Kinograph

Description

Cultural memory should not be dependent on money. The cost of digitizing reels of film is out of reach for the majority of institutions and individuals. Kinograph aims to provide an affordable alternative by focusing on a "good enough" solution . Our goal is to produce quality scans that are good enough for public exhibition and to prioritize further preservation efforts, all at a cost within reach. The project is a community of contributors and is currently active on the forums: http://forums.kinograph.cc. Current designs and downloads available at http://kinograph.cc

Details

Current State: Work has begun on v2 but is slow due to lack of time and funds. I am actively seeking individuals who are willing to build in parallel, offer technical expertise, and/or contribute skills and time. Areas of opportunity include:

OpenCV
Material Engineering
Electrical Engineering
System Architecture (processing unit)
Analog Sound capture
Software development
Post-process scripting (basic scratch and dust removal, auto color enhancement, etc)

Version 2 has the following design improvement goals:

Stronger and more precise motor control with tension feedback
Improved film path for tension control
Completely redesigned gate mechanisms
Digital frame detection (reflective IR and possibly addition of phase-locked loop feedback)
New camera options ( modular design capable of accepting RPi to high-end 4K)
New electronics capable of handling faster speeds and writing directly to dedicated peripherals

Work will continue in fits and starts. Any recommendations for grants, residencies or other sources of support are very welcome!

- Matthew Epler (New York, NY)

Files

Kinograph-InstructablesPDF.pdf

Full build instructions for v1. NOT SUPPORTED OR RECOMMENDED

Adobe Portable Document Format - 2.31 MB - 01/22/2017 at 03:07

Preview

sprocketRoller_20160430.3dm

Rhino file for sprocket roller

3dm - 2.40 MB - 01/22/2017 at 03:01

Download

sprocket.py

Rhino script for adding sprockets to roller

x-python-script - 4.19 kB - 01/22/2017 at 03:01

Download

sprocket_roller.obj

3D printable sprocket roller file

obj - 781.21 kB - 01/22/2017 at 03:01

Download

idle_roller.obj

3D printable idle roller file (no sprockets)

obj - 382.05 kB - 01/22/2017 at 03:01

Download

Components

1 × Film Scanner controlled by Arduino, with DC geared motors and 3D printed rollers.

1 × Custom Frame Extraction Software OpenCV application written in Processing (Java) for detection and extraction of frames from still images of photographed film.

Project Logs

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Applying for SupplyFrame DesignLab Residency

Matthew Epler • 01/22/2017 at 03:11 • 0 comments

I will be applying for the SupplyFrame DesignLab residency in Los Angeles. Cross your fingers! If accepted, all progress updates will be posted here - including and announcements regarding my acceptance/denial to the residency.

Build Instructions

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Step 1

See the file "Kinograph-InstructablesPDF" in the files section of this page.

Discussions

Desert wrote 08/01/2021 at 11:26

Why using sprockets?
The high end film scanners use a laser. Maybe a LED is possible?

https://filmfabriek.nl

Are you sure? yes | no

Matthew Epler wrote 08/01/2021 at 15:15

Hi there. I'm a huge fan of Filmfabriek's machines! This project page is very outdated. For the most up to date details, you can visit the website: https://kinograph.cc. There you will find links to the YouTube channel, Instagram, Wiki, and Forums pages. Contact me any time. I'd love to talk about the Filmfabriek. We've discussed it several times in the forums with admiration :)

Are you sure? yes | no

FORART fe wrote 10/01/2020 at 06:41

Hi there, great project !

It would be great to establish some kind of collaboration (to promote the open source licensing approach too) with other related DIY projects:

https://hackaday.io/list/175104-diy-film-scanners

Hope that helps/inspires.

Are you sure? yes | no

Matthew Epler wrote 08/01/2021 at 15:15

Are you sure? yes | no

Kinograph

Description

Details