Thanks so much Ron for the video. I recently (May 2022) bought the Magnasonic Super 8/8mm Film Scanner (FS81) and a SanDisk 32GB Ultra SDHC UHS-I Memory Card. I formatted the SD card with the Film Scanner. When I scanned the first roll of super 8 film, the playback results were very jittery. I did a full reformat on my computer of the SD card at FAT 32 64 kilobytes. I then scanned all of my Super 8 videos 3”, 5” and 7” reels with very good results and no jitter. I am glad I saw his video before I started scanning. It saved me a lot of time and frustration. Thanks again.
Glad that it helped. I do not know why sometimes formatting on a computer is better but it seems to work for me as well sometimes. Glad you wrote so it may help other people as well when their scanners act up.
My filmscanners brand is Reflecta and I had after approximately 40 Films the same problem. I took a different SD-Card and now everything is fine again. Thank You very very much!
Thank you ever so much Ron. I was just about to open up my Wolverine when I looked up possible diagnostics in Google and found your post. WOW. IT WORKS... Bought a coupla cards on the 'Net. Just had the expected small difficulties in formatting (I Use Mac), had to reset the Wolverine and Voilà. No shaking any more. A million thanks. Brian
Hey Ron, I had jitter on my first attempt to digitize Super 8 with a Magnasonic unit, so searched and found this article. I was astounded at your solution, since it seemed to be a mechanical symptom. I bought the digitizer off eBay, from somebody who scanned and resold the scanner, planning to do the same. The sales add said an SDHC-I card was required. I ordered some 32 GB SDHC-I cards at the same time. The converted video had jitter. After I saw this video, I tried reformatting -- didn't help. I finally looked at the manual (duh!) and it said use a Class 6 (6 MBps). My SDHC-I card was a 4. I tried a Class 10 that I had on hand -- voila! It worked stably. Thank you for saving me frustrating hours!
I had noticed this issue too. Having better media didn’t fix it for me, but I only ever had issues with dark scenes on film. Looked like the sensor on the machine was not being scanned at the right time. I ended up just using the machine as a consistent advance timer and using egregiously expensive video gear (cinema camera and a macro lens) to record 2fps 8K timelapse video of the film running through a window taped to a tracing light like what artists use. Bunch of extra steps, but I got a consistent frame and stupidly clean 1080p renders.
Hello, you do not know how much I appreciate your suggestion to put the focus on the memory card! I was using SanDisk ExtremePRO, 16gb, 95mb/s and having tried different mechanical changes, I got the same horrible results: fluctuating image movement that your video alludes to. I decided to try a Sony 32Gb, TOUGH, G,300R mb/s, 299W Mb/s, V90, which is a much better card, and the result is excellent!!! A cordial greeting and always very grateful for your original and positive search!! YEAH!!!!
Wow!! My machine was doing the same thing. I'm so glad I found your video!! The change in the SD card fixed all the issues. Thank you so much so much for making this video.
Thank you for your video. I had the same problem. I personally achieve the best results, using an "old" 8GB microSD card. One mechanical problem is the firm pull on the take-up reel. The pulling would also cause jitterring on my machine. My workaround is a clean box for the scanned film and wind it back on the reel after scanning. My scanner, original for 60m reels, allows to scan 120m reels in one piece when selecting 5" reel.
Just fyi on comments on Demo. Sometimes I scan showing holes. You'd be surprised at what you may find . Some reels developed the area between the holes..
Thank you for posting this! I had the problem right out of the box. I’m pretty certain my shaky problem was caused by either 1. A heavy metal reel which I changed to a very light plastic reel. Or 2. Having set me digitizer next to my TV set so I could keep an eye on it as it was digitizing.
Did you get your shaky video problem solved. I do not think the weight of the reel or it being by the TV would cause unstable copies. Let me know if you solved your problem. Thanks for the comment.
Okay I have now scanned many films and learned a lot since my last post. I occasionally get a shaker image. I have discovered that when framing the image that depending on the subject it can be shaken. I try do some a full frame image but it the upper part of the frame which is really the lower part creeping in on the image and has great contrast it will shake. Therefor I can’t do the full frame and have to rescan filling up the frame with the image. This helps on those occasional shakey image. If the image itself is very contrastiy then it will shake. It’s something to do with the softeware…..I think
I can see a huge improvement in some of the clips but I still notice slight frame up/down movement in the clip with the stagecoach at the end. Can that be resolved ?
people seem adamant that this is strictly a mechanical problem, but it stands to reason that it could easily be both if you think about it, since with different cards there will be different delays between the trigger to store the frame image, and the full frame image being written to the card, which is why in a lot of cases, the jitter appears more prominent at the top of the frame than the bottom, because part of the image was being captured while the film was shuttling due to slow card speeds, when the cards must be of a very precise write speed to guarantee full frame capture between frames shuttling.
I suspect you are correct I do know it the card fixed my other machine I did not take apart. I found out about the solution from Wolverine Data so I am positive the card is sometimes the problem.
Many thanks for posting this. I just formatted my SD card in the machine, rescanned my film and the jitter has stopped. Perhaps it was a threading issue but doesn't feel like that. I'll see if that fixes it permanently. My bigger issue with the machine is the grainy over sharpened look. Changing the sharpening doesn't seem to effect it.
I am not an expert in digital matters, just an 83-year-old hobbyist who has transferred dozens of 8mm films using a Wolverine scanner. However, I cannot really accept that the resultant vertical image jitter can be related to the type of SD card employed. Initially, I experienced such jitter, which varied from noticeable to overly severe. After trying several techniques to minimise this fault, I finally bypassed the unit’s take-up spool entirely and simply allowed the scanned film to fall into a cardboard box. You'll need to employ a manual rewinder (preferred), or a projector's take-up facility to return the scanned film back onto a spool again. All a little more time-consuming but, after standardising on this method, the aforementioned jitter is down to a level where it can be ignored. Any further reduction can be accomplished in the free ‘DaVinci Resolve' app.
This problem occured on my Kodak Reelz after scanning about 50 reels of 3-minute films, very irritating. Found out quite soon that the problem was with the pick-up reel pulling too heavily on the film. Before taking to the cardboard box-solution I wasted my time to try to fix the spring loaded sliding clutch at the axle of the pick-up reel, useless. Cardboard-box is the best solution, absolutely. The Kodak Reelz has a power rewind function (quite slow), so all one has to do is to sit next to it, and check that the film does not get twisted while respooling.
@@directorsuperior Got a Kodak Reels too and on the same film it sometimes stutters and sometimes not. Going to look at the transport mechanism tomorrow as I'm ruling out card (formatted in scanner) and film (same film sometimes works sometimes not). I already had to disconnect the motor to the pickup reel as it made a racket and I'm dropping the film in a towel covered box anyway. Also had to remove the blob of glue on the lens assembly and removed the lens cover so I could adjust the focus - it was quite off. The internal adjustments being pants I drop the sharpness to minimum to avoid the grain being overly deformed into dots. What bugs me is that the preview image on the built-in screen is not bad but in the resulting MP4 file it's screwed up. It could be a great unit if they allowed lens focus adjustments and the deactivation of the internal compression .... raw image output would make a ton of difference!
I did end up removing part of the springs under the pressure plate (see other comments under this video). I helps but still, intermittently, on clean SD cards or not, stuttering comes back. Only thing haven't looked at is transport mechanism. Plan on doing videos next month on the different issues. Could be a great little machine, but let down by electronics and poor mechanics.
Good information so if other people have the same problem they know what you tried if you do a video on what worked leave a link here so other people with same problem can find a solution. Thanks for the feedback. Ron
had same problem, it was caused by the Takeup tension being too high, esp on larger reels. Simple fix, do not use the take up spool and just let it feed down into a box. Do not touch the film.. when finished, simply rewind it back on to the spool it just came off. Works every time.
You only need to check if the memory card meet the requirements from the scanners vendor and use the scanners format function. More important to remove jittery film is to check if the pick up reel runs too fast and pulls the film out of the scanner. If that's the case, simply use a box to pick up the film and rewind from the box. I have done scan with both the 5" Reflecta and the 9" Wolverine MM Pro and if I encounter problems, it's the pull from pick up reel that forces the film to jump during the scan. One other issue with this video/ demo: even if the images isn't stored as fast as it should on an old SDcard, why are the sprocket holes visible? Then you really have done several mistakes during the scan. One more issue: when the scanner tells that the cluster size is wrong, just let the scanner fix it by usin the format option.
Usually the scanner will fix it but sometimes it won't. Since it is so easy to format the not functioning card on the computer. Before I throw the card away I format it on the computer. I always copy with the scanner holes showing and then zoom in with Video Studio Pros Crop and Scale feature. Here is a video on why I leave the sprocket holes and then zoom in. th-cam.com/video/AxdRRg3Pj7k/w-d-xo.html
@@super8tovideo Perforation in the image: I also set it that way. It's a bit noisy, but very often parts of the image that are indispensable are hidden on that edge. And in general: I don't think the "jerking" of the image at the top is a card problem. Sounds more like a mechanical issue to me. A sample of my films. I stabilize them using sw Edius 9. In this sw I also correct black, white and color rendering levels. th-cam.com/video/dRVh18Xq7Z0/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the video ... I'm using a Kodak Reels machine (most probably same factory) and yes after 7 or 8 reels all of a sudden it started acting up. Wiping the card in the machine seems to fix the problem. What I noticed is that the films didn't have any issue until I deleted files from the card, must be a problem of writing sequentially or not to the card - and wiping lets the controller write from zero again which might be the solution. Being a Sandisk Ultra card it is definitely an issue with the cheapo controller. Thanks again for all your tests!
Seems to only accept exFAT on mine, no NTFS (says card is damaged) and FAT32 with a clean card gives me stutter right away (need to test more). Considering the price those machines could be really nice (though not great) but they really cut every possible corner, it's a pity.
Been digging through a few forums and videos, dismantled the whole unit completely and took pictures of the boards and connectors. After fixing the focus problem on the lens (glued in wrong position, introducing unsharpness on a whole side) and disconnecting the pick up reel motor (too much clanking and vibrating) I took a look at the transport box ... someone had a bent needle on his unit, but on mine it's sturdy and would not bend through film transport. I finished by adjusting the screws under both metal springloaded clips pushing down on the film on either side of the lightbox. That seems to do it (either screw right to reduce the pressure or left to increase) ... same SD card, same movie, no more jumping up and down.
I noticed the plastic in the film groove was worn down where the clips push on the film, that's what pointed me that way. The squeaking/clanking noise after each frame also disappears almost completely. The screws are easier to adjust if the whole innards are taking out the front cover on the Kodak but it's feasible without disassembly. However I turned them as far right as I could and seems to be not enough. I might unscrew them a bit and try to insert a semicircular wedge around the screw stems, between the heads and the clips to move it away from the film a bit more. Maddening considering the scans of the Kodak are very stable (the frames are not moving around from frame to frame).
I think the Kodak machine will let you change the white balance won't it?. Do you know if that is done with the light shinning up through the film or is it done with software on the machine. I keep hoping Wolverine will come up with a machine that will let us change the color of the lite itself. I thought maybe Kodak has done this. Thanks for the tips on your machine.
I think the settings are all done in postprocessing before compiling the MP4 file, I doubt they change anything during the scan. The lightbox under the film does not seem to change in intensity when changing the settings, though to make sure I'd have to use a lightmeter. I fear those machines are just manufacturer to the most basic standard - getting an image, and they're not trying to get the best image out of it.
Hello, Thanks so much for your video. Really helpful. I have a Reflecta Super 8 scanner and lately have had problems with the image. There seems to be a 'hotspot' where the light is more concentrated in the scanned image. It is a fixed point throughout multiple rolls. I imagine it is because the light is too close to the image at this point. Any idea how to fix this? Best, Jim
WOW, this should be 1# on every machines manual... ready to tear down machine & probably break it Thanks!!!! Thar's our blue 64" Chevy wagon! Lol sandisk werking so far! But I know what to do now!!!
I was very surprised hearing of your finding about the SD card causing the instability problem since these machines are well known for their problems with the film transport which causes bad stability and jitter. There have been hundreds of posts on 8mm forum about stability and jitter problems and also mechanical modification projects for the Wolverine machines. Are you really sure about the root cause of the picture instability? Could you recreate the stability fault by switching back SD card again? Thanks / Kurt
That is why I mentioned that one is sure they have threaded the film properly in the beginning of the video. Wolverine's tech department told me that the cards can be the problem as well. I do know once I got my new cards the problems have not reappeared. However I have had a problem with my Pro machine not holding down the film properly and it giving out of focus issues. This focus issue only happens on a few films. If I did not have a second and third machine I would not know the focus issue was their (because it is so subtle) but when I run the same film through other machines it is sharply focused. Mostly I want people to not take apart their machines like I did mine because it is such a simple check especially if one has two cards. I hope people will give feedback here as they try different SD cards to find out how often a different SD card or formatted SD card in 32 or 64 kilobyte in the computer fixes their problem. Thank you for your comment
Ron, I looked across your video on this topic by accident. So glad that I did. I’m sure there are many things that can cause problems with the unit itself bought by carefully addressing Each one, we can try and figure out what the real problem is. I attached soft stick green felt to the spring God units and that added additional pressure that stabilized the film cooling through the wolverine unit as the pool from the pick up reel is sometimes so strong that it pulls unevenly. Thank you for all of your videos.
Since my last posts, I am again running into jitter problems. I followed another commenters advice, and instead of using a take-up reel, I let the film collect in a cardboard box. I have no had a jittery film since using this technique. I manually rewind my film with a simple viewer and have had no problems with "rats nests" coming out of the box. Reformat your memory card and don't use a take-up reel. Could solve your problem.
I've been avoiding the takeup reel since the beginning, but occasionally I still get the stuttering. Weird thing it can happen or not ... on the same reel of film, so I doubt it's the film. It's not the reel, not so sure about the card now as I also formatted it in the scanner to make sure it's compatible. Starting to look into the film transport (overheating or in need of lubricating?) or maybe the controller in the scanner writing to the card not liking the way the card is filled up, emptied or handled.
OK I seem to have developed another problem. My Wolverine pro is only three months old now it seems like the pin the guides the film is getting stuck. The machine starts out fine then it gets to a point where the film stops in the machine and makes a grinding noise. I then get the check film path error message. The only way I can get the machine to work again is by taking a small screwdriver and pushing the pin one way or the other. Then it works for a while. But then it stops again I've gone so far is trying to run the machine without film and the same thing happens. The pin just sits there doesn't move and the machine makes a grinding noise. Any ideas
...you can't get a jittery, nor a clean and nice, recording if there is a bad cluster. The scanner will simply not record. It's a mechanical mismatch where the pick-up reel have too much power and pulls the film out of the scanner - it may even damage the sprocket holes. Just try to tamper with a memory card and see if you can record. Yes, you need a memory card according to the specification, but you don't get a recording if it's something wrong.
I have a question, please? I purchased a DIGITNOW, supposedly new / open box. When I power on, the screen displays the Wolverine logo. Your thoughts? You're an outstanding communicator, by the way. Thank you. Oh, yes, anyone seeing this please comment if you've had a similar experience.
I find for durability I trust the Wolverine more. Both machines seem to give almost identical scans. The Magnasonic is easier to load. I have had two films out of hundreds of films that were a little wide for the Wolverine Pro and came out just a little out of focus. When I ran these two films through the Magnasonic they scanned in focus. The Magnasonic is noisier than the Wolverine Pro. If you are only going to copy a couple of hundred films I think the Magnasonic would be a good choice, but I believe the Wolverine's newer take up reel motors will out last the Magnasonics. I can say even though I have copied hundreds of films with the Magnasonic it is still working just fine. I would say the major thing I like about the Magnasonic is how easy it is to load. The major thing I like about the Wolverine Pro is when it is running it is quieter. hope that helps
@@super8tovideo Thanx for your reply,....... I recall seeing a video on youtube....where the Magnesonic threaded differently, than the recommended guide lines actually, worked better.
You do not mention any possible ways to repair a jittery file that is already recorded. Do you know of any way to do this? I have spent about 45 hours digitizing family movies and do not want to repeat if possible.
Great video and super information. After 400+ reels on my second Wolverine I encountered this issue and found your video - fixed the problem, thank you. Quick question - I have two working ELMO trv 16's that run great, but I have over 10,000 16mm films to convert and am worried they will die on me one day. It has taken 20 years to acquire these 2 machines, but I will be needing a replacement one day. Any suggestions on anything out there under 10 grand? Not sure about the home made ones on ebay, and the least expensive new machines cost 80 grand. Last time I had my elmo refurbished, there was only one company that did it, and that was 10 years ago. Any suggestions are appreciated!
@@super8tovideo sadly it did not i did buy a lexar sd card but it did not solve the problem i did use an extern spindel for the take up reel to ensure that there is no pressure on the film and i use3 no take up spoel but let the film run loose in a box did scan all my films this way . i did take the scanner apart to clean the parts but its stil jitery and of course i did try to loose the screws on the plate under the pressure thing thats did helps at an earlier problem but now no results the super 8 remains jittery and shaky .the strange thing is that it scans the normal 8 perfectly no jitter or shaking ...so my guess it has something to do with the lever that pulls to normal 8 and super 8 .... the films runs with no presuure through the scanner ...i did order a new scanner but stil wants to solve the problem of course ..oterwise i wil use this only for normal 8 :) oh yeah my scanner is 18 months old and i did scan a lot of films with it .thanks
That seems really different than any problem I have heard of. I will call Wolverines tech department and see if they have an answer. I wonder if a firmware update may fix. Is it possible all your super 8 films come from the same brand and the film is a little thinner than it is supposed to be. Meaning there was a problem when the factory produced the film. These are just things I am thinking of. Sorry for the delayed response but I clean swimming pools for a living and we just went into summer so been extra busy. Thanks for the feedback.
I called Wolverine today and they first suggested it may me your film itself. I do not believe that unless you are only using the same rolls from one camera. He also told me that if you wanted they would adjust the machine if you were willing to send the machine in with a couple of reels of Super 8 that were acting up. If the machine is out of warranty they charge around $ 40.00 plus shipping again here is the phone number to them if you are interested. 949-458-9888
avi rafaely Hello Hello I have a volverina f 2 d movimecar machine And she does not pull the film and is stuck and the film does not move but the device makes a sound of The motor does not move the film, what do we do, how do we fix it? Thanks in advance
Did you load the film correctly? Make sure it is under the little retainer tabs, all of them. Check that the sprocket holes in the film are on the correct side. Switching between standard 8 and super 8 with the button in the front should move the film a frame or two to align the film if it is loaded correctly. If it doesn't work maybe the mechanism to move the film is broken, best check in the shop (think you already did that in the meantime)
It's really intermittent on mine, I removed part of the springs on the pressure plates (see other comments), but regardless of formatting the SD card in the unit or not, and with less pressure on the film, it's a hit and miss. Only thing i have not looked at but will be later this month is the mechanism for the transport which is in a plastic cover (maybe the contact to trigger the camera is acting up?).
Hi.I have a machine very similar to yours and with the same problem you showed in the video..my machine it's a SOMIKON.I don't want to contradict you, but I have the feeling that this problem is due to a malfunction of some mechanical parts.Forgive my bad English.Best regards
It may be, but usually it is the card. I can tell you that if the take up reel motor gives problems it can give similar results but when my take up reel motor went out I could here it, and it was obvious that it was malfunctioning. IT is good to here other peoples experience because we can all learn from what other people have with there machines as well.
I have seen this video to let me overpass the current problem after formatted my 32GB SD card as what you've instructed me to. AS again when I've scanned the new film entry Super 8 film thru the scanner with cleaned and detailed film gate with "I" marked behind the sprocket pin inside the gate. Still no good. The frame still jittering with blurring frame line below of the video screen. This video doesn't hit the right mark. I wants to know what the other major alternative to fix it by ?
On the Kodak Reels there are two spring loaded metal parts pushing down on the film either side of the lightbox. They're double plates on mine, on the Wolverine there should be a single one and a double one (right) ... I removed one of the two springs under each plate to reduce the tension. The squeaking and thumping I heard after each frame has gone now and occasionally I get stutter free videos (there must be another reason on top of this). I tried adding washers under the little screws for those plates but that doesn't work ... probably just increases the tension on the spring and does not change anything. You have to remove part of them.
FWIW having tried the Magnasonic FS81, the Kodak Reels (version 2.0) is far superior. You can set the sharpness to near zero and get a much cleaner image for post-processing should you desire to add artificial sharpening to your digitized films using tools far superior to the crap software built into these cheap scanners. Zoom all the way out, centre your frame so you're capturing as much of the image as possible without all the digital zooming and cropping built into the scanner. Then crop, colour correct etc to your heart's content if you feel it necessary. The Wolverine/Magnasonic and all the other look alikes are IMHO worse than the Kodak which seems to be its own device.
I bought new fastest 32 GB SD card (120MB/s), formatted it as FAT32 with 32 KB allocation unit size and after all I got shaky video. I didn't put reels on machine to get rid of any tension: I keep a big loop between scanner and out-reel, and put film in the box instead of in-reel. What else could be done?
Did you try to format the card in the machine itself? I got the same issues on a Kodak Reels, can't seem to find a method to the problems ... sometimes it works sometimes not. Will investigate the film transport mechanism next (not using the take up reel so it's not that) as my films are clean and not distorted physically. Maybe the transport runs hot or needs lubricating, will see once I disassemble it completely.
Try this : on my Kodak Reels two spring loaded metal parts push down on the film either side of the lightbox. Double plates on mine, on the Wolverine there a single one (left) and a double one (right) ... I removed one of the two springs under each plate to reduce the tension. The squeaking and thumping I heard after each frame has gone now and occasionally I get stutter free videos (there must be another reason on top of this)
@@ALEXUKL I have not found a solution (yet), but a workaround that gives almost no stuttering videos ... switch on the unit, erase your SD card (after checking it is empty), switch off the unit (I even unplug it to drain the capacitors but not sure it is needed). To scan: load film, switch on, scan about 10-20cms of film (10 inches) and playback, regardless of whether the scan is stuttering or not, do another 10-20cm scan (no need to rewind) and playback ... I found that usually those testsscans do not stutter (even if they do it should only be the first testscan). Then rewind to the beginning of film and scan the whole reel. On 15 reels I only had one that had a slight stutter and had to be rescanned. I start to suspect either the programming or the electronics to be a bit dodgy and "stumbling over itself" (maybe linked to SD card).
I forgot to mention after the scan I copy the movie from the SD card through the USB Upload function to the computer (slow but do not need to take out and reinsert the SD card), then I wipe the card and switch off the unit again. A reel can stutter on the first scan then scan correctly (and the Kodak Reels is rather stable inbetween individual images) so I ruled out the film being the problem. The reduction of the pressure plate force helps (no more squeaking noise of the film in the transport unit), and I drop the film in a basket covered in a towel (pickup reel disconnected). The pin in the transport unit is not bend, so I ruled that out. On the same SD card the film can stutter and on the rescan not stutter, so I ruled out my SD cards.
Your scans show no artifacts, like I have seen in other Wolverine transfers.....did you process the scans with other software to remove artifacts? Which software? Thank you for your help.
Most films are as they come out of the machine. But do keep in mind I will usually not show films that have bad scans, not because I am trying to deceive people, but I do not want the distraction of ugly films. I find the machine struggles the most with dark scenes. Most of the time the bad pictures are caused by people taking outdoor film and bringing it indoors. These film have a lot of grain in them even if projected directly from an old projector, then the Wolverines compression MP 4 format adds even more grain. I have found a program called NEAT VIDEO to be really good at helping with this problem.
What you can do is to drop the sharpness to the minimum and enhance in your video editor software. I found the built-in enhancer to be too aggressive and introducing artefacts (small dots everywhere instead of showing just the film grain).
Hello Super8tovideo. This is the first time I inscribe in a You Tube channel. Some five years ago I bought Wolverine first model and get very disapointed, I see a New Hope Diomar
Actually ... I have just run tests on formatting cards in the machine and on the computer ... it mixes, depending on card size, FAT, FAT32 and exFAT with different allocation unit sizes. I'm compiling a table.
Hello everyone: The problem is entirely mechanical. The drag needle twists slightly. Today I disassembled the equipment and straightened the needle and the image was stable. Soon I will upload a before and after video. Greetings
When you upload the video send me a link I will link to it if it fixed the problem. I am sure there are various reasons that these machines can give problems.
Gabriel - thanks for your post. I have this problem and I know it is not the card - I digitized the same film twice, using the same SD card, on the same day. The first time it looked a bit jittery, so I did it again. The jitter was much worse the second time and the problem continues on another film I am digitizing. Please explain about the needle issue.
I disassembled my Kodak Reels, seems to be from the same manufacturer, but I cannot see how that needle could be bent. I expected something flimsy from your description but the part seems up to the job (also saw how they switch mechanically from 8 to Super8). I need to disassemble the transport mechanism under the motor next. Maybe the problem is there
That may be correct with some scanner issues. I have had problems with the take up reel in the past. It was obvious, because of the noise it made. I bought a new take up reel part from Wolverine for roughly 40 dollars if I remember the price correctly. It was a few years ago for one of my white box machines. It was definitely an upgrade from the old take up reel. It is the same one they use in the Wolverine Pro. It is an easy fix if you do not mind taking off the back cover to the machine. Here is their phone number for tech support if you think it may help in your situation. 949-458-9888
@@super8tovideo I was given a 3rd generation motor for my take up, straight from winait in china. I still don't use it, I get much nicer scans using a film bin. My scanner has been in peices more times than a set of lego....
I plan on doing a video from the time I fixed my scanner years ago. I know I filmed it when I fixed it. I just do not know if I can do a decent job of explaining the noise it made ect. I have done what you are doing with the bin but only on 3 inch reels. Are you doing it with larger reels as well? I assumed the larger reels would turn into a tangled mess.
@@super8tovideo I do it with 400ft reels with no problem. As long as the bin is large enough, just leave it to curl itself up and don't touch it. I use a gentle hand rewind with a movie viewer once scanned.
Having seen this video before buying my scanner (Kodak Reels but most probably from same designer and manufacturer) that's what I do (plus the take up reel mechanism was making way too much noise, so disconnected it) ... no difference on the bleeping scanner every now and then ending up with a stuttering video ... some way worse than others. You can do a little test scan once, twice, which are fine and it might still end up screwing up the long scan. Only thing I need to check now is the teeth for the film transport.
Thanks so much Ron for the video. I recently (May 2022) bought the Magnasonic Super 8/8mm Film Scanner (FS81) and a SanDisk 32GB Ultra SDHC UHS-I Memory Card. I formatted the SD card with the Film Scanner. When I scanned the first roll of super 8 film, the playback results were very jittery. I did a full reformat on my computer of the SD card at FAT 32 64 kilobytes. I then scanned all of my Super 8 videos 3”, 5” and 7” reels with very good results and no jitter. I am glad I saw his video before I started scanning. It saved me a lot of time and frustration. Thanks again.
Glad that it helped. I do not know why sometimes formatting on a computer is better but it seems to work for me as well sometimes. Glad you wrote so it may help other people as well when their scanners act up.
Thanks so much for posting this, I would've gone down the rabbit hole for a few weeks trying to figure out what the issue is.
Glad to hear it helps lots of people. I went down that rabbit hole for 2 days trying to fix my scanner. Thanks for the positive input.
My filmscanners brand is Reflecta and I had after approximately 40 Films the same problem. I took a different SD-Card and now everything is fine again. Thank You very very much!
Did not know if other machines have the same problem glad for the feedback Ron
Thank you ever so much Ron. I was just about to open up my Wolverine when I looked up possible diagnostics in Google and found your post. WOW. IT WORKS... Bought a coupla cards on the 'Net. Just had the expected small difficulties in formatting (I Use Mac), had to reset the Wolverine and Voilà. No shaking any more. A million thanks.
Brian
Happy you left that feed back hope it helps other people Thanks for the feedback.
Hey Ron,
I had jitter on my first attempt to digitize Super 8 with a Magnasonic unit, so searched and found this article. I was astounded at your solution, since it seemed to be a mechanical symptom.
I bought the digitizer off eBay, from somebody who scanned and resold the scanner, planning to do the same. The sales add said an SDHC-I card was required. I ordered some 32 GB SDHC-I cards at the same time.
The converted video had jitter. After I saw this video, I tried reformatting -- didn't help. I finally looked at the manual (duh!) and it said use a Class 6 (6 MBps). My SDHC-I card was a 4. I tried a Class 10 that I had on hand -- voila! It worked stably.
Thank you for saving me frustrating hours!
Thank you for the comment because it helps others find solutions for there scanners as well.
I had noticed this issue too. Having better media didn’t fix it for me, but I only ever had issues with dark scenes on film. Looked like the sensor on the machine was not being scanned at the right time.
I ended up just using the machine as a consistent advance timer and using egregiously expensive video gear (cinema camera and a macro lens) to record 2fps 8K timelapse video of the film running through a window taped to a tracing light like what artists use. Bunch of extra steps, but I got a consistent frame and stupidly clean 1080p renders.
Hello, you do not know how much I appreciate your suggestion to put the focus on the memory card! I was using SanDisk ExtremePRO, 16gb, 95mb/s and having tried different mechanical changes, I got the same horrible results: fluctuating image movement that your video alludes to. I decided to try a Sony 32Gb, TOUGH, G,300R mb/s, 299W Mb/s, V90, which is a much better card, and the result is excellent!!!
A cordial greeting and always very grateful for your original and positive search!!
YEAH!!!!
Wow!! My machine was doing the same thing. I'm so glad I found your video!! The change in the SD card fixed all the issues.
Thank you so much so much for making this video.
Thank you for your video. I had the same problem. I personally achieve the best results, using an "old" 8GB microSD card. One mechanical problem is the firm pull on the take-up reel. The pulling would also cause jitterring on my machine. My workaround is a clean box for the scanned film and wind it back on the reel after scanning.
My scanner, original for 60m reels, allows to scan 120m reels in one piece when selecting 5" reel.
Reformatted my memory card and that fixed my jittery problem. Thank you!
Fast format 64kb setting on 32gb SD in win 7 system worked a treat fixing stutter...about 80% of the time. Thanks!
Glad to here that for the 80% try this video for the 20% I put it out a few days ago th-cam.com/video/ogBlJ6EKPXw/w-d-xo.html
Just fyi on comments on Demo. Sometimes I scan showing holes. You'd be surprised at what you may find . Some reels developed the area between the holes..
Thank you for posting this! I had the problem right out of the box. I’m pretty certain my shaky problem was caused by either 1. A heavy metal reel which I changed to a very light plastic reel. Or 2. Having set me digitizer next to my TV set so I could keep an eye on it as it was digitizing.
Did you get your shaky video problem solved. I do not think the weight of the reel or it being by the TV would cause unstable copies. Let me know if you solved your problem. Thanks for the comment.
Okay I have now scanned many films and learned a lot since my last post. I occasionally get a shaker image. I have discovered that when framing the image that depending on the subject it can be shaken. I try do some a full frame image but it the upper part of the frame which is really the lower part creeping in on the image and has great contrast it will shake. Therefor I can’t do the full frame and have to rescan filling up the frame with the image. This helps on those occasional shakey image. If the image itself is very contrastiy then it will shake. It’s something to do with the softeware…..I think
Yup, this fixed the intermittent problems I was having, it's disappeared now I bought one of those Lexar cards, cheers
Always glad to hear things like that so other people know it may fix their machine. Thank you
I can see a huge improvement in some of the clips but I still notice slight frame up/down movement in the clip with the stagecoach at the end.
Can that be resolved ?
people seem adamant that this is strictly a mechanical problem, but it stands to reason that it could easily be both if you think about it, since with different cards there will be different delays between the trigger to store the frame image, and the full frame image being written to the card, which is why in a lot of cases, the jitter appears more prominent at the top of the frame than the bottom, because part of the image was being captured while the film was shuttling due to slow card speeds, when the cards must be of a very precise write speed to guarantee full frame capture between frames shuttling.
I suspect you are correct I do know it the card fixed my other machine I did not take apart. I found out about the solution from Wolverine Data so I am positive the card is sometimes the problem.
Many thanks for posting this. I just formatted my SD card in the machine, rescanned my film and the jitter has stopped. Perhaps it was a threading issue but doesn't feel like that. I'll see if that fixes it permanently. My bigger issue with the machine is the grainy over sharpened look. Changing the sharpening doesn't seem to effect it.
I am not an expert in digital matters, just an 83-year-old hobbyist who has transferred dozens of 8mm films using a Wolverine scanner. However, I cannot really accept that the resultant vertical image jitter can be related to the type of SD card employed.
Initially, I experienced such jitter, which varied from noticeable to overly severe. After trying several techniques to minimise this fault, I finally bypassed the unit’s take-up spool entirely and simply allowed the scanned film to fall into a cardboard box.
You'll need to employ a manual rewinder (preferred), or a projector's take-up facility to return the scanned film back onto a spool again.
All a little more time-consuming but, after standardising on this method, the aforementioned jitter is down to a level where it can be ignored.
Any further reduction can be accomplished in the free ‘DaVinci Resolve' app.
This problem occured on my Kodak Reelz after scanning about 50 reels of 3-minute films, very irritating. Found out quite soon that the problem was with the pick-up reel pulling too heavily on the film. Before taking to the cardboard box-solution I wasted my time to try to fix the spring loaded sliding clutch at the axle of the pick-up reel, useless.
Cardboard-box is the best solution, absolutely. The Kodak Reelz has a power rewind function (quite slow), so all one has to do is to sit next to it, and check that the film does not get twisted while respooling.
@@directorsuperior Got a Kodak Reels too and on the same film it sometimes stutters and sometimes not. Going to look at the transport mechanism tomorrow as I'm ruling out card (formatted in scanner) and film (same film sometimes works sometimes not). I already had to disconnect the motor to the pickup reel as it made a racket and I'm dropping the film in a towel covered box anyway. Also had to remove the blob of glue on the lens assembly and removed the lens cover so I could adjust the focus - it was quite off. The internal adjustments being pants I drop the sharpness to minimum to avoid the grain being overly deformed into dots. What bugs me is that the preview image on the built-in screen is not bad but in the resulting MP4 file it's screwed up. It could be a great unit if they allowed lens focus adjustments and the deactivation of the internal compression .... raw image output would make a ton of difference!
I did end up removing part of the springs under the pressure plate (see other comments under this video). I helps but still, intermittently, on clean SD cards or not, stuttering comes back. Only thing haven't looked at is transport mechanism. Plan on doing videos next month on the different issues. Could be a great little machine, but let down by electronics and poor mechanics.
Good information so if other people have the same problem they know what you tried if you do a video on what worked leave a link here so other people with same problem can find a solution. Thanks for the feedback. Ron
I have this problem and I will try your solution idea, thx. -JC
When formatting on a computer do you use the Quick Format or a regular format?
had same problem, it was caused by the Takeup tension being too high, esp on larger reels. Simple fix, do not use the take up spool and just let it feed down into a box. Do not touch the film.. when finished, simply rewind it back on to the spool it just came off. Works every time.
You only need to check if the memory card meet the requirements from the scanners vendor and use the scanners format function. More important to remove jittery film is to check if the pick up reel runs too fast and pulls the film out of the scanner. If that's the case, simply use a box to pick up the film and rewind from the box. I have done scan with both the 5" Reflecta and the 9" Wolverine MM Pro and if I encounter problems, it's the pull from pick up reel that forces the film to jump during the scan.
One other issue with this video/ demo: even if the images isn't stored as fast as it should on an old SDcard, why are the sprocket holes visible? Then you really have done several mistakes during the scan.
One more issue: when the scanner tells that the cluster size is wrong, just let the scanner fix it by usin the format option.
Usually the scanner will fix it but sometimes it won't. Since it is so easy to format the not functioning card on the computer. Before I throw the card away I format it on the computer. I always copy with the scanner holes showing and then zoom in with Video Studio Pros Crop and Scale feature. Here is a video on why I leave the sprocket holes and then zoom in. th-cam.com/video/AxdRRg3Pj7k/w-d-xo.html
@@super8tovideo Perforation in the image: I also set it that way. It's a bit noisy, but very often parts of the image that are indispensable are hidden on that edge.
And in general: I don't think the "jerking" of the image at the top is a card problem. Sounds more like a mechanical issue to me.
A sample of my films. I stabilize them using sw Edius 9. In this sw I also correct black, white and color rendering levels. th-cam.com/video/dRVh18Xq7Z0/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the video ... I'm using a Kodak Reels machine (most probably same factory) and yes after 7 or 8 reels all of a sudden it started acting up. Wiping the card in the machine seems to fix the problem. What I noticed is that the films didn't have any issue until I deleted files from the card, must be a problem of writing sequentially or not to the card - and wiping lets the controller write from zero again which might be the solution. Being a Sandisk Ultra card it is definitely an issue with the cheapo controller. Thanks again for all your tests!
Seems to only accept exFAT on mine, no NTFS (says card is damaged) and FAT32 with a clean card gives me stutter right away (need to test more). Considering the price those machines could be really nice (though not great) but they really cut every possible corner, it's a pity.
Been digging through a few forums and videos, dismantled the whole unit completely and took pictures of the boards and connectors. After fixing the focus problem on the lens (glued in wrong position, introducing unsharpness on a whole side) and disconnecting the pick up reel motor (too much clanking and vibrating) I took a look at the transport box ... someone had a bent needle on his unit, but on mine it's sturdy and would not bend through film transport. I finished by adjusting the screws under both metal springloaded clips pushing down on the film on either side of the lightbox. That seems to do it (either screw right to reduce the pressure or left to increase) ... same SD card, same movie, no more jumping up and down.
I noticed the plastic in the film groove was worn down where the clips push on the film, that's what pointed me that way. The squeaking/clanking noise after each frame also disappears almost completely. The screws are easier to adjust if the whole innards are taking out the front cover on the Kodak but it's feasible without disassembly. However I turned them as far right as I could and seems to be not enough. I might unscrew them a bit and try to insert a semicircular wedge around the screw stems, between the heads and the clips to move it away from the film a bit more. Maddening considering the scans of the Kodak are very stable (the frames are not moving around from frame to frame).
I think the Kodak machine will let you change the white balance won't it?. Do you know if that is done with the light shinning up through the film or is it done with software on the machine. I keep hoping Wolverine will come up with a machine that will let us change the color of the lite itself. I thought maybe Kodak has done this. Thanks for the tips on your machine.
I think the settings are all done in postprocessing before compiling the MP4 file, I doubt they change anything during the scan. The lightbox under the film does not seem to change in intensity when changing the settings, though to make sure I'd have to use a lightmeter. I fear those machines are just manufacturer to the most basic standard - getting an image, and they're not trying to get the best image out of it.
Hello,
Thanks so much for your video. Really helpful. I have a Reflecta Super 8 scanner and lately have had problems with the image. There seems to be a 'hotspot' where the light is more concentrated in the scanned image. It is a fixed point throughout multiple rolls. I imagine it is because the light is too close to the image at this point. Any idea how to fix this?
Best,
Jim
Great tips! Experience counts. 😊
Thank you very much for this video, which is most valuable and solved my jitter problem.👏😀
WOW, this should be 1# on every machines manual... ready to tear down machine & probably break it Thanks!!!! Thar's our blue 64" Chevy wagon! Lol sandisk werking so far! But I know what to do now!!!
I was very surprised hearing of your finding about the SD card causing the instability problem since these machines are well known for their problems with the film transport which causes bad stability and jitter. There have been hundreds of posts on 8mm forum about stability and jitter problems and also mechanical modification projects for the Wolverine machines.
Are you really sure about the root cause of the picture instability? Could you recreate the stability fault by switching back SD card again?
Thanks / Kurt
That is why I mentioned that one is sure they have threaded the film properly in the beginning of the video. Wolverine's tech department told me that the cards can be the problem as well. I do know once I got my new cards the problems have not reappeared. However I have had a problem with my Pro machine not holding down the film properly and it giving out of focus issues. This focus issue only happens on a few films. If I did not have a second and third machine I would not know the focus issue was their (because it is so subtle) but when I run the same film through other machines it is sharply focused. Mostly I want people to not take apart their machines like I did mine because it is such a simple check especially if one has two cards. I hope people will give feedback here as they try different SD cards to find out how often a different SD card or formatted SD card in 32 or 64 kilobyte in the computer fixes their problem. Thank you for your comment
Ron, I looked across your video on this topic by accident. So glad that I did. I’m sure there are many things that can cause problems with the unit itself bought by carefully addressing Each one, we can try and figure out what the real problem is. I attached soft stick green felt to the spring God units and that added additional pressure that stabilized the film cooling through the wolverine unit as the pool from the pick up reel is sometimes so strong that it pulls unevenly. Thank you for all of your videos.
Since my last posts, I am again running into jitter problems. I followed another commenters advice, and instead of using a take-up reel, I let the film collect in a cardboard box. I have no had a jittery film since using this technique. I manually rewind my film with a simple viewer and have had no problems with "rats nests" coming out of the box. Reformat your memory card and don't use a take-up reel. Could solve your problem.
I've been avoiding the takeup reel since the beginning, but occasionally I still get the stuttering. Weird thing it can happen or not ... on the same reel of film, so I doubt it's the film. It's not the reel, not so sure about the card now as I also formatted it in the scanner to make sure it's compatible. Starting to look into the film transport (overheating or in need of lubricating?) or maybe the controller in the scanner writing to the card not liking the way the card is filled up, emptied or handled.
OK I seem to have developed another problem. My Wolverine pro is only three months old now it seems like the pin the guides the film is getting stuck. The machine starts out fine then it gets to a point where the film stops in the machine and makes a grinding noise. I then get the check film path error message. The only way I can get the machine to work again is by taking a small screwdriver and pushing the pin one way or the other. Then it works for a while. But then it stops again I've gone so far is trying to run the machine without film and the same thing happens. The pin just sits there doesn't move and the machine makes a grinding noise. Any ideas
...you can't get a jittery, nor a clean and nice, recording if there is a bad cluster. The scanner will simply not record. It's a mechanical mismatch where the pick-up reel have too much power and pulls the film out of the scanner - it may even damage the sprocket holes. Just try to tamper with a memory card and see if you can record. Yes, you need a memory card according to the specification, but you don't get a recording if it's something wrong.
That is correct if the card is bad.
I have a question, please? I purchased a DIGITNOW, supposedly new / open box. When I power on, the screen displays the Wolverine logo. Your thoughts? You're an outstanding communicator, by the way. Thank you. Oh, yes, anyone seeing this please comment if you've had a similar experience.
Saludos desde Perú. Probaré lo que has planteado
Hello I do subtitles in Spanish
Between the Wolverine Pro and the Magnesonic....which do you prefer?
I find for durability I trust the Wolverine more. Both machines seem to give almost identical scans. The Magnasonic is easier to load. I have had two films out of hundreds of films that were a little wide for the Wolverine Pro and came out just a little out of focus. When I ran these two films through the Magnasonic they scanned in focus. The Magnasonic is noisier than the Wolverine Pro. If you are only going to copy a couple of hundred films I think the Magnasonic would be a good choice, but I believe the Wolverine's newer take up reel motors will out last the Magnasonics. I can say even though I have copied hundreds of films with the Magnasonic it is still working just fine. I would say the major thing I like about the Magnasonic is how easy it is to load. The major thing I like about the Wolverine Pro is when it is running it is quieter. hope that helps
@@super8tovideo Thanx for your reply,....... I recall seeing a video on youtube....where the Magnesonic threaded differently, than the recommended guide lines actually, worked better.
You do not mention any possible ways to repair a jittery file that is already recorded. Do you know of any way to do this? I have spent about 45 hours digitizing family movies and do not want to repeat if possible.
Great video and super information. After 400+ reels on my second Wolverine I encountered this issue and found your video - fixed the problem, thank you. Quick question - I have two working ELMO trv 16's that run great, but I have over 10,000 16mm films to convert and am worried they will die on me one day. It has taken 20 years to acquire these 2 machines, but I will be needing a replacement one day. Any suggestions on anything out there under 10 grand? Not sure about the home made ones on ebay, and the least expensive new machines cost 80 grand. Last time I had my elmo refurbished, there was only one company that did it, and that was 10 years ago. Any suggestions are appreciated!
thats exactly the problem that i have with my 2 year old scanner so i gonna try this out thank you very much for this
Let us know if that fixes it for you. Hope it goes well for you Ron of super8tovideo
@@super8tovideo sadly it did not i did buy a lexar sd card but it did not solve the problem i did use an extern spindel for the take up reel to ensure that there is no pressure on the film and i use3 no take up spoel but let the film run loose in a box did scan all my films this way . i did take the scanner apart to clean the parts but its stil jitery and of course i did try to loose the screws on the plate under the pressure thing thats did helps at an earlier problem but now no results the super 8 remains jittery and shaky .the strange thing is that it scans the normal 8 perfectly no jitter or shaking ...so my guess it has something to do with the lever that pulls to normal 8 and super 8 .... the films runs with no presuure through the scanner ...i did order a new scanner but stil wants to solve the problem of course ..oterwise i wil use this only for normal 8 :) oh yeah my scanner is 18 months old and i did scan a lot of films with it .thanks
That seems really different than any problem I have heard of. I will call Wolverines tech department and see if they have an answer. I wonder if a firmware update may fix. Is it possible all your super 8 films come from the same brand and the film is a little thinner than it is supposed to be. Meaning there was a problem when the factory produced the film. These are just things I am thinking of. Sorry for the delayed response but I clean swimming pools for a living and we just went into summer so been extra busy. Thanks for the feedback.
I called Wolverine today and they first suggested it may me your film itself. I do not believe that unless you are only using the same rolls from one camera. He also told me that if you wanted they would adjust the machine if you were willing to send the machine in with a couple of reels of Super 8 that were acting up. If the machine is out of warranty they charge around $ 40.00 plus shipping again here is the phone number to them if you are interested. 949-458-9888
good work......thank you....
THanks for the reply
avi rafaely Hello
Hello
I have a volverina f 2 d movimecar machine
And she does not pull the film and is stuck and the film does not move but the device makes a sound of
The motor does not move the film, what do we do, how do we fix it?
Thanks in advance
Did you load the film correctly? Make sure it is under the little retainer tabs, all of them. Check that the sprocket holes in the film are on the correct side. Switching between standard 8 and super 8 with the button in the front should move the film a frame or two to align the film if it is loaded correctly. If it doesn't work maybe the mechanism to move the film is broken, best check in the shop (think you already did that in the meantime)
Do you need to do this every time you want to convert a reel? I've tried it and it worked once but it's not working for other reels.
It's really intermittent on mine, I removed part of the springs on the pressure plates (see other comments), but regardless of formatting the SD card in the unit or not, and with less pressure on the film, it's a hit and miss. Only thing i have not looked at but will be later this month is the mechanism for the transport which is in a plastic cover (maybe the contact to trigger the camera is acting up?).
Hi.I have a machine very similar to yours and with the same problem you showed in the video..my machine it's a SOMIKON.I don't want to contradict you, but I have the feeling that this problem is due to a malfunction of some mechanical parts.Forgive my bad English.Best regards
It may be, but usually it is the card. I can tell you that if the take up reel motor gives problems it can give similar results but when my take up reel motor went out I could here it, and it was obvious that it was malfunctioning. IT is good to here other peoples experience because we can all learn from what other people have with there machines as well.
Ron--FYI--your link for the Lexar SD cards is incorrect, and instead links to fluorescent keyboard stickers.
Thank you very much for letting me know. Glad to get the feedback
I have seen this video to let me overpass the current problem after formatted my 32GB SD card as what you've instructed me to. AS again when I've scanned the new film entry Super 8 film thru the scanner with cleaned and detailed film gate with "I" marked behind the sprocket pin inside the gate. Still no good. The frame still jittering with blurring frame line below of the video screen. This video doesn't hit the right mark. I wants to know what the other major alternative to fix it by ?
Try this video see if it helps I just put it out a few days ago th-cam.com/video/ogBlJ6EKPXw/w-d-xo.html
On the Kodak Reels there are two spring loaded metal parts pushing down on the film either side of the lightbox. They're double plates on mine, on the Wolverine there should be a single one and a double one (right) ... I removed one of the two springs under each plate to reduce the tension. The squeaking and thumping I heard after each frame has gone now and occasionally I get stutter free videos (there must be another reason on top of this). I tried adding washers under the little screws for those plates but that doesn't work ... probably just increases the tension on the spring and does not change anything. You have to remove part of them.
FWIW having tried the Magnasonic FS81, the Kodak Reels (version 2.0) is far superior. You can set the sharpness to near zero and get a much cleaner image for post-processing should you desire to add artificial sharpening to your digitized films using tools far superior to the crap software built into these cheap scanners. Zoom all the way out, centre your frame so you're capturing as much of the image as possible without all the digital zooming and cropping built into the scanner. Then crop, colour correct etc to your heart's content if you feel it necessary. The Wolverine/Magnasonic and all the other look alikes are IMHO worse than the Kodak which seems to be its own device.
I bought new fastest 32 GB SD card (120MB/s), formatted it as FAT32 with 32 KB allocation unit size and after all I got shaky video. I didn't put reels on machine to get rid of any tension: I keep a big loop between scanner and out-reel, and put film in the box instead of in-reel. What else could be done?
Did you try to format the card in the machine itself? I got the same issues on a Kodak Reels, can't seem to find a method to the problems ... sometimes it works sometimes not. Will investigate the film transport mechanism next (not using the take up reel so it's not that) as my films are clean and not distorted physically. Maybe the transport runs hot or needs lubricating, will see once I disassemble it completely.
Try this : on my Kodak Reels two spring loaded metal parts push down on the film either side of the lightbox. Double plates on mine, on the Wolverine there a single one (left) and a double one (right) ... I removed one of the two springs under each plate to reduce the tension. The squeaking and thumping I heard after each frame has gone now and occasionally I get stutter free videos (there must be another reason on top of this)
@@patrickcardon1643 will try.
@@ALEXUKL I have not found a solution (yet), but a workaround that gives almost no stuttering videos ... switch on the unit, erase your SD card (after checking it is empty), switch off the unit (I even unplug it to drain the capacitors but not sure it is needed). To scan: load film, switch on, scan about 10-20cms of film (10 inches) and playback, regardless of whether the scan is stuttering or not, do another 10-20cm scan (no need to rewind) and playback ... I found that usually those testsscans do not stutter (even if they do it should only be the first testscan). Then rewind to the beginning of film and scan the whole reel. On 15 reels I only had one that had a slight stutter and had to be rescanned. I start to suspect either the programming or the electronics to be a bit dodgy and "stumbling over itself" (maybe linked to SD card).
I forgot to mention after the scan I copy the movie from the SD card through the USB Upload function to the computer (slow but do not need to take out and reinsert the SD card), then I wipe the card and switch off the unit again. A reel can stutter on the first scan then scan correctly (and the Kodak Reels is rather stable inbetween individual images) so I ruled out the film being the problem. The reduction of the pressure plate force helps (no more squeaking noise of the film in the transport unit), and I drop the film in a basket covered in a towel (pickup reel disconnected). The pin in the transport unit is not bend, so I ruled that out. On the same SD card the film can stutter and on the rescan not stutter, so I ruled out my SD cards.
Excelente video
THank you gracias I do do subtitles in Spanish on all my videos
Your scans show no artifacts, like I have seen in other Wolverine transfers.....did you process the scans with other software to remove artifacts? Which software? Thank you for your help.
Most films are as they come out of the machine. But do keep in mind I will usually not show films that have bad scans, not because I am trying to deceive people, but I do not want the distraction of ugly films. I find the machine struggles the most with dark scenes. Most of the time the bad pictures are caused by people taking outdoor film and bringing it indoors. These film have a lot of grain in them even if projected directly from an old projector, then the Wolverines compression MP 4 format adds even more grain. I have found a program called NEAT VIDEO to be really good at helping with this problem.
What you can do is to drop the sharpness to the minimum and enhance in your video editor software. I found the built-in enhancer to be too aggressive and introducing artefacts (small dots everywhere instead of showing just the film grain).
Hello Super8tovideo.
This is the first time I inscribe in a You Tube channel. Some five years ago I bought Wolverine first model and get very disapointed, I see a New Hope
Diomar
What was wrong with your first scanner? They usually did a pretty decent job not quite as good as the newer machines but pretty close.
just do NTFS format. fat is only 4gb file size
No the machine only works with fat not NTFS
Actually ... I have just run tests on formatting cards in the machine and on the computer ... it mixes, depending on card size, FAT, FAT32 and exFAT with different allocation unit sizes. I'm compiling a table.
Hello everyone:
The problem is entirely mechanical.
The drag needle twists slightly. Today I disassembled the equipment and straightened the needle and the image was stable. Soon I will upload a before and after video. Greetings
When you upload the video send me a link I will link to it if it fixed the problem. I am sure there are various reasons that these machines can give problems.
Gabriel - thanks for your post. I have this problem and I know it is not the card - I digitized the same film twice, using the same SD card, on the same day. The first time it looked a bit jittery, so I did it again. The jitter was much worse the second time and the problem continues on another film I am digitizing. Please explain about the needle issue.
I disassembled my Kodak Reels, seems to be from the same manufacturer, but I cannot see how that needle could be bent. I expected something flimsy from your description but the part seems up to the job (also saw how they switch mechanically from 8 to Super8). I need to disassemble the transport mechanism under the motor next. Maybe the problem is there
Yeah, throw it away and get a good machine.
When it is just the card most people do not want to throw away there machine.
nothing to do with the SD card, everything to do with the take up reel.
eliminate jitter by allowing the film to drop from the gate in to a bin.
That may be correct with some scanner issues. I have had problems with the take up reel in the past. It was obvious, because of the noise it made. I bought a new take up reel part from Wolverine for roughly 40 dollars if I remember the price correctly. It was a few years ago for one of my white box machines. It was definitely an upgrade from the old take up reel. It is the same one they use in the Wolverine Pro. It is an easy fix if you do not mind taking off the back cover to the machine. Here is their phone number for tech support if you think it may help in your situation. 949-458-9888
@@super8tovideo I was given a 3rd generation motor for my take up, straight from winait in china. I still don't use it, I get much nicer scans using a film bin.
My scanner has been in peices more times than a set of lego....
I plan on doing a video from the time I fixed my scanner years ago. I know I filmed it when I fixed it. I just do not know if I can do a decent job of explaining the noise it made ect. I have done what you are doing with the bin but only on 3 inch reels. Are you doing it with larger reels as well? I assumed the larger reels would turn into a tangled mess.
@@super8tovideo I do it with 400ft reels with no problem.
As long as the bin is large enough, just leave it to curl itself up and don't touch it. I use a gentle hand rewind with a movie viewer once scanned.
Having seen this video before buying my scanner (Kodak Reels but most probably from same designer and manufacturer) that's what I do (plus the take up reel mechanism was making way too much noise, so disconnected it) ... no difference on the bleeping scanner every now and then ending up with a stuttering video ... some way worse than others. You can do a little test scan once, twice, which are fine and it might still end up screwing up the long scan. Only thing I need to check now is the teeth for the film transport.