -JVC GY-HD200U  and HD110U

   -Panasonic HVX200

    -Sony HVR-V1U

  -Panasonic DVX100B

   -Canon XL2

I'm not nearly as familiar with consumer cameras, but I DO know that the Canon HV20 does have 24p

  

(2) the shallow depth of field. Another characteristic of film is that film has a much more narrow depth of field, meaning less of the picture is in focus, making your footage softer, re appealing and easier to look at. In order to simulate this on film, you could purchase a 35mm adapter. Redrock makes 35mm adapters that are very popular. Letus also makes them for a bit more money, but supposedly, they are better. For one thing, Letus 35mm adapters do not lose as much light as other ones and it also re-inverts the image so its right-side up (all other 35mm adapters make your image upside down. However, you can reverse it in post production)

http://www.letusdirect.com/

http://redrockmicro.com/

With a combination of 24p (24 progressive scan) and 35mm adapters, your digital video will look more like film!

PS: I'm not sure what "Motion Picture Central" is talking about. The editing platform really doesn't have much to do with it. Sure, a huge majority of films and TV shows are cut on Avid, but that's simply preference. Quality-wise, Final Cut Studio is JUST as good, and a lot less expensive. More and more films are cut on Final Cut, including some large blockbusters, as well as many of indie films.

Well, I hope that helps somewhat....so have fun, and Best of Luck!!!

Answer 2

AVID Media Composer http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017V8... is probably your best bet

*** Get it for a fraction of the cost if you are a student or with a school http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019L7...

Many people try to use Final Cut Pro, but it is not quite geared for 2-3 story tall theatre screens.